Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

COVID-19: California's Roadmap to Modify...

California's Roadmap to Modify the Stay-at-Home Order.pdf


April 14, 2020 -- (Excerpt) "Governor unveils six key indicators that will be considered before modifying state’s stay-at-home order [see link above]...

The Governor said there is not a precise timeline for modifying the stay-at-home order, but that these six indicators will serve as the framework for making that decision.

He also noted that things will look different as California makes modifications. For example, restaurants will have fewer tables and classrooms will be reconfigured."

MEDIA CREDIT: Office of Governor Gavin Newsom


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Post No. 309
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Tuesday, April 21, 2020

COVID-19: after 'flatten the curve'

Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) - respirator mask


MEDIA CREDIT: 3M.com

The Great Suppression

(Excerpt) "The lockdowns were presented to us under the need to 'flatten the curve' for hospital capacity, but there isn’t one curve and we didn’t have enough information even to say where one city was on any curve. There were some days of difficulty in hot spots but many hospitals in the country, due to the order that they not do elective surgeries, started furloughing workers. The reality of many empty hospitals in the middle of a pandemic was too much to process. So we spent the next two weeks searching for new justifications to keep the lockdown in place. Those started to sound affected and even fraudulent very quickly.

What’s important about the three-phase process that [President] Trump enumerated with no set time timetable is that it flips the burden of proof. We have suddenly gone from a world in which governors have presumed that cracking down, forbidding, suppressing, denouncing, shutting down, arresting, and jailing are presumed to be good medicine, to a world in which we treat a virus as a disease to mitigate and the suppressors have to justify their actions else face the wrath of the tens of millions of victims. In many ways, it was a brilliant move. In short, the hounds have been called off. Let us not underestimate what this could mean.

Another important point about the three-phase plan: it is focused on the facts of the case. Not model-based predictions. Not someone’s ideology. Not political posturing. Not the fallacy of authority. The opening is based on the on-the-ground realities. The facts have never justified the suppression. Nor do they justify continued suppression for one hour more. The facts will set us free....

Business confidence has been shattered. It will be a long time before trust returns, to say nothing of confidence. We need an ironclad promise from our political leaders that this will not and cannot ever happen again. We won’t get that, so as a proxy we need public opinion to rage and for every voice of suppression to experience the fallout. Meanwhile, we are rediscovering what disease mitigation looks like in a free society. The vulnerable isolate voluntarily. Medical professionals get to work. We do our best not to destroy life functioning. The politicians bow out (emphasis added.)

The main point is that there is a tomorrow, and tomorrow can be and will be better than today. Let us learn. Let us speak. Let us act. Let us remember our values – we are brave and free – and never permit society and the economy... to be attacked this way again."

We have survived the Great Suppression."



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Post No. 308
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Thursday, April 16, 2020

COVID-19: wearable devices may predict illness

Dr. Michael Snyder, PhD


Early Detection of Possible COVID-19 Cases

(Excerpt) "Stanford Medicine researchers and their collaborators, Fitbit and Scripps Research, are launching a new effort that aims to detect early signs of viral infection through data from smartwatches and other wearable devices.

By using wearable devices to measure things such as heart rate and skin temperature, which are known to elevate when the body is fighting off an infection, the team seeks to train a series of algorithms that indicates when your immune system is acting up.

If the algorithms succeed, the team hopes they could help curb the spread of viral infections, such as COVID-19...

Once the algorithms are developed and verified... [Dr. Michael Snyder, PhD] said, they could help people keep tabs on their health. Devices with an algorithm could alert users when their heart rate, skin temperature or some other part of their physiology signals that their body is fighting an infection. When people come down with a cold or flu, there’s usually a period just before symptoms set in when they wonder if they’re actually getting sick. Even during that time, without heavy symptoms, a sick individual often can still spread the virus. 'You might wonder, are these sniffles allergies, or am I getting sick?' These algorithms could help people determine if they should stay home in case their body is fighting off an infection,' Snyder said."

Study shows how big data can be used for personal health, 5.19.2020
"A longitudinal big data approach for precision health," Nature.com, 5.8.2020


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Post No. 307
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Monday, March 16, 2020

COVID-19: Self-Isolate at Home in California


SOURCE: unknown

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Post No. 299
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Saturday, February 27, 2016

California: Pacific Standard Time. Always.

