May 14, 2016


News and Views


http://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2016-05-12/calvin-klein-photographer-really-happy-with-racy-campaign

The fashion photographer behind Calvin Klein's racy new ad campaign isn't bothered by the social media firestorm it has sparked
No writer name given
May 12, 2016, at 1:44 p.m.

NEW YORK (AP) — The fashion photographer behind Calvin Klein's racy new ad campaign isn't bothered by the social media firestorm it has sparked.

London-based photographer Harley Weir tells The Associated Press she's "really happy" with the response.

The brand has posted several of Weir's photos on Instagram and Twitter this week. The most-talked-about shot is an upskirt photo of model Klara Kristin with the tagline, "I flash in #mycalvins."

While many commenters on social media say they're offended by the campaign, others say it's simply risque.

When asked about her thoughts on the reaction, Weir said, "I love it."

Calvin Klein hasn't responded to requests for comment.



This short, but tantalizing story reminds me of more than one photo that I’ve seen in my history readings. There were numerous portraits painted during the Renaissance of wealthy and important women in their haute couture gowns – one breast was bared! It was a time of new ideas as they escaped from the rule of Catholicism, and of a form of literature called “courtly love.” The concept of the bared breast began as religious symbolism (nurturing) and over the centuries became highly linked with sex or, in some cases, medical portrayals. There is nothing new under the sun, and that goes for our modern enjoyment of the boldly risqué art of “crotch shots.” Personally, I’m too old. See the article below on the exposed breast (I never saw two, though there may be some like that). For photograph, go to website below. To many of us it looks obscene, but to those in the Middle Ages and even up into the early part of the 1900s it was about feeding babies. It was also considered beautiful, as it is today.


http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520253483

A Complex Delight: The Secularization of the Breast, 1350–1750
Margaret R. Miles (Author), Vanessa Lyon (Other)

Available worldwide
Hardcover, 196 pages
ISBN: 9780520253483
January 2008

$85.00, £62.95


"Looking at painting and sculpture from the fourteenth through the eighteenth centuries, this provocative work focuses on the symbolism of the female breast to open a dazzling interpretive view of Western European history over four centuries. Margaret R. Miles finds that while in 1350 the Virgin's bare breast represented nourishment and loving care—God's provision for the Christian—by 1750, artistic representations of the breast were either erotic or medical. The breast had lost its meaning as a religious symbol. But how did the breast, and nakedness more generally, lose the ability to represent human bodies as site and symbol of religious subjectivity and commitment? To explore this phenomenon, Miles engages in a wide-ranging investigation of the social, cultural, and religious circumstances within which a religious symbol came to be thoroughly "mastered" by erotic and medical meanings. What emerges is a nuanced understanding of the location of power in early modern Western Europe, of how the lives of women changed over this period, of how art reveals and helps to construct religious meaning, and of how modern Christianity's attitude toward bodies was shaped."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toplessness

Toplessness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Toplessness refers to the state in which a female's torso is exposed above her waist or hips, or with at least her breasts, areola, and nipples being exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness.

In the past and in some cases until the present, social conventions and concepts of modesty in some cultures required females to completely cover their bodies below the neck, and sometimes above as well. Exposure of the torso, breasts, midriff and navel were especially taboo. While exposed breasts were and are normal in many indigenous societies, most First World cultures today have formal or informal dress codes, legal statutes, or religious teachings that require females to cover their breasts in public from adolescence onward. Contemporary Western cultures permit displays of cleavage in appropriate social contexts, but exposing the areola and nipples is usually regarded as immodest and is sometimes prosecuted as indecent exposure, lewd, or even disorderly conduct. The topfreedom movement challenges laws that forbid females to go topless in places where males are permitted to be barechested, arguing that such restrictions amount to gender discrimination.

Toplessness is more common and less controversial in the fields of entertainment, fashion, and the arts than it is in society as a whole, especially when it is perceived to have artistic merit. From early prehistoric art to the present day, women have been depicted topless in visual media from painting and sculpture to film and photography. In contemporary mainstream cinema, Academy Award–winning actresses such as Halle Berry, Kate Winslet, and Nicole Kidman have appeared topless in their films. Cabaret and burlesque shows, as well as haute couture fashion shows and pictorials, frequently include toplessness or see-through clothing.

