America’s changing perception towards people with intellectual disabilites

The release of the Shriver Report Snapshot: Insight into Intellectual Disabilities coincides with the start of the World Games and the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The report reveals the nation’s changing perception of many of the issues associated with intellectual disabilities, and some of the results are surprising.

The poll from Shriver Media and Special Olympics International, with the support of the Richard and Cecilia Attias Foundation, surveyed 2,021 adults over the course of three days. Participants were asked about whether they knew someone, would hire someone, or marry someone with intellectual disabilities, as well as their thoughts on when using the “R-word” (retard) was appropriate.

“[The poll] does tell us who we are as a nation, what we think, feel, and believe about people with intellectual disabilities, and that directly, I think, affects the health -mental, emotional, physical health- of people with intellectual disabilities and their families,” Maria Shriver said.

More from the Los Angeles Times

Social Security Act Amendments of 1965

July 30 marks the 50th anniversary of the Social Security Act Amendments of 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill into law during a ceremony held at the Truman Presidential Library with Harry S. Truman at his side. Johnson requested Truman to accompany him at the ceremony in recognition of the former president's earlier, but failed attempts to pass similar legislation in the 1950s.

The amendments, Public Law 89-87, established government health insurance programs for people 65 and older (Medicare) and the poor (Medicaid). Funded by a tax on employee earnings with matching employer contributions, the new programs proved so popular that within a year, 20 million Americans were receiving Medicare- or Medicaid-funded health care. Today, the programs assist more than 130 million poor, disabled, and senior Americans meet their health care needs.

• When President Harry S. Truman proposed adding health insurance for the elderly and poor to Social Security in the 1950s, the U.S. population was 151,325,798 and the population 65 and older was 12,239,537. When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Amendments Act of 1965 into law, the U.S. population was estimated to have been 193,818,000 and the population 65 and older had grown to 18,156,000. In 2013, 14.1 percent of the nation's population (approximately 44.6 million) was 65 or older.
• One year after President Johnson signed the Social Security Act Amendments of 1965, 19,082,454 people, 65 or older, had enrolled in Medicare. In 1973, the program expanded to include disabled beneficiaries. By 2013, 42,471,527 people, 65 and older, and 9,783,635 people with disabilities were enrolled in Medicare.
• In 1966, approximately 4 million people were enrolled in Medicaid. In May 2015, the Department for Health and Human Services reported that as of February, 70,515,716 individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
• In 1965, there were 7,123 hospitals, 305,115 physicians, 1,200,000 nurses, and 109,301 dentists in the United States. Although the number of hospitals decreased to 5,795 by 2009, the number of medical professionals had grown to included 838,453 physicians, 2,583,770 nurses, and 164,000 dentists.
• In 2009, 15.6 percent of the U.S. population (approximately 47,469,000 people) received Medicaid benefits. Of these, 45.7 percent had household incomes below the poverty level. Nearly 73 percent of Medicaid recipients living below the poverty level were children younger than 18 years of age.
• In 1940, health-related federal spending totaled $48 million. One year after the passage of the Social Security Act Amendments of 1965, health spending grew to $2.5 billion. As of March 2015, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government will spend approximately $870 billion on Medicare and Medicaid.

Access to retirement and medical benefits by occupation, March 2015

Retirement benefits were available to 66 percent of private industry workers in the United States in March 2015. Access to benefits differed among some occupational groups. Among workers in management, professional, and related occupations in private industry, 80 percent had access to retirement benefits—compared with 39 percent in service occupations.

Medical care benefits were available to 69 percent of private industry workers in March 2015. Within private industry, 87 percent of workers in management, professional, and related occupations had access to medical care, compared with 41 percent in service occupations.

More, including charts, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

They blinded me with SCIENCE

Nanotechnology. Physics. Earth. Astronomy & Space. Technology. Chemistry. Biology. These are just some of the subjects covered in website phys.org, fun and useful science.

"Phys.org™ is a leading web-based science, research and technology news service which covers a full range of topics... Launched in 2004, Phys.org’s readership has grown steadily to include 1.75 million scientists, researchers, and engineers every month. Phys.org publishes approximately 100 quality articles every day, offering some of the most comprehensive coverage of sci-tech developments world-wide. Quancast 2009 includes Phys.org in its list of the Global Top 2,000 Websites.

"Publishing around 100 articles every business day, Phys.org offers the most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web."