By 1949 law, what's going to happen twice a year at 2:00 AM?
2016 voters may ultimately decide for in California...

MEDIA CREDIT: QwkDrw

Law's Author: Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose
California Legislature -- 2015/16 Regular Session

Proposed law in California: AB 2496
(Excerpt) "It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish United States Standard Pacific Time [PST] as the standard time within the state during the entire year."
Complete text: AB 2496

Okay then. It is about... time. It's TIME to stop the often ineffective, perhaps dangerous, and certainly disruptive biannual clock changes mandated by a practice too-long endured: spring forward/fall back for daylight savings time (DST).

Electorate approved inititive in 1949
that put DST into practice
(Excerpt) "...voters approved [DST] back 1949 via Proposition 12... Reversing the electorate of 1949 would mean going before today’s voters and asking them to make the change, assuming... [AB 2496] passes.

Assemblyman Chu said, 'This could be a very controversial one [AB 2496]... but when he informally polls constituents... the results are very positive.'"
Source: The Sacramento Bee, 2.24.2016

!!

On Topic:
Daylight Savings Time (DST)


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Post No. 249

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Thursday, May 28, 2015

Disincentivize Easy Divorce

Choose to repair the current marriage
In some cases, it may be too easy to just call it a day and bail out — perhaps to a waiting co-adulterer. In settling the divorce proceedings in this type of case, the courts might consider removing some advantages of a divorce, so that people in that situation may no longer want to choose an easy divorce over kicking the extra-marital affair(s) to the curb.

In addition to other thoughts, the courts might consider rulings that require a newly divorced couple to continue living together in the same premises as before the divorce (excluding cases with abuse, of course) and require the same ownership of real properties, businesses, and other financial instruments to continue as before the divorce.

Removing some morally vacant and quick freedoms from a divorce may or may not also incentivize the emotionally hard work to repair a current relationship. But at least with these considerations there exists day-to-day opportunity in familiar surroundings.


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Post No. 240

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Thursday, April 2, 2015

Pluto's Fresh Food Restaurant

FRESH FOOD for a Hungry Universe...
in the urban core of San Luis Obispo, California

MEDIA CREDIT: GIVE ME A MOMENT BLOG

(Excerpt) "Pluto’s, started in 1995, fills a much-needed niche in the vast nothingness between fast-food and full service restaurants.

Its mission is simply to offer great-quality, American-style fresh food at unparalleled value with friendly but efficient service in an inviting setting. Pluto’s has a special “neighborhoodly” quality and serves as an extension of your kitchen...

And, unlike fast-food establishments, Pluto’s is absolutely committed to wholesome fresh food, low fat ingredients where possible, and the use of the latest healthful cooking techniques in its food preparation, such as steaming, char-grilling and roasting. Pluto’s continues to grow in cities around the country hungry for our fresh food!"
Source: Pluto's Fresh Food

4.4.2015 Update:
Pluto's on Urbanspoon
It was a pleasant surprise to find such a heart-healthy meal for lunch; that can be a difficult search. Pluto’s Fresh Food Restaurant in San Luis Obispo is relatively new among several other longer established and also very good restaurants nearby in the downtown area.

At Pluto’s, we were able to get a meal size substantial fresh salad with grilled meat and seven other healthy toppings of our choice. The salad prep area is set up with a huge selection of foods and employees that assemble the customer’s choices into bowls using sanitary gloves behind a clear shield. Wholesome breads are also available.

The elevated window counter with tall stools was a wonderful sun-lit place to sit, eat our delicious salads, and watch the street’s activities outside the glass. There are many good tables with chairs on the floor, but next time as well, two of the available four stools at the window counter will be our preferred seating. A future meal alternative might be one of their freshly built sandwiches.

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Post No. 237

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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Pharmaborg

Situational awareness...

Proposed new word for lexicographers to consider when adding to English language dictionaries:

pharmaborg: Authentic human; a hybrid with potential longevity, improved physical capabilities, and greater spiritual wellbeing. The pharmaborg's original biology has been modified with scripted symbiotic pharmaceuticals and integrated synthetic mechanical components.

