The countdown to Father’s Day officially begins and I have another kid friendly craft that is super simple for kids to make for their beloved dad! I personally LOVE the idea of little ones gifting their family members a handprint and/or footprint keepsake. It’s just a classic gift that anyone and everyone will treasure for years […]
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Read More>>>>>A traumatic brain injury or "TBI" can have serious effects on victims that can last the rest of their lives if they are fortunate to survive the initial trauma. Those who suffer a traumatic brain injury may have difficulty with both long- and short-term memory, performing tasks requiring use of motor skills, automatic bodily functions, and concentration and cognitive abilities.
Some of this damage will never go away, while some of the symptoms can improve though hard work, determination and a very lengthy rehabilitation process. That process is too often not only extensive, but extremely expensive. It is costly not only in terms of medicals bills, but in the financial hardship associated with not being able to work.
To help traumatic brain injury patients, scientists are working on new techniques in the operating room and during the rehabilitation process. While they are making daily progress, many researchers rely on grants to fund their expensive research. According to a recent news article from NJBIZ, $6.3 million in new grants have been awarded to help with their ongoing efforts.
Ahoy, my crafty mates and pirate lovers!!! Are you ready for another “shiver me timbers” kid friendly craft tutorial?! Last week I shared our Popsicle Stick Pirate Flag tutorial and it was a BIG hit on the blog. So to keep the fun going on around here, today we are taking that same concept from before […]
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Read More>>>>>A recent PBS special focused on tending to older parents and other struggles faced by many with elder care needs. In a special program called "Caring for Mom and Dad," the station attempted to go deeper into the issues surrounding adult children as they attempt to care for their aging parents. It is one of the first times that a major television station has run a program that focuses on the difficult questions of cost, rights, and medical capabilities of elder care.
Caring for Mom and Dad
Narrated by acclaimed actress Meryl Streep, the program starts with a well-known fact, "America is facing a new reality. Soon the old will outnumber the young, and most will live longer than ever before." The program focuses on a few families and their unique struggles with elder care as well as the sacrifices that they have made in order to care for their aging parents. However, the program also looks at the costs for caring for ailing parents at home, both financially and emotionally.
One of the commentators on the special, Jane Gross, bluntly stated that "There are many scenarios in which by the time this is over, Mom and Dad are broke and so are you." However, the program also focused on what some communities are doing to address the current problems surrounding elder care, such as southwestern Ohio. "If we want in this country to not institutionalize everyone who's old or disabled, if we want to care for them in the community, that means the community has to step up."
Proposing Solutions
The Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio has taken great strides in addressing the needs of the elderly in their community. The initiative put forth in the area that was proposed by the Council on Aging taxes residents and uses the money to provide home health aides and pay for other necessary expenses for their elderly citizens.
This system implemented around the area prevents many seniors in the area from becoming institutionalized in a nursing home facility and cuts costs for them and their families for their elder care needs. In addition, the program in southwestern Ohio is providing jobs for home health care workers that might otherwise struggle to find work.
However, paying for some of the costs of care is only part of the solution, and "Caring for Mom and Dad" only just started to delve into the many issues surrounding elder care. Issues like addressing the number of elderly caretakers and how they should be trained were not addressed in the program, nor did it address the potential medical and ethical issues of sustaining life for seniors as long as possible with advances in technology. However, this special was a great start for conversations that need to be had at home as well as in society at large regarding the issues surrounding elder care needs across the country.
Handprint art is one of the most classic, beloved gifts of all time. Every mother, father, grandparent or even close friend, will love the gesture of it. Best of all – you don’t have to spend a ton of money to create a one-of-a-kind piece! With the change of warm weather just around the corner, I […]
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Read More>>>>>Two things I absolutely love – handmade cards and washi tape {you can’t go wrong with either!} And since I’m all about sending handmade cards out for every occasion, today I wanted to share with you all how simple these DIY Washi Tape Flag Cards are to make on the fly. as well as on a small […]
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Read More>>>>>Happy Thursday my crafty friends! Although I’m personally not a big fan of bugs – the little critters I’m sharing today are ALWAYS welcome in my home. This activity is actually a spring themed kid craft and it’s just as easy & inexpensive as our previous kid friendly posts {just how we like it around here – am I […]
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Read More>>>>>The First Amendment is a mighty shield, protecting all sorts of offensive speech. No matter how disgusting I might find the antics of the Westboro Baptist Church, in 2011, the Supreme Court found a First Amendment protection in its favor allowing the church to spew its hateful ideology in public. In Snyder v. Phelps (yes, Fred Phelps, the late leader of the Westboro cult), the Court held that a speaker on a public sidewalk, speaking about a public issue, cannot be held liable for the tort of emotional distress, even if the speech is ‘outrageous.’ But the Snyder Court also distinguished between hateful speech directed to issues of public importance, like homosexuality and abortion, and speech of a personal nature, like insults and lies, directed to a private person.
