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  • Money, Personal Preferences Push States on Long-Term Care: Staying in Your Home

    couple cuddling on a hammock- creative commons

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Senior citizens enjoying time together at home; Creative Commons photo by Patrick accompany article on South Carolina’s Lowcountry

    Facing a wave of aging baby boomers, many states are trying to make it easier for frail seniors to stay in their homes — as many prefer — instead of moving into more costly nursing homes.

    States have a huge stake in where aging seniors and disabled people end up getting long-term care because many of them won’t be able to afford to pay for their care and will have to rely on Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled. Each state has its own Medicaid program, funded jointly by the state and the federal government.

    Some states have been ahead of the pack in dealing with long-term care issues. In Minnesota, for example, nursing home beds have been cut more than a third as the state focuses on its home and community-based care system. In Hawaii, the state set up a program offering frail older adults in-home services at no charge.

    More than a dozen states now allow residents whose income exceeds the threshold for Medicaid eligibility and who want to get care in their homes to set up a Miller Trust, a separate bank account for medical or other approved expenses. The states exclude that money when determining whether residents are needy enough to qualify for Medicaid in-home services, which can allow people to stay in their homes.

    Nebraska passed a measure last year to set up three resource centers that will provide long-term care information and access to services that can make it possible for people to stay in their homes and communities.

    Some states, such as Vermont, run a program that compensates caregivers — often family and friends — for their time taking care of Medicaid-eligible seniors who choose to live in their own homes, but need assistance. This eases the burden on caregivers and makes it more likely they’ll be able to continue providing services.

  • Jo Freeman’s Republican Convention Diary: Cleveland’s Other Gatherings

    Impact Conference Black Lawyers for Justice

    Political conventions attract strange bedfellows. Over the weekend preceding the Republican Convention, two other conventions met to talk about issues that were almost polar opposites to those of the Republicans. Both were held in black Baptist churches. The traditional Sunday protest march was small and peaceful, organized by the Worker’s World Party, which is neither black nor Baptist.

    Pictured: Dr. Cornel West, Dr. Eddie Glaude, former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner and Rev. Dr. Colvin at the Olivet Baptist Church, Cleveland

    The Convention of the Oppressed, aka the Black Unity Convention, met in the Second Ebenezer Baptist Church July 14-17. It was largely organized by Cleveland’s Black Lawyers for Justice, whose President, Malik Zulu Shabazz, was the primary speaker. He was joined by Dr. Cornel West, recently a Bernie Sanders appointee to the Democratic Party’s Platform Drafting Committee.

    At the church, speakers mixed Islam with Christianity, and a lot of neither. At the meeting I went to Saturday night, Dr. West took off his academic hat and preached a sermon on black power to about a hundred people, including a handful of whites. He and attorney Shabazz engaged in dialog with each other and a long line of speakers from the audience over the meaning of black, and how to get power.

    A group calling itself the New Black Panther Party, wearing black semi-military dress, did security for the event, doing intermittent bag and body searches. The NBPP also stood security at the Saturday afternoon rally in downtown Cleveland. About 50 people and a dozen press heard a variety of speakers, while a dozen cops stood off to the side. Although Cleveland permits people to openly carry firearms, none were in sight.

    At the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Rev. Jawanza Karriem Colvin greeted 500 participants at the Friday night opening of the People’s Justice and Peace Convention. Organized by the Cleveland Nonviolence Network, it brought together groups such as the Farmers Union, the Sierra Club, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and several black organizations, to hear speakers, run workshops and put together a People’s Platform.

    As people were filtering into the sanctuary to be seated by white-shirted ushers, eight young people wearing black t-shirts marched up the sidewalk in military formation, chanting for Revolution NOW. On arrival their t-shirts and pass-outs identified them as members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, (RCP), a cult based in Berkeley, CA. As they entered the church, half a dozen black men wearing black t-shirts saying ‘SECURITY’ emerged and barred their entry. They were removed to the sidewalk, where they were later joined by two RCP women who had entered the church earlier, wearing RCP t-shirts but without chanting.