Similar to: cyborg


LIFT (Link I Found Today)
Fan Site for the Divergent Series: The Divergent Life
There are five named factions within this series' dystopian but perhaps familiarly imperfect society. "Each [faction] is dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue." They are called:

"Abnegation" -- the selfless
"Dauntless" -- the brave
"Candor" -- the honest
"Erudite" -- the intelligent

The people in this society also include the "Factionless" and the namesake... "Divergent"-- a rare individual possessing personality characteristics and aptitudes of more than one faction.

(Excerpt) "Being Divergent is considered dangerous. Since a Divergent's mind cannot be controlled or made to adapt to one certain way of thinking (at least not for long), faction leaders are terrified as to what Divergent people are capable of."

The Books: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, Four
Veronica Roth, author: Divergent Series Ultimate Four-Book Box Set

The Movie: Divergent

Government politicians, in this obviously fictional society, are made up of 50 council members from... Abnegation (the selfless) faction

!!


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Post No. 219

Apologies for any unwelcome and distracting Google audio clip advertising that might pop up here
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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Brain-Training Video Game


Source: UCSF

NeuroRacer: 3-D Video Game
(Excerpt) "... after receiving just 12 hours of training on the game, spread over a month, the 60- to 85-year-old study participants improved their performance until it surpassed that of 20-somethings who played the game for the first time.

The training also improved the participants’ performance in two other important cognitive areas: working memory and sustained attention. And participants maintained their skills at the video game six months after the training had ended ...

'The finding is a powerful example of how plastic the older brain is,' said Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, UCSF associate professor of neurology, physiology and psychiatry and director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center. Gazzaley co-founded the company, Akili Interactive Labs, which is developing the next generation of the video game ...

If the finding holds, it could have wide application. Other brain disorders like ADHD, depression and dementia are also associated with deficits in cognitive control."

Source: Training the Older Brain in 3-D: Video Game Enhances Cognitive Control


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Thursday, May 30, 2013

High-Functioning Alcoholic

Big Booze Misinformation: health benefits apparently may not result from drinking just the right type of alcohol in just the correct amount each day.

High-Functioning Alcoholic
One who drinks every day, yet continues to lead a productive, successful life. Dr. Jeffery Herten, M.D. has long been a trusted medical physician for my family. Dr. Herten is now the author of two books that contain medical facts and over 30 years of personal insights about being a high-functioning alcoholic.

In his most recent book, "The Sobering Truth" (August, 2010), Dr. Herten shares ...
(Excerpt) "[His] first-hand knowledge of the conspiracy of misinformation about the healthful nature of alcohol ... Alcohol affects us not only emotionally but physically. The [book] ... explores the numerous facets of alcohol consumption in the United States, including the physical risks ... But it also offers hope for those wishing to become sober and recommends resources to help them turn their lives around."

An Uncommon Drunk
Dr. Herten's first book, "An Uncommon Drunk" (May 2006), reveals ...
(Ecerpt) "Alcohol is the single greatest social ill in the United States ... [and] may lead to deadly cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, and liver. It rots our bones, corrodes our stomach lining, erodes our memories, and suppresses our immune systems ... Frank and honest, [the book] ... is a must-read for every spouse, parent, child, employer, physician, and counselor whose life is touched by alcohol."
Source: "An Uncommon Drunk: Revelations of a High-Functioning Alcoholic," amazon.com

A sobering look at a common problem
In this book review by Arlene Winn (May 2007) of Dr. Herten's first book, Ms. Winn describes Dr. Herten as ...
(Excerpt) "Swishing his way to wine wisdom [and] ... humorous about wine snobbism while railing against what he perceives as the wine industry's 'education' efforts to stifle and filter information showing the downside of alcohol. One can not be unaffected by a book whose truths many of us would rather not hear. Even the one-glass-with-dinner drinker will face delusions about health while looking soberly in the mirror."
Source: My father found a newspaper clipping of Arlene Winn's book review in one of my mother's piles of files, photos, notes, and things as he was organizing her too long under-utilized and piled up desk.
"A sobering look at a common problem," was published in The Tribune, May 13, 2007, page H3.


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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Embracing 'The Struggle'

"You must develop a love for the struggle."

Above quote is from Morgan Freeman (April 2013 interview). He was speaking generally (perhaps non-related) of one way to live successfully during our time in this world that is often overfilled with opportunity, information, responsibility, and sometimes exhaustion.

