Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
The US Economy: Small Business Pulse Survey Updates by the US Census
14.2% of U.S. Small Businesses experienced an increase in operating revenues/sales/receipts in the last week, marking the fifth consecutive week of reported increases. 21.9% of U.S. Small Businesses have experienced little or no effect from the coronavirus pandemic, making it the largest estimate ever reported for this statistic. 9.5% of U.S. Small Businesses experienced an increase in the number of hours worked by paid employees in the last week. For responses collected 3/22 - 3/28, this statistic was 9.0%. 13.9% of U.S. Small Businesses have returned to their normal level of operations. 22.9% of U.S. Retail Trade small businesses experienced an increase in operating revenues in the last week, marking the first time on the SBPS that more companies reported an increase over a decrease, based on responses collected 3/29 – 4/4 more »
Jo Freeman: The Georgia Peach Is Purple
Jo Freeman writes: Georgia is a purple state. In the last sixty years, Georgia politics has become politically polarized and racially diverse. White Republican men hold the three highest state offices and the GOP has majorities in both legislative chambers. But, the highest ranking Democrat in the state is a Black woman. Six of the 16 members of Georgia’s Congressional delegation are Black; four are women. Only one is a white male Democrat. more »
Kaiser Health News (KHN): Colleges and Universities Plan for Normal-ish Campus Life in the Fall
Almost every official who spoke with KHN said universities will open their classrooms and their dorms this fall. In many cases, they no longer can afford not to. But controlling those environments and limiting viral spread loom among the largest challenges in many schools’ histories — and the notion of what constitutes normalcy is again being adjusted in real time. The university officials predicted significantly increased on-campus activity, but with limits. Most of the schools expect to have students living on campus but attending only some classes in person or attending only on selected days — one way to stagger the head count and to limit classroom exposure. And all plan to have vaccines and plenty of testing available. more »
Upcoming Exhibitions at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT): Head to Toe and Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion
"The consumer revolution of the mid-nineteenth century led to an explosion of available fashion goods at increasingly affordable prices. More middle- and even working-class women could buy industrially produced accessories; however, this accessibility created class tensions between the aspirational and those who had traditionally participated in luxury fashion... Social commentators judged women as extravagant or ruinous by the style of their hats, marked morality by the cleanliness of their gloves, and condemned by the vulgar color of their shoes. more »
