Sylvester Owino, 40, said he survived torture in Kenya as a young activist and came to the US on a student visa, which ran out. A 2003 robbery conviction in San Diego resulted in a nine-year stint in a detention facility. Now, he is part of a US Supreme Court case that will determine whether immigrant detainees have a right to a bond hearing.
The two situations illustrate the variety of crimes that can get immigrants detained and deported, even after they have served a jail or prison sentence for the crime — and even if they are in the country legally. And while the federal government says it targets noncitizens who are serious or repeat offenders, immigrants with minor offenses often are deported.
Immigrants with criminal records may soon come under increased scrutiny. Republican President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to immediately deport “the people that are criminal and have criminal records.” There are, he said, “a lot of these people, probably two million, it could be even three million, we are getting them out of our country.”
Immigration advocates say those numbers are inflated, and point to figures that indicate most immigrants are being deported for minor crimes or for no crime at all.
First-generation immigrants commit crimes at much lower rates than do US citizens. But for those who do commit crimes, it’s hard to get a clear picture of whether they are serious or misdemeanors, violent or nonviolent.
Since 2014, the Department of Homeland Security has prioritized deporting noncitizens who pose a serious threat to public safety or national security — and from October 2014 through September 2015, of the 235,413 people who were deported, 59 percent had criminal convictions.
But federal data on criminal deportees does not specify the crimes they’ve committed — or how many of them are undocumented. Technically, if someone is undocumented and entered the country after January 2014, they are considered a high priority for criminal deportation, even if they have committed no other offense.
Further complicating matters: what constitutes a “criminal alien” is not defined in US immigration law or regulations, and is used broadly, according to a September report by the Congressional Research Service. A criminal alien may be someone who is undocumented or an authorized immigrant who may or may not be deportable, depending on the crime they have committed. He or she may be incarcerated or free, or have already served time.
Ferida’s Backyard: Holidays and the New Year; A Hawk Sighting
Holidays and the New Year
We were taking a drive to nowhere on Christmas Eve, looking at the lights that call attention to the holiday, and came across a small house with a simple display. It almost felt like a coloring book illustration. When we returned home, my husband put his photo of the house through a painting app and came up with something that plays on the simplicity and, like the light at the front door, draws you inside. I like the creative way it makes me think.
This year three holidays come at the same time: Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. There is a sense of community within each holiday. Family and friends gather to celebrate, sharing food and fun. There is often an atmosphere of caring among people. I see more smiles and courtesy among the adults, and a joyful excitement among the children as gifts are anticipated.
Much has happened in our country these past few months, but not all has been positive. Nasty things have been said, people have been demonized, beliefs have been dismissed. Our world is too broadly populated for such non-acceptance to be the norm. America is based on the melding of people and ideas. I hope that the holiday season shifts some of the animosity that has developed.
Then this week, there was a hawk hanging out under the leafless redbud tree out back. It just stood there for a while, seemingly checking out its surroundings. I’ve seen hawks circling above my yard and occasionally swooping down to grab a bird or chipmunk but this one seemed to be just hangin’ out. Then it flew to a branch on the tulip tree and there I could see the white under-feathers of a catch that hadn’t been obvious before. Later it returned to the ground and really chowed down, not my favorite thing to see though I realize that every creature needs to eat.
I imagine we’ll be seeing more hawks around here in the future. As the land gets more developed, the wildlife become more visible. We take away habitat. Even as more land is set aside for green preservation, it doesn’t undo what already has been used for human purposes. I wonder what incredible sightings will come next. I hope we all can learn to live peacefully with each other’
More hawk photos and info:
http://theraptortrust.org/the-birds/hawk-facts/
Editor’s Note: Women, Hawks, and Literature Exams; Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, Birding Pal, Audubon Great Backyard Bird Count, Oregon Bird Count
©2016 Ferida Wolff for SeniorWomen.com
Bird detail from medieval illuminated manuscript, British Library Harley MS 3244, 1236-c
Happy Holidays Aloft: Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson On Third Long-Duration Mission to the International Space Station
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA sent holiday greetings and festive imagery from the cupola on Dec. 18.
