"Attorney General Garland provided updates on the Department’s work over the past year on issues unique to Tribal communities and how the Department’s broader work is taking into account Tribal interests. In his remarks, he announced that the U.S. Marshals Service has developed a legislative proposal to formalize its role in enforcing Tribal violent felony arrest warrants, which would expand the practice that the Marshals Service has piloted over the last year to serve Tribal warrants at the request of, and in close coordination with, Tribal law enforcement and the Department’s Office of Tribal Justice."

"The ordinary things that we see are easy to pass by... We take them for granted and move on to whatever is next. But maybe if we allow ourselves to look at things differently, we may notice something new about the usual... But things move on. Recently, a crew was out sawing away at one of the mature trees. When the work was finished, the thick branches and sawed trunk lay on the street, a reminder of how big the tree had grown. It was sad. I thanked the tree for sharing its life within our community for so long. Then looking beyond, I could see that new trees, self-planted, were rising down the block."

"As of this year, commercial insurers have enticed just over half of all Medicare beneficiaries — or nearly 31 million people — to sign up for their plans instead of traditional Medicare. The plans typically include drug coverage as well as extras like vision and dental benefits, many at low or even zero additional monthly premiums compared with traditional Medicare. But even as enrollment soars, so too has friction between insurers and the doctors and hospitals they pay to care for beneficiaries. Increasingly, according to experts who watch insurance markets, hospital and medical groups are bristling at payment rates Medicare Advantage plans impose and at what they say are onerous requirements for preapproval to deliver care and too many after-the-fact denials of claims."

"There is understandable fear in communities across the country. Even as we speak, the ATF and FBI are investigating the tragic shooting of three men of Palestinian descent in Vermont. That investigation, including whether this is a hate crime, is ongoing. Investigative updates byATF and FBI in Vermont will be coming soon. The Justice Department is poised to provide any assistance that our state and local law enforcement partners need as we work together to protect our communities." Monday, November 27, 2023

"In addition to featuring longstanding strengths of the collection — such as individual masterpieces by artists like Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Poussin; the largest collection of 17th-century Dutch art in North America; and the most extensive holdings of El Greco and Goya outside Spain — the reconfigured galleries give renewed attention to women artists, explore Europe’s complex relationships with New Spain and the Viceroyalty of Peru, and look more deeply into the histories of class, gender, race, and religion. 'Collection highlights,' designated by their wall labels, anchor galleries and guide visitors through the space."

"If you’re wealthy, you’ll be able to afford help in your home or care in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. If you’re poor, you can turn to Medicaid for nursing homes or aides at home. What’s the difference between long-term care insurance and medical insurance? Long-term care insurance is for people who may develop permanent cognitive problems like Alzheimer’s disease or who will need help with basic daily tasks like bathing or dressing. It can help pay for personal aides, adult day care, or institutional housing in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. Medicare does not cover such costs for the chronically ill."

"Do what you can to show you care about others, and you will make our world a better place." Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s marriage to Jimmy Carter took her from a rural farming community to the White House. Showing the world a new vision of the First Lady, Mrs. Carter was a working partner and trusted advisor to the president, a participant in foreign and domestic affairs, and an astute political strategist. Widely recognized as the nation’s foremost advocate for mental health, she was actively devoted to building a more caring society.

"Medill researchers for the first time used predictive modeling to estimate the number of counties at risk of becoming news deserts. Those models show that another 228 counties are at high risk of losing local news. In creating that “Watch List,” Medill researchers and data scientists applied the characteristics of current news deserts to counties with only one news source. Medill’s annual “State of Local News Project” report also counts about 550 digital-only local news outlets, 700 ethnic media organizations and 225 public broadcasting stations producing original local news. Most of the digital-only startups are based in metro areas, exacerbating the divide in America between news-haves and have-nots."

