‘Two birds with one stone’
If 12-year-old Mike Wimmer was like most kids his age you’d find him in grammar school in the sixth or seventh grade. But Mike is not like most kids his age when it comes to the academic side of his life. The Salisbury, North Carolina, “tween” is an achiever who is graduating with a 5.45 Grade Point Average from high school at the end of this semester. He’s is also getting his associate degree from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College with a 4.0 GPA. The boy says he’s got the COVID pandemic to thank for his scholarly achievement. It gave him the time he needed to take extra classes. In fact, he had enough spare time to also create a technology start-up company called Reflect Social. But don’t think for a minute that Mike is boring. As he put it, "A lot of people think I've given up my childhood or somehow lost it and I say to them that I'm having the time of my life."
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They weren’t joshing!
Hundreds of folks named Josh, armed with foamy flotation devices better known as “pool noodles,” gathered for a raucous contest recently in a park in Lincoln, Nebraska, just for the fun of it. It was the brainchild of Josh Swain who, like many of us, was suffering from the loneliness of the COVID lockdown. So, Swain collected a list of people named Josh and contacted them via social media, inviting them to a gathering of Joshes. A few Joshes quickly turned into a lot of Joshes who came from all over the country. It started out as a joke, a way to pass the time online, and it ended with upwards of one thousand people, hundreds of whom had the first name Josh. The event allowed the Joshes to collect hundreds of pounds of food for the needy and some $12,000 for the Children's Hospital and Medical Center Foundation in Omaha.
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They dug down to the bone
The Perkins family of Las Vegas, Nevada, were having a pool put in their backyard recently and joked about the excavators finding a dinosaur. But the diggers weren’t laughing when they stopped digging after finding unidentified skeletal remains just four or five feet underground. The police were called and they quickly determined the bones were not human but that they were mighty old, indeed. So, Matt Perkins contacted the Nevada Science Center and paleontologist Joshua Bonde was sent to investigate. He reported that it wasn’t a dinosaur, but that the bones did belong to a large animal -- perhaps a horse -- that met its demise as much as 14,000 years ago.
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Including more voices in decisions may bring discomfort – and results
When companies struggle, whether because of a bad economy, poor decisions, or other factors, top management’s reaction is often to become tight-lipped about the turbulent situation.
Employees are shut out from strategy discussions, and any ideas they might have for fixing the problem go unheard.
But in many if not most cases, such secretiveness is the wrong approach and can even make things worse, says Joe Ferreira (www.joeferreira.com), the ForbesBooks author of Uncomfortable Inclusion: How to Build a Culture of High Performance in Life and Work.
“For organizations with tens of thousands of employees, it might make sense to limit who participates in strategy,” says Ferreira, who is CEO and president of the Nevada Donor Network. “But for smaller organizations, where every person contributes to a thriving culture and facilitates effective operations, there’s a lot of value in involving everyone.”
As his book title suggests, Ferreira calls this all-inclusive way of dealing with things “uncomfortable inclusion.” He put this philosophy into action when he came to the Nevada Donor Network in 2012 at a time when the organization was dysfunctional and on the verge of losing its membership in the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing. That would have shut down the organization for good. Over time, with a few fits and starts along the way, the organization rose from floundering to soaring as a current world leader in the industry.
Ferreira acknowledges that uncomfortable inclusion is an approach that can be messy and difficult, but also says that involving the entire organization in strategy and problem solving can “reinforce synergy, cooperation, and unity while cultivating better ideas and innovation.” And that’s true whether uncomfortable inclusion is put into action at a failing company, or simply activated at a place where leaders believe their teams and organization could be performing better, he says.
“It is critical to include everyone because ultimately the frontline staff knows best what their environment is going to look like tomorrow and likely a few years down the line, and they are best positioned to be innovators,” Ferreira says. “Why wouldn’t we have them as part of the planning process?”
He says some of the traits needed to embrace this inclusion approach include:
Transparent. This one may be especially important because Gallup reports that millennials especially say they want leaders who are open and transparent. Uncomfortable inclusion means being transparent to the point of discomfort, Ferreira says. If it is not uncomfortable, you are not being inclusive enough. “When you’re transparent with team members and include them in decision-making, you create a network of stakeholders who participate even in small decisions,” he says. “When it comes time to make more impactful decisions, a leader can tap into that banked brain trust to make the best decision possible based on feedback from a proven set of deciders.” Ferreira suggests even taking transparency a step further by including your critics, something he did when he took over at Nevada Donor Network. “In my view, our critics and antagonists are the most important catalysts for growth and innovation,” he says.
Accountable. People within an organization need to be accountable for their actions and to each other. “I talk about how we’re serious about our values, and we hold people accountable,” Ferreira says. “It isn’t enough to be technically competent. Each member of our organization, regardless of title, role, or results, must adhere to our values. We maintain our commitment to quality and excellence, and we are supremely, publicly accountable when we fail.”
Committed. Adopting a more inclusive approach requires commitment, possibly a commitment to changing the organization’s very culture. But the goal may be more attainable than it first seems, Ferreira says. “Achieving success in a seemingly hopeless situation requires hard work and a committed mindset, but it does not require the reinvention of the wheel,” Ferreira says. “It does not even require luck. All it requires is willingness and a mind open to learning and implementing actions that can facilitate transformative success.”
“Make no mistake, doing this is messy and hard,” Ferreira says. “It might seem unnecessarily difficult, complicated, and yes, uncomfortable. But keep chipping away and remember this: Success is achievable, even from the bleakest and most dysfunctional starting points.”
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Social Security Matters
By National Social Security Advisor at the AMAC Foundation,
the non-profit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens
Ask Rusty – My Social Security Card Is Incorrect – What Should I Do?
Dear Rusty: My sister and I have the same first and last names but are distinguished by our “middle” names. Our last name consists of two family names, which gives us both four, with only our middle names unique. We received two Social Security cards with the same name (middle name excluded), each with a unique number, but with our last name misspelled. So, my questions are:
· Which card is mine, and which is my sisters?