Societies tend to view more unfavourably exposure of women's breasts in public if the intent is sexual arousal. Toplessness in adult entertainment, such as in strip clubs or in softcore pornography, is regarded by some as indecent and is subject to more stringent government regulation or prohibitions.

Public toplessness may occasionally be considered acceptable, depending on location and context. Many jurisdictions legally protect women's right to breastfeed in public or exempt breastfeeding from public indecency laws. In many parts of Europe and Australia, as well as at many resort destinations around the world, it has become culturally and often legally acceptable for women to sunbathe topless on beaches. Topless sunbathing may also be permitted in non-beach areas, such as some European parks and lakes, designated areas on some cruise ships, and swimming pools at some hotels.

Attitudes towards toplessness have varied considerably across cultures and over time. The lack of clothing above the waist for both females and males was the norm in traditional cultures of North America, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands until the arrival of Christian missionaries,[3] and it continues to be the norm and acceptable in many indigenous cultures today. The practice was also the norm in various Asian cultures before Muslim expansion in the 13th and 14th centuries.[4] Upper-class women had been clothed fully, while other women had gone topless in public in many parts of North India including Maharashtra and the Ganges basin before the Muslim conquest of India.[5][6] Malayali people of Kerala required women other than Brahmins and Kshatriya class to strip to waist in public until 1858 when the Kingdom of Travancore granted all women the right to cover their breasts in public.[7] Toplessness was the norm for women in several indigenous peoples of South India, including the Tamils along the Coromandel Coast, Tiyan and other peoples on the Malabar Coast, Kadar of Cochin Island, Toda, Nayar, Cheruman (Pulayar), Kuruba, Koraga, Nicobarese, and the Uriya until the 19th century or early 20th century.[8]



There is much more detail in Wikipedia on this subject, complete with photographs from Africans to Indians to Native Americans. When I was watching one of my TV documentaries from National Geographic, etc., there was one in which the men were nude from the waist down except for a loin cloth, which they wore in the back!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-retesting-sochi-olympics-doping-samples/

Russia responds to Sochi games doping accusations
CBS/AP
May 14, 2016, 12:33 PM

Play VIDEO -- Russia's Dark Secret
Play VIDEO -- New details in Russian doping scandal


MOSCOW -- Russia says it supports retesting drug test samples from the 2014 Sochi Olympics after accusations it operated a mass doping program at the games.


"It all needs to be retested," Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told the state R-Sport news agency on Saturday. "That's easiest."

But based upon what CBS News has learned from a now-tainted Russian lab's former director, any positive drug tests disappeared a long time ago.

Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov shared details of a systematic cover-up in Sochi during Skype conversations with Vitaly Stepanov, a former Russian anti-doping official turned key whistleblower.

Stepanov allowed "60 Minutes" to listen to 15 hours of conversations he secretly recorded with Rodchenkov.

In the recordings, Rodchenkov named Russian gold medalists in three sports -- bobsled, skeleton and cross-country skiing -- whose dirty drug tests he helped cover up, "60 Minutes Sports" correspondent Armen Keteyian reports. It was all part, Rodchenkov said, of an elaborate scheme to protect Russia's Olympic medal winners, with the help of his country's intelligence service, known as the FSB.

The FSB figured out a way to open bottles considered to be tamper-proof containing urine from drug-tainted athletes, Keteyian reports. Then they filled the bottles with clean urine collected from athletes before they started doping.

Rodchenkov said he then had two weeks after the Sochi games to make sure, in his words, people turned out to be clean before test samples were sent to the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland for storage, Keteyian reports.

On Wednesday, CBS News learned that the FBI is investigating allegations surrounding the Russian doping scandal, according to someone familiar with the investigation.

On Thursday, CBS News learned a recent review of blood tests in at least one Olympic event at Sochi has revealed evidence of test tampering involving Russian athletes.

Rodchenkov has offered to assist in retesting, and to identify any samples which may have been tampered with. The International Olympic Committee said on Friday it will discuss the offer with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Russian officials have denied operating a doping program or influencing the testing, and Mutko's deputy, Yuri Nagornykh, has suggested Russia could sue the New York Times after a Times report about Russian doping named three gold medalists who have denied using performance-enhancing substances.