    There were no disruptions during the meeting. It closed with the audience singing two traditional civil rights songs, whose words were portrayed on a screen for those who did not know them. The first was “Lift Every Voice“, aka the Negro National Anthem. The second was “We Shall Overcome.” Missing among the words on the screen was the traditional verse “Black and White Together, We Shall Overcome.” The audience was about evenly split between blacks and whites.

  • 2016 GOP Convention Program: Daily Themes & Headliners, An Unconventional Lineup of Speakers

     Cleveland GOP Convention
     















    Jeff Larson, CEO of the 2016 Republican National Convention, today released an updated program for the Make America Great Again convention, July 18-21, in Cleveland.
     
    Veterans, political outsiders, faith leaders and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s family members will lead an unconventional lineup of speakers who have real-world experience and will make a serious case against the status quo and for an agenda that will make America great again.
     
    Daily Themes & Headliners:
    Monday: Make America Safe Again. Headliners: Melania Trump, Lieutenant General (ret.) Michael Flynn, US Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jason Beardsley and US Rep. Ryan Zinke (Mont.).
     
    Tuesday: Make America Work Again. Headliners: Tiffany Trump, Kerry Woolard, Donald Trump, Jr., US Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Ben Carson and Kimberlin Brown.
     
    Wednesday: Make America First Again. Headliners: Lynne Patton; Eric Trump; former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, and Indiana Governor Mike Pence, whom Donald Trump has chosen as his vice presidential running mate.
     
    Thursday: Make America One Again. Headliners: Peter Thiel, Tom Barrack, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump 
    A fuller list of daily program speakers and their backgrounds follows:
     
    Monday: Make America Safe Again:  From attacks on our own soil and overseas to the tragedy in Benghazi, the policies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have left us vulnerable. Our immigration system is broken, leaving our country open to security threats and the negative consequences of illegal immigration. A Donald Trump administration will listen to and learn from our nation’s heroes who have put themselves in harm’s way and pursue a national security strategy and foreign policy that will strengthen our military and make America safe again.
     
    Prime-Time Speakers:
    Please note: The speakers below are part of the prime-time program, which will follow Monday afternoon’s Convention Business Session.
     
    Willie Robertson, CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, star of Duck Dynasty. The star of A&E’s hit series Duck Dynasty, Willie Robertson, is the CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, a New York Times bestselling author, traveling speaker, father of five, and an avid outdoorsman. 
     
    Governor Rick Perry, Former Governor of Texas. A fifth-generation Texan, Perry grew up in Haskell County. His parents were cotton farmers, and Perry was among the first in his family to attend college. Perry served as Texas’ lieutenant governor from 1999 to 2000. In 2000, he was elected governor and remains the longest-serving governor in Texas history.  
     
    Marcus Luttrell, US Navy SEAL. Marcus Luttrell is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL and author of the book Lone Survivor, in which he tells the harrowing tale of a fierce battle in eastern Afghanistan in 2005. Since returning from war, Luttrell has started the Lone Survivor Foundation and become involved with The Boot Campaign. He also has written a second book, Service, which honors and praises all members of the military.
     
    Scott Baio, Actor and Television Producer.  He landed his first starring role in the 1976 movie Bugsy Malone and is known for portraying memorable characters on several hit television shows, including Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi, and Charles In Charge. More recently, he has appeared in the Emmy Award-winning show Arrested Development and the Nick at Nite comedy See Dad Run, which he also produces. When he was young, Baio campaigned for Ronald Reagan, and in the 2016 GOP primary, he endorsed presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
     
    Pat Smith,  Patricia (Pat) Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, who was killed during the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. Ever since that night, Smith has sought to learn the truth behind the events that led to the death of four Americans, including her only child.  
     