· Is it okay that our last name is misspelled?
I called Social Security and was told to make an appointment online, which I tried but could not because it wouldn’t accept my last name. I don’t know what to do now and hope you can advise me. Signed: Confused Sister
Dear Confused Sister: You haven’t shared your age, but unless you’re ready to apply for Social Security, you and your sister have time to correct your last name in your Social Security records. In any case, your Social Security Number is what is used to record your earnings for the purpose of future SS benefits, so you aren’t losing anything where your earnings credits are concerned. You should, however, get your correct last name reflected in your Social Security records to be sure that your future benefits will be properly paid.
For Social Security purposes, only first names and last names (surnames) are considered your legal name. You can include a middle name if it will help distinguish you from another, but your legal name for Social Security purposes will be your first and last name only. Thus, you should correct your Social Security profile to reflect your correct first and last name and include your unique middle name for personal purposes to distinguish you from your sister. For additional awareness, SS last names are limited to 13 characters. Also, it’s not uncommon for many people to share the same first and last name (e.g., John Smith) in Social Security’s records – it’s the SS number associated with that name that counts.
Other factors might apply too, such as whether the SS cards and numbers you and your sister now have are new, or if either or both of you have been using those SS numbers for past employment purposes. In any case, those numbers have been assigned to you, so getting your profile to reflect your correct last name is important. It’s also important that each of you separately use only one SS card/number (you use one; your sister the other).
To correct your name with Social Security, you should fill out and submit form SSA-5, which you can download/print at this link: https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf. Note that the form is used to apply for a new card, get a replacement card, or to change information for an existing SS number. The form includes complete instructions on how to fill it out, and you can submit it via the US Post Office to your local Social Security office, the mailing address for which you can find at www.ssa.gov/locator. Take note of the form’s instructions for including additional documentation for identification purposes. I suggest that you and your sister both do this separately, each of you taking ownership of one of the SS numbers. When Social Security processes your name change, they will schedule an appointment to discuss any remaining questions they may have. They will notify you via U.S. mail of the date/time of the appointment and the next steps to be taken.
Since all Social Security offices are temporarily closed to public access due to the pandemic, you can do this transaction entirely over the phone if you wish, but you will need to first call for an appointment. If you choose the phone method over submitting form SSA-5, you should call 1.800.772.1213 and request an appointment to correct your name on Social Security’s records. They will send you an appointment notice, at which you will be able initiate the name change process (you’ll still need to provide them with identification documents via the US mail).
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Tips for safe traveling in the COVID age
One of the things people are eager to get back to in their life is traveling. COVID has put a damper on their traveling, and millions of people are already working on travel plans now that things are opening up and the vaccination rate is so high. The good news is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that people can travel once they have been fully vaccinated. Even so, there are safe traveling precautions that people should take in order to help reduce their risks because vaccines do not provide 100% protection.
“We all want to get back to our normal lives, which includes visiting people and traveling,” explains Shan S. Haider, chief executive officer of CurexLab, one of the largest suppliers of COVID-19 PPE and lab supplies. “But it’s still a good idea to take a few precautions to help reduce your risks of virus exposure. You will never regret having taken those little safe traveling steps.”
Once people are fully vaccinated, they can begin to cautiously travel. According to the CDC, people are considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after they have received their final vaccine. For those who have received the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, that would mean two weeks after their second dose. For those who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, that would be two weeks after their one shot.
Here are some tips for safe traveling in the COVID age:
Choose a destination that won’t have big crowds. Now is not the time to plan to visit a big city where there will be crowds of people. If possible, opt for places where there are fewer people, such as national parks or other places in nature.
Stick to wearing a mask when you travel. While airplanes require them, it’s a good idea to continue to wear them everywhere. They are a good line of defense when it comes to the germs and viruses you are exposed to.
Take supplies with you that you can use on the airplane, in the rental car, and in the hotel. A container of sanitizing wipes gives you a quick way to clean your tray table, wipe down your rental car, and clean the television remote and doorknobs in the hotel room.
Wash your hands regularly and carry hand santizer with you for when it’s not possible. Avoid touching your face after you have been touching things and haven’t been able to wash your hands.
Try to socially distance where possible. If you see a crowd gathered, go the other way. You can still be social and get involved in things, but try to limit your exposure to a lot of people, especially indoors and where it’s poorly ventilated.
Eat healthy, exercise and get plenty of sleep so that your body stays healthier and your immune system stays stronger. This will help your body combat germs and viruses that do make their way into your body.
“There are different variants of the COVID virus, and we don’t know everything about them at this point,” added Haider. “Taking precautions is going to help keep you safe yet allow you to get back to enjoying doing things. Have fun, but protect yourself, too.”
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3 ways an evolved HR team drives profits
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to adapt to a new reality, many human resources departments faced challenges like never before.
Now a question that confronts companies is whether their HR departments have evolved enough to come through for them in a world that continues to change with unprecedented rapidity, says Bill Lyons, the ForbesBooks author of We Are HR: The Business Owner’s Definitive Guide to Professional Employer Organizations.
“HR departments really have had to step up in the last year, adjusting their focus to make sure they were providing the right support in the right areas,” says Lyons, who also is the CEO of Lyons HR (www.lyonshr.com), one of the largest privately held Professional Employer Organizations in the country.
“Businesses need to make sure they are giving HR the prominent role it needs to meet the challenges head on.”
Issues such as safety and employee accountability are charging to the fore, creating the necessity for nimble minds behind those HR doors.
“As more challenges emerge, HR must continue to evolve just like any other department, making sure company policies and practices match the reality that managers and employees deal with on any given day,” Lyons says.
He says some ways HR can help companies improve their profitability on a per-employee basis include:
Talent acquisition and retention. Remote work is changing the face of recruiting, Lyons says. For many professional service companies, recruiting efforts do not have to be confined by geography. Rather, companies can open recruiting to the entire country because in many cases there’s no need for an employee to live near company headquarters. But that of course comes with its own difficulties. For example, former techniques for onboarding new employees become obsolete in these circumstances, so HR teams must develop new processes that utilize technology to onboard those workers virtually. Also, HR should identify and nurture current employees who are ambitious, motivated, knowledgeable and loyal, so businesses can keep them and promote them when the time is right, he says.
