Archive for the ‘Social Security Updates’ Category
As the resident male blogger here at Gov Gab, it’s my job to tell you that June is National Men’s Health Month and that today through Sunday is National Men’s Health Week. Signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, National Men’s Health Week always occurs the week before Father’s Day.
The purpose of Men’s Health Week’s is to increase awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. Statistically speaking, women are generally better about keeping tabs on their personal health and that’s one of the reasons they outlive men on average. In order to improve our health overall, we guys need to go to the doctor when we are sick, make sure we get regular checkups and get regular screenings for heart disease, prostate and colon cancers.
I’ve been more proactive about my health in the past year. I told you a few weeks ago that I had my wisdom teeth removed to prevent future problems and, after some allergy testing last year, I had to change my whole diet because I was allergic to gluten. I still have some way to go on the exercise part of the equation, but I feel like I’m making progress. Men and women can find a lot of information about improving their health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What have you done recently to improve your health?
Whether you live near the Gulf of Mexico or not, there are ways that you can help the region and its wildlife recover from the oil spill.
If you want to help the animals affected by the spill, remember that cleaning oiled wildlife is complex and can be dangerous. It requires training, so don’t try to rescue wildlife on your own. If you are in the Gulf region and want to work on rehabilitating wildlife, there are organizations that can train you.
If you’re not able to offer direct assistance, you can always send donations to the organizations that are on the ground and working on the spill.
As with every disaster, there are scams that arise to take advantage of those that are eager to donate and support worthy causes. Be wise and be careful about where you’re sending your hard earned money. If you think you’ve found a fraudulent charity, report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud by calling (866) 720-5721. The line is staffed by a live operator 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
I’ve really been into grilling this year. I like it because of how food cooked on the grill tastes, because I can make a meal without heating up the house or producing a mountain of dirty dishes, and most of all I like to sit down and relax in the cool evening air while I patiently wait for my food to be done. For the record, I’m an old-fashioned charcoal grill girl, and sometimes I get really old fashioned and cook over an open fire.
The thing that always bugs me when I’m cooking meat on the grill is that it’s hard to tell when it’s done. I love that smoky goodness, but I’d rather not serve it with a side of food borne illness. Luckily you can take a little care and safely prepare food on an outdoor grill even if you, or someone you cook for is especially at risk, like pregnant women or people with compromised immune systems. Last week I bought one of those instant read thermometer forks to help me tell when my food is cooked to a safe temperature. I’m still getting the hang of it, but it’s going to be a better method than going by the color of the meat.
Remember too that red meat and poultry aren’t the only things you can cook on a grill. I’ve been experimenting with vegetables on the grill, and you know what? It turns out that I love asparagus! I just toss it with a little olive oil, the juice of a fresh lemon and a little salt and pepper, then give it indirect heat for about 5 minutes on each side. I’m happy to eat the whole bunch!
Next I want to try fruit on the grill and I’m looking at recipes. Anybody have a good one?
A few weeks ago, I went on a trip with a some friends. We had a blast, but I couldn’t help but notice that one of the members of my crew 
took 1,000 pictures over the course of our vaycay.
Not. Even. Kidding. Literally – over 1,000 pictures. At first this was amusing. By the end, I’d had enough of the photo sessions.
Now I am pleased to announce that my photo-happy friend has the perfect opportunity to showcase his obsession.
USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov are hosting a photo contest running from June 16th, until June 30th. Following the theme, “Celebrate America” people can submit their original photos to their photo site of choice (Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, personal site, etc) make sure it is visible to the public, and fill out an entry form.
Applicants can only submit one photo, and they will be judged based on the theme of “Celebrate America”. Judges will pick the top ten photos and the winning entries will be featured on USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov.
Get your camera, and start snapping away! But 1,000 pictures could be a tad excessive.
Author’s note: After a hard-fought Stanley Cup Championship Series congrats are due to the Blackhawks and their #1 fan, Bill Early. I can only hope that one day you have the opportunity to feast on Tastycakes.
*For the Spanish version of this post, please see the entry below*
An experimental vaccine developed to prevent outbreaks of Marburg hemorrhagic fever continues to show promise in monkeys as an emergency treatment for accidental exposures to the virus that causes the disease. There is no licensed treatment for Marburg infection, which has a high fatality rate.
