Helen H. Moore's Blog, page 763
May 31, 2016
Poll: People unsure about ability to pay for long-term care
CHICAGO (AP) — Demand for long-term care is expected to increase as the nation ages, but the majority of Americans 40 and older lack confidence in their ability to pay for it.
Despite a hefty price tag for long-term care, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds that a third of Americans have done no planning for their own-long term care needs. That planning might include setting aside money to pay for a home aide or to help with daily activities or a room in a nursing home.
Why?
The poll says about 4 in 10 don’t think they will ever need long-term care.
And, the survey found that nearly that many mistakenly expect to turn to Medicare for help, but the program doesn’t pay for long-term care.
May 30, 2016
Japan factory output, consumer spending weak in April
TOKYO (AP) — Japan reports that its factory output fell 3.5 percent in April from the same month a year earlier, while consumer spending also edged lower.
While the declines reported Tuesday were more moderate than the month before, suggesting a slight improvement, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may point to such trends as reasons for the widely expected postponement of a sales tax hike next year.
Consumer spending fell 0.4 percent in April from a year earlier, while unemployment remained flat at 3.2 percent.
Earlier, the government reported that the consumer price index fell 0.3 percent in April for the second straight month of deflation. However, excluding both energy and volatile fresh foods, it rose 0.7 percent.
Abe’s effort to vanquish deflation through monetary easing and public spending has made only faltering headway.
Haiti panel recommends throwing out results of disputed vote
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A special verification commission in Haiti is recommending throwing out the disputed results of last year’s first-round presidential election and holding a new vote.
Commission President Pierre Francois Benoit says there were far too many of what he calls “zombie votes” and other problems in the October presidential balloting to be considered legitimate.
Commissioners say they audited a random sample of 25 percent of the roughly 13,000 tally sheets from polling stations to verify allegations of rampant fraud.
The final decision whether to start the elections over will have to be made by a revamped Provisional Electoral Council. It has been scheduled to announce a new election date Tuesday.
Interim President Jocelerme Privert has said Haiti cannot restart balloting without first restoring confidence in the electoral machinery.
Activists say air strikes pummel rebel-held city
BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say a wave of air strikes on the rebel-held city of Idlib in northwestern Syria have killed at least 10 people and damaged one or more hospitals.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group counted 10 strikes on Idlib on Monday night, which it said killed at least 14 civilians, including 3 children. The group says it believes Russian jets carried out the attacks.
The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said 10 people were killed when the city’s National Hospital was hit, but had no details about casualties elsewhere in the city.
The opposition Civil Defense, which carries out rescue operations, gave a higher casualty figure, saying dozens were killed and hundreds wounded in the air strikes in which several hospitals were damaged.
The Observatory says hospitals were not targeted, but damaged when bombs struck nearby.
A Haiti commission is recommending throwing out the disputed results of last year’s first-round presidential election and holding a new vote
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A Haiti commission is recommending throwing out the disputed results of last year’s first-round presidential election and holding a new vote.
Cubs ‘pen perfect for 7 innings in 1-hit win over Dodgers
CHICAGO (AP) — Travis Wood and three other relievers combined for seven perfect innings after starter Jason Hammel left with cramps, and the Chicago Cubs held the Los Angeles Dodgers to one hit in a 2-0 victory Monday.
Hammel exited after his right hamstring cramped while warming up for the third inning. Wood (3-0) pitched four perfect innings in his longest stint of the season.
Justin Grimm, Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon pitched one inning each for the Cubs, with Rondon getting his ninth save. He has converted 20 straight save opportunities dating back to Aug. 14.
Ben Zobrist extended his hitting streak to a career-high-tying 16 games. He singled leading off the fifth and reached third when right fielder Yasiel Puig misplayed the ball. He scored on Jason Heyward’s infield single.
Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood (1-4) gave up two runs on seven hits in five innings.
The Latest: Murray, Jones leads their teams onto ice
Fans cheer outside the Consol Energy Center before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final series between the San Jose Sharks and the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday, May 30, 2016, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) (Credit: AP)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Latest on Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins (all times local):
7:50 p.m. EDT
Goaltenders Matt Murray of Pittsburgh and Martin Jones of San Jose led their teams onto the ice at Consol Energy Center for warmups prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The 22-year-old Murray and 26-year-old Jones are starting in the final for the first time. Jones backed up Jonathan Quick with the Los Angeles Kings when they won it all in 2012.
Matt Nieto’s on the ice for San Jose. The forward hasn’t played since suffering an upper-body injury in Game 6 of the Sharks’ second-round series against Nashville.
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6:58 p.m.
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang says he is good to go for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against San Jose despite not skating the past two days.
Letang brushed off any concern about the injury, while center Nick Bonino also gave the thumbs up for the series opener after blocking a shot in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Letang has averaged 28:46 minutes a game for the Penguins during the playoffs.