Improved safety programs. Depending on the industry, product or service, companies have a certain level of risk in their business models– especially if employees operate vehicles, heavy equipment or specialized machinery. HR best practices will help business owners be proactive in managing that risk, Lyons says, potentially lowering workers’ compensation costs, which in turn impacts the bottom line, he says. “Above all else,” he says, “it’s on you to keep your company safe at all times and to ensure that employees leave work the same way they arrived, which hopefully was healthy, secure and injury free.”
Staying up-to-date on labor laws. Employers face a growing, constantly changing web of regulations from agencies on the regional, state and federal level. Now added to the mix are Covid-19 guidelines. “You often have to dig deep to find the answers you need, in order to avoid costly mistakes or litigation,” Lyons says. “Staying educated on labor law is just plain smart – and good business. Chances are, your employees are confused about one or more issues, and it’s your job to provide clarity.”
“As we’ve seen repeatedly, and as this pandemic has reminded us, a crisis is unavoidable,” Lyons says. “When it happens, you are either an adapter to that crisis, or you're destroyed and put out of business by that crisis. The businesses that are able to say, ‘Here are the challenges, but here's how we're going to modify, adapt, and change our behaviors and our service model’ — those are the ones who are going to emerge as the real winners.”
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Tips for raised bed and elevated gardening success
By MELINDA MYERS
Raised beds and elevated gardens provide easier access to gardens and can increase space available for growing vegetables and flowers. You will enjoy convenience and easy access when including one or more in your landscape or on your patio, deck, or balcony.
Providing proper care for these elevated planting spaces will ensure the biggest possible harvest and a growing season filled with beautiful flowers. Adapting planting strategies and care to fit the needs of these unique growing spaces can help reduce maintenance.
It starts with creating and maintaining a healthy growing foundation. Fill your raised beds with a quality planting mix composed mostly of topsoil and compost. Or create your own planting mix with lasagna and Hugelkultur techniques. These methods allow you to convert plant trimmings, compost, and a minimal amount of soil into a quality planting mix.
Elevated gardens are basically containers on legs and usually filled with a quality, soilless planting mix. The lighter weight makes it much more suitable for this type of gardening. Look for a product that provides drainage yet retains moisture. Both features are important when gardening in smaller volumes of soil.
Make sure you have easy access to water and your gardens have means for excess water to drain. The limited soil mass and increased exposure to wind, heat and sunlight make planting mixes dry out more quickly than in-ground beds. Always water thoroughly to encourage deep, more drought tolerant roots.
Extend the time between watering by as much as 25% with the help of a sustainable, organic product like Wild Valley Farms’ wool pellets (wildvalleyfarms.com). Made from wool waste, these pellets absorb and retain moisture releasing it when needed by the plants.
Purchase an elevated garden with wheels or add casters to the legs if you need to move your garden out of the way for entertaining. Take advantage of the added mobility to move your planter into the sun or shade as needed throughout the season.
Employ space saving techniques to maximize your gardens productivity. Space plants just far enough apart to reach their mature size. Plant quick-maturing vegetables like radishes, lettuce and beets between tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables that take longer to reach full size and start producing. You will be harvesting the short season vegetables just as the bigger plants need the space.
Look for compact flower and vegetable varieties that allow you to make the most of every square inch of these gardens. All-America Selections winner Patio Choice Yellow Cherry tomato produces up to 100 tomatoes on an eighteen-inch plant. Mascotte compact bush bean and Patio Pride peas are big producers suited to these and small space gardens.
Extend your enjoyment and harvest with succession plantings. Fill vacant spaces left once a row or block of vegetables are harvested. Freshen up ornamental plantings by replacing weather worn flowers with healthy new selections. Add more planting mix along with wool pellets if needed.
Train vining plants onto trellises or other supports to save space and reduce the risk of disease. Dress them up by allowing trailing herbs and flowers to cascade over the edge of these planting beds.
Increasing growing success and reducing maintenance will make raised beds and elevated gardens a practical and productive addition to your gardening endeavors.
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Medal of Honor: Army Pfc. Sadao Munemori
BY KATIE LANGE
Department of Defense News
During World War II, everyone who identified as American wanted to fight for the U.S. — including Japanese-Americans, who were initially denied entry into the military due to wartime prejudice. Eventually, they were allowed to enlist, and many fought in a unit that became one of the most decorated in history. Army Pfc. Sadao Munemori was one of them.
Munemori's parents emigrated from Hiroshima, Japan, in the early 1900s. Born Aug. 17, 1922, Munemori was the fourth of five children who grew up in the Glendale area of Los Angeles county; his family called him "Spud" because he preferred potatoes to rice.
Munemori faced some tough realities early in life. As a teen, he tried to go to a public swimming pool with a friend, but he was turned away because he was Japanese. Then, his father died when he was 16.
After graduating from high school in 1940, Munemori worked as a mechanic until enlisting in the Army in November 1941 — one month before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After the attack, the anti-Asian sentiment that had been brewing finally erupted. Three months after Munemori enlisted, his family was relocated to an inland internment camp — along with about 120,000 other West Coast Japanese-Americans.
When the U.S. joined the war, Japanese-Americans — called Nisei — were barred from military service due to fears about their allegiance. Since 19-year-old Munemori had already been accepted, he was chosen for the Military Intelligence Service Language School in Minnesota.
In 1942, the Army created the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which were segregated units for Nisei who wanted to prove their allegiance to America. Meanwhile, Munemori's oldest sister, who lived in Japan, had a husband who was drafted into the Japanese Army. For that reason, Munemori chose to transfer into the 100th to avoid fighting in the Pacific. It was a move that required him to revert in rank from technical sergeant to private, but he accepted it.