LORD, give me a type of strength that allows finding Your gift in each day, humility, and confidence

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Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Jack Reacher Novels


Physical Description of the Principal Character:
(Excerpt) “… Jack Reacher, described in the novels as 6-foot-5 and weighing between 210 and 250 pounds, with a 50 inch chest, ice-blue eyes, and dirty blonde hair.”Source: "Walt Scott’s Personality Parade" Parade (12.23.2012) page 2.
Author of the Jack Reacher novels: Lee Child

A pitch: for a future Jack Reacher story...
Working title: “Genetic”

Premise synopsis:
In the future, most people have come to be comfortable with their DNA information.

From early life they have been told mostly what it means by healthcare professionals, teachers, and family. At the moment of live birth a copy of everyone’s unique DNA is on a website. It is very useful as an easily accessible proof of identity. Worldwide organizations can also make use of the connections provided by an individual’s genetic history. What could possibly go wrong with having a copy of one’s DNA available online?

A wise person knows what they can control and what they can not.


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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Baby Boomers: Stress Near Midlife

To begin (again) ...
The greatest number of people in the recorded history of mankind may be -- right now -- experiencing higher levels of anxiety, depression, or other deeply personal stress than at any other time in their younger lives. If you are a person of a certain age that was born between 1946 and 1964 -- there are about 79 million individuals -- you know who you are: a baby boomer. Seriously, some boomers actually thought that the greatest amount of stress in their life occurred in their 20s during college. Observations of people currently 48 to 66 years of age may show otherwise.

Boomers' lives full of losses expected and unexpected
(Excerpt) "'During midlife, there's a confluence of events that can create depression and a sense of despair and loss,' said psychologist Douglas LaBier ... Researchers have found that stress peaks in the middle of life – but so does confidence, sense of purpose and judgment."

Source: Sacramento Bee, by Anita Creamer, 7.1.2012


Rapid rise in boomer addicts reported
(Excerpt) "That boomers would drive up numbers of those simultaneously dealing with aging and addiction has been predicted for some time. One obvious reason is that there are so many of them ... The younger people are when they take their first drink or their first toke, the more likely they are to become addicted adults ... due to brain development not being complete until about age 25 ... [baby boomers] are far more likely than previous generations to be struggling with dual addictions to alcohol and prescription or illicit drugs."

Source: Sun Sentinel, by Diane C. Lade, 7.1.2012

Aging Drivers
Over the age of 49? Well, boomer, you are also considered to be an "aging driver" by some groups involved in driver safety research. Apparently, it is NOT a good idea for a baby boomer (or others in the community) to multi-task by driving an automobile at freeway speeds, using a cellphone to make a therapist appointment, and munching "Tokeless" (copyright notice) cannabis snack food.

One group specifically targets individuals 50 to 54 years of age for education about declining driving skills because people in this age group don't typically consider themselves to be pre-senior or senior citizens. Or probably not "aging drivers" either. Each year there is an increasing number of aging boomers that need to be aware of warning signs that indicate declines in their driving skills as they are rockin' the freeways.

On Topic:
Pre-Seniors

LIFT (Link I Found Today)
HBO - The Newsroom
Executive Producer/Writer: Aaron Sorkin
The scripted dialogue given to the characters is amazing. Nobody really speaks this way, but it is very interesting to watch.


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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Improving Sudden Hearing Loss

Emergency Event
Standing in a classroom while instructing junior high art students, the sudden loss of hearing in her left ear was traumatic: all at once a swoosh with a blocked or plugged feeling in the ear, and then everything went quiet. Some medical specialists say that this type of unforeseen episode requires emergency treatments. For some patients, the correct medical procedures during the first few hours may greatly increase the odds for some recovery of hearing.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL)
The above described case of sudden hearing loss may or may not be one of various kinds of sudden sensorineural (inner ear) hearing loss.
(Excerpt) "Sudden sensorineural hearing losses (SSHL) are medical emergencies. You need to see your ear specialist (preferably an otologist or neurotologist) immediately ...