After facing 2015 Conn Smythe runner-up Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning last round, Letang goes up against Norris Trophy finalist Brent Burns in the final.
Letang says Burns is an unbelievable defenseman. Burns’ 20 points lead all defensemen in the playoffs.
Fire erupts during Memorial Day banquet at American Legion
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a blaze erupted during an annual Memorial Day banquet at an American Legion post in Philadelphia and required more than 100 firefighters to get it under control.
Banquet attendee George Mondschein tells The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/1THBb59 ) that dinner was finishing up Monday when the commander announced that there was a fire in the dumbwaiter.
Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel says firefighters worked 2½ hours to get the blaze under control. He says the cause is under investigation.
Mondschein says his old Boy Scout troop held its meetings at the post. He says it kept him off the streets, but “now it’s burned up.”
He says he wishes he and the other attendees had grabbed mementos from the building on their way out.
Only a firefighter suffered a minor injury.
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com
Brazil’s transparency chief quits over corruption probe tape
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Leaked recordings of heavyweight politicians discussing Brazil’s sprawling kickback scandal caused more headaches for acting President Michel Temer on Monday, with a new tape forcing his anti-corruption minister to quit.
Transparency Minister Fabiano Silveira was the second member of the interim administration to leave in only 16 days because of recorded conversations about the investigation into corruption at the state oil company Petrobras and the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.
The new turmoil started when TV Globo broadcast a recording of Silveira giving legal advice to the Senate president, who is under investigation for links to corruption at Petrobras. The recording also shows Silveira criticizing the investigation itself, which has implicated some of Brazil’s most prominent politicians and businessmen.
In its report late Sunday, TV Globo said Silveira had repeatedly contacted investigators in the Petrobras case to seek information on the accusations against Senate chief Renan Calheiros, but he did not succeed in getting any details. The conversation was recorded at Calheiros’ residence some time before the Senate voted to suspend Rousseff pending an impeachment trial and put the government in Temer’s hands.
Brazilian media had said Temer met with Cabinet ministers in the afternoon and decided to keep Silveira on the job for now, with Silveira saying he was not involved in any wrongdoing. But later Silveira sent a letter of resignation, saying it was best that he leave the job “despite the fact that nothing is hitting my behavior.”
Temer did not announce any pick to succeed Silveira, who came under intense criticism from Brazilians and international groups following the TV Globo report.
According to the union for workers at the Transparency Ministry, about 200 officials of the anti-corruption body offered their resignations to protest Temer’s initial decision to keep Silveira on the job. Earlier Monday, employees at the ministry blocked Silveira from entering the building in the capital of Brasilia. They also staged a protest in which they cleaned the front doors of the building and his office.
The newspaper O Globo printed an extra editorial to demand Silveira’s resignation, echoing calls by allies of Rousseff, who argues that her foes ousted her because she allowed the Petrobras investigation to go forward.
The Berlin-based watchdog group Transparency International also called for Silveira to go. In a statement, the group said it would halt any conversations with Temer’s interim administration “until a full investigation is conducted and a new minister with adequate experience in the fight against corruption is appointed.”
Another leaked recording forced Temer’s planning minister to take a leave of absence last week. In that recording, Romero Juca suggested there should be “a pact” to impeach Rousseff and appeared to link it to obstructing the Petrobras investigations. He denied any wrongdoing or intention to stop the investigations.
O Globo’s editorial said that “Temer needs to apply the same rule that he applied to Juca: There can be no conspiracy against Operation Car Wash,” a reference to the Petrobras probe. “It is the only way that his public commitment to support the operation and to fight against corruption will be taken seriously.”
Meanwhile, the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo reported that Temer’s 7-year-old son, Michelzinho, is the registered owner of real estate properties worth $550,000. The interim president told the daily that he transferred the assets as a way to anticipate his will and that his daughters from previous marriages also received real estate in similar conditions.
The report also said Temer’s total assets nearly doubled between 2006 and 2014.
Physicist Stephen Hawking baffled by Donald Trump’s rise
LONDON (AP) — Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking may have a good grasp of the workings of the universe, but he says he can’t understand Donald Trump’s popularity.
Hawking tells ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” show Tuesday that he has no explanation for the success of the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee.
“He is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator,” Hawking says in prerecorded comments to be broadcast when the show airs at 6 a.m. London time (0500 GMT, 1 a.m. EDT) Tuesday.
Hawking , who speaks through a computer system operated with his cheek, also made a plea for British voters to choose to remain in the European Union in the June 23 referendum.
He said it is important not only for economic and security research but also to further scientific research.
Hawking says: “Gone are the days we could stand on our own, against the world. We need to be part of a larger group of nations, both for our security, and our trade.”
Hawking has a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, that has gradually paralyzed him since he was first diagnosed at age 21.
