Relationships and Going Places: Have a Trip in Mind This Summer? Travel Advisories From the US State Department
Learn about the country from the US State Department website, including visa requirements, local laws, customs, and medical care in the countries where you will be. Check for any Travel Advisories for your destination. Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive important safety and security messages and make it easier for us to locate and assist you in an emergency. Keep the contact details for the nearest US embassy or consulate with you. The State Department is available for emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, overseas and in Washington, D.C. (888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444).
Authors: Catholic Charities Letter to 'The Honorable Kirstjen M. Nielsen at Homeland Security; List of Charity Navigator's Recommended Immigration Organizations
"While we are alarmed about the impact that separation of families will have on children, we are also deeply concerned that implementation of this policy will exacerbate a foster care and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unaccompanied alien children (UAC) system already stretched to capacity. Under the current policy, after parents are placed in adult immigration detention centers, the children are transferred to HHS, which is then responsible for caring for the children or finding suitable caregivers. HHS therefore must vet potential caregivers or send children to group facilities across the country."
Relationships and Going Places: Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated From Their Parents at the Border
The desperate sobbing of 10 Central American children, separated from their parents one day last week by immigration authorities at the border, makes for excruciating listening. Many of them sound like they’re crying so hard, they can barely breathe. They scream “Mami” and “Papá” over and over again, as if those are the only words they know. Then a distraught but determined 6-year-old Salvadoran girl pleads repeatedly for someone to call her aunt. Just one call, she begs anyone who will listen. She says she’s memorized the phone number, and at one point, rattles it off to a consular representative. “My mommy says that I’ll go with my aunt,” she whimpers, “and that she’ll come to pick me up there as quickly as possible.”
Style and Fashion: My 1950s: A Nordic Museum Exhibition of Social Ideals As Well As Nylon stockings, Corsets, Accentuated Waists and Flared Skirts
The 1950s was a decade of change. The Second World War was over, and American influence was sweeping across the Nordic region. There was more money around, more people were in work, and in terms of fashion the range of ready-made clothes was ever-increasing. Many women were also good at sewing, and shops and women’s magazines had plenty of patterns to choose from. The My 1950s exhibition gives visitors an insight into every level of clothing, from everyday wear to the finest finery, worn by everyone from wealthy big-city fashionistas to women in rural areas.
News and Issues: Congressional Action: Passing Bill Prohibiting Child Sex Dolls, Peer Counseling for Women Vets, Bill Including Funding For Office on Violence Against Women
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)/Education and the Workforce introduced a Bill; Oversight and Government Reform; House Administration (6/13/18)—A bill to permit leave to care for a domestic partner, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent who has a serious health condition, and to allow employees to take, as additional leave, parental involvement leave to participate in or attend their children’s and grandchildren’s educational and extracurricular activities. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)/Finance (6/12/18)—A bill to ensure access to mental health and substance use disorder services for children and pregnant women under the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and for other purposes.
News and Issues: Policy of Trump Administration: Office of the Attorney General, April 6th, 2018 Memo for Federal Prosecutors Along Southwest Border; MSNBC Videos
Atty General Jeff Sessions, April 6, 2018: "I direct each United States Attorney's Office along the Southwest Border to the extent practicable, and in consultation with DHS- to adopt immediately a zero-tolerance policy for all offenses referred for prosecution under section 1325(a). This zero-tolerance policy shall supersede any existing policies. If adopting such a policy requires additional resources, each office shall identify and request such additional resources."
Relationships and Going Places: Masterpiece Theater: Man In An Orange Shirt
Man in an Orange Shirt was commissioned by the BBC and premiered in the UK for its “Gay Britannia” season, celebrating the 50th anniversary of partial decriminalization of gay sex with the 1967 Sexual Offences Act. Prior to the 1967 ruling, the arrest and imprisonment of gay men brutally destroyed lives. Though the 1967 act was far from ideal, decriminalizing only homosexual acts done in private, it paved the way for people to organize as activists for meaningful rights and change, such as the 1976 London protest by supporters of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Authors: Here's to Anthony Bourdain: FDA Issues Guidance, Science Review, and Citizen Petition Responses on Dietary Fiber
The FDA today issued guidance and a supporting science review identifying eight additional non-digestible carbohydrates (NDCs) that the agency intends to propose to add to the list of non-digestible carbohydrates that meet the definition of "dietary fiber" that was established in the Nutrition Facts label final rule. The FDA also issued responses to citizen petitions requesting that additional NDCs be added to the definition of "dietary fiber." These actions provide industry with additional clarity to update their product labels and accurately declare dietary fiber content on the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labels for consumers.






