"Education outcomes, including learning losses and achievements, take time to measure, aggregate, and analyze. As we enter the fourth academic year affected by the pandemic, data on student performance are becoming more available. Much of this early data confirms our initial concerns. For example, early test scores show that throughout the country nine-year-olds suffered a decline in learning outcomes during the pandemic. But other data also indicate that learning losses were unequal and disproportionately affected low-performing students and low-income students. It is likely that the sudden shift to online classes contributed to the learning declines. According to the Board's 2020 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (the SHED), only 22 percent of parents with children attending virtual classes agreed that their children learned as much as they would have attending classes in person at school."    …

CraftTexas 2022 is the eleventh in a series of juried exhibitions showcasing the best in Texas-made contemporary craft. Juried by Andres Payan Estrada, the curator of public engagement at Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles, CA, this year’s show includes 40 pieces by nearly 30 artists, highlighting works that speak to personal stories of struggle and resilience, while challenging expectations of contemporary craft. Filling both the main and front gallery spaces at HCCC, the exhibition includes a wide variety of artworks and installations, with a particularly strong showing of work created from fiber, metal, and mixed media.

Grandparents, foster parents or people caring for siblings or other relatives should check their eligibility to receive the 2021 child tax credit. People who claim at least one child as their dependent may not realize they could be eligible to benefit from the child tax credit. Eligible taxpayers who received advance child tax credit payments last year should file a 2021 tax return to receive the second half of the credit. Eligible taxpayers who did not receive advance child tax credit payments last year can claim the full credit by filing a 2021 tax return. COVID Tax Tip 2022-165: Grandparents and others with eligible dependents shouldn’t miss out on the 2021 child tax credit. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent this bulletin at 10/27/2022 10:39 AM EDT IRS Tax Tips October 27, 2022…

"Academic research and agency experience suggest the following fees and fee practices fall within this category: Mandatory fees that often hide the full price. Some sellers publish a low price and then add mandatory fees later, at the “back-end” of the buying process or when a consumer tries to terminate the service... As the research shows, by hiding the full price, this practice can lead consumers to pay more than they would otherwise, and it also makes it hard for consumers to comparison shop... An example is the “service fees” added to the cost of a ticket to a concert or sporting event.

"While school districts often cite safety as the reason for having a dress code, many dress codes include elements that may make the school environment less equitable and safe for students. For example, an estimated 60 percent of dress codes have rules involving measuring students' bodies and clothing—which may involve adults touching students. Consequently, students, particularly girls, may feel less safe at school, according to a range of stakeholders GAO interviewed. According to GAO's nationally generalizable review of public school dress codes, districts more frequently restrict items typically worn by girls—such as skirts, tank tops, and leggings—than those typically worn by boys—such as muscle shirts. Most dress codes also contain rules about students' hair, hair styles, and head coverings, which may disproportionately impact Black students and those of certain religions and cultures, according to researchers and district officials." 

With less than three weeks to go until the midterm elections, registered voters’ preferences are nearly evenly divided: 41% say they favor the Democratic candidates in their districts, while a nearly identical percentage (40%) support Republican candidates; 18% are not sure how they will vote or favor candidates other than Republicans or Democrats. And those supporting GOP candidates are somewhat more engaged this election than their Democratic counterparts: They are more likely to have thought “a lot” about the election and to say the outcome “really matters.” As has been the case all year, the economy is clearly the top issue for voters; fully 79% say it will be very important to their voting decisions – the highest share among 18 issues included on the survey. The public continues to take a dim view of current economic conditions. Just 17% of U.S. adults say the economy is in excellent or good shape, little changed from the 13% who said this in July.

