Women of Note
Weekly Legislative Update and Meetings: “Taking Military Domestic Violence Out of the Shadows;” A Bill to Require Federal Law Enforcement Agencies to Report On Cases of Missing or Murdered American Indians
A bill to improve obstetric care in rural areas; a bill to establish a National Commission on Fibrotic Diseases; A bill to ensure the safe use of cosmetics, and for other purposes; A bill to amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 relating to determinations with respect to efforts of foreign countries to reduce demand for commercial sex acts under the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; A bill to require federal law enforcement agencies to report on cases of missing or murdered Indians, and for other purposes; A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the relationships between firearm violence, misogyny, and violence against women and reaffirming the importance of preventing individuals with a history of violence against women from accessing a firearm. more »
Revisiting Favorite Books: Kristin Lavransdatter, the Trilogy - The Wreath, The Mistress of Husaby and The Cross
Julia Sneden reviews: We find that it an interesting process, looking back at books we read in our twenties and thirties. The books themselves haven't changed, but thanks to the varied experiences that another twenty or thirty years have added to our lives, we read them from a different perspective. Herewith, the first review of an old, beloved book (actually, three books). "Her mother too had been marked in youth, body and soul, by the bearing and nourishing of children; and she had thought perchance no more than Kristin herself, when she sat with that sweet young life at her breast, that so long as they two lived, each single day would lead the child farther and farther from her arms." more »
On the Buses with Older Warrior Women
Diane Girard writes: I ride city buses frequently and so do many seniors in my town, especially the older women. Fortunately, we have good public transit, because for some of us it is our only transportation except for the occasional taxi ride. The women I will mention here don’t resemble Xena, the Warrior Princess. They go about their business mostly unnoticed and uncelebrated except perhaps by their kindred. So, why do I refer to these older women I know a little about, the women who tell me personal stories, as warriors? Because they are honorable fighters. They get on with their lives, with grace in most cases and with smiles, almost always. more »
Biden, Klobuchar Rankings by the Lugar Center Highest Among Presidential Candidates Who Built Bipartisan Collaboration in the Senate
The lifetime Senate scores show a wide variance among current Democratic presidential candidates, ranging from former Vice President Joe Biden, who placed in the top quartile of the rankings, to Senator Bernie Sanders who placed 247th out of the 250 Senators covered by the Index. “The new data provides historical context for the challenges to bipartisan collaboration in the Senate over the last twenty-six years,” said Lugar Center Executive Director John Lugar. “But it also shows that legislators can work to build consensus with members of the opposite party regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum.” more »