Transportation

There are approximately 2,300 rural hospitals in the US, most of them concentrated in the Midwest and the South. For a variety of reasons, many of them are struggling to survive. In the last five years, Congress has sharply reduced spending on Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly, and the patients at rural hospitals tend to be older than those at urban or suburban ones. more »

Adrienne Cannon writes: It is raining in Istanbul on the first day of the tour. Our tour guide sets a quick pace during our visit to the Hagia Sophia mosque, and though I trot along as fast as I can, I fall behind the group. As we exit, I peer through the crowds trying to find the guide who has disappeared in a sea of umbrellas. For a few tense minutes I am alone and lost. Finally our unhappy tour guide finds me and cautions us all not to ever get lost as we will slow up the entire group. What a great beginning to my tour! more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: In the time I've spent searching for lost keys, glasses, my pearl earrings, my favorite chili recipe, I could have written one of those trashy novels other people find time to read. Instead, I can only dash off this short article — which is a real exercise in futility since I won't have time to send it to any publishers. I'll be too busy looking for something. Like my car. more »

Sonya Zalubowski writes: We saw all of the 'Big Five' on our safari. I never knew exactly what they were and what the term meant, 'the five most dangerous animals to hunt on foot in Africa'. They include the Cape buffalo, the elephant, the leopard, the lion and the now rare black rhino, hunted for its horn, prized in Asia as a medicine. The Maasai tribe and the wild animals and yes, we, the tourists, manage to continue in all of our ways, though there is controversy over how long this can go on as human population grows and further encroaches on the wild animals of Africa. more »