Senior Women Web

Blog

  • VA Health Care: Actions Needed to Prevent Sexual Assaults and Other Safety Incidents

    Highlights of GAO-11-530, a report to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, House of  Representatives

    June 2011

    Why GAO Did This Study

    Changes in patient demographics present unique challenges for VA in providing safe environments for all veterans treated in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. GAO was asked to examine whether or not sexual assault incidents are fully reported and what factors may contribute to any observed underreporting, how facility staff determine sexual assault-related risks veterans may pose in residential and inpatient mental health settings, and precautions facilities take to prevent sexual assaults and other safety incidents.

    GAO reviewed relevant laws, VA policies, and sexual assault  incident documentation from January 2007 through July 2010 provided by VA officials and the VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG). In addition, GAO visited and reviewed portions of selected veterans’ medical records at five judgmentally selected VA medical facilities chosen to ensure the residential and inpatient mental health units at the facilities varied in size and complexity. Finally, GAO spoke with the four Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN) that oversee these VA medical facilities.

    In Process

    GAO found that many of the nearly 300 sexual assault incidents reported to the VA police were not reported to VA leadership officials and the VA OIG. Specifically, for the four VISNs GAO spoke with, VISN and VA Central Office officials did not receive reports of most sexual assault incidents reported to the VA police. Also, nearly two-thirds of sexual assault incidents involving rape allegations originating in VA facilities were not reported to the VA OIG, as required by VA regulation. In addition, GAO identified several factors that may contribute to the underreporting of sexual assault incidents including unclear guidance and deficiencies in VA’s oversight.

  • Bernanke: Facing Significant Headwinds

    Chairman Ben S. Bernanke

    At the International Monetary Conference, Atlanta, Georgia

    June 7, 2011

    The US Economic Outlook

    I would like to thank the organizers for inviting me to participate once again in the International Monetary Conference. I will begin with a brief update on the outlook for the US economy, then discuss recent developments in global commodity markets that are significantly affecting both the US and world economies, and conclude with some thoughts on the prospects for monetary policy.

    The Outlook for Growth
    US economic growth so far this year looks to have been somewhat slower than expected. Aggregate output increased at only 1.8 percent at an annual rate in the first quarter, and supply chain disruptions associated with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are hampering economic activity this quarter. A number of indicators also suggest some loss of momentum in the labor market in recent weeks. We are, of course, monitoring these developments. That said, with the effects of the Japanese disaster on manufacturing output likely to dissipate in coming months, and with some moderation in gasoline prices in prospect, growth seems likely to pick up somewhat in the second half of the year. Overall, the economic recovery appears to be continuing at a moderate pace, albeit at a rate that is both uneven across sectors and frustratingly slow from the perspective of millions of unemployed and underemployed workers.

    As is often the case, the ability and willingness of households to spend will be an important determinant of the pace at which the economy expands in coming quarters. A range of positive and negative forces is currently influencing both household finances and attitudes. On the positive side, household incomes have been boosted by the net improvement in job market conditions since earlier this year as well as from the reduction in payroll taxes that the Congress passed in December. Increases in household wealth — largely reflecting gains in equity values — and lower debt burdens have also increased consumers’ willingness to spend. On the negative side, households are facing some significant headwinds, including increases in food and energy prices, declining home values, continued tightness in some credit markets, and still-high unemployment, all of which have taken a toll on consumer confidence.

    Developments in the labor market will be of particular importance in setting the course for household spending. As you know, the jobs situation remains far from normal. For example, aggregate hours of production workers — a comprehensive measure of labor input that reflects the extent of part-time employment and opportunities for overtime as well as the number of people employed — fell, remarkably, by nearly 10 percent from the beginning of the recent recession through October 2009. Although hours of work have increased during the expansion, this measure still remains about 6-1/2 percent below its pre-recession level. For comparison, the maximum decline in aggregate hours worked in the deep 1981-82 recession was less than 6 percent. Other indicators, such as total payroll employment, the ratio of employment to population, and the unemployment rate, paint a similar picture. Particularly concerning is the very high level of long-term unemployment —  nearly half of the unemployed have been jobless for more than six months. People without work for long periods can find it increasingly difficult to obtain a job comparable to their previous one, as their skills tend to deteriorate over time and as employers are often reluctant to hire the long-term unemployed.

