For now, emergency federal benefits have mitigated the state cuts. During the depths of the recession, Congress approved federally funded aid for unemployed people who exhausted their state benefits. But as a state’s jobless rate goes down, the federal government gives its unemployed residents fewer weeks of benefits. In states with the lowest rates, the federal government provides just 14 weeks of additional coverage.

My husband and I had already yanked inside-out all the pockets of his clothing. Had already peered under the bed, under the nightstand, under the couch cushions, under the couch. When all of these turned up empty, a dark thought entered my head: Tommy must have left them in the front door and some miscreant absconded with them.  It was like an episode of CSI when the team prepares to search a dumpster for some vital clue.

Adventurous avant-garde picture books from Bolshevik Russia; a Civil War-era patriotic reader published for children of the Confederate States; a Noah Webster speller aimed at teaching a uniquely American English to the schoolchildren of the newly formed US; the manuscript of James Stephens’s Irish Fairy Tales to help preserve Irish tradition in a time of English rule; Japanese comic books meant to teach children English during the post-war Allied Occupation; a fascinating recent picture book from post-colonial Francophone Africa.

Margaret Cullison writes: Flush from the post-war economic boom, Dad bought his first airplane, a 1946 cream and red Taylorcraft BC-12D. I recall the anticipation stirring in the pit of my stomach as we waited for someone to prime the propeller and yell out above the noise of the wind and the engine, "all clear", as he waved us out onto the runway. I recall the instant the wheels left the ground, that first gentle lift into the air, and a magic I didn't understand moved us skyward.

Officials also cited the need for greater awareness of elder abuse by the public and training of direct service providers who interact with older adults on a regular basis, to help prevent elder abuse or recognize its symptoms. Five of the nine regional agency officials GAO spoke with said elder justice issues need to be elevated to national attention for the general public by a national public awareness campaign. The Elder Justice Coordinating Council is considering a recommendation to sponsor a national campaign but has not yet done so.

Don't buy from sites that offer to prescribe a prescription drug for the first time without a physical exam, sell a prescription drug without a prescription, or sell drugs not approved by the FDA. Use sites that provide convenient access to a licensed pharmacist who can answer your questions. Avoid sites that do not identify with whom you are dealing and do not provide a US address and phone number to contact if there's a problem. Beware of sites that advertise a "new cure" for a serious disorder or a quick cure-all for a wide range of ailments.

Roberta McReynolds writes: The genealogy bug bit me when I was exposed to this 'illness' through my Aunt Bessie. She would spread out her albums of family research at annual family reunions, hoping to deliberately infect the younger generations. I honestly don't know if my elders would be more pleased or horrified at the results; research inevitably digs up surprises and secrets ... but more about that later.

"Our mission is to understand not only what happened but why and how it happened, ... We want to make sure we do not have events where interstate bridges drop into the waterway below them. That is not what we expect." "I think too many parents — we're all guilty of doing as I say not as I do, ... What you really need to do is model that behavior because they are watching you, and you are actually one of the best indicators of what your child's behavior is going to be." "The NTSB is concerned that in these events, [air traffic control] was not able to ensure the safe separation of aircraft."