    Mark Geist, US Marine Corps veteran, Fought in Battle of Benghazi. Mark “Oz” Geist was a member of the Annex Security Team that fought the Battle of Benghazi in Libya from September 11 to September 12, 2012.  A Colorado native, Geist joined the United States Marine Corps in 1984 and served for 12 years.
     
    John Tiegen, US Marine Corps veteran, Fought in Battle of Benghazi. John “Tig” Tiegen was a member of the Annex Security Team that fought during the attack in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. He is responsible for saving many lives and has been recognized for his bravery.  He has since co-authored the New York Times best-selling book 13 Hours, the harrowing tale of what really happened in Benghazi.
     
    Kent Terry and Kelly Terry-Willis, The Brian Terry Foundation. Brian Terry was a Border Patrol agent who died tragically while protecting our nation’s border with Mexico. His death was a result of Operation Fast and Furious, a gun-walking operation gone wrong that put assault weapons into the hands of Mexican narco-terrorists.  Kent Terry and Kelly Terry-Willis, Brian’s siblings, carry on his legacy through the Brian Terry Foundation. 
     
    Antonio Sabato, Jr., Actor. Daytime television viewers know actor Antonio Sabato Jr. for his roles on General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful. 
     
    Mary Ann Mendoza, Immigration Reform Advocate. Mary Ann Mendoza is a passionate advocate for immigration reform because she has experienced the consequences of our failed system. This May marked the second anniversary of her son Brandon’s death. Brandon, a Mesa Police Sergeant, was 32 when a drunk driver traveling on the wrong side of the highway crashed head-on into the car he was driving. The drunk driver was in the United States illegally, and despite being convicted of crimes years earlier, he was not deported.
     
    Sabine Durden, Immigration Reform Advocate.  In 2012, her son Dominic died in a motorcycle accident when he was a hit by a truck driven by an unlicensed, uninsured, and unregistered driver who was in the United States illegally. In the wake of losing her only son, Sabine has been a vocal critic of our immigration system and has lobbied the federal government to defund sanctuary cities that do not actively search, prosecute, or detain unauthorized immigrants.
     
    Jamiel Shaw, Immigration Reform Advocate. On March 2, 2008, Jamiel Shaw’s son, Jamiel Andre’ Shaw, II (Jas), was murdered while returning home from the Beverly Center Mall in Los Angeles, California. The shooter was a gang member in the United States illegally. He had been released from jail less than 24 hours before he killed Jas, even though there was a deportation hold on him. In honor of Jas’s life, Jamiel Sr. has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about our broken immigration system.
     
    US Representative Michael McCaul (TX-10). US Rep. Michael T. McCaul is currently serving his sixth term representing Texas’ 10th District in the United States House of Representatives. During his tenure, McCaul has developed a strong track record of fighting for lower taxes and less government spending. He serves as Chairman of the US House Homeland Security Committee. 
     
    David Clarke, Sheriff of Milwaukee County.  He began his career in law enforcement with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD). In 1992, he was promoted to lieutenant of detectives, and in 1996, he earned a promotion to captain of police and became part of the department’s command staff. As captain, Clarke was responsible for the department’s First Division, and in 1999, he became commanding officer of the MPD’s Intelligence Division.
     
    US Representative Sean Duffy (WI-7). US Representative Sean Duffy serves Wisconsin’s 7th District. Duffy is married to Rachel Campos-Duffy, whom he met while appearing on MTV’s hit television show The Real World,  and the couple now has eight children.  In Congress, Duffy is working to reduce government spending, lower taxes, promote individual freedom, and limit government intrusion. 
     
    Rachel Campos Duffy, The LIBRE Initiative. Rachel Campos-Duffy is the national spokeswoman for The LIBRE Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of the Hispanic community through conservative ideals. Campos-Duffy is also a commentator and television personality; she began her television career on MTV’s iconic reality television show, The Real World.
     
    Darryl Glenn, El Paso County Commissioner. County Commissioner Darryl Glenn is the current Republican nominee for US Senate in Colorado, running to defeat incumbent U.S. Senator Michael Bennet in the general election this fall. Glenn won the Republican nomination with 37.5% of the vote in a crowded primary field. 
     