    Although the jobs market remains quite weak and progress has been uneven, overall we have seen signs of gradual improvement. For example, private-sector payrolls increased at an average rate of about 180,000 per month over the first five months of this year, compared with less than 140,000 during the last four months of 2010 and less than 80,000 per month in the four months prior to that. As I noted, however, recent indicators suggest some loss of momentum, with last Friday’s jobs market report showing an increase in private payrolls of just 83,000 in May. I expect hiring to pick up from last month’s pace as growth strengthens in the second half of the year, but, again, the recent data highlight the need to continue monitoring the jobs situation carefully.

  • Aphoristic Idiocy

    by Julia SnedenResident Observer

    (One-line life lessons best forgotten)

    A while back, a friend sent me an email containing lots of unattributed quotations on the subject of being old. I happen to enjoy quotations, and keep a file of those that I particularly like, but when they come without attribution, I am hesitant to pass them along. In fact, I find that not having the name of the author makes me really uncomfortable.

    It was Thomas Mann who said: “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” Perhaps so, but the Web has shown us that there are many clever writers out there, and it seems to me that if you’re able to condense a truth into a snappy little adage or snippet of advice, you should have the courage to append your name to it. Granted, aphorisms don’t exactly qualify as great literature, but a succinct bit of well-phrased truth, be it painful or amusing, calls for someone to step up and claim responsibility.

    That said, there are times when an author may not want to be identified, for fear of cranky readers like me, who want to take exception to their words. It’s just as well that the following two quotes from the aforementioned email didn’t have the author’s name appended.

    The first was: “When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.”

    The second read: “Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.”

    About the first: my initial reaction was “O, clever!” I figure that the author had a hard time, as I did, with algebra, and was now able to laugh at the experience.

    But then that triggered in me this chain reaction: why have educators long claimed that boys aren’t ready to learn how to read, or for that matter to sit quietly in a classroom, as early as girls are, while those same educators are just now beginning to admit the possibility that girls may not be ready for algebra or other math as early as boys are? It’s about time that somebody did some deep research to find out why those differences occur. Do they indicate sex-related differences in our brains? Are they the result of cultural expectations? Have those expectations developed from ancient imperatives, with boys being encouraged from an early age to pursue more physical/spatial activities (hunters/spear-throwers), or girls more quiet ones (planters/gatherers)? Is there any justification for either idea in this modern age? If not, why are we still stuck with them? Or if brain development is sexually determined, why are so many girls good math students and so many boys wonderful readers and writers? And how should education be modified by the results of the answers we uncover?

  • Amnesty International Protests Egypt’s Abusive Attitudes Towards Women

    An Amesty International report about Egypt: 
    Admission of Forced Virginity Tests Must Lead to Justice

    Women protesting virginity tests31 May 2011

    AI Index: PRE01/279/2011

    The Egyptian authorities must bring those responsible for ordering or conducting forced ‘virginity tests’ to justice following a senior military figure’s admission that the army subjected female protesters to them, Amnesty International said.

    A senior Egyptian general told CNN that women detained on 9 March at Cairo’s Tahrir Square had been forced to undergo ‘virginity tests’, which the government has previously denied.

    The general, speaking on condition of anonymity, justified the abuse by saying that the women “were not like your daughter or mine.  These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters.”

    “This admission is an utterly perverse justification of a degrading form of abuse,” said Amnesty International.  “The women were subjected to nothing less than torture.”

    “The Egyptian authorities must condemn these discriminatory, abusive and insulting attitudes which have been used to justify torture of women protesters, and which are clearly present at the highest levels.”

    Amnesty International gathered the testimonies of women protesters subjected to forced ‘virginity tests’ in March, and wrote to Egypt’s Supreme Council for Armed Forces requesting an investigation.  However, no response was received.

    The general also told CNN that the reason for the ‘tests’ was “[w]e didn’t want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren’t virgins in the first place.”

    “This general’s implication that only virgins can be victims of rape is a long-discredited sexist attitude and legal absurdity.  When determining a case of rape, it is irrelevant whether or not the victim is a virgin.”

    “The army must immediately instruct security forces and soldiers that such ‘tests’ are banned.”

    When army officers violently cleared Tahrir Square on 9 March — the day after International Women’s Day — 18 women were detained, beaten, given electric shocks, of which 17 were then subjected to strip searches, forced to submit to ‘virginity tests’ and threatened with prostitution charges.

    The women were brought before a military court on 11 March and released on 13 March. Several received one-year suspended sentences for charges including disorderly conduct, destroying property, obstructing traffic and possession of weapons.

    Amnesty International fears that discriminatory and patriarchal attitudes towards women in Egypt are standing in the way of women’s full participation in the reform process.

    Although women were on the frontline on the mass nationwide protests that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, no women were chosen to be part of the constitutional reform committee, and they have received little representation in the new government.