Mutko suggested on Saturday that, instead of Russia, the IOC and WADA should be facing questions over Rodchenkov's allegations.

"He's a professional, worked for a hundred years in this system. And now he's putting pressure on the whole IOC and WADA system," Mutko said.



I’ve never been able to get behind the claim that sports “fosters good character” except maybe in SMALL high schools. By the time college, and especially professional teams, become involved, they have already become dirty. Big time sports are like other big businesses and politics; “winning is not the main thing; it’s the only thing,” as one of the big time coaches supposedly said some 20 or 30 years ago. Some months ago I looked that quotation up to see who did say it, and I got two or three different men who are credited with the pithy saying. It is funny, so it makes me smile, but it has a very dark side. Along with that killer instinct, comes all forms of cheating and mayhem.

Despite all that, plus the fact that doping and other forms of cheating are very well known; competitive sports remains* much more popular with men than going to see a live play or concert, and especially an art gallery! Nearly all boys and men along with a minority of women will sit in front of the TV for hours following all the ins and outs of every play. I must confess that I personally do like to see a tennis match, a baseball or basketball game, a boxing match or an ice or field hockey game.

The appeal is in the skill of the players and our “team spirit;” and like music, it is hardwired in our brains, especially in the case of men. It was also said in one news article on psychology that highly sports-oriented men, as opposed to those who aren’t, are more likely than others to beat their wives, get into fights, etc. Watching or participating in competitive sports triggers our most primitive nature.

I understand all that, and that is a part of my appreciation of men sexually, but I just want them to be taught to be thinkers above their competitive side. Competitiveness should be the sideline rather than the primary characteristic in a Homo sapiens male. Even if they are thinking about hitting me or someone else, I want them to be able to stop that impulse and get back to the love that they so freely avow. On the other hand, they absolutely do need to be able to defend themselves and their families. I think the key to good character and mental health is a logical, empathetic, courageous, confidant and well socialized turn of mind, in other words, balance. That, as with so many other things, is basic to our growing in the direction of being decent human beings.


**“Sports “are” or “is”?? I have always used “is,” because to me sports is being used as a singular noun in a sentence like "Sports is my favorite pastime." If you say basketball, bowling and football are my favorite sports it is of course plural. The singular verb would sound less awkward if we would say “sport” -- which to me means “fun” instead of formal competitive games -- in that it does look and sound singular rather than plural. That sounds British to me, though. In the US we say “sports” to mean all “team sport” rather than a group of specific sports. The group concept would make it plural, with “are” being proper, if I put them in together as the subject, and I would then say “are.” My computer keeps correcting my way of doing it. Like quite a few of its corrections I have gone to Google and proven that my way was correct. More annoying, it often balks at a word which is not totally commonplace, but when I have verified it in Google and therefore proven that I was right and the computer was wrong, (NNNHH, NNHH, NNHH!) I hit the choice that says “add to dictionary” and then go right on.



http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/240840/sports-singular-or-plural

Sports - singular or plural

"I am being told that "sports" is a singular noun. This is creating a problem for me (as a teacher) because it sounds 'odd' even if it is correct (i.e. one of the exceptions to the rule).

e.g. Sports has (rather than sports have)...

I always thought sports referred to more than one team activity (e.g. football, rugby, golf, bowls etc.); hence, it was plural.

e.g.

I like playing sports.
Sports have always been of interest to me."


Wikipedia agrees with me about “sport”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport --

“Sport (UK) or sports (US) are all forms of usually competitive physical activity or games which,[1] through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators.[2] Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other.”



http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/13/477945231/pilots-and-aclu-sue-airline-over-breast-milk-pumping-at-work

POLICY-ISH
Pilots And ACLU Sue Airline Over Breast Milk Pumping At Work
TARA HAELLE
May 13, 20164:03 PM ET

Photograph -- Frontier Airlines says that there are places to pump breast milk at all the airports where it flies. Michael Francis McElroy/Getty Images


Brandy Beck considers herself lucky. As a breast-feeding mom, the Frontier Airlines pilot has experienced severe breast pain, engorged breasts, clogged ducts, decreased milk supply, three interruptions while pumping at work, and pumping in airport and airplane bathrooms.