    US Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas). For nearly five years, Cotton served as an infantry officer in the US Army. He completed two combat tours, serving in Iraq with the 101st Airborne and in Afghanistan. Upon returning home, Cotton worked for McKinsey & Co. and served one term in the US House of Representatives. In 2015, he was elected to the US Senate, where he represents the state of Arkansas. 
     
    Karen Vaughn.  Karen Vaughn is the mother of fallen US Navy SEAL Aaron Carson Vaughn (SEAL Team VI). On August 6, 2011, Aaron was killed in action in the Tangi River Valley of Afghanistan when a chopper (call sign Extortion 17) carrying thirty Americans was shot from the sky while rushing into battle. Over the past four years, Karen has emerged as a powerful spokeswoman for American forces fighting on foreign soil and securing peace across the globe.
     
    US Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama). US Senator Jeff Sessions is serving his third term representing the people of Alabama. A senior member of the Armed Services Committee and the Budget Committee, he is also a member of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of its subcommittee on Immigration and National Interest.  A strong advocate for securing the border, Sessions was the first US Senator to endorse Donald Trump and has acted as a liaison between the Trump campaign and Capitol Hill. 
     
    Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City. Giuliani was wrapping up his second term in office when New York City was attacked on September 11, 2001. Immediately following the attack, Giuliani coordinated rescue operations that saved as many as 20,000 lives. Because of his strong leadership in the aftermath of September 11th, Americans came to see him as a voice of reassurance and consolation during an uncertain time.Melania Trump
     
    Melania [Knauss] Trump, Businesswoman and Wife of Donald Trump. Melania married Donald Trump in January 2005. In March 2006 they had their first child, Barron William Trump.  Born on April 26, 1970 in Slovenia, Melania Knauss began her modeling career at the age of sixteen. At the age of eighteen, she signed with a modeling agency in Milan. After obtaining a degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia, Melania was jetting between photo shoots in Paris and Milan, finally settling in New York in 1996. Melania is dedicated to helping others, and her generosity has been noted. She was Honorary Chairwoman for Martha Graham Dance Company in April 2005; is an active member of the Police Athletic League which honored her with Woman of the Year 2006; has been an Honorary Chairwoman for The Boy’s Club of New York for five consecutive years; and in 2005, the American Red Cross awarded her with Goodwill Ambassador, which she has proudly served for four years. In April of 2008, Melania was asked by Love Our Children USA and NASDAQ to participate in the Fifth Annual National Love Our Children Day and the beginning of National Child Abuse Prevention month by ringing the closing bell at NASDAQ.  [Wikipedia photo by Marc Nozell from Merrimack, New Hampshire]

  • Jo Freeman’s Convention Diary: RNC Pre-Convention Passes and Confusion

     “I’m not a member of an organized party.  I’m a Democrat.” Gallery ad at Donald J. Trump's site

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    If Will Rogers had said this today he would be describing the Republican convention in Cleveland, or at least the preconvention meetings.  Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans hold their Committee meetings the week before the actual convention.  There, important decisions are made about the platform, rules and credentials.  It’s a good place to see the internal dynamics of the GOP in action.

    A photograph from a Donald J. Trump’s site Gallery taken at a March 9th Fayetteville, NC rally

    Although organizing for these meetings starts long before the actual convention, the lack of organization, multiple mistakes and repeated shifts of direction was unlike the traditional Republican style of being well put together. 

    Once SeniorWomen.com  was officially credentialed for the Republican convention we received e-mails from GOP media operations telling us that we had to apply for separate credentials to cover the Rules and Platform Committees.  And, we also had to apply to cover the Republican National Committee‘s summer meeting.  And we had to apply for pre-convention credentials.  We did, via e-mail, as requested.

