Sightings

The US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General is alerting the public about a fraud scheme involving genetic testing. Genetic testing fraud occurs when Medicare is billed for a test or screening that was not medically necessary and/or was not ordered by a Medicare beneficiary's treating physician. Scammers are offering Medicare beneficiaries "free" screenings or cheek swabs for genetic testing to obtain their Medicare information for identity theft or fraudulent billing purposes. Fraudsters are targeting beneficiaries through telemarketing calls, booths at public events, health fairs, and door-to-door visits.  more »

Amid a surge in measles cases nationwide this year, legislators and community leaders are debating ways to boost the number of kids who are up to date on their school-mandated shots. Many have focused on restricting or eliminating vaccination exemptions based on religion or personal opinions, which are common and have been offered by school districts across the United States for decades. But three recent academic studies suggest this might not be the most effective way to improve childhood vaccination rates. Scholars studied student vaccination rates in California and discovered that when parents cannot get an exemption based on their personal beliefs, some seek other ways for their children to stay in school while skipping one or more vaccinations.   more »

As I ate each bite of the gift tomato I remembered our friendship and valued all that we have shared over the years. It was as much a treat in its own way as the heirloom tomato was. I think if we pay attention to the wholeness of what we experience, life ripens in our hearts as well as in our gardens. I thought of the immigrants who come to our country. There are differences, yes, but traditionally we have accepted them. Are we changing our generosity for politics? Have we forgotten that we were all immigrants at one time? Swans and ducks are all birds. Americans and immigrants are all people. If they can accept each other, surely we can do the same.  more »

Julia Sneden reviews: We find that it an interesting process, looking back at books we read in our twenties and thirties. The books themselves haven't changed, but thanks to the varied experiences that another twenty or thirty years have added to our lives, we read them from a different perspective. Herewith, the first review of an old, beloved book (actually, three books). "Her mother too had been marked in youth, body and soul, by the bearing and nourishing of children; and she had thought perchance no more than Kristin herself, when she sat with that sweet young life at her breast, that so long as they two lived, each single day would lead the child farther and farther from her arms."   more »