Senior Women Web

Julia Sneden wrote: "Bosky," my mother the English teacher said firmly. "It means covered with trees and shrubs. Thickly grown. And a dell is a..." "I know," I said, falling easily into our mother/teacher, daughter/pupil mode. "A dell is a small valley or hollow, usually secluded." I find myself wondering how long it will take people to realize that when we take out trees, we take out the oxygen producers that keep us alive. Humans inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. It's that simple. more »

Another outbreak of E.coli: The FDA, along with CDC, state and local agencies, is investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses likely linked to romaine lettuce. The Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency, are also coordinating with US agencies as they investigate a similar outbreak in Canada. CDC and public health and regulatory officials in several states are investigating a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw turkey products. In the meantime, a significant, positive change in FDA’s food safety policies, and one that The Pew Trusts and 10 other public health groups had urged because store information can help people determine whether they may have bought or eaten potentially dangerous items. more »

Jo Freeman writes: While some races are still too close to call, 2018 also saw a great leap upward in the number of women running and winning. More than a quarter of all candidates running for Congress or Governor this year were women (272 of 964). What 1992 has in common with 2018 is that these candidates were overwhelmingly Democrats. For the Democratic Party, this was another year of the woman; not so much for the Republicans. In November, Democratic women ran for 93 seats and won nearly half. Republican women ran for 13 and won less than a quarter. Several issues were prominent which attracted women voters. Exit polls said that the chief issue in 2018 was healthcare. Family separation of would-be immigrants was another. more »

Ferida Wolff writes: This Fall, though, has been slow in offering up its charms. The summer heat seemed to last longer than usual. I wonder if our winter weather will be different as well. Certainly different from my childhood memories of autumn. Weather-wise there are more storms, more drought, more floods all across our nation and the world. There is more political animosity, more anger, more active hatred. I try to look at people in a universal way, hoping to see what connects us rather than tears us apart. I look for the joy in life even though I know there are times for grief. more »