Legislatures are often on the hook for the bad behavior of lawmakers because, like other employers, they are responsible under the Civil Rights Act for creating a workplace that is free from harassment and discrimination. Employers that don’t attempt to prevent harassment — and report and investigate claims when they arise — can be held liable. It's part of an employer's job to prevent a toxic culture, said Emily Martin, general counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal defense for victims of harassment. But Martin said the bills raise an important question about why the state is paying for the transgressions of lawmakers, who do not have a traditional employer-employee relationship. 

Definitely try to avoid close contact with sick people. If you do get sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone without the use of fever-reducing drugs (unless you need medical care or other necessities). Make sure you cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Wash your hands often with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.

In January 2017, the California Reinvestment Coalition and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, seeking data about reverse mortgage foreclosures in HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, and about a new HUD program meant to keep widowed and widower non-borrowing spouses in their homes after the death of their spouse. New data indicates that there was a 646% increase in foreclosures last year against seniors with federally insured reverse mortgages as compared to the previous 7 years.

House Session, Part 1 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gave an uninterrupted speech of over eight hours, saying she would not leave the floor until Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) agreed to allow a vote on a bill that addresses the plight of undocumented migrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, also known as “Dreamers.” The Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order that permitted DREAMers to remain the U.S. was rescinded by President Trump and set to expire on March 5, 2018. Leader Pelosi throughout her monologue read testimonies written by Dreamers about their lives and sent to their members of Congress.

Joan Cannon wrote: George Eliot said (in Middlemarch) "... we do not expect people to be moved by what is not unusual. That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling for all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."

Bills introduced: Rep. Jackie Speier: A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the American women who joined the workforce during World War II, providing the vehicles, weaponry, and ammunition to win the war, that were referred to as "Rosie the Riveter," in recognition of their contributions to the National the inspiration they have provided to ensuing generation. Sen. Claire McCaskill — A bill to direct the director of the OMB to establish an interagency working group to study federal efforts to collect data on sexual violence and to make recommendations on the harmonization of such efforts, and for other purposes. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster introduced a similar bill in the House.  

The 2017–2018 cohort of Radcliffe fellows include scholars, scientists, artists, and writers. Below, a selection of Radcliffe fellows share books that inspired their research, activated their imaginations, and sparked their enjoyment. My own list of books to be read includes one on American Women Code Breakers, a Robert A. Caro third volume of his Lyndon Johnson biography, The Fighting Temeraire, Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent; Alan Riding's And the How Went On (Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris); Anthony's Powers 1st in the series A Dance to the Music of Time; but I am dedicated to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Workout, too ...

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Don't you think it's strange that so many women are wearing jeans with gaping, ragged holes and frayed hems? Stranger still, they are buying them in that condition from high-end boutiques. Marketed as "distressed," these garments command much higher prices than their pristine, unstressed/well-adjusted cousins. Furthermore, women are being brainwashed into buying their jeans at least two sizes too small, requiring enough pulling and tugging to get into so as to distress them even more.

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced today that they are partnering on ways to address healthcare for their US employees, with the aim of improving employee satisfaction and reducing costs. The three companies, which bring their scale and complementary expertise to this long-term effort, will pursue this objective through an independent company that is free from profit-making incentives and constraints. "Rather, we share the belief that putting our collective resources behind the country's best talent can, in time, check the rise in health costs while concurrently enhancing patient satisfaction and outcomes," said Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway.

From the nineteenth century into the early decades of the twentieth century, women made incremental progress as professional cartoonists and illustrators, with occasional, notable leaps forward by particular creators. In the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries — as educational and professional opportunities expanded — women have become leaders, producing best-selling work, winning top prizes, and receiving high acclaim from their peers in the field.

In 2013, Medicare beneficiaries’ average out-of-pocket health care spending was 41 percent of average per capita Social Security income; the share increased with age and was higher for women than men, especially among people ages 85 and over. Medicare beneficiaries’ average out-of-pocket health care spending is projected to rise as a share of average per capita Social Security income, from 41 percent in 2013 to 50 percent in 2030.

The Armada Portrait was designed to be a spectacle of female power and majesty, carefully calculated to inspire awe and wonder. Like many Tudor portraits, it is packed with meaning and metaphor. Elizabeth's upright posture, open arms and clear gaze speak of vitality and strength. She is draped in pearls — symbols of chastity and the Moon. Numerous suns are embroidered in gold on her skirt and sleeves, to signify power and enlightenment. She rests her hand on a globe, with her fingers over the New World, and above can be seen a covered imperial crown: both signal her potency as a ruler, not just of England but also as a monarch with overseas ambitions.

