A vivid snapshot of American life in 2009 in today’s New York Times. The piece, by Kevin Sack, details the complex calculations people in Rocky Mount, NC, have to make when filling their prescriptions during a recession. For example, take James S. Crawford, who arrived at the pharmacy just after being discharged for his 3rd heart attack:
“Mr. Crawford, 61, who makes do on $1,800 a month in Social Security and veterans’ benefits, decided he could afford only the heart, blood pressure and acid reflux pills. ‘If I can rob…
The agreement included no admission of guilt by Wal-Mart, but it does exact a promise that the retailer will work with independent experts to implement a better crowd-management plan for post-Thanksgiving Day sales. Wal-Mart also agreed to set up a $400,000 victims’ compensation and remuneration fund and give $1.5 million to…
Now the Senator from Louisiana is in an old-fashioned brawl with the White House over his hold on the nomination of Craig Fugate at FEMA, with the respective spokespeople sending hate messages back and forth across the playground, via reporters.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs called Vitter’s maneuver “political posturing”. Then Vitter’s office fired back that it had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with reforming FEMA…
An update on Sen. Vitter’s hold on FEMA nominee Craig Fugate. On Monday, Vitter, Fugate and the acting director of FEMA met to try to talk it out, but it seems Vitter is not done making his point.
Why does Vitter care so much about Grand Isle? That is the mystery. Grand Isle is a small fishing and recreational community located on a barrier island. A lovely but dangerous place. The kind of place that has been battered by hundreds of storms. The kind of place that will…
CQ reports that Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana has blocked Craig Fugate’s nomination to run FEMA. Quite a surprise, since he sailed through the Senate Homeland Security earlier this week.
Check out the alleged reason for Vitter’s hold, as reported by the Miami Herald
“Vitter’s concerns...apparently relate to FEMA’s maps of controversial ‘high-velocity flood zones,’ a designation related to coastal areas that are at high risk in a hurricane or an area that faces significant risk in the event of a flood. Federal regulations currently prohibit FEMA from funding new construction in such…
I’m thinking it’s no coincidence that I woke up yesterday wishing I lived in Hawaii (here in the DC metro area, we’ve been having a ton of that April rain) and was greeted with the news that where you live impacts your mental health.
According to a new study, the differences between geographic location and mental health were so great that even the researchers were surprised. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed more than 1.2 million people, concluding that where you live determines whether you experience Frequent Mental Distress (FMD), defined as…
All over the country, programs are being cut, buildings are being abandoned. To save money, people need to make hard choices, and some of them will be wrong.
What you don’t often hear are the ways that regular people are creating new things to save the old ones, one YouTube video at a time. Over the past month, my friend Suzy has harangued her friends, pestered her neighbors, enlisted her children, spoken at rallies, organized petitions, and driven bureaucrats to the…
