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Reasonable?

Jane Austen writes: “How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!” Jane Austen is a wise woman.  I am going to read Persuasion again. –Joy

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No need to apologize

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor says that she has no need to apologize. The “look-wider, search-more affirmative action” that Princeton and Yale practiced opened doors for her. “That was its purpose,” she explains, “to create the conditions whereby students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be brought to the starting line of a race many were unaware […]

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A place of kindness, respect and love

I saw a sculpture of Ruby Bridges, the six-year-old who was the first Black to integrate an elementary school in the South, at the Dallas Arboretum. The bronze sculpture is part of the Great Contributors Collection now being displayed at the arboretum, and the collection includes eight new works by Gary Lee Price. On his […]

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Trust and fear

In the early 1970s, surveys showed that about half of the people in this country believed most people were trustworthy. By 2020, the number had fallen to less than one-third. And, many people who don’t trust others fear them. However, fear has to be justified by the circumstances, says Geoffrey Corn, chair of criminal law […]

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Are you unhappy?

Try to discover why you are unhappy, suggests Dr. Laurie Santos, a Yale professor. “Negative emotions are really good,” Dr. Santos stresses. “They’re useful signals that I think we ignore in the modern day. But we really ignore them at our peril.” I read about Dr. Santos and happiness in the January 16/January 23 issue […]

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Summer trips

Even though I am anticipating summer trips, I found this quote recently in a restaurant and realized how true it is. I can’t wait to go on a trip, and I know, too, I will be glad to return home. “A man (or woman!) travels the world over to find what he ( or she) […]

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A single drop

Manal Al-Sharif was put in prison in Saudi Arabia when she dared to drive in 2011. It was seven years later, in 2018, when women finally were allowed to drive in the country. As Manal Al-Sharif says in her book Daring to Drive, “The rain begins with a single drop.”

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Daring to drive

It was 2011 when Manal Al-Sharif dared to drive. A woman driving wasn’t illegal in Saudi Arabia. One scholar Al Albani even suggested that in Muhammad’s time women could ride a donkey; so, why not drive a car? However, women driving was considered by many to be an assault on the country’s patriarchal culture. They […]

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Joy and sorrow

Lots of sorrow and a little joy. Lots of joy and only a bit Of sorrow.             Who can know The formula beforehand? These are words from How Beautiful the Beloved by Gregory Orr.  One of the best kinds of friends are friends who give you a book—a book you never would have read if […]

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300 years to equality?

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, in a report issued in March 2023, warns that progress won over decades is vanishing because “the patriarchy is fighting back.” Women’s rights are being “abused, threatened and violated” around the world and gender equality won’t be achieved for 300 years if we stay on the […]

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