Why Health Insurance Should Not Be Tied to Employment
On our nation’s birthday, we have much to celebrate in the 238 years since our country was founded: we’ve come a long way with regards to religious freedom and equal rights but we still have a long way to go. This past week the US Supreme Court voted 5-4 that the government cannot require for-profit, closely held companies to provide certain birth control drugs and devices because the provision goes against the owner’s religious beliefs. Whether you agree or disagree with the Supreme Court ruling, this case never should have been entertained by the high court because health insurance should not be tied to employment, and here are the three reasons why: Read more 
6 Indie Bookstores to Patronize NOW
A quiet battle between Amazon (the behemoth bookseller) and Hachette (the giant book publisher) has been waging on for years but the lid was blown off this past week by a combination of factors that many observers are predicting will lead to the The War To End All Wars in Bookville.
At the 2014 Book Expo of America (the largest annual book trade fair) in New York City, a few brave authors spoke out against the giant retailer for its strong-arm tactics of notifying customers that pre-orders of books published by Hachette are no longer being accepted. In addition, Amazon notified customers of delays in book shipments and that certain books by authors whose works are published by Hachette are not available, bringing the industry issues to the public’s attention. But, I am getting ahead of myself so let’s take a step back.
Hand Woven Merino Wool Blankets
Most people are not thinking about wool blankets this time of year but they should be because now is the time to buy a new hand-woven lightweight blanket from the Nordt Family Farm – a 400 acre working farm, 30 miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia on the banks of the James River in Charles City, Virginia.
Owned by Dianne Nordt and her orthopedic surgeon husband, Nordt Family Farm has all kinds of animals including a small flock of three dozen sheep who supply the merino wool used to make beautiful soft hand-woven blankets. Warm and cozy yet light enough for year-round use, the Nordt Family Farm Merino Wool Blanket has hand-hemmed edges to give a clean, modern look to a traditional favorite throw. Read more
The Changing of the Guard
Sometimes seemingly normal events have a way of putting people in their place, which is what happened to me this past Sunday. During the week, my subscription to the Wall Street Journal arrives Monday through Saturday but on Sunday I buy the New York Times and spend the morning reading all the sections (except Sports and Automobiles) with special attention given to the Real Estate, Metropolitan, Styles, Business, and Sunday Review sections. Both newspapers provide a different perspective (read: conservative and liberal) on the events of the week with the Sunday Times providing a lighter, more entertaining read on the most relaxing day of the week. Read more
A Prom Dress Registry?
Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.
-Gibran Khalil Gibran
Decades ago when I was going to proms, finding a dress was as simple as going to the mall and buying a gown that would match a date’s tux (yes, it was the 70’s). Nowadays, my daughter tells me things are different. Girls buy a dress and immediately post a picture of the dress on-line (usually a Facebook page set up for this purpose) so that no one else even thinks about buying the coveted frock because there really can’t be anything more catastrophic than two or three girls wearing the same dress to a prom. And, if an independent-minded teen dares to defy her peers and not conform, she is criticized, shunned, or runs the risk of subjecting herself to a fashion face-off of “Who Wears it Better?” Read more
My Neck Obsession
A few weeks ago, I was watching the last season of Dexter and couldn’t stop staring at Hannah McKay, Dexter’s murderous psychopath girlfriend. The actress, Yvonne Strahovski is young, thin, and beautiful but it was her neck that had me mesmerized…she was wearing a spaghetti-strapped tee which showcased a beautiful silken neck that looked smooth as cream even when her hair was limp and frizzy from the Miami heat and humidity. Read more
Boys-Only Golf Clubs
With the Master’s Tournament taking place at the Augusta National Golf Club this week, the conversation surrounding boys-only golf clubs is heating up again. Although Augusta left the dark ages and officially joined the modern world by inviting two females (Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore) in August, 2012 to join its estimated 300 member male base, some say Augusta still has a long way to go. After all, women represent less than 1 percent of club membership at the well-known Georgian golf club. Read more
“My Gentle Barn”
At the core of every human being is a resilience that buoys us back to the surface of life. With every painful loss or setback that brings us crashing to our knees, we find some way to keep breathing and move forward.
My Gentle Barn is the story of how one young girl made her dream come true. Ellie Laks grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family whose members didn’t understand who she was or what made her tick. Told to be quiet, help her mother, and subjugate herself to adults and males in particular, Ellie was a lonely and angry child who didn’t know why her family put her in a box where she didn’t belong and blamed her when she was victimized. Turning to animals – and especially those who needed help – Ellie found solace, compassion, and understanding in the creatures she shared a special connection with. Looking back as an adult, Ellie writes:
“The SAT Is Not Fair”
The cover story of the New York Times Magazine (March 9, 2014) was the SAT – the standardized test designed to put high school students on a level playing field when it comes to college admissions in the US. Written by Todd Balf, the article is humorously (but truthfully) titled “The SAT Is Hated By…All Of The Above” meaning the most widely used college admissions test is despised by “stressed-out students, frustrated educators, hamstrung admissions officers, and anxious parents.” Designed as a tool by which all students could be compared, the SAT doesn’t do what it was designed to do and is, in fact unfair because students have unequal access to two systems: education and test-prep. Read more
Bariatric Surgery for Kids?
The Wall Street Journal ran an article this week entitled “As World’s Kids Get Fatter, Doctors Turn to the Knife” by Shirley S. Wang who reported that children as young as 3 years old are being considered for weight-loss surgery in Saudi Arabia. Seems that the rates of overweight and obese children age 5 and under are rising in much of the world but rising faster in developed countries, including Saudi Arabia. Why? That’s the million dollar question with the answer alarmingly apparent. Read more
Paddock Post 