Peggy A. Whitson (Ph.D.) is currently part of Expedition 50/51, which is her third long-duration mission to the International Space Station. Whitson and her crewmates, Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet launched on November 17, 2016. The Iowa native completed two six-month tours of duty aboard the station for Expedition 5 in 2002, and as the station commander for Expedition 16 in 2008. She has accumulated 377 days in space between the two missions, the most for any US woman at the time of her return to Earth. Whitson has also performed six spacewalks, totaling 39 hours and 46 minutes.
Personal Data:
Born February 9, 1960, in Mt. Ayr, Iowa. Hometown is Beaconsfield, Iowa. Married to Clarence F. Sams, Ph.D. Dr. Whitson enjoys weightlifting, biking, basketball and water skiing.
Education:
Graduated from Mt. Ayr Community High School, Mt. Ayr, Iowa, in 1978; received a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981 and a Doctorate in Biochemistry from Rice University in 1985.
Experience:
From 1981 to 1985, Dr. Whitson conducted her graduate work in Biochemistry at Rice University, Houston, Texas, as a Robert A. Welch Predoctoral Fellow. Following completion of her graduate work, she continued at Rice University as a Robert A. Welch Postdoctoral Fellow until October 1986. Following this position, she began her studies at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston, Texas, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate. From April 1988 until September 1989, Whitson served as the Supervisor for the Biochemistry Research Group at KRUG International, a medical sciences contractor at NASA-JSC. From 1991 to 1997, Whitson was invited to be an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics at University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. In 1997, Whitson began a position as Adjunct Assistant Professor at Rice University in the Maybee Laboratory for Biochemical and Genetic Engineering.
NASA Experience:
From 1989 to 1993, Dr. Whitson worked as a Research Biochemist in the Biomedical Operations and Research Branch at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. From 1991 to 1993, she served as Technical Monitor of the Biochemistry Research Laboratories in the Biomedical Operations and Research Branch. From 1991 to 1992, she was the Payload Element Developer for the Bone Cell Research Experiment (E10) aboard SL-J (STS-47) and was a member of the U.S.-USSR Joint Working Group in Space Medicine and Biology. In 1992, she was named the Project Scientist of the Shuttle-Mir Program (STS-60, STS‑63, STS-71, Mir 18, Mir 19) and served in this capacity until the conclusion of the Phase 1A Program in 1995. From 1993 to 1996, Whitson held the additional responsibilities of the Deputy Division Chief of the Medical Sciences Division at Johnson Space Center. From 1995 to 1996, she served as Co-Chair of the U.S.-Russian Mission Science Working Group. In April 1996, she was selected as an Astronaut Candidate and started training in August 1996. Upon completing two years of training and evaluation, she was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Operations Planning Branch and served as the lead for the Crew Test Support Team in Russia from 1998 to 1999. From November 2003 to March 2005, she served as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. Also in 2003, she served as commander of the fifth NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission.
From March 2005 to November 2005, she served as Chief of the Station Operations Branch, Astronaut Office. Whitson trained as the backup ISS commander for Expedition 14 from November 2005 to September 2006. Whitson also was a member of the 2004 Astronaut Selection Board and chaired the Astronaut Selection Board in 2009.
Whitson completed two six-month tours of duty aboard the International Space Station, the second as the station commander for Expedition 16 in April 2008. This was Whitson’s second long-duration spaceflight. She has accumulated 377 days in space between the two missions, the most for any woman. Whitson has also performed a total of six career spacewalks, adding up to 39 hours and 46 minutes.