Before leaving for boot camp in May 1943, Munemori visited his family at the internment camp. It was the last time they would see him.
About a year later, the young soldier joined the 100th on the beachheads of Anzio, Italy. The battalion had been fighting in the country for about nine months already. In August 1944, as the Allies took Rome, the battalion was absorbed into the larger 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
According to the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Munemori spent the next several months fighting in the Rome-Arno Campaign and helping rescue about 200 men who were part of the "lost battalion" in France's Vosges Mountains. Other soldiers in the 100th regarded Munemori as friendly, outgoing and accepting. They said he still wanted them to call him by his childhood nickname, Spud.
A Heroic Choice
In April 1945, the 100th had a new mission — to penetrate the Gothic Line along the sheer cliffs of the Apennine Mountains. The natural barrier was the final German defensive line in northern Italy that had kept Allied forces at bay for months.
Munemori's unit, Company A, decided to move at night to surprise the enemy on April 5 near Seravezza, Italy. By dawn, they'd made it to the top of the mountain undetected.
Shortly after they attacked, the unit was pinned down by the enemy's strong defenses. When their squad leader was wounded, Munemori took over. He attacked the men firing on them and single-handedly knocked out two machine guns with grenades.
The enemy fire was intense, though, so the unit began to withdraw. Munemori had almost made it to a shell crater where two of his men were hiding when a live grenade bounced off his helmet and into the ditch toward his comrades. Without hesitation, Munemori dove onto the explosive to protect the other two soldiers. It went off, killing Munemori, who was two weeks shy of his 23rd birthday.
Aside from saving lives, Munemori's actions were vital to clearing the path for his company to liberate the Italian town of Pietrasanta. He was initially awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery, but that was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. On March 13, 1946, the medal was presented to his mother at Fort MacArthur, California, where he had begun his service. He became the first Japanese-American to earn the nation’s highest award for valor.
Sadly, Munemori's family had to hold an initial memorial service for him at their internment camp. However, on Dec. 15, 1948, burial rights were held at the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles. The ceremony doubled as a tribute to the sacrifices of all Nisei soldiers who fought with the 442nd.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team became one of the most decorated units in U.S. military history, but Munemori was the first Japanese-American to earn the Medal of Honor. An investigation later revealed there was prejudice in the selection process, so 20 Nisei soldiers received upgrades to the Medal of Honor in 2000 to rectify the injustice. For those who were no longer living, their families received it in their honor.
Munemori and three other Japanese-Americans who later received Medals of Honor were buried at LA's Evergreen Cemetery, where a monument stands in Munemori's honor. Years later, the people of Pietrasanta erected another statue of Munemori as a symbol of gratitude to the 100th Infantry Battalion, which liberated their town.
Many of Munemori's Nisei battle buddies grew up in Hawaii. As his family aged, they chose to entrust his medal to the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii at Fort Derussy on Oahu. They thought it was a fitting choice since Munemori's surviving friends were there, and it was a place he had always wanted to visit.
In his memory, the troop ship Wilson Victory, which brought the 100th/422nd back from the war, was renamed USNS Private Sadao S. Munemori in 1947.
According to Munemori's older sister, Yaeko Yokoyama, her brother had a premonition about the honor when he was 8. Yokoyama said as she and her brother were arguing, he said, "Just you wait. When I grow up, they're going to name a ship after me."
Yokoyama was invited to be the first to board the USNS Munemori when it sailed into Honolulu.
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How public-private partnerships can lift disenfranchised communities
President Joe Biden has made improving the nation’s infrastructure a chief goal of his administration. But beyond Congress someday debating Biden’s proposed $2 trillion plan, public-private partnerships have provided ways for many communities around the country to upgrade their infrastructure and facilities.
Large urban communities have received most of the attention in recent years for the benefits brought when businesses and local governments work together, but many smaller communities also have pressing infrastructure needs, and private involvement can make the difference, says Dee Brown, President and CEO of the P3 Group, Inc., a minority-owned public-private partnership developer (www.the p3 group inc.com).
“Public-private partnerships offer a unique opportunity to redevelop and revitalize smaller and disenfranchised communities around the country,” Brown says. “When structured properly, they can provide an opportunity for those communities to develop new facilities and infrastructure, which can be a catalyst for community development.”
A public-private partnership is an agreement between a private company and public body that allows for the public sector to transfer certain risks and responsibilities to the private sector. Brown says that among many communities’ infrastructure needs are public safety facilities, healthcare facilities, courthouses, and parks, and the image and business potential of those communities are undermined when those places aren’t upgraded.
“The ability to make needed improvements to infrastructure results in a better quality of life and increased revenues for the public agency,” Brown says.
Brown points out how public-private partnerships can impact three important areas of communities:
Mobility. Transportation is one sector where the public-private approach is often used as a way to design, build and finance infrastructure such as roads, bridges, transit systems and toll facilities. “Some states’ budgetary shortfalls have made aging transportation infrastructure a lingering problem,” Brown says. “States that are making headway have turned to innovative approaches such as public-private partnerships. It allows for private sector participation, which is welcome given the rising costs of materials and services.”
Facilities. Smaller or disenfranchised communities typically do not have the technical resources and expertise to deliver capital projects efficiently, Brown says, and that’s a reason many of those areas have not constructed new facilities in decades. ”A well-structured partnership shifts risk from the public sector to the private sector,” he says, “while allowing the construction activity to be executed by local contractors, subcontractors and vendors. When the construction dollars stay within a local community, those dollars can turn over six to seven times, creating a significant impact on the bottom line for the community.”
Communication technology. Improved access to broadband has a major impact on the lives of those it reaches, Brown says, increasing business opportunities, job growth, and inclusion of people once cut off from economic growth. “New mobile technology has filled gaps in communities,” he says, “and as broadband requires large capital investments, public-private partnerships are well-positioned to manage complex interfaces while also balancing the financial commitment.”
“Combining the resources and know-how of government and business can profoundly enhance previously underserved communities,” Brown says. “It’s a powerful partnership producing benefits for all.”
