Senior Women Web

Ferida Wolff writes: "And then one day, while trimming the bushes on the other side of the yard, a nest with blue eggs appeared! Was this robin protecting that nest even though it was away from the house? And were these eggs actually the robin’s eggs? Other birds lay blue eggs. Plus, within the bush was a different bird that was warning us to stay away. I guess we will have to let nature take its course. If this nest is the robin’s, then when the birds hatch and eventually fly off, the aggressive window banging should stop. After all, parents need to protect their young. But wait, did I just see another robin gathering bits of dry grass and bringing them to the bush by the window?" more »

"Compared to a typical school year, teachers reported that more of their students started the 2020-21 school year behind and made less academic progress, according to GAO's generalizable survey of K-12 public school teachers. Teachers also reported that many students ended the year behind grade level expectations (see figure). Educators and parents also shared their insights and experiences about student struggles and learning loss during the year." more »

Jo Freeman writes: Bill Browder has written a political thriller. Covering roughly the decade ending in 2018, he traces his efforts to sanction corrupt Russian officials who had murdered his friend and Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Law enforcement is a continuous theme. But whose laws and whose enforcement? Of course, Browder and his family had to be constantly on guard against being attacked and even kidnapped by those working for Russia, or even police who thought they were acting on a legitimate arrest order. These “adventures” are what make this book exciting. more »

"The Secretary of Labor should develop and execute a transformation plan that meets GAO's high risk criteria for transformation; the plan should outline coordinated and sustained actions to address issues related to providing effective service and mitigating financial risk, including ways to demonstrate improvements. Planned actions may include addressing audit recommendations, and determining whether legislative changes are needed, as appropriate. Planned actions may also include achieving quantifiable results in reducing improper payment rates, including those related to fraud; improving efficiency in claims processing and restoring pre-pandemic payment timeliness levels; better reaching current worker populations; and enhancing equity in benefit distribution." (Recommendation 1, Publicly Released: Jun 07, 2022.)  more »