A program in which individuals used a standardized form signed by a physician to communicate their end-of-life care preferences on issues such as levels of medical intervention and tube feeding lead to significantly better adherence to treatment preferences than more traditional methods of communication, according to a new study.
I love watching summer thunderstorms — the wind and the rain and the lightening streaking across the sky. It’s fun to watch them when I’m inside feeling safe, it’s not so fun watching summer storms when I’m caught off guard and out in my car trying to drive through the storms.
The United States experiences a lot of severe weather during the summer. The southeastern portion of the country enters hurricane season, while the middle of the country is at the end of tornado season and just about anywhere can experience a wicked thunderstorm.
To stay safe in severe weather, know what kinds of storms most often impact your community and be prepared for them.
Keep emergency supplies somewhere you can easily access them, whether that’s a flashlight in case you lose power, or some bottled water and nonperishable food in case you can’t leave your house for a few days. FEMA provides great tips on how to be prepared for storms.
So you aren’t caught off guard, stay up to date on weather warnings for your area from the storm prediction center. Even if you’re on the go you can check the mobile site for updates. You don’t want to get caught in a bad storm because you didn’t know it was coming.
What’s your <a href=”http://www.bestdentalplans.com”>best tip for preparing for summer storms?
Healthcare.gov is a new government website that helps you to find insurance options based on your situation; understand the Affordable Care Act; compare hospitals; get tips on preventing common diseases; and more.
Today, the National Institutes of Health announce that the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), established in 2005, will be funded for five more years. CoFAR will continue to foster new approaches to prevent and treat food allergies and also expand in scope to include research on the genetic causes underlying food allergy and studies of food allergy-associated eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs).
Last year, my New Year’s Resolution was to drink more water.
Shockingly enough- I actually did it! Now, a diet soda is a rarity instead of the norm. I pretty much drink strictly H2O, or unsweetened iced tea- sometimes with lemon if I really want to get crazy.
Now that I am actually drinking water– the question is: How much do I need to be drinking?
With summer here, and temps soaring, it is especially important to keep your body hydrated. Dehydration causes you to become overheated and leads to exhaustion and light-headedness, muscle cramps and an increased chance of heatstroke.
While the common perception is that adults should be drinking eight eight-ounce glasses per day, it is now suggested that we should actually be drinking more. It’s recommended that men have closer to 13 glasses per day and that women have 9.
When exercising, especially outside, you should have half a cup of water every 15 minutes. When working out over an hour, a sports drink would also be helpful.
But let’s call a spade a spade here, people- water can be pretty dang boring. To jazz it up, try adding lemon, lime, cucumber, or mint to your drink.
How do you sneak more water into your day? Have you ever experienced dehydration?
The National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Wellcome Trust, a global charity based in London, today announced a partnership to support population-based genetic studies in Africa of common, non-communicable disorders such as heart disease and cancer, as well as communicable diseases such as malaria. The studies, to be conducted by African researchers, will utilize genetic, clinical and epidemiologic screening tools that identify hereditary and non-hereditary components that contribute to the risk of illnesses.
I was at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee last weekend and while I had a blast, I really missed the air conditioner. It was so hot that some people were abandoning their tents to sleep in their air-conditioned cars.
Since the AC was on my mind when I got back to work last week, I was surprised to see a request from the Environmental Protection Agency asking Gov Gab to clear up some confusion about the agency’s new air conditioner manufacturing regulations. It seems that many people think they have to replace their air conditioners now, but that’s not the case.
This year the EPA banned the use of the R-22 refrigerant in the manufacturing of air conditioners. Because R-22 depletes the Earth’s ozone layer, EPA is gradually
reducing amounts of that chemical that can be produced. But to preserve the useful life of R-22 equipment people have already
purchased, EPA allows R-22 to be used to service existing air conditioners.
If you have an air conditioner that uses R-22 you don’t have to replace it now and you can get it repaired if it has problems. The EPA does recommend that if you need major repairs you think about replacing it with an ENERGY STAR air conditioner or use an alternative coolant that doesn’t harm the ozone layer. As the EPA phases out the R-22 chemical over the next decade, the price will go up, and by 2020 there will be very little R-22 left.