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Pretty pricey sneakers
Would you buy someone else’s used sneakers? Well, someone did just that recently and paid $1.8 million for the privilege. But these were not some run-of-the-mill “kicks,” as your kids might call them; they once belonged to Kanye West. Who is Kanye West? He’s a rapper -- a performer who kind of chants rather than sings. Sotheby’s, the auction house, says the buyer was an outfit called RARES, an investment company that invests in sneakers. West’s Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes broke the record for the most valuable sneakers on record and the first pair of sneakers to fetch more than a million dollars.
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House for sale gives new meaning to the word, space
Star Trek and Star Wars fans who may be in the market for a new abode may want to consider “the spaceship home” in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that’s up for sale. Marten Griego has lived in the home for more than two decades and over the years he has transformed it into what a local TV station calls “a real life spaceship.” The two-bedroom, two-bath abode is priced at $265,000. If you are interested, you’d better hurry. The realtors at Southwest Elite Realty say they already have a potential buyer.
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Close encounters of the scary kind
Five-year-old Rian Woodard had been riding her big wheel outside of her Castle Rock, CO home and when she came back inside she told her parents that she had been playing with a “giant cat.” Rian’s mom, Nicole, thought her daughter was being dramatic, but she decided to check their security camera footage, just in case. And, there was little Rian having a staring contest with a rather large bobcat. Says mom: "She thinks she's the bobcat whisperer now." By the way, bobcats are “fast and have sharp claws” and can grow to be almost two and a half feet and weigh 19 pounds, according to the experts. Pretty scary.
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House Calls
By Dr. Bala Simon
Associate professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Q. What is the difference between the three COVID-19 vaccines given emergency-use authorization in the U.S.?
A. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are two-dose vaccines while Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (recently placed on pause) is a single-dose one.
Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, produced by different manufacturers, work using the same principle. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is given over approximately three weeks while the Moderna vaccine is given four weeks apart.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise that when taking a two-dose vaccine, both doses should come from the same manufacturer because it is unknown whether mixing two would be effective.
All three vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, according to the CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has granted emergency-use authorization to all three vaccines.
The Pfizer vaccine is for anyone 16 years and older while the Moderna and the Janssen vaccines are for those 18 years and older.
Everyone is advised to get the vaccine when it becomes available to them. For those who have contracted COVID-19, it is advised to wait to complete their 14-day quarantine period or 90 days if you were treated with monocolonal antibodies.
Q. How does a COVID vaccine work?
A. While COVID vaccines are given to prevent an infection, they are unlike many other vaccines in that they do not contain any form — not even a weakened strain — of the virus they protect against.
The two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use messenger RNA, a genetic material that stimulates your body to make a small protein, similar to the one the novel coronavirus uses to attack your cells. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was recently placed on pause in the United States, uses DNA and a modified adenovirus (a common virus-type that typically causes colds) to make that small protein. The vaccines then trigger your body to react with an immune response. This response trains your body’s immune system to recognize the virus if it enters your body and be ready and prepared to combat it. The vaccine converts the virus’s own weapon into an alarm that sets your body’s defenses against it into action.
In trials, some people reported having fatigue, headaches, fever, a sore arm or nausea following a vaccination. These symptoms are not signs of a COVID-19 infection; instead, they are a result of the activation of the immune system.
Q. Why were children not among those to receive COVID-19 vaccines earlier?
A. Ideally, both adults and children need to receive a vaccine to combat COVID-19. However, adults, especially older ones, were the priority because they were the ones who became the sickest. While children can become sick with COVID-19, they are less likely to become severely ill with the virus.
Another reason children weren’t initially eligible for the vaccine is because there are more stringent safety precautions when children are involved in clinical trials. A child’s immune system varies from an adult’s, so children may require vaccines with different dosage levels or formulations. The initial safety trials for the COVID-19 vaccines didn’t include children for these reasons.
Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson have all begun testing the same vaccines they created for adults but with the doses adjusted in children ages 12 to 17 years old. There are additional clinical trials for children as young as six months old to 11 years old.
In late March, Pfizer-BioNTech announced their vaccine was safe and 100 percent effective in children ages 12 to 15 years old, and they would seek emergency use authorization from the FDA for this age group.
Q. What does the term COVID-19 long-hauler mean?
A. National studies estimate that at least 30% of COVID-19 survivors have symptoms and other health issues that last long after their initial infection has cleared.
These survivors, described as long-haulers, include both the young and old and those who had mild symptoms as well as those who required hospitalization for severe illness. In fact, the person’s age and the severity of infection does not appear to be a factor in who becomes a long-hauler.
The most common lingering symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, joint pain and trouble with concentration, memory and thinking. Some of the most serious lingering issues are inflammation of the heart muscle, blood clots, problems with lung function and acute damage to the kidneys.
Right now, the medical community does not know why some people fully recover from COVID and why others see their symptoms linger. We also do not know how long these symptoms can last. It could be weeks, months or even years.
What we do know is that prevention is the best course of action. So continue to wear a mask, wash your hands often and physically distance from others. Avoid large gatherings, and when you’re eligible, get the vaccine.
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History Matters
A feature courtesy of
The Grateful American Book Prize
Showing our children that their past is prelude to their future
By John Grimaldi and David Bruce Smith
On May 5, 1961, Navy Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. became the first American in space. It was just a 15-minute mission—memorable to the nation--but too late to outwit the competition. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin astounded the world when he orbited the earth—once—in the Vistok 1.
Shepard’s Freedom 7 capsule, however, foreshadowed America’s dominance; less than a decade later, the Apollo 11 mission “silenced” the Russians, and catapulted Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon.
Shepard was ranked fifth to walk the lunar surface after the Apollo 14 mission.
The Grateful American Book Prize recommends Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shepard by Neal Thompson.
...
The American Revolution was an unexpected victory for the colonists. They won an immense land with a myriad of perks and perils, but the only way to traverse its complex vastness was to join a wagon train. It was a complicated and difficult crossing that many did not survive.