    “Egypt’s government needs to uphold the rights of all of the nation’s women who are working for the country’s freedoms, especially those struggling for gender equality and rights for women,” said Amnesty International.

  • A Single Word Given to Describe the GOP Field: “Unimpressed”

    Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

    Assessing Candidate Traits

    June 2, 2011

    Overview

    The emerging Republican presidential field draws tepid ratings. Just a quarter of voters (25%) have an excellent or good impression of the possible GOP candidates, and a separate survey conducted jointly with The Washington Post finds that negative descriptions of the field far outnumber positive ones. Asked for a single word to describe the GOP field, the top response is “unimpressed.”

    Of the party’s best-known possible candidates, only Mitt Romney has broad potential appeal. Large majorities have heard of four possible Republican candidates — Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. But most who have heard of Palin and Gingrich say there is no chance they would vote for them (63% each). About as many (60%) say there is no chance they would support Paul.

    By contrast, far fewer voters (44%) who have heard of Romney have ruled out voting for him, while 51% say there is at least some chance they could support the former Massachusetts governor.

    The latest national survey by the Pew Research for the People & the Press, conducted May 25-30 among 1,509 adults (including 1,227 registered voters), finds that Barack Obama continues to hold a sizable lead against a generic Republican opponent in next year’s election. Currently, 48% of registered voters say they would like to see Obama reelected while 37% would prefer to see a Republican elected. This is little changed from March (47% to 37%).

    Obama’s job approval rating, which rose after the killing of Osama bin Laden, remains positive. Currently, 52% of the public approves of his job performance while 39% disapprove. Last fall, after his party’s weak showing in the midterm elections, as many disapproved as approved of the way Obama was handling his job as president (44% each).

    Obama’s personal image also remains strong. Large percentages continue to view Obama as a good communicator (75%) and warm and friendly (73%), and more see him as a strong leader than did so in January (58% now, 53% then).

  • Does Retirement and Marital Status Make a Difference in How Men and Women Help Others?

    This study, How US Older Adults Provide Care for Their Aging Parents, Adult Children, and Friends,  was provided by the Population Reference Bureau in May 2011.

    Most research on the gender gap in unpaid caregiving in the United States has focused on young families. During the childrearing years, women provide the bulk of child care, although the time men spend caring for their children has increased in recent years.

    As part of PRB’s 2010-2011 Policy Seminar series, Suzanne Bianchi, a University of California Los Angeles sociology professor, examined new research on caregiving in later life — a time when men and women may spend their time in similar ways as they enter their retirement years. The study, conducted with Joan Kahn and Brittany McGill of the University of Maryland, explored whether retirement and marital status made a difference in how men and women helped others. Specifically, they set out to learn whether men replaced paid work with time spent helping others after retirement and whether divorced people spent less time caring for kin, reflecting weakened family ties.

    The findings shed light on the costs of caregiving and the quality of life of older people, according to Bianchi. While unpaid caregiving economically disadvantages women by keeping them out of the paid labor force, “there’s a flip cost for men,” she said. Men who do not help others may be “socially disconnected” and not integrated into the kind of meaningful relationships important at older ages.

    Bianchi and her colleagues used data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which has tracked a group of Wisconsin high school graduates from the class of 1957 (born in 1939 or 1940) for more than 50 years. Although this group is predominantly white and includes only those with a diploma, it is representative of about two-thirds of the US population in that age group, Bianchi noted.

    At ages 54 and 65, participants were asked about the kind of help they gave their adult children, parents, friends, and neighbors in the previous month. Bianchi and her colleagues found that more than 90 percent helped someone in some way, although women outpaced men by about 5 percentage points. Both men and women were most likely to report helping their adult children.

    Among those who had adult children at age 54, 10 percent more women than men provided assistance to them — 83 percent of women compared with 73 percent of men. Among those with living parents, the same 10 percentage-point gap separated men and women, with 61 percent of women providing help compared to 51 percent of men.

    Only men in first marriages said they helped their children at percentage rates similar to women of any marital status. The share of divorced and remarried women who said they helped their adult children ranged between 75 percent and 85 percent; for divorced and remarried men that share ranged between 60 percent and 72 percent. “Depending on when the divorce took place, these men may not have spent a lot of time living with their children,” said Bianchi. But whether women remarried or not, they remained connected to their children.

    More single men and women (who were widowed, divorced, or had never married) provided assistance to friends, neighbors, and co-workers than men and women who were still in first marriages or had remarried, Bianchi reported. This finding reflects important social ties that exist outside of traditional family connections that are not well understood.

