Help |
Site Map
|
"There is growing evidence that extreme weather events related to climate change are on the rise — droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and heatwaves are all becoming more common. Climate-related events are already adversely affecting the lives of many Americans. The economic and financial impacts are also increasingly evident: we are already seeing elevated financial losses associated with an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Some have described Pacific Gas and Electric's bankruptcy as the first climate-related bankruptcy of a major US corporation...
Barack Obama writes with grace and honesty. Clarity defines his discussions of policy and politics ... and helps us to understand the strategies guiding the decisions of the new president-elect as Biden forms a government... Elizabeth Strout's stories are brilliantly observed and can leave you breathless with surprise. James McBride's main character runs us ragged in the 2020 mystery novel Deacon King Kong in the maelstrom of aging and loss. In each, there is the poignancy of older characters chasing life... Homeland Elegies by Pakistani-American playwright Ayad Akhtar’s bears some comparison with Olive, Again. It is described as a novel but is more comfortably thought of as linked stories... Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain evokes the chaotic domestic world of drinkers without a scintilla of sentimentality and The Brothers Mankiewicz is a well shaped biography based on new interviews and archival sleuthing. Read on for the entire look at these new reads.
All states have released updated prioritization criteria for Phase 1, primarily in response to ACIP deliberations and guidance. Some had planned emergency meetings in anticipation of the FDA’s announcement and ACIP’s follow-on recommendation. Importantly, most indicate that these criteria could change depending on supply, vaccine characteristics, and other factors.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will feature eight such women in its new display, “The Only One in the Room,” which opened on Nov. 20. This “New Perspectives” case will be on view in the museum’s business history exhibition, “National Museum of American History: Even Though the Room Is Full, They Are “The Only One in the Room”” through November 2021. Spanning three centuries of American history, the display will explore the stories of women who made a mark in their respective industries, including banking, beauty, advertising and manufacturing, and examine the obstacles they faced and the context of the times in which they lived.
Prosthetics for female veterans has been a national research priority for the Veterans Health Administration since 2017. VHA has funded 8 related studies, but officials said recruiting participants is a challenge. Although the female veteran population is growing, it remains small. Women make up just about 3% of the veteran amputee population. Female veterans received other "prosthetics" from VHA — like eyeglasses and wheelchairs — in addition to artificial limbs. Women made up 7.9% of those receiving prosthetic services in FY 2019, and accounted for about $889 million of the $15.4 billion cost of prosthetics VHA provided from FYs 2015-19. One study aims to develop a prosthetic ankle-foot system that allows female veterans to more easily change footwear with different heel heights.
Comprising almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts and running to more than a million objects, the Collection is a unique and valuable record of the personal tastes of kings and queens over the past 500 years. Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, the greater part of the King’s magnificent possessions was sold by order of Oliver Cromwell, and the Royal Collection has largely been formed since the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. The most important additions to the Royal Collection were made by Frederick, Prince of Wales; George III; George IV; Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; and Queen Mary, consort of King George V.
“Homeowners in bankruptcy are entitled to receive proper and timely notices and to have their payments properly accounted for, consistent with the Bankruptcy Code and Rules,” said USTP Director Cliff White. “The failure of mortgage servicers to comply with those requirements compromises the integrity of the bankruptcy system and the ability of homeowners to receive a fresh start.” Collectively, the USTP’s agreements with Nationstar and U.S. Bank, and the letter of acknowledgement with PNC, provide over $74 million to remediate over 76,000 historical servicing errors impacting borrowers in bankruptcy.
Research partners from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Texas A&M University have found that older adults are more likely to use ADAS if they are taught how to use these technologies through interactive videos rather than through manuals or live demonstrations. “Older adults have a higher rate of vehicle crashes because of degradations in physical, mental and motor capabilities,” said Maryam Zahabi, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and director of the human-system interaction (HSI) laboratory. “With ADAS, some of the mental workload related to driving can be taken off, and we’ve shown that instructional videos are the best way to introduce ADAS to seniors.