But unlike some of her colleagues, she escaped mastitis. Mastitis is a bacterial infection of the breast that can occur with clogged milk ducts if women cannot fully express their breast milk. And not receiving adequate, legally required accommodations for pumping breast milk at work is precisely why Beck and fellow Frontier pilots Randi Freyer, Shannon Kiedrowski and Erin Zielinski are involved in a complaint against Frontier Airlines.

"All four of us love our jobs, we love flying for Frontier and we love flying airplanes," Beck says. "Most of us have wanted to do it all our lives, and we just want some equality in the workplace."

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Colorado and the law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP filed discrimination charges May 10 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the women's behalf. The charges claim that Frontier is discriminating against women by not providing sufficient accommodations for pregnant and breastfeeding employees.

"This has been a long process of trying to struggle to get these accommodations with no success," says Galen Sherwin, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU in the women's right project. "This lawsuit is the necessary last resort."

According to Sherwin, the ACLU and the law firm sent Frontier management a letter describing the women's difficulties and several possible solutions, including temporary non-flying assignments that would allow easier accommodations, extension of maternity leave if the women wanted it and designated places where the women could pump in airports Frontier uses and on the plane when necessary.

For its part, the airline says that it already provides places that comply with federal and Colorado state requirements in all airports it uses, according to Cindi Ruff, vice president of human resources at Frontier. Women can contact the station manager of each airport to find the location, she says.

"If they do [have those stations], they have not communicated that to the women I've spoken with, including women beyond these four pilots, despite repeated requests," Sherwin says. "If it's up to the individual woman to contact each individual airport on her own, that would not be a sufficient accommodation. It's tantamount to providing no support to the women."

Beck says the stations she does know of are often a half mile from Frontier gates and are sometimes insufficient, such as the one at Denver airport that was being used for storage when she needed it. As directed by an assistant pilot, she used a vacated office — and movers attempted to enter while she was pumping.

Any temporary reassignments are governed by the collective bargaining agreement of the pilots' union, Ruff told Shots. That contract only addresses non-flying reassignments for on-the-job injuries and states that pilots who cannot return to work after four months may be entitled to receive an unpaid medical leave of absence. Maternity leave also is unpaid.

"We assume that Frontier is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations, and temporary reassignment is one potential accommodation that Frontier that would be legally obligated to provide," Sherwin said. "If they're offering that to people with disabilities, then they should be offering that to women."

Sherwin added that medical leave has only been granted for serious childbirth complications leading to physical injury or postpartum depression, and that breast-feeding women who requested it were denied.

Shannon Kiedrowski, one of the pilots involved in the suit, writes that she "battled for months to get Frontier's management to help future new moms." But, she says, "my efforts went nowhere."

Frontier's Ruff says that the airline has worked with pilots who have raised concerns and adjusted their schedules to have less flying time.

But less flying time doesn't address the needs for accommodations during flying time, Sherwin says. Beck says she plans her flight days carefully to schedule in pumping time, but unexpected and sometimes long flight delays can interfere, necessitating pumping during a flight.

"This situation is unique, but ultimately it's all about the safety of our passengers," Ruff says. "Being on an aircraft and being a pilot is a very unique situation, unlike any other profession, and unfortunately there are sometimes limitations in what can be extended to an individual."

The challenges for pilots are similar to those for surgeons operating, where the patient's safety is paramount, says Katy Kozhimannil, an associate professor of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

"It is a unique circumstance, but there are other circumstances where businesses face similar challenges in managing the trade-off between the safety of the patients or passengers and the urgent health needs of their employees," Kozhimannil says. "If there are barriers, that's certainly understandable, and maybe there's a need for greater support for employers. But there have to be ways to try to address the needs of nursing mothers. It's extraordinarily important, and it's the law."

Pilots needing bathroom breaks leave the cockpit to do so, and the copilot must don an oxygen mask while the pilot is gone, Ruff says.

"The request is that women be permitted to take breaks during flights as needed on the same terms that pilots are able to address their other bodily needs," Sherwin says. "To say to a woman who's breast-feeding that you can't leave the cockpit to take care of her bodily needs but to allow everyone else to leave to use the bathroom is sex discrimination."