  • CultureWatch Reviews: Founding Gardeners, The Map of True Places and the Doc Martin DVD Collection

    BOOKS

    Don’t let the extra pages of notes and bibliography put you off Founding Gardeners, a remarkable book. Neither dull nor pedantic, nor beyond the grasp of anyone who likes history or loves growing things. The Map of True Places is a real psychological novel, dealing with layers of each personality and enough mystery to keep it moving with plenty of impetus.

    DVD Set: The reviewer admits they’re watching the Doc Martin complete series for the third time, something the title character (an esteemed but rude doctor) would disdain

    FOUNDING GARDENERS

    The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation
    by Andrea Wulf , © 2011

    Published by Alfred A. Knopf/Division of Random House, ©2011; Hardcover;  211 pp text plus another 150 pp of bibliography, notes, and  extensive index

    Painting of Mount Vernon by Francis Jukes

    Don’t let the noted extra pages of notes and bibliography put you off this remarkable book. It is neither dull nor pedantic, nor is it beyond the grasp of anyone who likes history or loves growing things. Andrea Wulf has produced a fascinating tale of 18th  century American politics as well as “gardening,” a term that covers not just the creation of kitchen gardens or the planting of pretty flowers, but also speaks of the forests and meadows and open landscapes that influenced the image of our country across the world, and spoke to our founding fathers’ love for their land.

    The book focuses on our first four presidents: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, although the preface quite rightly features two other men important to her subject, John Bartram and Benjamin Franklin.

    Following a visit in 2006 to Jefferson’s Monticello home, Wulf, a noted British writer, had decided to write “… about the eighteenth century American farmer and plant collector John Bartram [and] the introduction of non-native plants into the English landscape — many of which had been sent by Bartram from the American colonies.” But the more she investigated Bartram, the more fascinated she became by the eighteenth century Americans’ relationship to nature.

    Having read some correspondence between Bartram and Benjamin Franklin, she also discovered that both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington had ordered plants from Bartram. James Madison, too, had visited Bartram’s garden just before the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

    Ms. Wulf’s additional foray into the diaries of John Adams revealed that he had loved working in his garden and on his farm in Massachusetts, and although he was a lawyer, he preferred to describe himself first and foremost as a farmer. Any profit made from his law office went to the purchase of additional land to expand his working farm, where he endeavored to improve the ground by additions of lime and of seaweed, and kept good records of the success or failure of new methods and new seeds.

    In Wulf’s words:

  • Peter Rabbit’s Relatives

    Rabbit nibbling

    by Ferida Wolff

    I thought I had it made. I bought a flat of organic broccoli plants and left it out back before planting the veggies in the side garden. My husband kindly watered it each morning and the leaves were flourishing. I was somewhat concerned that the squirrels would get to the plants before I did but I watched them sniff at the flat and then move on. They didn’t seem interested in broccoli at all. Was this, finally, something I could grow without interference?

    Then one morning there were a only couple of munched leaves and then nothing. Just one skinny, leafless, truncated stem in an otherwise empty container. I was ready to vilify those squirrels when I saw one sniff the pathetic stem and leave it alone. Hmm. Maybe they weren’t the culprits. If the squirrels didn’t eat the plants, what did?

    “The bunnies are back,” my husband said. “I saw a couple of them in the front yard.”

    Aha. Peter Rabbit’s relatives. I usually love to see rabbits around. They are particularly charming animals. I remember the time when I was down on the lawn weeding and a young rabbit nibbled his way through the clover to within a few feet of where I was working. We looked at each other and peacefully continued our tasks. There we were, just two of nature’s creatures companionably doing our own things. But now …

    When I complained about the rabbits to my friend, she told me about her experience with corn. She and her husband had planted rows of corn and watched them grow to be beautiful stalks with promising ears. They waited for the corn to get sweet. On the day they were ready to harvest, they discovered that Japanese beetles had gotten to every ear.

    Another friend told of her battle with deer. Another complained of groundhogs. And yet another described how she saw her plants disappear into the ground, one-by-one, as voles got to them. The squirrels get my peaches; I see their teeth marks on the developing fruit as they test for ripeness.

    “Eat the wild strawberries instead!” I yelled when I saw a bunny. “And the clover, why don’t you munch on that and leave my veggies alone.”

    Truth be known, the rabbits do eat the clover, which we have lots of, but they must like variety in the diet. Don’t we all? I can imagine my yard as a full three-course rabbit meal: clover for an appetizer, veggies for the main course, and flowers for dessert.