    We soon got emails from Eventbrite to print out tickets for the first two.  The third request bounced.  Three times.  A few more e-mails to GOP media operations disclosed a one character mistake in the e-mail address we had been sent.  These days that’s enough to send a request into never-never land.  Our next request for pre-convention credentials didn’t bounce, but we never got a reply.  Ditto for our 2nd and 3rd attempts.

    Once in Cleveland, we took our printed tickets to the building where the Committee hearings were being held.  Sorry, we were told, there’s no room at the inn.  Too many press; too few seats.  Come back later.  We did.  Several times.  We never got in.

    Probably to get rid of us, we were told to go to the media filing center at the Cleveland Convention Center (CCC) to watch the Rules Committee debates on a screen.  There, security wouldn’t let us in because we didn’t have pre-convention passes.  We were told to write and/or call Brigit Visconti who was at the Quicken Loans Arena (“Q”) where the actual Republican Convention would be held. Never got a reply.

  • The Art of Adriana Varejão Surrounds a Rio Olympics Aquatics Stadium

    Aquatic Pool at Olympics

    The Olympic Aquatics Stadium will  be an attraction for culture lovers, as it is enveloped by a work of art by celebrated Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão. Sixty-six panels, each 27 metres high, reproduce Celacanto Provoca Maremoto, an installation displayed at the famous Inhotim Institute in Minas Gerais. It uses Portuguese tiling and a baroque style to mix imagery of the sea and angels. The panels are anti-UV treated to help regulate the building’s temperature.

    The work of art uses Portuguese tile images to tell the story of Brazil’s colonial history (Inhotim/Adriana Varejão)

    The Lehmann-Maupin Gallery in New York City describes Varejão’s work thusly:

    Regarded as one of Brazil’s most accomplished contemporary artists, Varejão often references cultural and historic research through an intense investigation into anthropology, colonial trade, demography, and racial identity. She is especially influenced by theories of mestizaje (a term for the mixing of ancestries) and cultural anthropophagy — as proposed by the Brazilian poet Oswald de Andrade, who urged artists to “cannibalize,” rather than reject, cultural components of their country’s colonizers. The idea of empowering oppressed peoples through the assimilation of outside influences is reinforced through Varejão’s mixture of global artistic mediums and styles. Her approach has resulted in a diverse body of work that can be both humorous and grotesque in its assessment of humankind’s history of coexistence.

    This exhibition serves as a continuation of the artist’s 2015 solo exhibition at the Dallas Contemporary, in which Varejão looked to art history — both Native American as well as within the Western canon — for inspiration, producing a tableau that reinterprets the Eurocentric perspective of the New World. In viewing the Mimbres and Kindred Spirits series together, Varejão demonstrates how Native American approaches to line, color, and shape influenced 20th century art, especially Minimalism. Both bodies of work weave together stories of distinct artistic traditions to emphasize the constant evolution and exchange of influences that shape culture and identity.

  • A Bit of History: Lyndon B. Johnson Accepts the Nod to Become Vice-President, July 14, 1960

    President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson prior to ceremony for the Workmens’ Compensation Commemorative Stamp, White House. 31 August 1961, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston. Photographer Abbie Rowe, Wikipedia

    The 1960 ElectionKennedy and Johnson

    The next day, Kennedy won the Democratic nomination on the first ballot and then had twenty-four hours to select a vice president. He had given no indication of having made up his mind in advance. The party’s pragmatists urged Kennedy to choose Johnson in order to carry Texas and the South, but conservatives like Richard Russell urged Johnson to stay off the liberal-leaning ticket. Still recalling the bitter experience of “Cactus Jack” Garner, who traded the House speakership for the vice-presidency with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rayburn and the Texas delegation adamantly opposed the notion that Johnson should give up the majority leadership for the hollow status of being vice president. Liberal Democrats reacted negatively to Johnson as a wheeler-dealer, and Robert Kennedy, as the campaign manager, had given his word to labor leaders and civil rights groups that Johnson would never be the vice-presidential candidate. When John Kennedy reported that he would offer the second spot to Johnson, his brother interpreted the move as only a token gesture of party solidarity, since Johnson had told people he would never accept the second spot. Then Johnson astonished both brothers by accepting. Considering the choice a terrible mistake, Robert Kennedy was delegated to talk the Texan out of running. Going to Johnson’s suite, he proposed that the Texas become instead the Democratic party’s national chairman. But a tearful Johnson declared, “I want to be Vice President, and, if the President will have me, I’ll join him in making a fight for it.” John Kennedy chose to retain him on the ticket, but the animosity between Johnson and Robert Kennedy never diminished.