It can also have health consequences, Kozhimannil says. Her research has found that only 40 percent of full-time or part-time employed women surveyed in 2011 and 2012 have been provided both break time and private space to express breast milk, as required by the Affordable Care Act. Those women were also twice as likely to be exclusively breast-feeding at 6 months and more likely to breast-feed at all with each passing month.

"That's unsurprising, given the physiology of breast-feeding, because women need to express breast milk during the day when they're away from their child for their bodies to keep producing breast milk," Kozhimannil says. "When you stop expressing breast milk, your supply diminishes and you're no longer able to breast-feed." Clogged ducts and mastitis are other risks of not adequately expressing breast milk.

One possible solution more broadly would be state or federal laws requiring paid family leave, enabling the pilots to take a longer unpaid leave without losing as much income. Pilots are already required to start unpaid maternity leave 8 weeks before their due date and have the option of four more unpaid months after delivery.

"I believe it's unrealistic to ask a working mom to come back after four months and be away from her child for four to five days," Beck says, adding that the problem is industry wide for pilots and flight attendants. "Some people can afford that, and some people can't. The most ideal solution is to have choices, because every individual needs something different."

The U.S. is the only country in the world besides Papua New Guinea that does not require employers to provide any paid family leave, says Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values @ Work, a network of coalitions working for paid leave policies.

"We tell women to be good mothers and then we punish them for doing so by making their family suffer financial insecurity or by shaming them for doing something like breast-feeding," Bravo says. "That's got to change. It's a scandal that nearly one in four women go back to work within two weeks."

The only states currently requiring paid family leave are California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and, as of April 1, New York.

The lawsuit does not request money, Sherwin says.

"They would like ideally to have Frontier adopt these solutions so no other women would have to go through what they went through," Sherwin says. "It's 2016. It shouldn't be that women have to choose between their jobs and breast-feeding their babies, and that's why our clients are bringing the case."

Correction
May 13, 2016
An earlier version of this story misattributed Brandy Beck's story and quotes to Randi Freyer.



“The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Colorado and the law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP filed discrimination charges May 10 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the women's behalf. The charges claim that Frontier is discriminating against women by not providing sufficient accommodations for pregnant and breastfeeding employees. …. For its part, the airline says that it already provides places that comply with federal and Colorado state requirements in all airports it uses, according to Cindi Ruff, vice president of human resources at Frontier. Women can contact the station manager of each airport to find the location, she says. "If they do [have those stations], they have not communicated that to the women I've spoken with, including women beyond these four pilots, despite repeated requests," Sherwin says. "If it's up to the individual woman to contact each individual airport on her own, that would not be a sufficient accommodation. It's tantamount to providing no support to the women." …. "The request is that women be permitted to take breaks during flights as needed on the same terms that pilots are able to address their other bodily needs," Sherwin says. "To say to a woman who's breast-feeding that you can't leave the cockpit to take care of her bodily needs but to allow everyone else to leave to use the bathroom is sex discrimination." …. The U.S. is the only country in the world besides Papua New Guinea that does not require employers to provide any paid family leave, says Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values @ Work, a network of coalitions working for paid leave policies. "We tell women to be good mothers and then we punish them for doing so by making their family suffer financial insecurity or by shaming them for doing something like breast-feeding," Bravo says. "That's got to change. It's a scandal that nearly one in four women go back to work within two weeks." The only states currently requiring paid family leave are California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and, as of April 1, New York.”


Some 15 to 20 years ago in many businesses if a woman were pregnant but not obviously so, and then failed to disclose that during her interview, the company would often fire her for lying on the interview! If she did tell them they simply wouldn’t hire her! It is definitely sex discrimination. They don’t ask a man whether he has children or plans to start a family. They also pay men higher than women, very often on the pretext that men “have the responsibility for financing the family’s needs.” They should automatically give every woman who has children and no working husband the higher pay that they provide for the man under the same circumstances. Of course they should always give all women equal pay just because that’s the right thing to do.