Then, on May 10, 1869, everything changed; two railroads completed the task of laying the tracks from “sea to shining sea”. The presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met at Promontory, Utah to drive the last spike into the rails of the nation’s first transcontinental railway.
Seven years earlier, land grants and loans from Congress had equipped them with the fiscal flexibility to build, but according to History.com, “In their eagerness for land, the two lines built right past each other, and the final meeting place had to be renegotiated.”
To learn more about how the West was subdued, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Full Steam Ahead: The Race to Build a Transcontinental Railroad by Rhoda Blumberg.
...
In order to determine what it would require to mollify a newly acquired, undomesticated expanse of land, President Jefferson determined that a survey was imperative; he selected two explorers-- Meriwether Lewis and William Clark--to manage the mission.
America was just over 21 years old, but the Louisiana Purchase transaction suddenly added 828,000 acres, and the equivalent of approximately 15 states.
Lewis and Clark started their journey in St. Louis with 55 men on May 14, 1804.
According to History.com, “The expedition traveled up the Missouri River in a 55-foot- long keelboat and two smaller boats. In November, Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trader accompanied by his young Native American wife Sacagawea, joined the expedition as an interpreter. The group wintered in present-day North Dakota before crossing into present-day Montana, where they first saw the Rocky Mountains.”
They met up with the Shoshone Indians when they reached Colorado, crossed the Clearwater and Snake rivers in canoes, and followed the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean on November 8, 1805.
Two and a half years later, the expedition returned--in triumph-- to St. Louis with thirty-three men. They had mapped out new lands and brought back journals about the Indian tribes they encountered; scientific notes of the flora and fauna they encountered, and a claim to the Oregon Territory.
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Medal of Honor : Army Pfc. Milton A. Lee
BY KATIE LANGE
Department of Defense News
Army Private 1st Class Milton Arthur Lee joined the service during the height of the Vietnam conflict when he was only 18. He didn't make it home, but his bravery and dedication saved the lives of several men in his platoon. For that, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Lee was born Feb. 28, 1949, in Shreveport, Louisiana, where his parents lived. However, for reasons that are unclear, he and his brother, Ken, grew up with his grandparents in San Antonio. Lee was a member of the Youth for Christ, Harlandale Christian Church and the Young Republicans.
After graduating from Harlandale High School in 1967, Lee enlisted in the Army. He trained at Fort Campbell with the 101st Airborne Division and was eventually assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 1st Brigade.
Lee arrived in Vietnam in January 1968 as the Tet Offensive was beginning. His unit was one that saw extensive combat during the war.
Spotlight: Commemorating the Vietnam War
On April 26, 1968, Lee was with Company C near Phu Bai, an Army and Marine Corps base near the Central Vietnam coast. He was serving as the radio telephone operator with 3rd Platoon, the company's lead element, when they were fired on by North Vietnamese soldiers hidden in well-concealed bunkers.
The attack killed or wounded about 50% of the platoon, so the remaining men quickly moved to find cover to help the wounded and reorganize. Lee, however, pushed through the heavy gunfire to reach wounded soldiers who were trapped and needed first aid.
Once his unit reorganized, they pushed forward to assault the enemy bunkers. Lee stayed in close radio contact with the company commander to relay clear, precise orders to his platoon leader.
As Lee was moving forward toward the bunkers, he saw four enemy soldiers preparing to ambush his platoon's lead element, which hadn't noticed them. Without hesitating, Lee handed off his radio and charged toward the concealed enemy soldiers. Single-handedly, he overran their position, killing all of the enemy soldiers while capturing four automatic weapons and a rocket launcher.
Lee pushed on to attack another enemy position despite a heavy barrage of gunfire. The 18-year-old suffered serious injuries, but he continued his attack, crawling forward so he could provide accurate cover fire for his platoon, which was able to get into place and overrun that second position. It wasn't until they were in the clear that Lee stopped firing. Soon after, he died from his injuries.
Lee's actions saved the lives of the lead element of his platoon, which couldn't have taken out those key enemy defensive positions without him. For that, he was quickly nominated and approved for the Medal of Honor.
Lee's body was returned home and buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.
On April 7, 1970, less than a year after his death, Lee's grandmother accepted the nation's highest honor on his behalf. President Richard M. Nixon presented it to her during a White House ceremony.
Lee's name is well-known at Fort Campbell, the home of the 101st Airborne Division for which he fought. A post recreation center was dedicated to him in the early 1970s. More recently, in 2013, a center that helps soldiers transition back to civilian life was named in his honor.
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Are money issues ruining your relationship? 5 tips to resolve them
The COVID-19 pandemic has played havoc with families’ finances through lost jobs, squeezed budgets, increased debt, and missed payments.
Money and the decisions spouses make with it are one of the main sources of stress among couples, and sometimes money issues end relationships or cause divorce. But differences can be solved or managed if couples learn to listen to each other and work as a team to formulate a sensible plan, says financial planner Aaron Leak (www.eclpwm.com), the founder of ECL Private Wealth Management.
“No matter how long you have been together, financial issues can wreak havoc on a committed relationship,” Leak says. “When couples don’t agree about spending and saving habits, it causes arguments and resentment.
“But understanding what you’re fighting about and why helps you and your partner come up with solutions. By being transparent and honest with each other about your finances, you can not only prevent arguments that strain your relationship, but you will strengthen it.”
Leak offers these tips for couples to address and resolve financial issues:
Understand your money styles. Think of some extreme examples of money styles in your circle. Like your friend, the foodie, who won’t touch a bottle of wine that costs less than $75. Or your sister who constantly surfs Amazon. Or your mom who washes aluminum foil, then folds and reuses it. Everyone has a money style, and it’s helpful to talk about it without any name-calling or labeling involved. Understanding your partner’s spending habits often involves a deep-dive into money fears, scarcity memories and childhood traumas. Come up with a spending plan that works for both of you.
