Travel Links
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Rose Madeline Mula: If You Can’t Stand the Heat
Rose Madeline Mula Writes: “It was with considerable trepidation, therefore, that I entered the kitchen of my hostess, the legendary actress, Joan Fontaine, one long-ago Thanksgiving morning, to offer my assistance. Acting was not Miss Fontaine’s only talent. Not by a long shot. She was also a hole-in-one golfer, a prize-winning fisherwoman, a hot air…
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An Undocumented Childhood by Rose Madeline Mula
Rose Mula Writes: Some people never leave home without their American Express card; I never leave home without a camera. Digitized pictures of the twenty-five countries and forty-plus states of America that I’ve visited since my first tour of exotic New Hampshire constantly flash on my computer monitors and digital frames throughout my home, helping…
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Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library
Julia Sneden Wrote: My mind’s eye can still see the face of the Children’s Librarian, although I have long since forgotten her name. We will be wise to continue to back up our knowledge of history and literature and art and science with hard copy. She kept up with my reading level, suggesting writers and…
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Julia Sneden Wrote: If The Shoe Fits … You Can Bet It’s Not Fashionable
Julia Sneden Wrote: My mother was a mini Imelda Marcos. She kept upwards of 40 pairs of shoes well into her 80’s, and was crushed when she had to give up high heels following a heart attack at the age of 89. Her sole criterion in buying shoes was style, not comfort, and she was…
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Joan L.Cannon Wrote: A Family Inheritance: More Than ‘Things’ … Emblems of Our Lives
Joan Cannon wrote: As one advances in years, one accumulates possessions the way a caddis fly larva accumulates grit. The glue that makes us carry it all along with us is in a way self-secreted as well. However, it’s psychic rather than physical — emotional rather than material. Perhaps the most obvious example is a…
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Julia Sneden Wrote: Old Dogs, New Tricks
Julia Sneden wrote: At the age of 37, I started a new career as a kindergarten teacher. My first day on the job, the lead teacher, who was in her 70’s and scared me every bit as much as she scared the children, watched me writing a note. “You’ll have to change the way you…
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Joan Cannon Writes: Finding the Right Excuse; Committing Words to Paper Because …
Joan Cannon Writes: Think of the poets and novelists and playwrights whose words sink into the consciousness of thousands and even millions and remain there, as emblems, guides, beacons of hope or warnings of disasters, and the excuse (as if one is needed) presents itself. Maybe there’s information or a revelation for some unknown viewer…
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Joan Cannon Asked: What is a Book Club? An Old-Fashioned Book Report? A Program Given By an Author? What Is the Accepted Practice?
Joan L. Cannnon wrote: A year or so ago, I was invited to attend a tea given by the combined membership of all the book clubs in the town where I now live. A presentation was scheduled for the proprietor of the much-loved local independent book store cum gift shop. She is a legend in…
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GAO High Risk List, Public Health Preparedness: *HHS Should Address Strategic National Stockpile Requirements and Inventory Risks
“Recent emergencies have highlighted the importance of preparedness. One key component of the nation’s medical response infrastructure is the SNS. The SNS inventory may be deployed to state, local, territorial, tribal, and international governments when needed. GAO placed HHS’s leadership and coordination of public health emergencies on its High Risk List in January 2022 (GAO-22-105291)…
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GAO Report, Older Households: Comparison of Income, Wealth, and Survival in the United States with Selected Countries
“In recent decades, income and wealth disparities have been increasing among older Americans and exceed those in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We found: In 2007, older Americans in a typical low-income household needed to work 12 years to equal what a typical high-income older household earned in 1 year; there were similar gaps…
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Looking Back: Women’s Congressional Policy Institute, Weekly Legislative Update; September 12-16, 2022, Screening Initiatives by Health Care and Social Service Providers
A bill to establish a cause of action with respect to reproductive health services; A bill to improve benefits and services for surviving spouses; screening initiatives by health care and social service providers; paid emergency leave; A bill to provide for a demonstration program to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention screening initiatives by…
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“Henry Ford Innovation Nation”, a Favorite Television Show
Between looking at a post we had started about Nancy Pelosi and the January 6th Committee, we delved into a weekend show, while watching on our CBS favorite TV program, Henry Ford Innovation Nation: “250 acres of unexpected awe-inspiring experience. At The Henry Ford, you’ll discover America — its culture, inventions, people and can-do spirit —…
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Social Security Announces 8.7 Percent Benefit Increase for 2023; On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January.
“Medicare premiums are going down and Social Security benefits are going up in 2023, which will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room. This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to…
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Impaired Driving and Excessive Speeding: The National Transportation Safety Board and Alcohol Impairment Detection Systems
“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash — just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the U.S. annually,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “We need to implement the technologies we have right here, right now to save lives.” Requiring passive vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection…
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Findings Suggest COVID-19 Rebound Not Caused by Impaired Immune Response: Robust Cellular Immune Response to Residual Viral RNA?
“Larger, more detailed epidemiologic studies are needed to further understand the clinical importance and epidemiologic consequences of COVID-19 rebound, the authors write. The authors note that the current data support the need for isolation in symptomatic rebound persons and the need to evaluate, in a clinical trial, longer courses of Paxlovid in immunocompromised individuals where…
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Gender and Labor Markets by Diego Mendez-Carbajo* : “Sure [Fred Astaire] was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did…backwards and in high heels.” — Robert Thaves1
“…Recent research suggests that the key to understanding at least part of the unexplained portion of the gender wage gap might have to do with marriage. Although the gender wage gap between never-married men and never-married women is small, married men earn much higher wages than everybody else in the labor force. It is not…
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GAO, Medicare Telehealth: Actions Needed to Strengthen Oversight and Help Providers Educate Patients on Privacy and Security Risks
“To help patients access care during the pandemic, Medicare temporarily waived restrictions on telehealth — health care services delivered via phone or video. The use of telehealth services rose tenfold: 53 million telehealth visits in Apr.-Dec. 2020 vs. 5 million during the same period in 2019. But Medicare hasn’t comprehensively assessed the quality of care…