Rose Mula Writes: What’s more, the priest is speaking English — not Latin! And though said priest is still a he, he is often now assisted by altar girls — not always boys. And shocker of shockers — yesterday's sonorous organ music is often replaced by rocking guitars. Can it be? The 20-year-old me remembers weddings where the leading lady's entrance could not be heralded with Here Comes the Bride, which was considered secular and thus banned from the church. Bummer! A wedding without Here Comes the Bride was like lasagna without ricotta cheese... Also, when I was young, a cousin married a non-Catholic (shameful!), and the ceremony had to be performed in the rectory. Such a "sacrilege" could be permitted only in the priests' house — not God's... That it was allowed at all was probably to prevent the couple from seeking a non-Catholic church to marry them. A few years later, however, still another cousin had the gall to fall in love with a Protestant, and they actually were allowed to take their vows inside the church — but only outside the altar rail — not on the altar itself.

"The financial toll on middle-class and upper-income people needing long-term care was examined by reviewing data that the HRS collected from 2000 to 2021 on wealthy Americans, those whose net worth at age 65 was in the 50th to 95th percentile, totaling anywhere from $171,365 to $1,827,765 in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars. This group excludes the super-wealthy. Each individual’s wealth at age 65 was compared with their wealth just before they died to calculate the percentage of affluent people who exhausted their financial resources and the likelihood that would occur among different groups. To calculate how many people were likely to need long-term care, how many people needing long-term care services were receiving them, and who was providing care to people receiving help, we looked at people age 65 and older of all wealth levels in the 2020-21 survey, the most recent."

Combating Hate by Investigating and Prosecuting Hate Crimes Pursuing Hate Crimes Prosecutions: Since January 2021, charged 100 defendants in over 85 cases and secured more than 85 convictions of defendants charged with bias-motivated crimes. Elevating Hate Crimes Threat Level: Elevating civil rights violations and hate crimes enforcement for prioritization among the FBI’s 56 field offices. Expediting Review of Hate Crimes: Designating the chief of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division to serve as a facilitator for the expedited review of hate crimes. Enhancing State and Local Law Enforcement Training: Launching a hate crimes recognition and reporting training aimed at line-level state and local law enforcement officers and holding trainings for state and local law enforcement on assessing and managing hate crime and domestic extremist violence threats. This training is provided for free to state, local, tribal, territorial, and campus law enforcement agencies via the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services technical assistance program: https://cops.usdoj.gov/cri-tac.

A bill to modify the ten-year marriage rule relating to spouse’s and surviving spouse’s insurance benefits in cases of domestic violence; A bill to implement Title IX with respect to elementary and secondary schools, encouraging confidential reporting of sexual assault and sex-based discrimination so students are not deterred from seeking help; A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the relationships between firearm violence, misogyny, and violence against women, and reaffirming the importance of preventing individuals with a history of violence against women from accessing a firearm.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “As I said the day Dobbs was decided, bedrock constitutional principles dictate that women who reside in states that have banned access to comprehensive reproductive care must remain free to seek that care in states where it is legal,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This filing demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to defending the constitutional right to travel and to protecting reproductive freedom under federal law.”

CHAIR POWELL."Inflation has moderated since the middle of last year, and readings over the summer were quite favorable. But a few months of good data are only the beginning of what it will take to build confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward our goal. The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2 percent has a long way to go. Despite elevated inflation, longer-term inflation expectations appear to remain well anchored, as reflected in a broad range of surveys of households, businesses, and forecasters, as well as measures from financial markets. The Fed’s monetary policy actions are guided by our mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices for the American people. My colleagues and I are acutely aware that high inflation imposes significant hardship as it erodes purchasing power, especially for those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation."

Ferida Wolff writes: "It seems like a warmer Fall would alter the timing of when leaves change their color but trees seem to know better. The leaves are glowing with brilliant reds and yellows and starting to fall in huge numbers. I used to like to crunch them when I walked down the street. I still do."