What do you think of the new EPA R-22 regulation?
The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service released the 2010
Federal Duck Stamp on Friday and the Junior Duck Stamp goes on sale Thursday.
Federal
Duck Stamps are not for postage, but they have other uses. Hunters over
the age of 16 need the current Federal Duck
Stamp affixed to their state hunting license. For non-hunters, a current
year’s stamp also serves as an entrance pass for National Wildlife
Refuges where admission is normally charged. The Junior
Duck Stamp is purely commemorative. If you are an artist, there are
contests for the picture on both the federal and
junior
stamps every year.
Originally created in 1934 for hunting,
the stamp now raises funds to purchase
or lease wetland habitat for protection in the National
Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). 98 cents of every dollar spent on
these stamps are put towards conservation. You can purchase
the stamps many places and your state may also issue it’s own.
In some states, stamps are purely a
collector’s item, but in others, the stamps have a similar role in
hunting and
conservation as federal duck stamps.
Have you ever purchased a
duck stamp?
It’s late at night, the TV’s on and you see a commercial. It tells you that if you just buy this wonderful book, you’ll learn the secrets to get free money from the government to pay your credit card bills, renovate your home, and start a business!
It sounds so wonderful, but is it too good to be true? Yes, it’s too good to be true.
Before you shell out some of your hard earned money to learn how to get a government grant, learn the facts. The government does give away a lot of money every year in the form of grants, but most government grants go to state and local governments or nonprofit organizations that in turn use the money to administer community programs. The federal government rarely awards grants to individuals directly.
If you or someone you know is in need, the government has many assistance programs that might help – they’re just not called “grants.” There are programs to help with heating bills, or starting a business, or health insurance for children, and much more. If you’re an organization seeking a grant you should check out grants.gov, the official source to find and apply for a grant from the federal government.
In people with longstanding type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for heart attack and stroke, lowering blood sugar to near-normal levels did not delay the combined risk of diabetic damage to kidneys, eyes, or nerves, but did delay several other signs of diabetic damage, a study has found.
The intensive glucose treatment was compared with standard glucose control. These findings are from the NIH-funded Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial. Although intensive treatment produced some beneficial changes, this approach was reported in 2008 to increase death rates.
I am very excited about this Fourth of July. I will be spending it in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with my whole family. It has been a long time since we were all together for a fun celebration. The “foodie” in me is already contemplating what culinary delight I can make to wow the family at our get-together.
Of course, fireworks are a “must have” for a great July 4th celebration, but each year there
are an estimated 10,000 people treated for injuries related to fireworks, and many of these injuries involve children under the age of 15.
Even something as seemingly innocent as a sparkler requires safe handling. Did you know a sparkler burns at 1200° F? Here are some basic safety tips to follow while
handling fireworks. Also, know the laws in your state regarding the purchase and use of fireworks.
While Iowa limits the use of individual fireworks, Cedar Rapids, like many communities, has an Independence Day celebration that will have a great fireworks display. To locate local 4th of July celebration websites you can use the USA.gov search and type in your city or county to find out what activities are in your area.
I wish you all a safe holiday with good times and great food. During your festivities this Sunday, take a moment to reflect and be grateful that we live in such a great country. Remember those
who came before us, those who created, fought for, and secured our freedoms.
This 4th of July, I am going to a wedding. If you’ve read this blog with any regularity over the past 3 years, you know this is pretty much 
par for the course of how I spend my weekends during the summer.
When I saw the date on the invite, my immediate reaction was, “They better have fireworks at this thing!”
While the presence of fireworks at this soiree has been neither confirmed nor denied, I am choosing to be optimistic and have it in my head that I will be staring into the sky ohhhing and ahhhing on the 4th.
Unfortunately in many towns across the country, people will not be saying the same this year. With the economy not fully turned around, cities and townships are cutting firework displays in an effort to save money. Some places justify the cancellation by saying that fireworks are for the viewing pleasure of both residents and visitors and that the money should be used for events and programs strictly for residents, such as children’s summer camps and activities for seniors.
Some towns that have cancelled are: Glendale, AZ, Springfield, MO, and Jersey City, NJ.
Are you disappointed in your city’s cancellation? Are you willing to travel someplace else to see fireworks?