The 25-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study: "In this study, we observed short sleep duration to be associated with risk of chronic disease and subsequent multimorbidity but not with progression to death. There was no robust evidence of an increased risk of chronic disease among those with long sleep duration at age 50. Our findings suggest an association between short sleep duration and multimorbidity. The prevalence of multimorbidity is on the rise as reflected in over half of older adults having at least 2 chronic diseases in high-income countries, making multimorbidity a major challenge for public health."     Conclusions In this study, we observed short sleep duration to be associated with risk of chronic disease and subsequ…

"Recent emergencies have highlighted the importance of preparedness. One key component of the nation's medical response infrastructure is the SNS. The SNS inventory may be deployed to state, local, territorial, tribal, and international governments when needed. GAO placed HHS's leadership and coordination of public health emergencies on its High Risk List in January 2022 (GAO-22-105291) in part due to deficiencies in HHS's management of countermeasures. The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019 included a provision for GAO to review the SNS. This report examines: (1) the process used to make inventory decisions; (2) non COVID-19 obligations for countermeasures and their alignment with recommendations; and (3) obligations for countermeasures using COVID-19 relief funds, and inventory and operations changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic."

"In recent decades, income and wealth disparities have been increasing among older Americans and exceed those in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We found: In 2007, older Americans in a typical low-income household needed to work 12 years to equal what a typical high-income older household earned in 1 year; there were similar gaps in Germany, where they'd need to work 6 years, and 10 years in the U.K. Higher income and wealth were associated with living longer in the U.S. and the U.K. for those under 80 years old."

A bill to establish a cause of action with respect to reproductive health services; A bill to improve benefits and services for surviving spouses; screening initiatives by health care and social service providers; paid emergency leave; A bill to provide for a demonstration program to facilitate the clinical adoption of pregnancy intention screening initiatives by health care and social service providers; A bill to require institutions of higher education to have an independent advocate for campus sexual assault prevention and response; A bill to reauthorize the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.

Between looking at a post we had started about Nancy Pelosi and the January 6th Committee, we delved into a weekend show, while watching on our CBS favorite TV program, Henry Ford Innovation Nation: "250 acres of unexpected awe-inspiring experience. At The Henry Ford, you'll discover America — its culture, inventions, people and can-do spirit — and hundreds of hands-on ways to explore it, enjoy it and be inspired by it. Prepare to be astounded by our attractions and resources: Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Greenfield Village, Ford Rouge Factory Tour and Giant Screen Experience." An interesting program to share with young people...

“Medicare premiums are going down and Social Security benefits are going up in 2023, which will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room. This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned,” Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi said. To view a COLA message from Acting Commissioner Kijakazi, please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgm5q4YT1AM. The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.ssa.gov/cola.

“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash — just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the U.S. annually,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “We need to implement the technologies we have right here, right now to save lives.” Requiring passive vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection systems, advanced driver monitoring systems or a combination of the two that would be capable of preventing or limiting vehicle operation if it detects driver impairment by alcohol. The NTSB recommends that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration require all new vehicles to be equipped with such systems. Incentivizing vehicle manufacturers and consumers to adopt intelligent speed adaptation systems that would prevent speed-related crashes. This is a reiteration of a previous NTSB recommendation to NHTSA."

"Larger, more detailed epidemiologic studies are needed to further understand the clinical importance and epidemiologic consequences of COVID-19 rebound, the authors write. The authors note that the current data support the need for isolation in symptomatic rebound persons and the need to evaluate, in a clinical trial, longer courses of Paxlovid in immunocompromised individuals where the immune response may be ineffective."

"...Recent research suggests that the key to understanding at least part of the unexplained portion of the gender wage gap might have to do with marriage. Although the gender wage gap between never-married men and never-married women is small, married men earn much higher wages than everybody else in the labor force. It is not immediately clear why married men earn more than single men, but the fact that they do earn so much more than other workers helps explain, at least in part, the presence of a wage and earnings gap between genders..."

Ferida Wolff Writes: "It was a pleasant afternoon, sunny but not too hot. Just right for being out back on the patio reading a book. But then something took my attention away from what I was reading, a puffy seed flipping over my legs. I reached out for it but it slipped off my palm and hurried off. Then I noticed other seeds frolicking over the lawn, all determined to be on their way."

