The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

USDA, meatpacking industry downplay covid-19 risks resulting in worker illnesses and deaths

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the meatpacking industry worked together to downplay and disregard risks to worker health during the pandemic, as shown in documents obtained by Public Citizen and American Oversight.

“While we knew that the meatpacking industry was lobbying the Trump administration to take steps to protect its profits regardless of the cost to workers’ lives, the degree of collaboration these documents show is astounding,” said Adam Pulver, attorney for Public Citizen.

Pulver said as outbreaks continue to emerge in meatpacking plants, it’s stunning to see the cavalier attitude officials took to the health and safety of workers in the early part of the pandemic.

Many Americans think the threat of covid-19 will continue for months, survey shows

Most Americans are still concerned about the spread of covid-19 in their communities – and they expect the pandemic to continue to be a concern into 2021, according to a survey from Consumer Reports, a consumer research, testing, and advocacy organization.

A majority of Americans – 78 percent – remain concerned about the continued spread of covid in their area over the next month, including 44 percent who are “very concerned.”

The number of people who have been “very concerned” about covid rose mid-summer as the number of covid cases across the United States spiked. Forty-one percent of adults were “very concerned” about the pandemic in May and June. The figure rose to 53 percent who were “very concerned” in July, and then dropped to 44 percent in August.

Online Training Academy agrees to forgive student debt and pay more than $10 million

Online Training Academy hyped a “patented” training program that promised to help people earn “big money” by paying big money to OTA for trainings costing as much as $50,000.

OTA’s lavish earnings claims often came with encouragement for people to go into debt to pay for OTA’s trainings.

A settlement announced Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission means debt forgiveness for some people who owe money to OTA.

Price gouging persists on Amazon, consumer group reports

Despite U.S. PIRG Education Fund calling out Amazon and other online retailers for allowing price gouging in their online websites at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a new analysis shows that the problem is still serious.

Six months later, U.S. PIRG Education Fund revisited whether Amazon had lived up to its promise of tackling price gouging. Its new analysis looked at 10 products found on many shopping lists during the covid-19 pandemic, including hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, and digital thermometers.

Of these items, options from Amazon were two to 14 times more expensive than the identical products sold at other retailers. Some examples include:

In this year of change, the changes keep coming

I should have been more prepared. The Australians warned us. The wildfires they experienced during their summer fire season were the worst in history.

But here I am. Not only staying home due to covid-19, but now, I have to stay inside due to smoky air from wildfires throughout the West Coast.

Maybe the air will clear this week. Maybe not. My daughter in California has been dealing with heavy smoke in the air since Aug. 20. The fires there won’t be out until it rains, probably in October.

See my article for tips on how to deal with smoky air.

Others are dealing with change, too:

Experiencing a funeral in the era of the coronavirus

This week Meryl Baer of Beach Boomer Bulletin returned to her hometown of more than 30 years for the funeral of a good friend. Funerals are different in a pandemic, but mourning doesn’t change. Baer reminisces about her friend and her hometown family.

Learning something new due to covid-19

Tom Sightings at Sightings Over Sixty asks: “Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?” He and his wife have learned something new and different this summer, or as Sightings claims, they've even become experts on the topic. So zoom over to “Old Dog, New Trick” to find out what all the excitement is about. 

Manifesting big changes

Is manifestation real or just the result of an overactive imagination creating connections that don't really exist? Over at A Healing Spirit, Carol Cassara muses about an unexplained coincidence that led to a big life change.

Changing with aging

“When I'm 64?” You can’t imagine how old and wretched Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles pictured this age when she first heard this McCartney song in 1967. She still has about a week to go, but can’t help comparing the lyrics then to the reality today.

Listening to audio books

Have you been getting any reading done while we’ve been stuck at home? Rebecca Olkowski with BabyBoomster.com has been listening to audiobooks. It’s easier for her because of her contacts and aging eyes. She discusses the advantages of audiobooks in her latest post “Have You Been Listening to Audiobooks?” 

Figuring out your wardrobe when you move to Florida

September usually makes Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin start to think about fall cleaning and changing out summer clothes but since she's moved to Florida things are different. Find out more in “The Blush of September.”

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #667. Click on the links to read the articles. And be sure to leave a comment. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist