The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Baby boomers offer practical tips and talk friendship and politics

It’s so cold here in the Seattle area that I’m wearing my winter coat again. And, it’s Election Day Tuesday, another indication that November is here.

As we move toward Thanksgiving, baby boomers are writing about:

• How to reignite your passion for things that you love doing.
• What people can do when they feel overwhelmed.
• The benefits of organic food.
• How to create a blog for business purposes.
• A discussion of politics in a New Jersey.
• A visit from a friend in a dream.

Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles describes these articles on the Best of Boomer Blogs #621. Click here to get the links to the articles. In addition, please join the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Coastline ceramic mugs are being recalled by Hit Promotional Products due to burn and laceration hazards

Hit Promotional Products is recalling about 34,000 coastline ceramic mugs.

The mugs can crack or break when used with or exposed to hot liquids, posing burn and laceration hazards.

Hit Promotional Products has received 10 reports of the mugs cracking or breaking when hot liquids were poured into them. No injuries have been reported.

Happy Halloween

Just a few hours now until ghosts, goblins, and witches come knocking on your door.

Will you be one of 76 percent or less of Americans spending $50 or less on Halloween this year? One of 32 percent throwing or attending a party? One of 44 percent carving a pumpkin? One of 49 percent decorating their home? One of 47 percent dressing in a costume?

Americans will spent $3.2 billion on costumes this Halloween. Princess, superhero, and witch are the most popular costumes for children, while its witch and vampire for adults. For pets, its pumpkin, hot dog, superhero, and bumble bee.

For more details on today’s fun day, see “Facts and Figures for Halloween 2019.”

Whatever your plans, I hope you have good time. And, make sure those little ones are safe as they make their rounds. Happy Halloween.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Facts and figures for Halloween 2019

Source: WalletHub

 

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Eating organic food for a week can reduce pesticide levels in the body, study shows

I’m a big proponent of organic foods. My dad, Minor H. Slingsby, died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was a farmer. I didn’t know non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was linked to pesticide exposure when my dad was diagnosed with the disease. None of his doctors in Central Washington state said anything about it. I learned about the connection when listening to a National Public Radio story. It said the children of farmworkers were being diagnosed with high levels of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma because they were in fields sprayed with pesticides with their parents.

I buy most of my food at my local food co-op, with as much as possible of it being organic. I have immune system problems, so organic food is helpful to me.

This recent study adds to the evidence of how organic food benefits people.

A study done at the University of California found that eating organically-grown food for one week can significantly reduce the levels of pesticide in the body. Researchers found the levels of toxins decreased by an average of 60.5 percent after six days of eating organic food.

Baby boomers getting chilly as October unfolds

It’s that time of year. The weather’s getting cold and the “chills” of Halloween are looming on the horizon.

As we launch into October, baby boomer bloggers are writing about:

• Dealing with a puzzling rash.
• Finding interesting but completely useless information on the internet.
• Seeing failure as a great learning tool and a necessary step in learning new things.
• Examining the flaws of the new study that said eating red meat isn’t harmful to help consumers make the "red meat" decision.
• Looking at how we became a “Lord of the Flies” society.

Tom Sightings of  Sightings Over Sixty writes about these articles in the Best of Boomer Blogs #618. Click here to get the links to the articles. And, be sure to leave a comment. Baby boomer bloggers love readers joining in the conversations.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

USDA rule speeding up pork lines and reducing inspectors should be set aside, consumer group and union argue

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rule lifting the lid on line speeds and reducing the number of government safety inspectors by 40 percent at pork slaughter and processing plants should be set aside, lawyers from Public Citizen and United Food and Commercial Workers said in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court.

Thousands of commenters told the USDA during the rulemaking process that the rule would endanger the lives and safety of consumers and workers. Comments also offered dozens of peer-reviewed studies and expert analyses showing that the USDA’s changes would put plant workers, who already are in one of the most dangerous jobs in America, at increased risk of injuries.

In its final rule, the USDA didn’t dispute this evidence. Instead, the agency refused to consider the impact of its actions on worker safety, despite having considered it in the past, and said that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration should consider worker injuries instead.

Researchers who say red meat isn’t that harmful after all are wrong

Public health officials for years have urged Americans to limit consumption of red and processed meats because of concerns that these foods are linked to heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

However, recently, an international group of researchers conducted an analysis and concluded that the advice, widely given by health officials and advisors, isn't backed by reliable scientific evidence.

If there are health benefits from eating less red meat, they're small, the researchers said. They contend the advantages are so small that they can be seen only when looking at large populations, and aren't sufficient to tell consumers to change their meat-eating habits.

New information for those selecting a nursing home

By Brian O’Connell, Analyst, insuranceQuotes.com

Guest blogger

Finding the right nursing home for an elderly family member is a serious responsibility, and often a daunting task. But many Americans aren’t aware of the tools that the federal government provides to make the search smoother and more trustworthy.

The U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services rolled out its new Five-Star Quality Rating System in April, with the goal to help families compare local nursing homes and get key questions answered.

The CMS’s website rates nursing homes on a scale of one to five stars, taking into consideration three key areas: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures.

Corporations keep breaking the law due to declining federal prosecutions

Corporations keep breaking the law, and the U.S. Department of Justice keeps refusing to prosecute them, a Public Citizen report finds. The DOJ’s continued refusal to bring criminal prosecutions against big banks, big pharma, and other big businesses that violate the law has led to a failure to deter repeat offenders, according to the report.

Instead of prosecuting corporations, the DOJ, starting in the early 2000s, has increasingly relied on agreements that prosecutors and corporate defense attorneys negotiate behind closed doors to keep corporations – usually the largest – out of the criminal justice system.

“If the Justice Department wants to deter corporate crime, it must stop bending over backward to protect corporations and start enforcing the law,” said Rick Claypool, a Public Citizen research director and author of the report. “Our country is facing an unprecedented corporate crime wave. To stop it, we must prosecute corporate criminals.”