"Visit Oyster Bay today, and the Roosevelt name still looms large. There’s an elementary school, an independent bookshop, café and pub, memorial park, beach and arena, all bearing the Roosevelt name in some form, whether it be just “Theodore” or “TR,” Teddy, or even just the familiar, identifiable bespectacled faced TR image. It is likely, without the familial devotion and dedication to history and preservation, led by Ethel Roosevelt, the imprint of Theodore Roosevelt and his large family who once were the pillars of the community might have been forgotten, or at least less present in the town of Oyster Bay, with the passage of time.

Jo Freeman Reviews: "This book is a biography of three women and an organization. It’s an unusual way to write about either, but Turk makes it work. The three women are Patricia Hill Burnett, Aileen Hernandez, and Mary Jean Collins born in 1920, 1926 and 1939 respectively. The organization is the National Organization for Women, founded in 1966 'to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men.' ” 

FTC Issues Annual Report to Congress on Agency’s Actions to Protect Older Adults; Adults 60 and older report losses of $1.6 billion in 2022 to scams. The analysis of fraud reports ...showed that adults aged 60 and over were substantially less likely to report losing money to fraud than adults aged 18-59... Consumers 80 and older reported losing a median of $1,750 to fraud, while those in their 70s reported a median loss of $1,000, with both numbers increasing over 2021...The report calls on Congress to update the FTC Act in response to the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in the AMG Capital Management case, which severely limited the FTC’s ability to recover money that older adults and other consumers lose to scammers.

Christopher J. Waller: "The data in the past few months has been overwhelmingly positive for both of the FOMC's goals of maximum employment and stable prices. Economic activity and the labor market have been strong, with what looks like growth well above trend and unemployment near a 50-year low. Meanwhile, there has been continued, gradual progress in lowering inflation, and moderation in wage growth. This is great news, and while I tend to be an optimist, things are looking a little too good to be true, so it makes me think that something's gotta give. Either growth moderates, fostering conditions that support continued progress toward our 2 percent inflation objective, or growth doesn't, possibly undermining that progress. But which is going to give — the real side of the economy or the nominal side?"

"This FEDS Note summarizes high-level findings from the COVID-19 questions, showcasing differences in families' experiences of the first years of the pandemic across income and education groups and connecting these differences to income and net worth measured in the SCF. In particular, lower-income families and families with lower levels of educational attainment were more likely to experience a reduction in work, which could reflect their lower incidence of telework and higher incidence of a severe COVID-19 infection. These differential employment experiences appear to map well to between-survey income growth across the income distribution, especially after accounting for unemployment benefits, which were temporarily expanded over this period."

"...the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have worked with plaintiffs to identify class members and their children, developed plans for reunification, and reunified class members with their children. On Jan. 26, 2021, the Justice Department rescinded the Department’s 2018 zero-tolerance policy for offenses under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a). In Feb. 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order establishing the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families, comprised of representatives from various federal agencies, including the Justice Department, DHS, and HHS. The parties have worked extensively to reunify families in accordance with the Executive Order and subsequent orders from the district court."  

Michelle W. Bowman:"Many central banks are facing challenging and uncertain times as they strive to restore price stability and promote financial stability. A stable and resilient financial system is essential for the effective transmission of monetary policy and for a healthy economy. Healthy economies foster financial stability and financial stability fosters healthy economies. It is essential that central banks facing high inflation bring inflation back to target. A failure to do so would only lead to greater financial stability risks through less certain and unstable economic conditions and through reduced central bank credibility. It is, therefore, necessary that central banks, in collaboration with other financial regulators as appropriate, develop and use supervisory and prudential regulatory tools to promote financial stability."

"A group of international scientists have mapped the genetic, cellular, and structural makeup of the human brain and the nonhuman primate brain. This understanding of brain structure, achieved by funding through the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® Initiative, or The BRAIN Initiative®, allows for a deeper knowledge of the cellular basis of brain function and dysfunction, helping pave the way for a new generation of precision therapeutics for people with mental disorders and other disorders of the brain."