Decide how to divvy up the bills and save for future goals. You can both put all your earnings in a joint account and pay everything out of that. Or you can split bills down the middle and keep the rest of your own earnings for yourselves. Once you have decided how the bills get paid, you need to devise a plan for saving for your long-term goals. Remember that you need to work closely together as life changes arise – such as one of you losing a job or cutting back on hours to care for a parent. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that contingency plans are always advisable.
Create personal spending allowances that stay personal. Having some personal money that’s designated just for you each month can really help how you feel about your relationship. It can also help avoid relationship-ruining behavior like “financial infidelity,” when one spouse hides money or purchases from the other. The personal spending allowance gives each partner the chance to spend their money however they wish, no questions asked.
Face and eliminate undesirable debt. Couples should employ a strategy to pay off debt, such as paying off the higher-interest debt first or paying off the smallest loans first (the snowball method). Payments on credit cards, car loans, and student loans can devour monthly budgets, so the sooner they are paid off, the better.
Set a budget you can live with. One of the best ways to keep in sync with your partner financially is to have a budget as part of your overall plan. The budget includes your household bills, your personal spending allowance, your debt-paying strategy, and your monthly budget for long-term goals like retirement.
“Relationships take consistent work in order to be happy and successful, and money management is a big part of it,” Leak says. “The best way to be sure you and your spouse are staying on the same page financially is to talk honestly and without judgment.”
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9 steps for turning your idea into a business
By Kim Preston
Rural Enterprise Assistance Project director
Center for Rural Affairs
You have a great idea for a new small business. Congratulations! Now, what do you do to turn that idea into a legitimate business? To celebrate National Small Business Week, May 5 to 11, 2021, here is a checklist with step-by-step actions to get you started.
1. Choose and register your business name. Check with the Secretary of State's office where you plan to set up shop.
2. Decide on a legal structure: Sole Proprietorship, LLC, Partnership, S-Corporation, etc. You may want to consult with an attorney and accountant regarding the legal and taxation ramifications.
3. Visit irs.gov for important information for small business start ups. They have publications to assist you in starting and running your business, including understanding a Federal Tax ID number and filing procedures.
4. Obtain a Federal ID Number (EIN).
5. Determine if you need to register your business with your state's Department of Revenue.
6. Determine if you need a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) Number. Most potential and existing U.S. government contractors, grantees, and loan recipients are required to obtain a DUNS Number for U.S. government registration purposes. It verifies the legal name, physical address, and trade style of each location and is key to starting the Central Contractor Registration process.
7. Make sure you have all the licenses and permits you will need. Check with your local (city, county) authorities regarding zoning regulations.
8. Determine your insurance needs. Discuss all your insurance needs (liability, property, etc.) with an agent who is familiar with your business industry.
9. Secure funding and prepare your finances. Make sure you can maintain positive cash flow and obtain financing. Consult with a local accountant or bookkeeper to assist with setting up your books correctly.
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Social Security Matters
By National Social Security Advisor at the AMAC Foundation,
the non-profit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens
Ask Rusty – Will Taking 401K Distributions Affect My Social Security Benefit?
Dear Rusty: I’m 63 and retired from work, but not drawing Social Security. I have accumulated just over $300,000 in my rollover 401K IRA. My wife is still working full time, so we have medical, dental and vision coverage. I have a few questions:
1) When I take IRA distributions throughout the year, do those dollar amounts get reported to Social Security as income?
2) If not, will my SS benefit change (will I be penalized?) for not working and having zero income as I continue to withdraw investments and show no income?
3) If my benefit will drop because of the last few years of no income, would it be advisable to start drawing Social Security now? Signed: Planning Ahead
Dear Planning Ahead: Whenever you decide to claim Social Security, they will compute your benefit amount from your lifetime earnings history. They will adjust your earnings for inflation in all years prior to the year you turned 60, find the 35 years in which you had the highest (inflation-adjusted) earnings, and use that “average indexed monthly earnings” (AIME) amount to determine your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is your benefit entitlement at your full retirement age (FRA). From there, your age when you claim determines your final Social Security payment amount. Born in 1958 your FRA is 66 plus 8 months, and that is the age at which you will get 100% of your PIA. If you claim benefits before your FRA, your payment will be reduced; and if you wait until after your FRA to claim your benefit will be increased. If you wait until you are 70 to claim, your SS payment will reach maximum (about 27% more than your FRA benefit amount). Now, to your specific questions:
1) Distributions taken from your 401k or IRA are not reported to Social Security as “earnings” and do not count toward your Social Security benefit entitlement.
2) If you have already retired from working, having zero earnings now won’t further affect your final SS payment amount because your benefit will be based upon your 35 highest-earning years. However, if you have a recent benefit estimate from Social Security, that estimate assumed that you would continue to earn at the same level you most recently reported to the IRS until you reached your FRA. So, if you got the estimate while you were still working (or shortly thereafter), the estimate is higher than your actual benefit will be. If you received the estimate a year or more after you stopped working, the estimate is more accurate. In any case, your 401K withdrawals will not count as SS earnings.
3) Claiming now would result in a permanently reduced SS benefit amount because you haven’t yet reached your full retirement age. But claiming now wouldn’t be a hedge against your current lack of earnings, because your benefit will be based upon the highest earning 35 years over your lifetime.
If you don’t already have a full 35 years of SS-covered earnings they will still use 35 years in the benefit calculation, adding $0 earnings for enough years to make it 35. If that is the case, you could offset some of those zero years in your lifetime history by returning to work now, thus increasing your benefit when you claim. If you already have at least 35 years of earnings, enjoy your retirement!
One last thing to consider: if you predecease your wife, at her FRA she will be entitled to 100% of the benefit you were receiving at your death (if that is more than her own). In other words, when you claim your benefit will affect the amount your wife can get as your widow. The longer you wait to claim, the higher your wife’s survivor benefit from you will be.
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Key factors in your budget that will affect your retirement
COVID-19 prompted many people to restructure their monthly budget just to make ends meet. And for some who are planning for retirement in the next 10, 20, or 30 years, the pandemic was a wakeup call to review how their spending, expenses, and savings could impact their lifestyle when they’re no longer working.
