Rhode Island prosecutors say that Joseph Caramadre is an unscrupulous con artist who engaged in identity theft, conspiracy and two different kinds of fraud. Prosecutors contend he deceived the terminally ill to make millions for himself and his clients. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin in November.

"Our age cries for personality, but it will ask in vain, until we allow them to have their own will, think their own thoughts, work out their own knowledge, form their own judgements; or, to put the matter briefly, until we cease to suppress the raw material of personality in schools, vainly hoping later on in life to revive it again."

In the past half-century, life expectancy for newborn Americanfemales, the average increase was about 1.5 years per decade, from 73.1 years in 1960 to 80.8 years by 2010. “There is a general misunderstanding of what ‘average life expectancy’ means, and when people are told they will live to an age such as 80 or 85, they don’t realize that this means there is a 50 percent chance that they could live past that age.”

Julia Sneden writes: Isn’t it odd that the very people who keep saying we need to get the government out of our lives, at the same time condone legislation insisting that more than half the population needs its government to tell them what to do or not to do with their wombs?

They are probably the most tribal generation in history and they despise being separated from contact with friends. They are helping their parents understand that you don’t take pictures on “film” and that CDs and DVDs are not “tapes.” Those parents have been able to review the crime statistics for the colleges their children have applied to.

We discovered One King's Lane not long ago and although we've sworn off daily emails from any shopping sources, we have to admit that we lost our resolve with this site. Years ago we added the Spoon Sisters to our shopping pages and although they sound like a singing duo, they're dedicated to quirky, useful, colorful, unique shopping. 

Val Castronovo writes: The botanicals, “portraits” in his words, are simple, elegant distillations of all manner of vegetation — sweet peas, sunflowers, ginkgo, water lilies, calla lilies, beanstalks, banana leaves, coral leaves, wild hibiscus, grass. The emphasis is on contour drawing. In these minimalist masterpieces, without shading, the line is the thing.

The national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5.0% per rape among victims of reproductive age (aged 12 to 45); among adult women an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.

“There is a huge block of Americans who are never asked their opinions because they are immediately screened out once they’ve indicated that they are not registered or unlikely to vote. It is the first poll taken this year that exclusively looks at this segment of the population."

“While voluntary action on the part of manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson indicates that some in the cosmetics industry are getting the message that consumers want safer products. Only stricter regulation of this $50 billion industry will ensure that all consumers are protected.”

Rose Mula writes: I was awakened by what sounded like the pitter-patter of a gentle rain against my windows. I wish. Instead, it was the dripping of toilet water from a broken commode in the empty condo above mine. The demolition crew moved my furniture into a temporary storage pod, then started mercilessly ripping up floors and tearing down ceilings and walls, releasing trapped water before mold had a chance to establish a beachhead.

Elaine writes: As we dipped corn chips into salsa, we revealed our favorite things. We were like game show contestants hoping to find correct answers. We matched on Masterpiece Theatre, jazz vocalists, dogs and cats, and quiet nights at home. When we learned we had the same favorite song, It Never Entered My Mind by Rodgers and Hart, we felt we had won first prize.

Jane Shortall writes: Her books chosen by Oprah, made into movies, Maeve somehow managed to remain one of us, to stay absolutely the same warm, giving, human being. Beyond generous, she gave away both time and money as if she had double the amount to spare. She was, in every sense, larger than life, with a superior imagination and an uncanny ability to tell a story.

“I should have married her when I had the chance.” “I shouldn’t have eaten that entire pie.” “If only I had not gotten into that car on that fateful day.” Sentiments such as these reflect an emotion that is known to most of us. Regret is an unpleasant emotion commonly felt when we experience some unfortunate outcome that we believe would have been different had we taken a different course of action.

Canadian public opinion has been supportive of immigration for a long time and support has been increasing over recent decades, a time of economic uncertainty and concerns over foreign terrorists.ompared to the citizens of other developed immigrant-receiving countries, Canadians are by far the most open to and optimistic about immigration.

Popular beliefs about work-family issues characterize working moms as having a divided focus on home and work — they are therefore seen as less competent, less committed, and, as a result, less worthy of employment and promotion than men or childless women.

Adrienne G. Cannon writes: Hey Bob! Look who has come visiting.  So many friends and family members.....and they’ve come to celebrate your active and joyful life and remember their special moments with you. But first, I want to remember with you, those days when, before all these folks came into our lives and it was — just us.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has advised that the FCC should formally reassess and, if appropriate, change its current RF energy exposure limit and mobile phone testing requirements related to likely usage configurations, particularly when phones are held against the body. By not formally reassessing its current limit, FCC cannot ensure it is using a limit that reflects the latest research on RF energy exposure.

The dream of Arcadia, a mythic place of beauty and repose where humankind lives in harmony with nature, has held an enduring appeal for artists since antiquity. With its promise of calm, simplicity, and order, it has served as both an inspiration and as an image of refuge, a place that is distant and seemingly protected from the vicissitudes of life.

Curiosity's main assignment is to investigate whether its study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. By designing the aeroshell enclosing Curiosity to create lift and be steerable, engineers were able to build a system that lands much more precisely instead of dropping like a rock. Watch a video explaining the '7 minutes of terror'.

Doris O'Brien writes: There’s an odd assumption that people tend to become invisible as they grow old ... women, in particular. I figure I could rob a bank and nobody would even notice who done it. But, in reality,seniors are the least likely to break the law, and maybe even the most reluctant to publicly express their opinions on controversial subjects, for fear of refutation, ridicule, or even recrimination.

The exhibit draws from the millions of immigration case files in the Archives to tell a few of these stories from the 1880s through World War II. It also ex­plores the attachment of immigrants to fam­ily and community and the attachment of government organizations to immigration laws that reflected certain beliefs about im­migrants and citizenship. These are dramatic tales of joy and disappointment, opportu­nity and discrimination, deceit and honesty.

More than 48 million Medicare cards display the SSN (Social Security Number), which increases Medicare beneficiaries’ vulnerability to identity theft. GAO was asked to review the options and associated costs for removing SSNs from the Medicare card.