The US annual national violent crime rate increased in 2015 and 2016, but many cities are reporting reductions for 2017, and both violent and total crime rates remain near record lows. National, state, and local crime rates shift for complex and poorly understood reasons, and experts offer a wide range of possible explanations; overall, however, the rates of reported violent and property crime have declined by more than half since their 1991 peaks, falling to levels not seen since the late 1960s.

Ferida Wolff writes: Come the spring the geese will return to familiar surroundings with a new perspective. It sounds like a plan for me, too. The more I observe nature, the more I realize that everything has intelligence. Plants do. Insects do. Animals and birds are pretty darn smart. It may differ from how we think but it is functional for how to survive. If we diminish anything in nature we lessen our own understanding of life.

Naturalization provides immigrants with virtually the same rights and benefits as native-born citizens, including the right to vote, access to federal jobs and protection from deportation. A recent report from the National Academy of Sciences found that having more naturalized immigrants is good for the national income and increases political participation and integration of those immigrants within American society. Surveys show that most US immigrants want to become citizens. But compared to other similar countries, like the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the United States has a lower naturalization rate, which has been decreasing over recent decades. 

"Assuming the findings are confirmed in a larger study, individuals now have a low-cost, non-toxic way for looking younger or to augment other cosmetic or anti-aging treatments they may be seeking," said Dr. Murad Alam, vice chair and professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine dermatologist. Says a senior study author: "Muscle growth is increasing the facial volume and counteracting the effects of age-related fat thinning and skin loosening."

With infrastructure crumbling, budgets teetering on the edge of being in the red in many states, and the growing popularity of fuel-efficient cars, which means gas taxes generate less revenue than they used to, officials are looking to tolls. Giving a boost to the efforts, President Donald Trump’s initial infrastructure proposal also called for widespread use of tolling on interstate highways, which now are limited by federal regulations to certain stretches of road.

The State Department Travel Advisories for each country replace previous Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts. For instance, we may advise US citizens to "Exercise Increased Caution" (Level 2) in a country, but to "Reconsider Travel" (Level 3) to a particular area within the country. Forgot Your ID? In the event you arrive at the airport without valid identification, because it is lost or at home, you may still be allowed to fly. The TSA officer may ask you to complete an identity verification process which includes collecting information such as your name, current address, and other personal information to confirm your identity. If your identity is confirmed, you will be allowed to enter the screening checkpoint. You may be subject to additional screening, to include a patdown and screening of carry-on property.  

Elaine Soloway writes: It wasn't DNA that matched us, simply years of traveling together through life's joys and sorrows. A trio of these friends had known me through first marriage and divorce, and all cleaved to me through my second husband's illness and death. In the dark Evanston, Morton Grove, and Chicago mornings, we'd bring each other up-to-date on the goings on during the nearly five months since I departed from my longtime home. And even though I chat frequently with these friends, and view Facebook status reports, these early morning kitchen conversations were as precious as an heirloom.

Due to a federal court order, USCIS has resumed accepting requests to renew a grant of deferred action under DACA. Until further notice, and unless otherwise provided in this guidance, the DACA policy will be operated on the terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017.

Amanda Bayer: "The percentage female at the undergraduate level in economics is well below the percentage female in other social sciences, in business, in humanities and even below the percentage female in STEM fields. Economics is an outlier...There's a huge misconception that it's the math component of economics that's keeping women away. And that's actually not the situation. About 45 percent of math majors at the undergraduate level are women. So, women major in math at a higher rate than they do in economics. Other studies with regression evidence show that math isn't the factor that explains the gap."  

Editor's Note: We thought about Sally Yates again today when journalist and commentator Mike Barnicle (on Morning Joe) referred to the former Acting Attorney General as a "truly noble, heroic figure" and so decided to rerun the Harvard Law School article on her speech to the graduating class. "Being bold, taking a risk and owning it, isn't easy to do, and the instinct for self-preservation may continually draw you to the safe, risk-free course," she said. "But I urge you to resist that instinct. Not only is a life of hedging your bets unsatisfying, but it means you're unlikely to make much of a difference."

In November, the Trump administration exempted nursing homes that violate eight new safety rules from penalties for 18 months. Homes must still follow the rules, which are intended, among other things, to reduce the overuse of psychotropic drugs and to ensure that every home has adequate resources to assist residents with major psychological problems...The shift in the Medicare program's penalty protocols was requested by the nursing home industry. The American Health Care Association, the industry's main trade group, has complained that under Obama inspectors focused excessively on catching wrongdoing rather than helping nursing homes improve...Since 2013, nearly 6,500 nursing homes — 4 of every 10 — have been cited at least once for a serious violation, federal records show.