From October 2009 to July 2012, Whitson served as Chief of the Astronaut Corps and was responsible for the mission preparation activities and on-orbit support of all International Space Station crews and their support personnel. She was also responsible for organizing the crew interface support for future heavy launch and commercially-provided transport vehicles. Whitson was the first female, nonmilitary Chief of the Astronaut Office.
Selling Memories: I Probably Shouldn’t Have Tried to Have my First Garage Sale at 85, but the Walls Were Crying Out
by Jean Pond
I probably shouldn’t have tried to have my first garage sale at 85, but the walls were crying out and I had to do something.
Human Options, a shelter for women received the clothing. Goodwill Industries got the thrift shop items and the rest were for my sale.
I draped a picnic table and card tables with sheets and identified every object by name and price with computer labels to cut down on negotiations.
There is absolutely no way to predict what is saleable. Things that I thought would sell quickly did not sell and things that I had no hope of selling disappeared immediately.
There are always the antique hunters and I think the fact that I was an antique myself was helpful. A prospective customer would say, “How old is this?” and, when true, I would say, “Well, it’s older than I am” and it would immediately be an antique even if it was only a potato masher.
A Southeastern European gentleman fondled a bracelet while he examined everything else. Finally he asked, “What is this?” I said, “It is a rhinestone bracelet.” He thought about it a while and then came back to me and said, “How do you spell rhinestone?” I spelled it and he bought it.
A pretty 18 year old girl spotted a seed pearl pin that was in the shape of the letter J. She asked, “When did you wear this?”
I replied, “When I was about your age I wore it on my Lana Turner sweater. It had considerable pick-up power. The boy would say, ‘What does the J stand for’ and I would say ‘Guess.’ Sometimes after about ten minutes of that give and take it ended with a chocolate soda.”
In Case You Were Wondering: The Office of Government Ethics and Use of Government Position and Resources
The [United States] Office of Government Ethics
Editor’s Note:
Public Financial Disclosure Reports (Open View)
An executive branch employee’s position, title, or authority may offer the opportunity to further the employee’s own private interests or the interests of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity. An employee may have access to nonpublic Government information that could benefit those interests, and will have access to Government property. The public may lose confidence in the integrity of Government if it perceives that an employee is using public office to serve a private interest, and it expects that Government information, property, and time (including the time of a subordinate) will be used to serve the public’s interests. Accordingly:
- An employee is required to act impartially.
- An employee may not make improper use of Government position, title, or authority.
- An employee may not use Government property, nonpublic information, or time (including the time of a subordinate) for other than authorized purposes.
Lost: An Incredible Emporium
The second Wanamaker’s at 770 Broadway, NYC; The view here is from Astor Place near the Cooper Union Foundation Building. Museum of the City of New York, Wikipedia
If I get another e-mail reminding me of the price of butter or gasoline in 1938, I might do violence to my computer. Certain things are unworthy of sentimental recall; change is the nature of being alive. The fact that everything costs more now than in our parents’ day is neither remarkable nor subject to reversion. Thus reminding ourselves of it is just non-productive.
Other things, like the atmosphere on a hot summer day in the city neighborhood where I grew up, or the blacked-out nights of World War II, or what department stores used to be like seem worth recalling for what we might be able to learn, even after half a century after they’re no longer around. The past has lessons and pleasures to offer us.
It probably means more to me because it was only two blocks away from where we lived. The store occupied two full city blocks between lower Broadway and Fourth Avenue from Ninth to Tenth Street. The Tenth Street block comprised a ground floor centered by a five-story rotunda that had curving staircases to the second floor anchored by a large pipe organ. That was the venue for all sorts of entertainment, but especially music, on offer to anyone who could be there to enjoy it. In the Depression, such free events were welcome, I’m sure, for many with no other access to diversion.