Jo Freeman writes: Her first passion was cheerleading, which she pursued in high school and college. In many ways, she spent her life as a cheerleader, first for her team, then for her causes. Her second passion was leadership. She served as president of Tuskegee Institute’s student government and chose her successor when the rules did not permit her re-election. Gwen liked being in charge. Gwen had a talent for making friends, from the President of Tuskegee Institute, to Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Bettina Aptheker and many lesser knowns. They opened doors, helping her find jobs, travel to interesting conferences in far away places and serve on boards. She did make a few enemies, but there appear to be remarkably few.
As the nation's largest employer, the federal government employed about 2.7 million workers in 2019. Although the pay gap between men and women in the federal workforce is smaller than it is for the entire US workforce and has narrowed over time, studies show that pay disparities continue to exist. GAO was asked to explore the current status of pay equity in the federal workforce. This report examines how the pay gap between men and women in the federal workforce has changed since 1999, and what factors account for any remaining gap; and the extent to which OPM and EEOC have monitored and taken steps to address the pay gap in the federal workforce, including assessing potential disparities in promotions; among other objectives.
President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to bolster the law and give states new tools to expand coverage. Among them: more money and additional guides to help people buy health insurance on the ACA exchanges; support for states that want to allow more people onto Medicaid rather than fewer; and a crackdown on health care plans that don’t offer the minimum benefits required by Obamacare.
President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Afforda…
From Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA: Black Friday is one of the most lucrative shopping days of the year for retailers in brick-and-mortar shops and online, but shoppers aren't the only ones looking for deals. Malicious people may be able to obtain personal information (such as credit card numbers, phone numbers, account numbers, and addresses) by stealing your wallet, overhearing a phone conversation, rummaging through your trash (a practice known as dumpster diving), or picking up a receipt at a restaurant that has your account number on it. If a thief has enough information, he or she may be able to impersonate you to purchase items, open new accounts, or apply for loans.
A few years ago as I was strolling through the china department of a local department store, I came across a dining table display that set me to giggling. The linens, china, crystal and silver were all quite elegant and carefully coordinated. The flower arrangement was a stunner. What set me off was the sight of twelve perfectly matched napkin rings, each correctly placed on the napkin to the left of the forks. The fad for matched napkin rings has grown since then, and nowadays even the catalogues feature such sets. Excuse me, but doesn't anybody in this modern generation realize why we had napkin rings in the old days?
Alisse Waterston is a cultural anthropologist; the inspiration for the book was her own emotional and intellectual development as an anthropologist and an activist, but her search for meaning goes far beyond cultural anthropology, which she describes only briefly in terms of its relevance as a source of light in dark times. The book is a work of art as well as a narrative, enlivened by the charming sketches of the co-author, Charlotte Corden, and is rooted in an interdisciplinary intellectual immersion in historical and modern literature, philosophy, poetry, and social science. Waterston’s fictional and nonfictional encounters are focused on the widespread current political, economic and humanitarian crises.
In an effort to share library holdings with people who cannot come to Winterthur in northern New Castle County, Delaware as well as to respond to onsite users, library staff has selected a number of collections to digitize. Choosing to represent library strengths and materials frequently requested by researchers, we have scanned dozens of collections and thousands of images and offer them online.
A perfect read for trying times! Cultural anthropologist and photographer Barry Kass begins his memoir by quoting Richard Burton, the British explorer, who wrote that "one of the gladdest moments in human life … is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands." This is especially true given the travel restrictions in the coronavirus pandemic and thus all the more of a pleasure to read. Kass’s memoir is not your ordinary travelogue. It is filled with descriptions of exotic locations and adventures but also with honest musings, like the deep appreciation of the comforts – hot water showers – that we in the United States take for granted.
Q: And will the decisions that are being made in this transition period — like the vaccine distribution plan — in any way limit the options of a new administration?
Fauci: No, I don’t think so. I think a new administration will have the choice of doing what they feel. But I can tell you what’s going to happen, regardless of the transition or not, is that we have people totally committed to doing it right that are going to be involved in this. So I have confidence in that.
Q: When do you think we’ll all be able to throw our masks away?
Fauci: I think that we’re going to have some degree of public health measures together with the vaccine for a considerable period of time. But we’ll start approaching normal — if the overwhelming majority of people take the vaccine — as we get into the third or fourth quarter [of 2021].
