The association between light skin color and high social status has a long and distinguished history in Western society. In Victorian England, light skin was venerated and considerable effort was expended to keep women, particularly the upper class, out of the sun. Women in the Victorian period went to great lengths to avoid sun exposure… Continue reading
The recent southerly shift of the polar vortex and the concomitant plunging temperatures prompted me to think about how we deal with cold weather. We have all heard the expression “Cold hands, warm heart,” in reference to an individual’s disposition or personality, but what about response to cold weather? Recently much of the US experienced… Continue reading
I am neither a lawyer nor psychologist, so I have license to hold opinions unfettered by professional concerns about the sentence given Ethan Couch who killed four people and injured two others while driving drunk. Couch is the 16-year old son of a wealthy Texas businessman, who drove a truck owned by his father’s company… Continue reading
I did not intend to write this blog when I sat down at my computer this morning, but a story in today’s New York Times caught my attention. Ravi Somaiya and Leslie Kaufman have an interesting piece, “If A Story Is Viral, Truth May Be Taking A Beating,” that details several recent instances of stories… Continue reading
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Eastern Samar province of the Philippines, on the southern tip of Samar Island on November 7, 2013. When the storm departed, thousands of people were dead, millions displaced, and there was massive property damage. News about this natural disaster was everywhere. Aid organizations quickly sprang into action, and urgent… Continue reading