Our school was only a mile or so away, and we gave regular annual concerts ranged on those stairs at Thanksgiving and at Christmas. Since it was a Quaker school, we were decked out in appropriate costumes: gray rayon dresses with white caps and fichus for the girls, black suits with knee breeches and broad white Eton collars topped by pilgrim hats for the boys. There were almost daily noon-time recitals, carol singing by church choirs as well as our school choir before Christmas, and other performances to regale customers year round.
Nowadays we see gorgeous decorations for the holidays that must cost a fortune, but none exceed the fragrant fresh wreaths and greens and miles of velvet ribbon, acres of poinsettias, and a Santa with attendant elves that Wanamaker’s displayed every year.
The ground floor around this space had jewelry, cosmetics, gloves and scarves, women’s shoes, men’s wear, hats, and the book store. Elevators were run by uniformed operators who recited the goods available on each floor. Furs and children’s clothing and shoes, dresses and lingerie, shirts and ties and underwear; in short, anything one could need or want was available.
“Operating Under A Cloud of Uncertainty”: Janet Yellen’s FOMC Press Conference About Raising the Target Range for Federal Funds Rate to 1/2 to 3/4 %
“On financial regulation we lived through a devastating financial crisis that took a huge toll on our economy. Most members of Congress and the public came away from that experience feeling it was important to take a set of steps that would result in a safer and stronger financial system. I feel that we have done that. That has been our mission since the financial crisis; that’s what *Dodd Frank was designed to do.”
Janet Yellen, in part at her press conference following the statement of the **Federal Open Market Committee:
‘Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace since mid-year. Job gains have been solid in recent months and the unemployment rate has declined. Household spending has been rising moderately but business fixed investment has remained soft. Inflation has increased since earlier this year but is still below the Committee’s 2 percent longer-run objective, partly reflecting earlier declines in energy prices and in prices of non-energy imports. Market-based measures of inflation compensation have moved up considerably but still are low; most survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations are little changed, on balance, in recent months.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects that, with gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace and labor market conditions will strengthen somewhat further. Inflation is expected to rise to 2 percent over the medium term as the transitory effects of past declines in energy and import prices dissipate and the labor market strengthens further. Near-term risks to the economic outlook appear roughly balanced. The Committee continues to closely monitor inflation indicators and global economic and financial developments.
In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1/2 to 3/4 percent. The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting some further strengthening in labor market conditions and a return to 2 percent inflation.
The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction, and it anticipates doing so until normalization of the level of the federal funds rate is well under way. This policy, by keeping the Committee’s holdings of longer-term securities at sizable levels, should help maintain accommodative financial conditions.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Janet L. Yellen, Chair; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Lael Brainard; James Bullard; Stanley Fischer; Esther L. George; Loretta J. Mester; Jerome H. Powell; Eric Rosengren; and Daniel K. Tarullo.
*Dodd-Frank Act: CNBC Explains: The term Dodd-Frank refers to a comprehensive and complicated piece of financial regulation born out of the Great Recession of 2008.
Trump Team Promises To ‘Dismantle’ Dodd-Frank Bank Regulations … www.npr.org/…/trump-team-promises-to-dismantle-dodd–frank-bank-regulations
How Many Kinds of Birds Are There and Why Does It Matter? Gifting at the American Museum of Natural History
New research led by the American Museum of Natural History suggests that there are about 18,000 bird species in the world—nearly twice as many as previously thought. The work focuses on ‘hidden’ avian diversity — birds that look similar to one another, or were thought to interbreed, but are actually different species. Recently published in the journal PLOS ONE, the study has serious implications for conservation practices.
Holiday Gifts for birdwatchers at the American Museum of Natural History Shop Website
“We are proposing a major change to how we count diversity,” said Joel Cracraft, an author of the study and a curator in the American Museum of Natural History’s Department of Ornithology. “This new number says that we haven’t been counting and conserving species in the ways we want.”
Birds are traditionally thought of as a well-studied group, with more than 95 percent of their global species diversity estimated to have been described. Most checklists used by bird watchers as well as by scientists say that there are roughly between 9,000 and 10,000 species of birds. But those numbers are based on what’s known as the “biological species concept,” which defines species in terms of what animals can breed together.