"I will begin today by describing the evolving role of mortgage companies in mortgage markets and the risks to financial stability that activity entails. I will then focus on developments in mortgage markets during the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss how actions by the Federal Reserve and the other parts of the government helped stabilize financial markets and prevent more severe damage to the economy. Finally, I will explain how vulnerabilities associated with mortgage companies could pose risks in the future, and I will review ongoing work across the regulatory agencies to monitor and address these vulnerabilities. I will end by enlisting your help. Figuring out how to achieve a balanced mortgage system — one that delivers the best outcomes for consumers while being sufficiently resilient — is a highly complex task that could benefit from the insights of those of you here today."
The gap in life expectancy between disadvantaged and privileged Americans has widened over the past half-decade, but so has the gap between the most affluent Americans and their peers in other prosperous nations, according to a new UC Berkeley study. In 2018, men in the most affluent US category could expect to live at least seven years longer than those in the most disadvantaged US group (80.5 vs. 73.2 years). For women, that gap was six years (84.9 vs. 79.9 years).
Jo Freeman writes: The theme was different versions of “Thank God for Donald Trump.” He could do no wrong, including lose the election. If the media said more people and more states voted for Biden, then the election was being stolen. It was photogenic. Flags flourished. T-shirts, hats and posters were plentiful. Many people wore costumes, or turned flags into capes. Only buttons were scarce. (As a button collector, I was looking to add a Trump button to my collection). Everyone was pleasant. When I asked people to pose for a photo, I only got two negative responses – one from a man in a Chicago Proud Boys t-shirt, and another from a woman wearing a Biden-Harris cap who was waving at the marchers from the sidewalk of Pennsylvania Ave.
Ferida Wolff writes: During this pandemic we are often, understandably, lost in negative, worrisome thoughts. But there are positive things to focus on: neighbors greeting neighbors with smiles and friendly though distant conversations, gratitude for the dedication of our health practitioners, conscious appreciation of the people in our lives.
The researchers found that study participants had unique patterns of brain activity for each color. With enough data, the researchers could predict from MEG recordings what color a volunteer was looking at – essentially decoding the brain map of color processing, or “mind-reading.” The study may have implications for the development of machine-brain interfaces for visual prosthetics. The brain uses light signals detected by the retina’s cone photoreceptors as the building blocks for color perception. The brain mixes and categorizes these signals to perceive color in a process that is not well understood.
Jo Freeman writes: As I passed McPherson Sq., one of the two Occupy DC hotspots in 2011-12, I saw several white tents and a stage. Days later I learned that these were put up by Bond Events, a female-owned event production company hired by the People’s Watch Party. PWP is a new coalition of 20 progressive groups which came together to produce an election day party on Black Lives Matter Plaza. The Plaza covers two blocks of 16th St. north of Lafayette Square that were turned into a pedestrian mall in response to the June protests. The DC government painted Black Lives Matter in 35 foot yellow capital letters from K to H Streets and DC’s Mayor officially renamed it on June 5. It has become the protest center of the Capitol.
Employment among the nation’s three million post-9/11 veterans was higher from 2014 to 2018 than it was among those who never served in the armed forces, according to a new US Census Bureau report on November 10th. In the 2014-2018 period, about 80% of post-9/11 veterans were employed compared with only 75% of nonveterans. In contrast with older veteran groups, such as those from the Vietnam era or Gulf War, post-9/11 veterans encountered very different labor markets after returning from the armed forces. As a result, post-9/11 veterans represent a unique and growing segment of the veteran population and the broader US workforce.
Slavery ended when Turner was a middle aged man. It was 1865, the American Civil War was over, and the era we call Reconstruction had begun. As a freedman, Turner joined the Republican Party and was elected tax collector of his county. In 1869 he won a seat on the Selma, Alabama town council. The following year he ran for the US House of Representatives on the Republican ticket. He won and served in Washington from 1871 to 1873. Like most incumbents, he hoped to be re-elected but another African American ran as an independent and split the Black vote, leaving victory to the fusion party white candidate. Turner returned to Selma. He resumed his life as a farmer and businessman but also kept a hand in politics including serving as a delegate to the 1880 Republican convention.
|
|