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.

“I should have married her when I had the chance.” “I shouldn’t have eaten that entire pie.” “If only I had not gotten into that car on that fateful day.” Sentiments such as these reflect an emotion that is known to most of us. Regret is an unpleasant emotion commonly felt when we experience some unfortunate outcome that we believe would have been different had we taken a different course of action.

Canadian public opinion has been supportive of immigration for a long time and support has been increasing over recent decades, a time of economic uncertainty and concerns over foreign terrorists.ompared to the citizens of other developed immigrant-receiving countries, Canadians are by far the most open to and optimistic about immigration.

Popular beliefs about work-family issues characterize working moms as having a divided focus on home and work — they are therefore seen as less competent, less committed, and, as a result, less worthy of employment and promotion than men or childless women.

Adrienne G. Cannon writes: Hey Bob! Look who has come visiting.  So many friends and family members.....and they’ve come to celebrate your active and joyful life and remember their special moments with you. But first, I want to remember with you, those days when, before all these folks came into our lives and it was — just us.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has advised that the FCC should formally reassess and, if appropriate, change its current RF energy exposure limit and mobile phone testing requirements related to likely usage configurations, particularly when phones are held against the body. By not formally reassessing its current limit, FCC cannot ensure it is using a limit that reflects the latest research on RF energy exposure.

The dream of Arcadia, a mythic place of beauty and repose where humankind lives in harmony with nature, has held an enduring appeal for artists since antiquity. With its promise of calm, simplicity, and order, it has served as both an inspiration and as an image of refuge, a place that is distant and seemingly protected from the vicissitudes of life.

Curiosity's main assignment is to investigate whether its study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. By designing the aeroshell enclosing Curiosity to create lift and be steerable, engineers were able to build a system that lands much more precisely instead of dropping like a rock. Watch a video explaining the '7 minutes of terror'.

Doris O'Brien writes: There’s an odd assumption that people tend to become invisible as they grow old ... women, in particular. I figure I could rob a bank and nobody would even notice who done it. But, in reality,seniors are the least likely to break the law, and maybe even the most reluctant to publicly express their opinions on controversial subjects, for fear of refutation, ridicule, or even recrimination.

The exhibit draws from the millions of immigration case files in the Archives to tell a few of these stories from the 1880s through World War II. It also ex­plores the attachment of immigrants to fam­ily and community and the attachment of government organizations to immigration laws that reflected certain beliefs about im­migrants and citizenship. These are dramatic tales of joy and disappointment, opportu­nity and discrimination, deceit and honesty.

More than 48 million Medicare cards display the SSN (Social Security Number), which increases Medicare beneficiaries’ vulnerability to identity theft. GAO was asked to review the options and associated costs for removing SSNs from the Medicare card.

Our results provide a new picture of maritime disasters. Women have a distinct survival disadvantage compared to men. Captains and crew survive at a significantly higher rate than passengers. We also find that the captain has the power to enforce normative behavior, that the gender gap in survival rates has declined.

Statistics illustrate the discrepancy between men’s and women’s retirement funds: “The median 401(k) account balance for men age 60 and older is $82,000 and only $46,000 for women age 60 and older. Clearly more needs to be done to help women. For those with low account balances, solutions that merely annuitize retirement accounts will not be sufficient.”

Conservative efforts to undermine the Obamacare provision to guarantee no-cost contraception have been happening at the state level. Nine states have considered legislation or ballot measures that would either reject the federal regulation or undermine contraceptive coverage in state law.

Ferida Wolff and Tam Gray write: A wildlife habitat can be in a backyard, on a roof, in a park or a school — wherever we can put together what is needed to make a nature-friendly environment. The NWF has certified over 150,000 sites across the US. Some states have a WHIP program encouraging homeowners by incentives to create a more elaborate habitat.

Joan L. Cannon writes: John Irving has attracted plenty of attention throughout his career with his explosive originality and his fearlessness when it comes to convention — from The World According to Garp to the most recent In One Person. Not all his work is created equal, of course, but when I ran across A Widow for One Year, I didn’t expect to be as intrigued as I was.

Along religious lines, white evangelical Protestants and black Protestants and atheists and agnostics on the other, are the most likely to say they are uncomfortable with Romney’s faith. Republicans and white evangelicals overwhelmingly back Romney irrespective of their views of his faith, and Democrats and seculars overwhelmingly oppose him regardless of their impression.

"Suddenly that little wedge of sky above Hickam Field and Pearl Harbor was the busiest, fullest piece of sky I ever saw. We counted anxiously as our little civilian planes came flying home to roost. Two never came back. They were washed ashore weeks later on the windward side of the island, bullet-riddled. Not a pretty way for the brave little yellow Cubs and their pilots to go down to death."

"The Department of Defense estimates that one in four women who join the armed services will be raped or assaulted, but that only about 10% of such incidents are ever reported,” stated Rep. Jon Runyan, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. “Even more alarming is that of those few who did report incidents of military sexual trauma, over 75 percent stated that they would not make the same decision about reporting the incident again, due to the consequences it had on their military career.”

“Ms Rippington does not seek to use this claim to change the 2012 Olympic sports programme. She wants the organisers of these Olympics, who are in the UK bound by equalities rules, to conduct an in-depth examination of the gender bias in the canoeing programme, and, she hopes, in the Olympic sports programme in general."

Val Castronovo writes: "The one-of-a-kind exhibit of one-of-a-kind objects showcases some 35 gold and bejeweled snuffboxes (steinkabinetts), candy boxes (bonbonnieres), chains, buttons and other accessories decorated with colorful, Saxon gemstones (agate, carnelian, jasper, lapis lazuli), each rimmed in gold and numbered."