“It’s really an outdated point of view, and it’s a concept that is hardly used in taxonomy outside of birds,” said lead author George Barrowclough, an associate curator in the Museum’s Department of Ornithology.
For the new work, Cracraft, Barrowclough, and their colleagues at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and the University of Washington examined a random sample of 200 bird species through the lens of morphology — the study of the physical characteristics like plumage pattern and color, which can be used to highlight birds with separate evolutionary histories. This method turned up, on average, nearly two different species for each of the 200 birds studied. This suggests that bird biodiversity is severely underestimated, and is likely closer to 18,000 species worldwide.
The researchers also surveyed existing genetic studies of birds, which revealed that there could be upwards of 20,000 species. But because the birds in this body of work were not selected randomly — and, in fact, many were likely chosen for study because they were already thought to have interesting genetic variation — this could be an overestimate. The authors argue that future taxonomy efforts in ornithology should be based on both methods.
“It was not our intent to propose new names for each of the more than 600 new species we identified in the research sample,” Cracraft said. “However, our study provides a glimpse of what a future taxonomy should encompass.”
What Are the Implications of Repealing the Affordable Care Act for Medicare Spending and Beneficiaries?
President-elect Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary-nominee and current House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, and many other Republicans in Congress have proposed to repeal and replace the ACA, but lawmakers have taken different approaches to the ACA’s Medicare provisions. For example, the House Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2017, introduced by Chairman Price in March 2016, proposed a full repeal of the ACA. The House Republican plan, “A Better Way,” introduced by Speaker Ryan in June 2016, proposed to repeal some, but not all, of the ACA’s Medicare provisions.
This brief explores the implications for Medicare and beneficiaries of repealing Medicare provisions in the ACA. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that full repeal of the ACA would increase Medicare spending by $802 billion from 2016 to 2025.1 Full repeal would increase spending primarily by restoring higher payments to health care providers and Medicare Advantage plans. The increase in Medicare spending would likely lead to higher Medicare premiums, deductibles, and cost sharing for beneficiaries, and accelerate the insolvency of the Medicare Part A trust fund. Policymakers will confront decisions about the Medicare provisions in the ACA in their efforts to repeal and replace the law.
What are the key Medicare provisions in the ACA and how would repeal affect Medicare spending and beneficiaries?
The following discussion highlights several of the key Medicare provisions in the ACA and assesses how repeal of these provisions could affect Medicare spending and beneficiaries.2
PAYMENTS TO HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
The ACA reduced updates in Medicare payment levels to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, hospice and home health providers, and other health care providers. The ACA also reduced Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments that help to compensate hospitals for providing care to low-income and uninsured patients, with the expectation that hospitals would have fewer uninsured patients as a result of the ACA’s coverage expansions.
Repealing the ACA’s sustained reductions in provider payments would be expected to:
- Increase Part A and Part B spending. CBO has estimated that roughly $350 billion3 in higher Medicare spending over 10 years could result from repealing ACA provisions that changed provider payment rates in traditional Medicare. Repealing these provisions would increase payments to providers in traditional Medicare. Additionally, some hospitals would receive higher DSH payments, if these payments were restored to their pre-ACA levels.
- Increase the Part A deductible and copayments and the Part B premium and deductible paid by beneficiaries. The Part A deductible and copayments would be expected to increase due to an increase in Part A spending that would likely occur if payment reductions are repealed. This is because the Part A deductible for inpatient hospital stays is indexed to updates in hospital payments, and the copayment amounts for inpatient hospital and skilled nursing facility stays are calculated as a percentage of the Part A deductible. Similarly, the Part B premium and deductible would be expected to increase if payments to Part B service providers are restored. This is because Part B premiums are set to cover 25 percent of Part B spending, and the Part B deductible is indexed to rise at the same rate as the Part B premium.
