"Can you get Felix off his screen?" were daughter Jill's first words after her welcoming hug. My six-year-old grandson was prone on the couch, his eyes focused on an electronic pad and his thumbs swiftly pressing buttons. I considered my daughter's challenge as one crucial for me to accept and win. I took a few moments to contemplate their backyard. It held a lemon tree, Ping-Pong table, hammock, outdoor sofa, potted plants, a coiled water hose, and other items I could foresee as props in a game. "How about a treasure hunt?" I said to Felix.

The term "conflict-related sexual violence" refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and "any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity" inflicted on women, men, girls and boys directly or indirectly linked to a conflict. Problems associated with post-sexual-violence: stigma; contracting of infectious diseases; handling of children of rape; loss of livelihoods and destitution; and other social taboos and damages that can ruin victims for life. Select LanguageArabicChinese (Simplified)FrenchRussianSpanish   Powered by WUNRN RELEASES   ABOUT WUNRN UN HUMAN RIGHTS STUDY TESTIMONIALS       Author: WUNRN Date: May 17, 2017   Yazidi re…

A bill to improve the response to sexual assault and sexual harassment on board aircraft operated in passenger air transportation; A bill to enhance transparency, improve the coordination, and intensify the impact of assistance to support access to primary and secondary education for displaced children and persons, including women and girls; A bill to require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer.

In the report "Generations of War: The Rise of the Warrior Caste and the All-Volunteer Force," the Center for a New American Security" Research Associate Amy Schafer writes that the trend of military service being passed from generation to generation has created a warrior caste in which a small section of the population bears the burden of America's wars. The report examines the risks and benefits associated with a warrior caste, but advocates against returning to conscription.

Diane Girard writes: A older woman friend, who is a member of the baby-buster generation and who is very active in her church and community spoke to me recently about her desire to slow down and guilt she feels about that possibility. Who will do it, if I don't? That's the unasked question. Younger women today have a lot to do, and there are a zillion expectations placed on them. Have a fulfilling career! Have a perfect family! Have a perfect life! Don't forget to look fabulous, always! No wonder being a pillar doesn't fit in.

Covered California, the exchange, might not wrap up negotiations with insurers and announce 2018 premiums for its 1.4 million customers until mid-August — about a month later than usual. Similar scenarios are playing out across the country as state officials and insurers demand clarity on health care rules and funding, with deadlines fast approaching for the start of open enrollment this fall. "It's insane," said John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan. "Here we are in the middle of July and we don’t even know what rules we will be operating under for open enrollment. It is not how you want to run a business."

"The idea that you can support a 20-year retirement with 30 years of work is outdated. And can't continue. It's just not sustainable. So as lifespans increase, then if retirements start at the same age, then retirements just get longer and longer. And I think the idea that we can continue to support a longer and longer retirement with — without changing the length of work is unreasonable going forward."

The number of people who are uninsured would increase by 17 million in 2018, compared with the number under current law. That number would increase to 27 million in 2020, after the elimination of the ACA's expansion of eligibility for Medicaid and the elimination of subsidies for insurance purchased through the marketplaces established by the ACA, and then to 32 million in 2026.

As he confessed in 1939, Edvard Munch's true "breakthrough came very late in life, really only starting when I was 50 years old." One of his last works, Self-Portrait. Between the Clock and the Bed (1940–43) — with its themes of desire, mortality, isolation and anxiety — serves as a touchstone and guide to the approximately 45 works in the exhibition. Together, these paintings propose an alternative view of Munch as an artist as revolutionary in the 20th century as he was when he made a name for himself in the Symbolist era. 

Rose Madeline Mula writes: As if my wrinkles aren't enough of a giveaway, all kinds of other factors are blabbing my age to the world at large. My choice of music is another dead giveaway. The lyrics of my favorite songs tell sweet, romantic stories. No political statements, no anti-establishment rants, and not a single obscenity. Furthermore, the singers can actually sing — no screeching., whispering, or special-effect enhancements, I can understand the lyrics, and the melodies are melodic.

President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have committed to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). How do their replacement proposals compare to the ACA? How do they compare to each other? Plans available for comparison: The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (PDF) – Updated 7.13.17 The American Health Care Act, as passed by the House of Representatives on May 4, 2017 (PDF) The Affordable Care Act, 2010 (PDF)

By now, the demise of the American small town is a common tale. But even as most of them continue to lose residents, a few are adding them at a rapid clip. In several Western and Southern states, small towns are growing quickly as fast-growing metro areas swallow up more outlying towns, according to a Stateline analysis of census estimates. Between 2015 and 2016, the growth was particularly strong in small towns in Utah, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Florida, Idaho, Delaware, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina and South Carolina, where small towns grew around 1 percent or more.