Taking such a long view is important, but unfortunately many don’t, and that lack of analysis and planning can cost them lots of money that they could use in retirement, says John Smallwood (www.johnlsmallwood.com), president of Smallwood Wealth Management and author of It’s Your Wealth - Keep It: The Definitive Guide to Growing, Protecting, Enjoying, and Passing On Your Wealth.
“When it comes to wealth and retirement planning, everybody’s got an opinion,” Smallwood says. “Accountants say one thing, mutual fund advisors say another, stockbrokers and life insurance agents say something else.
“But most people don’t think big-picture. Wealth planning requires having a sound strategy, and a budget is integral to it. Without a budget and an overall plan, you’re flying blind toward retirement.”
Smallwood explains some key dynamics of wealth and retirement planning to take into account when budgeting:
Lifestyle. “Income minus savings minus debt equals lifestyle, or how much you have left to enjoy a certain lifestyle,” Smallwood says. “But if part of that debt is a credit card, then you’re probably spending more than you’re earning. You have to get your lifestyle aligned with long-term financial realities and goals. The mindset that we need less income in retirement than during our working years is wrong, and it creates an excuse for people. It keeps people from thinking about saving enough money.”
Savings rate. Smallwood says it’s wise to think of yourself as a business, with savings being a way to invest in yourself. The more saved, the more wealth grows over time,” he says. “If you’re not putting away a certain amount
of money every single year as a percentage of your salary, then financial pressures are actually going to push you backward before and during retirement.” He recommends that those making under $100,000 annually should save at least 10%.
Wasteful expenses. Expenses you can modify or eliminate today can make for a better retirement tomorrow. Smallwood recommends looking at margin of utility – a method to determine how much enjoyment one is getting from the things on which they spend money. “What expenses do you have that are not adding value?” he says. “I’ve seen clients’ budgets with hundreds of dollars a month in items that they had no idea they were spending money on, such as subscription-based services or products that are automatically charged to the credit card.”
Financial leaks. “People often don’t realize how much leakage they have on an annual basis and how it adds up,” Smallwood says. “Convenience fees on insurance for your car, house, or life; fees to banking institutions; late fees on credit cards. Let’s say you have $1,800 in excess charges in a year. Investing that in a way that it earns 5% interest over 25 years could return $85,000.”
“Building a long-term strategy takes time,” Smallwood says. “The only way to make improvements is to understand where you are to start with and then create good habits, as in a budget, that you can stick to for long-term success.”
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Spring has sprung
Spring in Great Britain is a special time of the year for avid English gardeners but this year the COVID crisis and the cargo ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal have combined to put a damper on the season. It seems that the pandemic lockdown triggered an early and larger than expected demand for garden supplies and the ship that blocked the Suez Canal cut off the supply of the stuff garden gnomes are made of. Garden store manager Ian Byrne told the newspaper, The Guardian: “Raw materials are becoming a bit of an issue and unfortunately gnomes are a victim of that shortage … Gnomes of any type – plastic, stone or concrete – are in short supply. They’ve been very popular over the last couple of seasons, we’ve seen a massive upswing in the sales of gnomes and definitely a different clientele wanting gnomes too.”
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Bear with me
A 33-year-old teddy bear, by the name of Bearsun, got stopped by the cops recently while out for a walk in sunny California. The police only wanted to make sure that Jesse Lasios, the man in the bear suit, was okay. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office put out this explanation via social media: "This was a bear-y unique situation. You may have seen a large teddy bear walking through town. One of our deputies got to meet the individual inside the bear & learned his goal is to complete a walk from Los Angeles to San Francisco. We wish him the best of luck on his adventure."
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Profanity, thy name is…
It’s common knowledge that social media Websites are quick to censor users when they see fit. For example, an historic French village recently received a notification that its official Facebook page was being shut down because of a violation of its rules. It took the mayor of Ville de Bitche, Benoit Kieffer, by surprise. The odds are that Facebook misinterpreted the name of the village, confusing it with a bit of English-language profanity. Mayor Kieffer told reporters: “The name of our town seems to suffer from a bad interpretation … the most astonishing thing is that Facebook took so long to correct this.”
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Medal of Honor: Navy Cmdr. Ernest E. Evans
By KATIE LANGE
Department of Defense News
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, which helped the Allies recapture the Philippines during World War II, is one of America's greatest naval triumphs, thanks in large part to Navy Cmdr. Ernest Evans. Evans, who led the battle's biggest engagement, went down with the USS Johnston; the ship's wreckage was recently found more than four miles below sea level.
Based on that discovery, we thought it appropriate to highlight Evans, a Medal of Honor recipient who gave it all for the greater good.
Evans was born on Aug. 13, 1908, and lived with his sister and parents in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was three-quarters Native American and grew up where tribes had been massacred by the Army just a generation before, so life wasn't easy. He experienced prejudices common to that era, which made his desire to serve his country after high school all the more impressive.
Evans initially wanted to be a Marine Corps officer, but he was denied entry to the Naval Academy due to a knee injury. Instead, he enlisted in the Navy. A year later, after winning a fleet competition, he earned the entrance he so desired into the U.S. Naval Academy. Nicknamed "Chief" due to his Native American heritage, Evans graduated in 1931.
Evans spent his first decade of service in San Diego, Pensacola and aboard seven ships. He was serving on his eighth in the East Indies when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, thrusting the U.S. into World War II.
Taking Command
Nearly two years later, he assumed command of the new destroyer USS Johnston. At the ship's commissioning in October 1943, Evans reportedly said to his crew, "This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm's way, and anyone who doesn't want to go along had better get off right now."
No one did, and Evans meant what he said. He was known by his crew to be a role model and a rare leader who was calm, fair and gave his men the opportunity to fail so they could learn from it.
All of those lessons were needed on Oct. 25, 1944, during the Battle off Samar, the pivotal fight of the Battle of