    I wouldn’t do anything harmful to rabbits though I would certainly like to have my vegetables able to grow. With fingers crossed, and a cage or two, we planted a watermelon vine and some tomatoes. I silently sent a message, Stay away bunnies. I would hate to have to call on Farmer McGregor for help. On second thought, maybe a fence will do.

    The Humane Society is the best Farmer McGregor if you have rabbit problems:

    http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/rabbits/tips/solving_problems_rabbits.html

    Photo copyright 2011 by Ferida Wolff

    Beatrix Potter

    Beatrix Potter Books

  • Fact Check Examines Playing Politics With Gasoline Prices

    FactCheck.org investigates and clarifies an issue facing the Memorial Day drivers along their holiday routes:

    May 27, 2011

    Summary

    Democrats and Republicans disagree on energy policy, but this they share: Both shade the facts on the complex issue for political advantage.

    • Republicans say repealing oil industry tax breaks will drive up costs at the pump. However, nonpartisan congressional analysts and industry experts say higher taxes would have little or no effect on gasoline prices.
    • Senate Democratic leaders asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate oil refiners for limiting supply “to keep prices artificially high.” But the FTC says the “vast majority” of past investigations found “market factors,” not collusion, to be the cause of price spikes.
    • President Barack Obama in a weekly address said policies already adopted by the administration “could save families as much as $3,000 at the pump.” Maybe so. But that’s an administration estimate of cumulative net savings over six years for somebody buying a new car in 2016.
    • Sen. Rand Paul claimed that oil companies earn only 7 cents on a gallon of gasoline. Not true. That figure does not include profit from producing and selling crude oil, so it grossly underestimates the amount companies earn on high gasoline prices. One oil analyst calls the figure “disingenuous.”

    Analysis

    Gasoline prices have been hovering near or above $4 a gallon for months, and the summer driving season is only just about to start. The reasons for high prices at the pump are many, beginning with the high cost of crude oil — which accounts for about two-thirds of the cost of gasoline. Energy Information Administration data shows spot prices of crude oil have been near or above $100 a barrel since late February.

    Oil industry analysts say several factors contribute to high cost of crude oil: increased demand for oil as the world economy begins to recover, turmoil in oil producing countries in the Mideast and North Africa, a weaker U.S. dollar, and speculation in the oil futures market.

    The focus in Washington has largely been on the oil companies. Democrats have called for the repeal of oil industry tax breaks, and they suggest that refiners are illegally manipulating gasoline prices and gouging the public. Republicans have called for increased domestic oil production and warned that any attempt to penalize oil companies will cause more pain at the pump for motorists. The partisan debate has produced some questionable claims.

    Will Repealing Tax Breaks Raise Prices at the Pump?

    The Senate on May 17 voted down a Democratic bill that would have repealed tax breaks for major oil and gas companies to the tune of $21 billion over 10 years. But with the price of gasoline remaining high, the issue isn’t going to go away. The Democrats immediately vowed to bring the issue up again during negotiations on raising the debt ceiling, and they have been using the issue of tax breaks to help raise campaign cash.

  • Dress Sculptures: Art Into Fashion; Roberto Capucci

    Roberto CarpucciRoberto Capucci, a master of color, form, and innovative silhouettes, was one of the founders of modern Italian fashion in the early 1950s. Today, after six decades of creative achievement, he remains one of Italy’s most influential and imaginative artist-couturiers. Capucci (b. 1930) captured the attention of the international press at an early age, drawing praise from designers such as Christian Dior when he was still a teenager. His work has appealed to Italian aristocrats like the noblewoman Maria Pace Odescalchi, Italian actress Elsa Martinelli and Marilyn Monroe, Esther Williams, and Gloria Swanson. Today, Capucci fascinates and inspires contemporary designers such as Ralph Rucci, who admires Capucci’s dedication to the purity of his art. Covering his couture designs from the 1950s to his recent sculptures, Roberto Capucci: Art into Fashion, the exhibit, ends on June 5.

    Timothy Rub, The George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, stated: “Roberto Capucci breaks down the boundaries between art and fashion. The architectural and sculptural quality of his work, his innovative techniques and his extraordinary use of color will have exceptionally wide appeal to those interested in style and design.” The exhibit is on view through June 5th.

    “Capucci is what every designer aspires to be — an artist who is true to himself,” added Dilys Blum, the Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Museum. “While he was considered an international ‘boy wonder’ during the 1950s, creating wonderfully exciting pieces in the aesthetic tradition associated with the work of Cristobal Balenciaga and Charles James, he ultimately chose to leave the commercial world to pursue interests that went well beyond fashion. In his work one can see the pure joy of creativity.”