By definition, you have SSHL if you have a hearing loss that occurs within three days (often within minutes or an hour or two) and your hearing loss is greater than 30 dB over three adjacent octaves (test frequencies) as shown on your audiogram."
The subject young substitute teacher that suffered a trauma is now in the stages of improving sudden hearing loss. She is in the care of our LORD, several medical doctors, rehabilitation technicians, her husband, friends, and she is our daughter. The progress up from her 'profoundly deaf' status in that ear has been exhilarating for her parents as we get updates.

"Use this to improve ourselves as people and to help others ..."
Also an amazing thing to me is how well she and her husband have handled this and other medically related setbacks during their young marriage. A CEO in San Francisco, her husband encourages all to use this unfortunate experience to help improve themselves as people and to help others that may be struck by the trauma of sudden hearing loss.

Read more on her blog: J-Jo Navigate through the posts there for information about her experiences with improving sudden hearing loss.

Next scheduled post: 8.4.2011 (Subscribe FREE to receive email notifications.)

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Thursday, May 12, 2011

Bromeliad House Plant


Guzmania Bromeliad
The Guzmania variety of the Bromeliad house plant is available commercially with several bloom shapes and colors. To me, this Guzmania pictured above looks like the 'Strawberry' color -- or could be a 'Fire' red.

Kent's Bromeliad Nursery
(Excerpt - a media release) "... The nation's largest Bromeliad Grower just got bigger. Kent's Bromeliad Nursery recently completed an acquisition of new greenhouse space. With the acquisition of more greenhouses, it now boasts more than 1,000,000 square feet of production area in Vista and San Marcos, CA.

The new facilities allow Kent's to keep up with the growth and expansion the nursery continues to experience. 'Sales of Bromeliads continue to increase,' said Michael Kent, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. 'These new facilities allow us to grow more product and better meet the increasing demands of the marketplace.'

Bromeliads are tropical plants indigenous to the rain forests of South America and used primarily indoors where they thrive thanks to genetic engineering performed by growers like Kent's. Requiring little or no attention to maintain their beautiful appearance, Bromeliads are available in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. They are popular due to their easy care and long-lasting blooms, which may provide color for 16 weeks or more.

Another reason for their popularity is that they help freshen the air. A study by NASA's Environmental Research Laboratory identified that indoor house plants, in general, filter health-threatening gases from the air and that Bromeliads and Orchids are some of the best 'Clean Air' plants available [emphasis added].

Kent's Bromeliad Nursery was founded in 1976. It is under the ownership and management of brothers Jeffery, Larry and Michael Kent. The Kent wholesale nursery is the largest Bromeliad grower in the United States, supplying plants to mass markets and interior plantscapers throughout the country. Kent's grows more than 100 varieties, meeting the increasing demand for indoor floral decorating for every season or event. Kent's uses the most advanced growing techniques, growing seedlings in an ideal environment under highly controlled conditions. The ideal climates, combined with the long-lasting potting mix and filtered water, yield strong, healthy plants ideal for indoor planting."
Fractal Geometry
(Excerpt) "A fractal is a complex shape which, when viewed in finer and finer detail, shows itself to be constructed of ever smaller parts, similar to the original."
The Bromeliad house plant may or may not be an example of Fractal Geometry with it's apparent properties of self-similarity. Another familiar possible example may be Romanesque Broccoli. We can look all around for "Naturally Occurring Fractals". There may be much visual evidence of this mathematical pattern in nature. But then there's this to consider:

(Excerpt) "... in a review of the application of the mathematics of fractals to the geometry of natural systems ... the application of the term 'fractal' by scientists to such systems is often unjustified ... in most cases the order of magnitude spanning required for mathematical fractality was not achieved, and that the use of the term 'fractal' in these contexts has at most a heuristic value. The authors suggest there is at present no experimental evidence that the geometry of nature is fractal [emphasis added]."
Source: ScienceWeek
Question for Blog Readers:
Would you consider using either "organic rice" food products or "organic dry-cleaning" laundry services?

Note: This blog post was totally inspired by our son, Kyle. And it was written to at least partially acknowledge the diverse potential of his Industrial Engineering Bachelor of Science degree.

LIFT (acronym: Link I Found Today)
Simply the last segment to read at the end of this post and may or may not be in any way appropriate or relevant to anything ...
Fibonacci Sequence
(Excerpt) "The Fibonacci numbers are the sequence of numbers defined by ... linear recurrence equation. [Examples of] ... Fibonacci numbers ... are 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ..."