An art exhibition focusing on the train that carries up to half a million Central American migrants across Mexico toward the United States every year opens at University of California's C Berkeley’s Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS). The exhibit, by the Artist Collective Against Discrimination, is titled Riding the Beast, named for the notorious train that carries desperate Central American and Mexican migrants as it rumbles across Mexico.

Last December, Ohio’s Board of Pharmacy began reporting sales of gabapentin prescriptions in its regular monitoring of controlled substances. The drug, which is not an opioid nor designated a controlled substance by federal authorities, is used to treat nerve pain. But the board found that it was the most prescribed medication on its list that month, surpassing oxycodone by more than 9 million doses. In February, the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network issued an alert regarding increasing misuse across the state.

Last year the Department canceled or postponed eleven lease sales. By contrast, the Trump Administration has already held more lease sales in the first six months than in the previous year, offered more acreage in those sales, and raised more revenue than in the same time period last year.

Joan L. Cannon writes: Take for instance, the preoccupation with the names of things, that was so essential to my father, and that I've retained, yet can't recall whether I ever consciously tried to pass on. Even my dearest companion was somewhat afflicted with this (I hope minor) obsession. And why does it loom now so large as a matter of consequence to my bumbling consciousness? Even wrote about it for SWW (Renewing Respect for Language: The Subjunctive Is a Governor of the Consciousness That Uses It). Did I fail in a relatively simple matter of pointing out things to our children? Do any of them care half as much as we did?  

Bills Introduced: A bill to provide grants to local educational agencies to encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue studies and careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology;A bill to provide states with the option of applying for and receiving temporary waivers for states to experiment with new approached that integrate federal programs in order to provide more coordinated and holistic solutions to families in need, and for other purposes; A bill to enhance the military childcare programs and activities of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes; A bill to improve the handling of instances of sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, and for other purposes.

"The Declaration of Independence was not a creation of the Gods, but of living men. And let us never forget extremely brave men. They were staking their lives on what they believed. Pledging as Jefferson wrote in the memorable final passage of the Declaration, our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor." "From history we learn that sooner is not necessarily better. That what we don't know can indeed hurt us very often and badly. And there, and that there is no such thing as a self-made man or woman. We all got where we are as did everyone before us with the help of others." "President Dwight D Eisenhower, who so admirably served his country his entire career, said there were four key qualities by which we should measure a leader. Character, ability, responsibility, and experience."

"The use of concrete language to talk about abstract ideas may unlock mysteries about how we are able to communicate and conceptualize things we can never see or touch,” said study senior author Mahesh Srinivasan, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. “Our results may also pave the way for future advances in artificial intelligence." 

The Senate bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law, slightly fewer than the increase in the number of uninsured estimated for the House-passed legislation. By 2026, an estimated 49 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law.

Julia Sneden wrote: Here are some ideas to engage slightly older children. The same principles pertain: keep a healthy ratio between passive (as in watching videos or TV) and active activities (ones in which the child must use more than his receptive senses; things that involve his body as well as his mind). For older children, I'd suggest being sure you have playing cards, board games like Parcheesi, checkers, chess, and backgammon, and some sports equipment on hand. Editor's Note: At Camp Gray, all 3 grandchildren made pj pants, including our grandson, using our sewing machine.

New roofs are coming to Africatown, a hamlet of crumbling shotgun houses amid ancient pecan trees northwest of Mobile Bay. The replacements, many of which will go to the neighborhood’s poor and aging homeowners, are being paid for by a first-of-its-kind state grant program that aims to lower homeowners' insurance rates and reinforce Alabama homes against future windstorms. Alabama officials, like state and local leaders around the country, expect disaster recovery costs to continue to grow as people live in vulnerable areas and climate change increases the frequency and intensity of natural disasters.

Stars James Norton and Robson Green are back as the crime-solving duo of vicar Sidney Chambers and his partner Detective Inspector Geordie Keating. When we left things at the end of Season 2, we were all left wondering what would happen between Sidney and Amanda, now that she has left her husband. Prime Suspect: Tennison is the six-part drama charts the rise of the novice policewoman as she assists in her first murder investigation, revealing her first steps towards becoming the complex and formidable character that viewers have come to know.