This situation not only places a hardship on the woman because of her health needs (mastitis, etc.), but financially. Many families depend of the woman’s salary rather than the man’s, or at least to make up the difference between the man’s insufficient pay and causes intense deprivation for her whole family. That so little would have changed in such a long time is shameful. Of course, businesses chose to follow the Great American Rule “That’s not my problem,” and the law lets them do it. The only way it will become their problem is if they are sued repeatedly, subject to labor actions like strikes, or are firmly disciplined by the US legal system for failure to fulfill the existing law. However, in addition to strict enforcement, we need to change all those labor laws so that if a company is under 50 employees it STILL has to toe the line. I am aware that there may not be enough laws to give them protection, but that just means we need to start rocking the boat again. Elizabeth Warren would be a good person to approach.



http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/13/477917113/more-low-income-kids-now-have-health-coverage

More Low-Income Kids Now Have Health Coverage
MICHELLE ANDREWS
May 13, 201610:04 AM ET

Photograph -- A doctor listens to a child's breathing. B Busco/Getty Images


Bolstered by the federal health care law, the number of lower-income kids getting health coverage continues to rise.

During 2014, the first full year of the law's implementation, 91 percent of children who were eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program were enrolled, according to a study by researchers at the Urban Institute. In 2013, that figure was 88.7 percent and only 81.7 percent in 2008. Medicaid and CHIP are both federal-state health coverage programs for lower-income residents, but CHIP provides coverage for kids whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

Given that coverage rates were already quite high for children, "I was surprised to see gains to such an extent in 2014, and for that to happen for so many different kinds of kids and in so many different places," said Genevieve Kenney, co-director of the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center who was an author of the study.

Not surprisingly, the biggest coverage increases occurred in states that expanded Medicaid to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (about $33,500 for a family of four), likely a spillover effect as adults signed up and learned that their kids were eligible, too. So far 31 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Medicaid expansion.

The coverage increase among children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP mirrors changes in the uninsurance rate for children overall, which fell from 7 percent in 2013 to 5.8 percent in 2014, the researchers noted. They estimated that 4.5 million children younger than 18 are still uninsured. That population varies significantly among states, according to the report, with uninsurance below 4 percent in 14 states and above 9 percent in four: Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.

There were coverage gains for all types of children between 2013 and 2014, including those of different ethnic groups, ages and family incomes. But progress has been slower for some groups, including adolescents between age 13 and 18 and Hispanic kids in families in which no parent speaks English.

The study used data from the American Community Survey, an ongoing survey by the U.S. Census Bureau that includes data on more than 700,000 children age 18 and younger.

Nearly two-thirds of the 4.5 million children who were uninsured in 2014 were eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, the study found. Many of them have been enrolled in Medicaid at some point in their lives, Kenney said.

"That puts the spotlight on renewal and retention," said Kenney. States have adopted different strategies to encourage continued coverage. Some have policies that, for example, allow kids to stay enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP for the full year even if their parents' income or other circumstances change. Others determine whether kids are still eligible for the programs by conducting data checks rather than requiring parents to fill out paperwork.

Kenney said she expects the uninsurance rates for kids improved again in 2015 as more states expanded Medicaid and families enrolled in subsidized insurance on the state marketplaces. This month, Arizona reinstated its CHIP program, after freezing enrollment in 2009, thus extending coverage to more lower income children.

Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.



“During 2014, the first full year of the law's implementation, 91 percent of children who were eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program were enrolled, according to a study by researchers at the Urban Institute. In 2013, that figure was 88.7 percent and only 81.7 percent in 2008. Medicaid and CHIP are both federal-state health coverage programs for lower-income residents, but CHIP provides coverage for kids whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. …. Not surprisingly, the biggest coverage increases occurred in states that expanded Medicaid to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (about $33,500 for a family of four), likely a spillover effect as adults signed up and learned that their kids were eligible, too. So far 31 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Medicaid expansion. …. They estimated that 4.5 million children younger than 18 are still uninsured. That population varies significantly among states, according to the report, with uninsurance below 4 percent in 14 states and above 9 percent in four: Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. …. "That puts the spotlight on renewal and retention," said Kenney. States have adopted different strategies to encourage continued coverage. Some have policies that, for example, allow kids to stay enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP for the full year even if their parents' income or other circumstances change. …. Kenney said she expects the uninsurance rates for kids improved again in 2015 as more states expanded Medicaid and families enrolled in subsidized insurance on the state marketplaces. This month, Arizona reinstated its CHIP program, after freezing enrollment in 2009, thus extending coverage to more lower income children.”