    Pondering why Johnson had accepted, some of his aides thought that he saw no future in being Kennedy’s majority leader. If he succeeded in enacting the party platform, the credit would have gone to the president. If he failed, the blame would have been his. Since the Texas state legislature had passed a law permitting Johnson to run for reelection to the Senate at the same time that he sought national office, Johnson may also have been gambling that Kennedy would lose to Richard Nixon, leaving Johnson as majority leader with a Republican in the White House. Another factor, mentioned by Johnson’s friends, was that Lady Bird Johnson had influenced his decision by reasoning that, after his heart attack, the vice-presidency would be less strenuous than the majority leadership. Johnson offered his own reason when he called Richard Russell and explained that, if he had declined the vice-presidency, he would have been “left out” of party affairs in the future.

    Before the campaign could begin, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket had to return to Washington for a post-convention session of the Senate. On the assumption that he would be the party’s standard bearer, Johnson had devised this session to demonstrate his legislative prowess and launch his fall campaign. Instead, he found himself playing second fiddle. Republican senators mocked the majority leader, asking if he had cleared moves in advance with “your leader.” When the Democratic Policy Committee met for its regular luncheon, everyone waited to see whether Kennedy would bounce Johnson from his usual place at the head of the table. Kennedy dodged the issue by not showing up. With the Republican presidential candidate, Richard Nixon, presiding over the Senate as vice president, Senate Republicans were not likely to hand Kennedy any victories. The session failed dismally.

    — From the United States Senate History, Lyndon B. Johnson

    Editor’s Note: The deadline for naming a Republican Vice-President is Friday, July 15th. The announcement has been delayed due to the Nice, France attack Thursday evening.

  • Hearings on Zika and Campus Safety: Bills On Eliminating Pornography from Federal Computers, Opioid Use, Sexual Assault Survivors

    CDC Director Tom Frieden

    Hearings: 

    International  — On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues will hold a hearing, Zika in the Western Hemisphere: Risks and Responses.

    (Right, Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will speak at the Zika hearing on Wednesday, July 13th)

    Violence Against Women — On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on campus safety, Improving Prevention and Response Efforts. The hearing is scheduled for 2:45 pyem, Eastern.

    Check back for live video at link above. 

    House Passes Global Food Security Act

    On July 6, the House approved, 369-53, S. 1252, the Global Food Security Act. The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on May 18; the Senate approved the measure on April 20. The House approved an earlier version of the measure (H.R. 1567) on April 12…

    On July 6, the House approved, 369-53, S. 1252, the Global Food Security Act. The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on May 18 (see The Source, 5/20/16); the Senate approved the measure on April 20 (see The Source, 4/22/16). The House approved an earlier version of the measure (H.R. 1567) on April 12 (see The Source, 4/15/16). The vote clears the measure for President Obama’s signature.

    The legislation would authorize US foreign assistance to address global poverty and hunger, and improve nutrition security, especially among women and children.

    House Passes Compromise Bill to Address Opiod Abuse

    On July 8, the House approved, 407-5, the conference report for S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. On May 13, the House approved its version of S. 524. The House previously advanced several stand-alone bills to address the epidemic of opioid abuse. The Senate passed its version of S. 524 on March 10.

