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How Toxic Masculinity Permeates the Intellectual Takeout Office 0
- Culture
- March 6, 2019
When the #MeToo movement was at its height some months ago, I threw my shoulders back, took a deep breath, and let loose with my own story of the “toxic masculinity” I have experienced while working as the sole female in an entirely male office. Time has passed, and instead of seeing the toxic
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What an Old Sears Roebuck Catalogue Teaches Us About Gun Control 1
- Politics
- March 5, 2019
As I write these words, a reproduction of the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue, published in 1968 by Chelsea House, sits at my elbow. The fat catalog is a casual reader’s delight and a historian’s treasure trove. Here are medicines like laudanum, herb tea, and castor oil. Here are tools, bobsleds, gasoline stoves, windmills, bicycles, clothing
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Quiz: How Strong is Your Thriftiness Quotient?0
- Culture
- March 5, 2019
Ben Franklin knew a lot about—preached and practiced — thrift. So how do you go about measuring thrift or any individual‘s thriftiness quotient? I get asked this question all the time, so I devised this handy Thrift Meter. Try it and pass it along. Is there an Index or some gauge that can give you a reliable account
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Minimum Wage Hike to $15 Wipes Out Jobs in Illinois and New York 0
- Economics
- March 5, 2019
Big minimum wage hikes wipe out a lot of jobs. Illinois recently enacted a $15 minimum wage, a large increase in the minimum wage that will be phased in over several years. And businesses are already announcing plans to close up, move out of the state, or curb their expansion in the state. The Daily Gazette
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Arresting Homebirth Midwives Just Reduces Women’s Birth Choices 0
- Culture
- March 5, 2019
After being arrested and charged with practicing midwifery without a license last fall, a midwife in upstate New York is wondering whether or not she will go to jail for the work she has done for decades. Elizabeth Catlin is a beloved certified professional midwife (CPM) who has caught hundreds of babies in the tight-knit
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Sorry, Marie Kondo. Most People Have Too Little Stuff.0
- Culture
- March 5, 2019
Marie Kondo’s Netflix show “Tidying Up” is a hit. Apparently, Americans love watching other people throw stuff into trash bags – saying “thank you” to each item first, per the KonMari method. In each episode, Kondo cheerfully sweeps into a new family’s home like a Japanese Mary Poppins and teaches them how to declutter their
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