The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a part of Medicaid and the funding is shared between federal and state. “This month, Arizona reinstated its CHIP program, after freezing enrollment in 2009, thus extending coverage to a greater number of kids.” So many states squeeze the social service functions economically in order to shrink the size of government, a Republican virtue of the highest order, that it is severely reducing the safety net for the poor. Conservatives used to talk about States Rights in the South more than they do now, but that war between state and federal rights and responsibilities still goes on. The rule of thumb used to be that if a federal law were stronger than the similar one on the state level, the federal would be dominant, and vice versa. So often the state legislature is full of skinflint Republicans, though, so they try to get out of paying a fair rate to destitute families.

These last few years have been an especially active set of skirmishes between our parties over whether the federal can mandate restrictions and requirements – Affordable Healthcare, women’s and LGBT rights, changes in police regulations, etc. Many who self-identify as conservatives are against all social service plans and federal mandates. That goes all the way back to the Civil War and before. They think that the days of Calvin Coolidge were the good old days. In their view it should be every man for himself and pull yourself up by your bootstraps! Folks are not all equal in their ability to do that, however.

People, including the lower middle class rather than merely the poor, have been failing financially for years now and legislators are hearing from their constituencies enough that some of them are loosening their grip on the country both economically and socially, from LGBT issues such as gender identity and transgender matters, to better Medicaid coverage or a livable minimum wage.

This last NC law about bathrooms, though I understand their (expressed) concern about women’s safety, has ignored the fact that many places like movie theaters, large department stores, stadiums, etc. already provide at least one “unisex” bathroom with a lockable door. True folks may have to wait in a line outside it in a crowd, but rather than getting into the ridiculous situation of discovering what the Birth Certificate says, why not just make simple common sense rules that will accommodate everyone.

We aren’t where we need to be yet, but things are improving in regard to “Obamacare,” at least. The loud outcry from conservatives has moderated now. I think a lot of them have found that it is affordable and is helpful.



http://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-colorado-movie-theater-shooter-james-holmes-speaks/story?id=39114942

Mother of Colorado Movie Theater Shooter James Holmes Speaks Out for First Time
By JULIA JACOBO
May 14, 2016, 10:56 AM ET

PHOTO: Police cars are seen in the parking area around the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., July 20, 2012 where a gunman opened fire during the showing of the new Batman movie. JONATHAN CASTNER/AFP/Getty Images
PHOTO: This June 4, 2013 file photo shows Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes in court in Centennial, Colo. AP Photo
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The mother of the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooter James Holmes, spoke out for the first time this week to raise awareness for Mental Health Awareness Month, condemning her son's actions and highlighting the importance of early detection of mental illness.

In an interview with ABC News affiliate KGTV in San Diego, Arlene Holmes described her son as a "happy" and "friendly" child, who would frequently invite friends over to their home. But, things changed around the time he turned 12 or 13-years-old, she said.

"I noticed that he was sadder than a child should be," Holmes told KGTV.

James saw a family therapist for about a year, but he continued to become more quiet, irritable and isolated, and was having trouble "being around people," she said.

Now 28, Holmes said her son showed signs of becoming psychotic by his early twenties. His cognition was declining, he was having trouble thinking and even more difficulty being around people.

He was delusional, Holmes said, with a mentality that he would be "worth more" if he killed people.

"These are the things that people need to really hone in on, and don’t try to do like he did and I did, which is try and just keep going or solve everything yourself," Holmes said. "You need the help of a professional."

Holmes called the mass shooting "horrible" and a "tragedy" that "can't be erased." But, she emphasized that her message is not about James, but for the victims.

"If I don’t deliver this message, I do dishonor the victims, because I think given this opportunity to speak to you, and I need to be brave and take the risk of criticism and go ahead and tell people: this is what he was like," she said.

Holmes said in retrospect, she failed to be educated on the topic of mental health and stressed the importance of recognizing the early signs and symptoms of mental illness.

"I want to offer up the failure as advice to other people," she said.

Holmes said she wants to honor the victims of the 2012 shooting at an Aurora movie theater, which killed 12 people and injured 70 more during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

"I can’t erase the day. But, I wish I could," Holmes said. "And the way that I want to honor their injuries and their distress is to try and prevent something this bad from happening again.