Hubert Crouch’s new book, The Word (2015), practically yanks the Westboro headlines from today’s paper. In his sophomore novel, the second installment of the Jace Forman series, Crouch brings together three main characters from his first book (Cries For No One (2013)) for a wild ride through a world where religious zealots hide behind the First Amendment to cover their virulent hate speech, high-powered attorneys hire thugs to intimidate magazine reporters from exposing their misdeeds, and an entire family – the McGuffin, if you will, for the story -– is killed off, one-by-one, until only their lawyer is left standing. Hey, The Word is set in Texas, after all!
Ezekiel Shaw is a Fred Phelps-like messiah, preaching the inerrancy of the Bible to his flock at the Brimstone Bible Church, and the eternal damnation of those who disagree with him. When Shaw and his congregants picket the funeral of a fallen American warrior – a young West Point graduate who may also be a lesbian! – and spew their hateful venom, the soldier’s parents hire Jace Forman, noted Fort Worth-based trial lawyer (and protagonist of Crouch’s first book), to sue Shaw and his church.
Of course, opposing counsel in courtroom dramas are expected to have some interpersonal back story and here, there’s no love lost between Jace and his able opponent, a former law partner Jace slighted by not inviting him to join Jace’s new firm.
The Brimstone Bible Church defends the lawsuit on First Amendment grounds, relying on the Snyder decision. To win the case, Jace has to prove that Shaw and the church personally attacked the family. The judge has made it clear she’ll dismiss the suit otherwise.
Soon, the mother’s anguish leads her to take her own life (the second of three deaths for this poor family) and the father plots his own extrajudicial retribution against Shaw. As the trial date approaches, the father packs up his assault rifle and sets out for revenge, taking a sniper’s vantage point above the funeral Shaw and his congregation are picketing that day. A violent death ensues.
Faced with the prospect of dismissal, Jace learns that one of Shaw’s flock, a seventeen-year-old girl, has fled the group. She holds the key to proving the hateful speech was in fact personal to the family. Shaw, though, sends the young girl’s brainwashed mother to ‘ensure’ her daughter doesn’t testify against the church. The race is on for Jace to persuade the girl that Shaw can no sexually abuse her and that she must testify against him and her former congregation. Another violent death ensues.
While the main story bobs along, an independent storyline weaves in and out, tracking the efforts of Fort Worth attorney Cal Connors and his law partner daughter to silence a magazine reporter who has the goods on his firm’s legal and ethical improprieties. In the good old days, Cal Connors was at the top of the heap of Texas Personal Injury attorneys – until tort reform brought down the kibosh on big-dollar judgments in the State. So Cal does what any of self-respecting PI attorney must do to keep his firm afloat: he conspires with the claims adjuster handling the defense of one of Cal’s mass tort cases to settle all claims for a princely and unsupportable sum, agreeing to kick back several million bucks to the adjuster.
Meanwhile, as the magazine reporter – who has reason to fear for her life, given that Cal’s goons have made their presence known – homes in on corroborating proof of Cal’s illegal and unethical conduct, Cal and his daughter put their plan in motion to blackmail the reporter with sexually explicit photos of her (obtained in a most disgusting way).
Crouch’s prose is straightforward with little pretension (or intention) to literary fiction, and he largely lets the dialogue drive the action. The legalese is kept to a minimum, but not at the expense of explaining the legal maneuverings and procedural activity. The main characters have depth and dimension, which Crouch shows through various interpersonal relationships, including with some peripheral characters that do not otherwise figure in the storylines.
Crouch deftly interlaces the two storylines which, interestingly though, don’t tie together. There’s only a tangential connection between the main plot involving the Brimstone Bible Church, and the secondary story concerning the magazine reporter: the reporter’s editor hires the same investigator that Jace Forman uses to investigate the church. Oh, and also when the noose begins to tighten around Cal and his daughter, Cal hires Jace to represent him. Both plotlines though stand on their own and zoom towards mutually satisfying conclusions, with each short chapter efficiently building on the previous.
We love our courtroom dramas and those written by lawyers have a proud tradition in American letters, from the works of Erle Stanley Gardner (the Perry Mason series) and Louis Auchincloss through John Grisham and Scott Turow. Add Hubert Crouch to this venerable list.
Summer is almost upon us. When you’re considering your vacay reading list, remember this topical courtroom drama to help you while away your beach time – but you’d better bring some other books too, because you’ll finish The Word before you know it.