PAYMENTS TO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS
Prior to the ACA, federal payments to Medicare Advantage plans per enrollee were 14 percent higher than the cost of covering similar beneficiaries under the traditional Medicare program, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).4 The ACA reduced payments to Medicare Advantage plans over six years, which brought these payments closer to the average costs of care under the traditional Medicare program. In 2016, federal payments to plans were 2 percent higher than traditional Medicare spending (including quality-based bonus payments to plans).5
The National Trend Toward Pushing Cannabis into Mainstream Culture; Seniors Increasingly Getting High
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, Kaiser Foundation Health News
Baby boomers are getting high in increasing numbers, reflecting growing acceptance of the drug as treatment for various medical conditions, according to a study published in the journal Addiction.
Cannabis botanical illustration, West Virginia University library. Author Charles Frederick Millspaugh, 1887, American Medicinal Plants. Wikipedia
The findings reveal overall use among the 50-and-older study group increased “significantly” from 2006 to 2013. Marijuana users peaked between ages 50 to 64, then declined among the 65-and-over crowd.
Men used marijuana more frequently than women, the study showed, but marital status and educational levels were not major factors in determining users.
The study by researchers at New York University School of Medicine suggests more data is needed about the long-term health impact of marijuana use among seniors. Study participants said they did not perceive the drug as dangerous, a sign of changing attitudes.
The study was based on 47,140 responses collected from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Joseph Palamar, a professor at the NYU medical school and a co-author of the study, said the findings reinforce the need for research and a call for providers to screen the elderly for drug use. “They shouldn’t just assume that someone is not a drug user because they’re older,” Palamar said.
Growing use of the drug among the 50-and-older crowd reflects the national trend toward pushing cannabis into mainstream culture. Over 22 million people used the drug in 2015, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Eight states have legalized the drug for recreational use as well as medicinal use, according to Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to enacting non-punitive marijuana policies across the United States. The drug has also proved to be a financial boon for state economies, generating over $19 million in September in Colorado.
Researchers also uncovered an increasing diversity in marijuana users. Past-year use doubled among married couples and those earning less than $20,000 per year. More people living with medical conditions also sought out marijuana. The study showed the number of individuals living with two or more chronic conditions who used the drug over the past year more than doubled. Among those living with depression, the rate also doubled to 11.4 percent.
Palamar says the increase among the sick could be attributed to more individuals seeking to self-medicate. Historically, the plant was difficult to research due to the government crackdown on the substance. The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies the plant as a Schedule I substance, “defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
Benjamin Han, assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine and the study’s lead author, fears that marijuana used with prescription drugs could make the elderly more vulnerable to adverse health outcomes, particularly to falls and cognitive impairment. “While there may be benefits to using marijuana such as chronic pain,” he said, “there may be risks that we don’t know about.”
The push and pull between state and federal governments has resulted in varying degrees of legality across the United States. Palamar says this variation places populations at risk of unknowingly breaking the law and getting arrested for drug possession. The issue poses one of the biggest public health concerns associated with marijuana, Palamar says.
But unlike the marijuana of their youth, seniors living in states that legalized marijuana for medicinal use now can access a drug that has been tested for quality and purity, said Paul Armentano deputy director of NORML, a non-profit group advocating for marijuana legalization. Additionally, the plant is prescribed to manage diseases that usually strike in older age, pointing to an increasing desire to take a medication that has less side effects than traditional prescription drugs.
The study found over half of the users picked up the habit before turning 18, and over 90 percent of them before age 36.
“We are coming to a point where state lawmakers are responding to the rapidly emerging consensus-both public consensus and a scientific consensus — that marijuana is not an agent that possesses risks that qualifies it as a legally prohibited substance,” he said.
Correction: This story originally misstated the number of states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. The correct number of states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use is eight.
Kaiser Family Foundation Health News