"The Justice Department is committed to holding the perpetrators of such grave crimes fully accountable. During a trip to Ukraine in June, Attorney General Garland announced the creation of the Department’s War Crimes Accountability Team, to centralize and strengthen our Ukraine accountability efforts, and he asked me to lead it. Unfortunately, however, the Title 18 war crimes statute does not cover the vast majority of war criminals who have come to the United States, who are here, or who will eventually come here – because it confers jurisdiction only when a victim or perpetrator is a U.S. person, not on the basis that the perpetrator has immigrated to our country or is otherwise on U.S. soil. The statute also contains other provisions that limit our ability to enforce it."

"To help patients access care during the pandemic, Medicare temporarily waived restrictions on telehealth — health care services delivered via phone or video. The use of telehealth services rose tenfold: 53 million telehealth visits in Apr.-Dec. 2020 vs. 5 million during the same period in 2019. But Medicare hasn't comprehensively assessed the quality of care patients received, and lacks data on telehealth services delivered in patients' homes or via phone. Patients may also be unaware that their private health information could be overheard or inappropriately disclosed during their video appointment. Our recommendations address these issues."

Jo Freeman writes: "This book is a good introductory overview of US women’s accomplishments and activism over the last hundred years, in only 500 pages. Despite the subtitle, the book is not about feminists. It is about formidable women, many of whom would not think of calling themselves feminists. Eleanor Roosevelt disdained feminism, but, as her chapter documents, she worked hard to improve women’s lives..."If you know little or nothing about women’s history in the United States this book is a good place to start. There is so much more to the story of the fight for equality — which is not yet over."

Dr. Fauci: 'We need to make sure that in the realm of the complexity of this outbreak, from a public health standpoint, from a policy standpoint, from a scientific standpoint, the one thing that does stand out as a really unprecedented success story is how science has added to our capability in a very, very big way to address this outbreak. And even though it’s been terrible from the standpoint of the toll of human suffering and death both in the United States and globally, it clearly would have been much, much worse had it not been for what science has brought to the table. Having said that in one breath, we still must be aware of how unusual this virus is and continues to be in its ability to evolve into new variants which defy the standard public health mechanisms of addressing an outbreak where you would expect it that once a certain number of people get infected and/or get vaccinated that you could, essentially, bring an end to the pandemic component of the outbreak."

"In the preamble of the Constitution, those Americans enumerated those hopes: to form a more perfect union; establish justice; ensure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; promote the general welfare … And importantly – in their words – “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Like them, each of you has now made a commitment not only to this nation and your fellow Americans, but to the generations of Americans who will come after you. In that commitment, you have given your posterity – and the posterity of all of us – a precious gift. I know how valuable that gift is because it is the same one my grandparents gave my family and me."  ~  Saturday, September 17, 202…

Ferida Wolff writes: "Taking a walk in a local nature center on a hot day. It was pleasant walking along the dirt paths in the cool shade of the trees on another 90-degree day. Each step brought something else to observe. The birds were out in numbers, chirping and flitting from tree to tree...There were still some flowers blooming which added color to the scene... Natalie Prince, a Windsor florist, said she had sold 8,000 sunflowers by Saturday afternoon. “She was a ray of sunshine to so many people,” said Ms. Prince, 35. “She was our sort of ray of hope.”               

Introduced: Reproductive Health H.R. 8774: A bill to require the director of the National Institutes of Health to conduct an evaluation of menopause-related research (including gaps in research and knowledge regarding the causes, symptoms, and treatments for menopause), to develop a strategic plan to resolve gaps in knowledge and research, and identify topics in need of further research relating to potential treatments for menopause-related symptoms; Examining Women Veterans Access to the Full Spectrum of Medical Care Including Reproductive Healthcare Through the Department of Veterans Affairs; Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund; A bill to prohibit the use of federal funds for abortion through financial or logistical support to individuals traveling to another state or country to receive an abortion.