“In an interview with ABC News affiliate KGTV in San Diego, Arlene Holmes described her son as a "happy" and "friendly" child, who would frequently invite friends over to their home. But, things changed around the time he turned 12 or 13-years-old, she said. "I noticed that he was sadder than a child should be," Holmes told KGTV. James saw a family therapist for about a year, but he continued to become more quiet, irritable and isolated, and was having trouble "being around people," she said. Now 28, Holmes said her son showed signs of becoming psychotic by his early twenties. His cognition was declining, he was having trouble thinking and even more difficulty being around people. He was delusional, Holmes said, with a mentality that he would be "worth more" if he killed people."

This article is more or less a repetition of what she says in her video, and the way she expressed herself is truly beautiful, so I hope you will go to the website and listen to it. "These are the things that people need to really hone in on, and don’t try to do like he did and I did, which is try and just keep going or solve everything yourself," Holmes said. "You need the help of a professional." This is the old “bootstraps” theory in action, and it is especially dangerous when a person, young or old, does have some kind of mental illness. Even kids who seem to us to be merely “neurotic,” such as the very shy, introverted or timid individuals, are very likely having some level of mental illness. If a person is often staring blankly into space or otherwise inattentive to what is going on around him he is very likely in a “dream world” of his own. That isn’t just a harmless idiosyncrasy but very often a sign of real trouble.

There are different types and degrees of illness, but without treatment with a therapist and a well-chosen and effective medication, such a condition is likely to get worse as this young man’s did. It should never be considered “unimportant” or “just rebelliousness,” etc. etc. etc. Never believe that old idiom that “If a person talks about suicide he won’t do it.” On the contrary, suicidal thoughts are predecessors to an act of suicide, so take your family member ASAP to a psychiatric setting either in a hospital or in a neighborhood psychiatric clinic. There will be a choice of doctors there who can diagnose, medicate, and do either group or individual therapy.

Acting quickly is important. If someone, even a doctor, says that he “will probably grow out of it,” don’t believe it and switch to a new doctor! There is a lot of mythology stemming from an equally large amount of pure ignorance in this culture about mental illness (about a lot of things actually). We are a society of people who think we know a great deal, to the point that we are incapable of incorporating any new information into our mind. As individuals we must try to break out of that very destructive cycle.

Also, as in this case, the symptoms or illness do often start at puberty. It seems obvious to me that the rise in their sexual hormones triggers the characteristic changes in brain chemicals that cause the symptoms. It is believed, however, that trauma which is “unresolved,” can either cause it or make it much worse. Trauma includes lack of warmth from parents and family members, beatings – even if the Bible seems to be saying to do that – sexual molestation and rape, and worse things can, I believe, cause a marked “withdrawal” in the person which may be the beginning of mental illness. Many an introverted and fearful child, like his mother said he was, are being bullied unmercifully either in school or, shockingly, at home. Both parents and siblings do that kind of thing sometimes. It’s a sign of a “toxic” home environment and of mental illness (bullying is not a healthy action) on the part of the more aggressive person in the situation. Aggressiveness is not the same thing as self-confidence, nor is it a “leadership” characteristic. A good and healthy leader does not browbeat and intimidate others.

We have an epidemic of mental illness in this country, in the school systems, in the police departments, in the workplace, and in the home. We need to open up our eyes and ears and pay attention to the danger signs that are occurring, and then DO interfere in a decisive way if possible to stop the bullying. That should probably be verbal if at all possible. A big brawl won’t help anybody. I did that twice as a young person, verbally, and it is effective. Bullies in action do not want ATTENTION to be focused on what they are doing, and they don’t want to have to fight somebody who is bold enough to call their bluff.

You don’t have to be a big bruiser to accomplish that. A good strong voice and righteous anger is enough to put the bad boy/girl on notice. I really like the way bystanders have been videotaping police when they beat or shoot someone since Ferguson. There’s nothing like proof when you need to make a case. That should not be put on the Internet, but in the hands of the highest authority you can think of in the PD if you think he is trustworthy himself. If that doesn’t work take it to your senators and congressmen and even the DOJ. In fact, due to the amount of corruption that is in our governments, take it immediately to the US DOJ. Go ahead and make what we call in the South, “a big stink.” Being a demure lady is for another time and situation.