Next scheduled post: 6.9.11 (Subscribe FREE to receive email notifications.)

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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Suburbs Diversify and Transform

Source: Photo adapted from the opening title sequence of
Showtime's episodic cable program "Weeds".

America’s Senior Citizens May Live in the Suburbs
Demographic analysis suggests that 70% of American Baby Boomers (age 46 to 64) currently live in suburbia.

The massive boomer population age tidal wave will soon flood into these vast tracts of suburban single family homes -- without anyone moving anywhere. As this population of "suburban seniors" (copyright notice!) age-in-place, the suburbs may diversify and transform to accommodate the aging lifestyles and needs of many soon to be senior citizens already in residence. Consider the empty-nester couple that are home all day across the street, or the single mom next door whose youngest daughter is a fifth-year senior at Pepperdine University next fall. Aging and changing lifestyles.

The transformation of suburbs might be best accomplished with mixed land uses that support living and working day-to-day locally, increased residential densities, design changes in the built environment that facilitate greater walkability, and additional mass transportation options for connections to other areas. Seems that property owners, planners, and politicians would be busy ...

Looking Ahead
(Excerpt) "Current and future geographic shifts of America’s [pre-senior & senior citizen] populations, with baby boomers on the verge of entering their retirement years, are among the most potentially influential demographic trends in metropolitan America today. Emerging senior populations will break with those of the past, not only in terms of their size, but in their educational profiles, their household diversity, and their greater gender equality, as well as their potential for exhibiting greater economic inequality. The sheer size of the baby boom tsunami will magnify these distinct social and demographic attributes, altering metropolitan, city, and suburban populations in both growing and declining parts of the country."
Executive Summary
The number of suburban seniors that may soon be living in existing large homogeneous tracts of single family homes is potentially huge. Some high density residential, service and commercial land uses are often non-existant within a walkable distance from many residential units in these suburbs. Changes in the existing built environment may be necessary for these areas to become live-work communities that support a diversified citizenry that lives and works day-to-day locally. Consider: Is there the political will for physical changes in the typical suburban built environment? Will the NIMBY Syndrome effectively prevent progress of any scale?

A Question for Blog Readers
As the coming tidal wave of suburban seniors age-in-place, what land use planning and urban design changes will become necessary to transform these vast homogeneous housing tracts into walkable places for a diversified local population to live-work? Is there the political will to allow these necessary physical changes in the suburban built environment?
See also: Blog Comments Add Value to the Topic

LIFT (Link I Found Today)
The following is simply the last segment to read at the end of this post and may or may not be in any way appropriate or relevant to anything ...

Next post scheduled 9.2.10, "Pedestrian Crossing"

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Thursday, August 5, 2010

Medicare Doughnut Hole

Variable "out-of-pocket" Costs of
Prescription Medications in the Medicare Program
(Excerpt) "... about eight million participants in Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program, fall into [the 'Medicare Doughnut Hole'] each year. Currently, the gap opens when a Medicare recipient and his plan have spent $2,830 on prescriptions; at that point, he must pay for medications himself until he’s paid $4,500 out of pocket. Then Medicare coverage resumes ...
Starting next year, 50 percent discounts on name-brand medications, plus smaller discounts on generic drugs (because they’re already discounted for Medicare participants), will help reduce that burden. The proportion that seniors will have to pay will fall steadily until, by 2020, the doughnut hole is scheduled to disappear ...
Medicare participants who land in the doughnut hole this year will get checks for $250; the first were mailed out [June 2010]. About four million people will qualify for these refunds (the other four million have incomes low enough to benefit from a program called Medicare Extra Help ...
One caution: Medicare will automatically generate the refund — which is tax-free — about six weeks after a senior hits the $2,830 threshold. “Automatically” means that Medicare Part D participants don’t have to fill out any paperwork or answer any questions in order to receive their checks ... “What we’ve been seeing, sadly, is people calling Medicare beneficiaries at home and saying, ‘We can help you get your check,’ and asking for information,” [said] Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ... Such overtures are not only unnecessary — they’re probably a scam ...
[Pre-Seniors & Senior Citizens] shouldn’t disclose their Medicare numbers to anyone except a physician or pharmacist, a trusted family member, or Medicare itself.
Source: The New Old Age
$250 "Medicare Doughnut Hole" Rebate Check
Hear Medicare's official message about the $250 Part D rebate check
on this audio clip (00:30).