    According to the conference report, the bill would authorize $103 million annually for FY2017-2021 to support treatment, training, and enforcement programs at the Department of Justice, as well as $25 million annually to expand medication-assisted treatment and addiction services through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The measure also would authorize $16.9 million annually for HHS grants to treat pregnant and postpartum women in substance abuse programs.

    House Approves Financial Services, General Government Spending Bill:  On July 7, the House approved, 239-185, H.R. 5485, the FY2017 Financial Services and General Government spending bill. The House Appropriations Committee approved the measure on June 9 (see The Source, 6/10/16); the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the bill (S.3067) on June 16 (see The Source, 06/17/16). The bill would provide $21.7…

    House Bill Would Eliminate Pornography from Federal Computers:  On July 7, the House approved, 241-181, H.R. 4361, the Federal Information Systems Safeguards Act. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL), cleared the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 31. The committee approved similar legislation, H.R. 901, in March 2015 (see The Source, 3/27/15).

    Among other provisions, the bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidelines that prohibit access to pornographic or other explicit web sites from federal agency computers. The legislation would exempt federal computers being used for investigative purposes that require accessing such sites.

  • The Shopping Trip: Cutting Table Wars

    Fabric

    By Roberta McReynolds

    Image of fabrics from The Best Fabric Stores in Toronto posted by Alice Prendergast 

    Last week a friend asked me if I’d written any essays lately. I replied that I hadn’t in quite some time. I explained that I just haven’t been doing anything of interest, perhaps, in part, because I don’t seem to get out as much as I once did. Staying home where life is quiet doesn’t offer much opportunity for stimulating escapades. Although there are definitely days when I wished I’d stayed at home.

    My other obstacle is procrastination, which tends to get the better of me when an idea is still in its infancy. So this time I’ve decided to (gingerly) sit down and commit things to paper while it’s still ‘breaking news’. So to speak. And by that I mean the bruises are still surfacing and the over-the-counter pain reliever hasn’t entered my bloodstream yet.  

    It was anticipated to be a simple errand. I merely needed two yards of red cording from the fabric store and was standing near the cutting table waiting my turn. I had already yanked a paper tag from the machine next to the counter; I was now officially Guest #71. A quick glance at the electronic board overhead informed me that the employee was currently serving #68. If you have spent any time at all in a fabric store, you know that the difference between 71 and 68 is not 3. While the arithmetic may only represent three customers, it’s what’s in the shopping cart that counts.

    Just in case you have never personally experienced the ‘cutting table wait’, the odds are that no matter how many people are ahead of you, the person who is buying a shopping cart filled to capacity with quilting fabric will have edged ahead of you by a nanosecond. You will end up cursing yourself for wasting that extra minute after getting distracted by a sale on yarn, a special on notions, or some other devious merchandise display.

    Quilters. I truly have a soft spot in my heart for them, because I enjoy that hobby, too. They are often planning an exceptionally special project as a heartfelt gift. Regardless, I still don’t want to be the one who is standing in line behind them.

    That is where I found myself today, of course. I had selected my cording (probably spent too long trying to decide between two different styles), and one piece of fabric. It always physically aggravates my feet, legs and back to just stand immobile in one place for long periods of time, so I wandered around a bit, keeping a close eye on the number board so I wouldn’t miss my turn.

    The woman who had #70 got called and she appeared out from between the aisles with a cart stacked precariously with bolts of fabric. I’m not certain, but I think I may have actually groaned out loud. I leaned forward on my cart and silently hoped a second employee would appear, scissors in hand, and call me to the other end of the counter. No sooner had that thought popped into my mind than the store manager announced on the loudspeakers, “All available employees needed as the registers, please.” Right. That’s the other unwritten law of the fabric store. If you are waiting at the cutting table, all the extra employees will be summoned to the cash registers; and as soon as you get your fabric cut and hustle over to the front of the store, the employees will be ordered to the cutting table. It never fails.