Calling all my crafty kids!!! School may be out for summer vacation BUT that doesn’t mean the crafty fun has to stop! Today I’m sharing a “beachy” themed kid craft and I think it’s the perfect way to kick off the summer fun this year! Just like ALL our kid friendly crafts and tutorials on […]
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Read More>>>>>Woot woot! School is coming to a close and summer celebrations are in full swing! It all sounds super fun until the inevitable happens – the kids say the famous words “I’m bored” and you start to pull your hair out. But no worries because you are in the perfect place {my blog} to get crafty inspiration […]
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Read More>>>>>Hi friends! If you are looking for a way to dress up your house for the upcoming summer season but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to do it {you want to put that extra money into your BBQ food budget} I have a surprise for you! Today I’m sharing a fun free Summer […]
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Read More>>>>>Many people choose to own pets. When we are talking about a cat or a nonviolent breed of dog, or a fish, this typically doesn't cause any problems, and people derive a great deal of enjoyment from their animals.
However, some people choose to keep more exotic species of animals as pets, and some pose a safety risk to others. Some of these exotic animals are even illegal to keep as pets in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
You may recall the report in recent years regarding a neighbor who was attacked by a neighbor's pet chimpanzee or another harmed by a pet snake. While these incidents may be reported as crazy occurrences, the fact is, these kind of injuries happen on a regular basis.
According to a recent report from Bangor Daily News, we are experiencing an increase in the frequency of dangerous animal attacks throughout the New England area.
Of course, the article discusses the 2011 case of a Boston woman who was attacked by her employer's pet chimpanzee. In that incident, the 200-pound chimpanzee attacked her, causing her to lose her nose, lips, hands and eyelids, and, later, a disease from the animal caused doctors to have to remove her eyes. She required a full face transplant and suffered extreme disfigurement which will never heal and unimaginable emotional distress.
Calling all my crafty moms and teacher friends that absolutely LOVE the children’s book author, Eric Carle. The other day I shared our Paper Plate Spider {Kid Craft} that was in honor of one of his books and today I’m continuing the crafty fun, with another another kid friendly craft that is perfect to tie a theme together […]
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Read More>>>>>Most people consider elderly issues as problems with nursing homes, Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security. While these are important problems that need to be addressed with our nation's seniors, the number of elderly residents in cities is forcing them to rethink everything about their infrastructure.
Growing Number of Elderly in Cities
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released a new report detailing the growing number of seniors in our country's largest cities. According to their report, between 2001 and 2011 the number of elderly ages 65 years and older living in well-developed cities has jumped by 24%. This is more than three times the rate of growth for these cities overall. By 2050, the report estimates that over one-quarter of these cities' populations will consist of elderly people, and the fastest growing population is seniors ages eighty years old and older.
Common Infrastructure Issues
The report by the OECD boiled down the issues facing large cities into three basic issues: increasing the supply of affordable housing that is accessible to seniors, making it easier for seniors to get around and stay active, and finding ways to provide more social services for less cost. While many people associate living in cities with a younger generation, city living actually works incredibly well for seniors if the proper infrastructure is in place.
Regardless of where they live, seniors typically move into smaller housing as they age, have more difficulty driving, need increased social interaction, and need proximity to medical and social services. Small apartments, public transportation, lots of people, and access to services are all available to seniors by living in a large city.
Examples of Senior Issues in Cities
In Philadelphia, one in seven citizens is already 65 years old or older. The city has been plagued in recent years by an aging population, poverty, and increasing housing costs. By 2020, the number of seniors expected to increase by another 24%, yet the budget for their services was cut by twelve percent last year. To combat the growing number of problems with their seniors, the city passed new zoning regulations in 2011 that would allow for the building of accessory dwelling units, such as a garage, basement, or backyard apartment for seniors to love into with their other family members.
These issues are not just within the confines of the United States. Other well-developed cities across the world are facing similar issues with their elderly populations. In Cologne, Germany, the city started a program where a senior can move in with college students in exchange for caregiving services. The city is also encouraging small businesses to relocate to residential areas so that it is easier for senior access.
In addition, Helsinki, Finland, developed floor sensor systems that allow for caregivers to monitor their patients remotely so that they can stay in their homes for as long as possible. In Lisbon, Portugal, the city has instructed that all sidewalks be at least five feet wide to accommodate their number of walking seniors and has enacted a public awareness campaign to watch out for the elderly on their public walkways.
Over the past week, we have seen a lot of news coverage on the Amtrak train derailment that resulted in eight dead and many more injured. As this investigation is still very much ongoing, it is expected new details will come out on a daily basis. First, we learned the train was allegedly going 106 mph around a sharp curve where the maximum safe top speed was set at 50 mph. Then we learned the driver supposedly did not attempt to slow the train going into the curve.
Now, according to a breaking news report from CNN, a train conductor told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) the train might have been hit by something prior to the horrific derailment accident.
The NTSB and FBI are conducting a joint investigation, and during the course of their investigation, there is speculation the locomotive and possibly two other trains were hit by some unknown objects just prior to the crash in Philadelphia. While much of the damage is obviously a result of the derailment and subsequent crash, based upon these tips, investigators have become concerned with damage to the lower portion of the locomotive, which may have been caused by whatever these objects were.