Note: There might be health insurance plans or programs not mentioned here that may or may not be involved with the 'Medicare Doughnut Hole' and related prescription medication costs.

Some Pre-Seniors & Senior Citizens Are
Drinking Dangerous Amounts of Alcohol
(Excerpt) "... study included 3308 current drinkers age 60 and older ...

Older adults ... [are] at risk if they ... consume one to two drinks on most days and take select medications ...".

Source: UCLA finding
A Question for Blog Readers
After one's out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications totaled $2830 - $4500 annually, the government issued a one-time $250 rebate check. Did this refund significantly help that individual manage the reduced but also reoccurring out-of-pocket costs remaining in the 'Medicare Doughnut Hole' until 2020? Could this problem be better solved?
See also: Blog Comments Add Value to the Topic

LIFT (Link I Found Today)
The following is simply the last segment to read at the end of this post and may or may not be in any way appropriate or relevant to anything ...
LIFT: California Mid-State Fair - Julianne Hough and
audio clip (0:30). Sorry, the links here do not include audio of her singing.
You and your wife -- and your best cowboy hats -- had to be there in the setting sun light ...

Photo Credit: QwkDrw, July 2010

Next post scheduled 8.19.10, "Suburbs Diversify and Transform"

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Empty Nest Transition

As grown children leave the family home, the married couple remaining is in what might be described as the empty nest transition phase of their lives. Reportedly, a study that included this phase of a marriage was published in the journal Psychological Science. This study by three UC Berkley professors questioned 123 women during 18 years (1981-1998). The findings seem to suggest that, for some, happiness actually increases during this empty nest transition.
"We were a couple again, two individuals who chose to live together and be with each other. At first, it is very quiet, but there is a lot of good in the lack of noise. We got good at having conversations. Our time is about us."

"The transition to an empty nest may be associated with an increase in the quantity of time and energy invested in one's marriage, an increase in the quality of time spent with one's partner ... ".
Note: The original post over at SFGate.com Marriage Gets Better When Kids Leave the Nest has generated 201 comments, at this writing. Not all comments were ... ah, completely supportive of the study's findings. However, ask empty-nester couples and -- my guess is -- the study's findings will be validated by most responses.

Book Review:
Desperate Passage
, by Ethan Rarick (non-fiction).
Excerpt below from Chapter 1, "Jumping Off" (start page 17):
"For all their money, the Donners and their traveling companions, the Reeds, were just unremarkable families from Illinois, ready to join the great migration to the west. The problem was that they were late. [They] had been told repeatedly to reach Independence [Missouri] by ... April ... at the latest ... For some reason, however, the two families did not leave Springfield [Illinois] until mid-April and reached Independence only on May 10. The bulk of the California-bound emigrants were already out on the trail. The Springfield families took but a day to rest ... then hustled out of town in hopes of catching up. It was less obvious at the time than it would be later, but the sad fact was that the journey had barely begun, and the core of what would become the Donner Party was already lagging behind."

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Saturday, November 3, 2007

Daylight Saving Time (DST)

Post updated: 3.8.2015

Impact of the DST serial fraud: Morning Reduction Time

Over and over again, DST is perpetrated with various implementation schemes on compliant populations worldwide. The serial fraud driven by human arrogance is in every scheme: The amount of daylight always remains constant in ordered cycles of the cosmos.

DST has never changed the earth and sun’s relative positions. And, NEVER HAS DST SAVED ANY DAYLIGHT.

Morning Reduction Time

The finite amount of available daylight is merely artificially shifted. This affects when daily natural sunlight occurs in “The Circadian Cycle of Sleep and Wakefulness.”

There is a reduction of daylight available for human activities during the morning hours. Call it what it is: Morning Reduction Time.

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A return to Standard Time, for now...

A lot of clock changing is going on in America. Standard Time begins again this Sunday (11/4/2007) early in the morning, officially at 2 AM. This could be called late Saturday night. Whatever you want to call 2 AM -- set clocks BACK one hour, this time. We will be living in Standard Time until the second Sunday in March (3/9) 2008.


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