  • Stars Ignite: How Stars and Clusters Form Over 700,000 Years

    star formation simulation

    Video simulation of star formation shows how stars and clusters form within filaments of gas over a period of 700,000 years. Credits: NASA Ames/David Ellsworth/Tim Sandstrom, UC Berkeley/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory/Richard Klein

    By Robert Sanders

    Like fireworks bursting through a smoky haze, protostars ignite within colossal filaments of gas in a new supercomputer simulation of stars forming inside molecular clouds.

    The simulation covers 700,000 years, and is based on computer code created by UC Berkeley astrophysicist Richard Klein to capture the effects of radiation, magnetic fields, gravity and other physical phenomena and paint a realistic portrait of star formation. Klein, who also has an appointment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, worked with Chris McKee, a UC Berkeley professor of physics and of astronomy, research specialist Pak Shing Li and their students at UC Berkeley.

    Run on NASA’s most powerful supercomputer, Pleiades, at the Advanced Supercomputing facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center, the simulation will help answer fundamental scientific questions about the processes involved in the formation of individual stars and stellar clusters in our own galaxy and other galaxies.

    The evolution of a young star cluster beings with a giant cloud of interstellar gas and dust collapsing under the force of gravity. Inside the cloud, turbulent clumps of gas form and then collapse. The collapsed clumps form star clusters, and then the magnetized, swirling cores further evolve to form individual or small groups of stars.

    The science team is enhancing the code to produce new simulations that will allow them to zoom in on the formation of stellar disks — pancake-shaped disks of gas and dust surrounding protostars that are believed to be the first stage of planet formation.

    Editor’s Note: The US Will See an Amazing Total Solar Eclipse in 2017

    NAS Division astrophysicist David Hathaway talks to PC World about the upcoming 2017 solar eclispe — the first total solar eclipse to be visible in the continental US since 1979. Hathaway says it’s a must-see event — the next chance to see one won’t be until 2024. Read More

  • Andrea Leadsome: A Former Prime Ministerial Candidate Addressing the Gender Imbalance in the Nuclear Industry

    MP Andrea Leadsom

    Editor’s Note:  Andrea Leadsom has been named Environment Secretary by new Prime Minister Theresa May; she had been previously Energy Secretary

    Introduction

    I am very pleased to be here today supporting Women in Nuclear UK’s mission to address the gender imbalance in the nuclear sector and delighted to speak to you as part of the only all women Commons Ministerial team!

    I have worked in a number of male dominated sectors so, for me, this issue has a deep, personal resonance.

    We can send people to the moon. We can explore the vast depths of our oceans. We can build great cities and towering structures. We can even talk to our computers. We have achieved greatness in many areas. But on the issue of gender imbalance, while there has been progress in the UK and around the world, far more needs to be done.

    It is imperative that we empower women now and for the future. A great number of British women have inspired us throughout history, succeeding against all the odds, to blaze a trail for future generations to follow.

    Down through the centuries, British women have made their mark; in areas such as politics, literature, medicine, and social reform.

    Jane Austen the great novelist, Dorothy Hodgkin won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964, and Helen Sharman was the first British woman in space.

    We look to them, and many others, with pride and revel in their legacy that changed our society forever.

    These women serve as a reminder as to what can be achieved when women are given the opportunity to reach their full potential.

    I want the nuclear industry to be a launch pad for the next generation of world changing women pioneers, I want the nuclear industry to provide strong female role models, strong female leaders and a strong female presence in the sector’s workforce.

    Today I want to set out why it is imperative that we address the gender imbalance, what initiatives are in place within the nuclear industry and what more can be done.

    Gender balance globally and the UK

    The World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Gender Gap Report ranks 145 economies according to how well they leverage their female talent pool. The UK is in 18th place, up from 26th place in 2014. Iceland holds the top spot, 5 years in a row, with three Nordic countries following close behind.

    What is the reason behind these countries’ success? Among other equitable policies, it is the combination of high female labour force participation, salary gaps between men and women being among the lowest in the world and abundant opportunities for women to rise to positions of leadership. We must learn from these countries leading in the area of gender balance.