Use These Tools to Track or Reach Your Weight Goals

Create personalized meal plans and track your progress

Do you have healthy eating or weight-loss goals? The USDA SuperTracker and NIH’s Body Weight Tracker(BWT) can help you set, reach, and maintain them.

Use the BWT to determine how many calories you need to eat each day to reach and maintain your goal weight. Then go to the SuperTracker and enter your results to get a plan. You can track what you eat, your exercise and weight from your desktop, phone, or tablet.

Set your goals and a timeframe that makes sense to you. Then use these tools to create personalized meal plans and track your progress.

The top money and scam alerts this summer

For Americans taking a vacation, attending a concert, or working on their home or garden this summer, this season comes with its own unique consumer challenges. Learn the top five money and scam alerts for this time of year:

1. Don’t buy gas additives that claim to increase fuel mileage. Even though gas prices go up in the summer, the Environmental Protection Agency has not found any product that significantly improves gas mileage, and some could damage a car’s engine or increase exhaust emissions.

The Deep Web you don't know about

From CNN:

What we commonly call the Web is really just the surface. Beneath that is a vast, mostly uncharted ocean called the Deep Web. By its very nature, the size of the Deep Web is difficult to calculate. But top university researchers say the Web you know -- Facebook (FB), Wikipedia, news -- makes up less than 1% of the entire World Wide Web.

When you surf the Web, you really are just floating at the surface. Dive below and there are tens of trillions of pages -- an unfathomable number -- that most people have never seen. They include everything from boring statistics to human body parts for sale (illegally).

Though the Deep Web is little understood, the concept is quite simple. Think about it in terms of search engines. To give you results, Google (GOOG), Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft's (MSFT) Bing constantly index pages. They do that by following the links between sites, crawling the Web's threads like a spider. But that only lets them gather static pages, like the one you're on right now.

What they don't capture are dynamic pages, like the ones that get generated when you ask an online database a question. Google and others also don't capture pages behind private networks or standalone pages that connect to nothing at all. These are all part of the Deep Web.

So, what's down there? It depends on where you look.

SEE Deep Web Search – A How-To Site.

Percent changes in average hourly earnings by state, May 2014 to May 2015

From May 2014 to May 2015, average hourly earnings increased in 45 states and decreased in five states and the District of Columbia. Vermont had the highest percent increase in hourly earnings (5.8 percent). Wyoming had the largest percent decrease (−1.4 percent).

Uptick in Births in 2014

The annual number of births in the United States increased in 2014, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The 3,985,924 babies born in 2014 exceeded 2013 births by 53,743—a statistically significant 1 percent increase. The increase was the first since 2007, when births reached an all time high of 4,316,233.

Drilling down into the numbers reveals a dramatically changed pattern of childbearing in the United States... For women aged 20 to 24, the birth rate fell to a new historic low. For women aged 25 to 29, the birth rate was essentially unchanged from the record low reached in 2013.

The action is occurring among women aged 30 or older.

More from the Demo Memo.

Congressional Voting Turnout is at Lowest Mark Since 1978

The 2014 congressional election turnout rate of 41.9 percent was the lowest since the U.S. Census Bureau first began asking Americans about voting and citizenship status in 1978. The 2014 voting rate was 7.0 percentage points lower than in 1978 and down from the 45.5 percent that reported voting in the 2010 congressional election. These statistics come from Who Votes? Congressional Elections and the American Electorate: 1978-2014, which uses data collected by the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. This report provides a detailed historical portrait of voters in congressional elections, and it examines voting patterns by age, race and Hispanic origin and includes a look at early and absentee voting. The voting rates of every age group between 18 and 64 also dropped between 1978 and 2014, while the voting rate in 2014 for those over 65 was not statistically different from 1978.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: Historical Components, 1884-2013

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, comprised of 12 ‘smokestack’ companies, made its debut May 26, 1896. Twelve years earlier, Mr. Dow’s initial stock average, containing 11 stocks (nine of which were railroad issues) appeared in Customer’s Afternoon Letter, a daily two-page financial news bulletin that was the precursor of The Wall Street Journal.

May 26, 1896: The Average consisted entirely of industrial stocks published for the first time. (The first average computed from this list of stocks was 40.94. It declined gradually during June and July and on August 8, 1896 stood at 28.48 which is the lowest point on record for the industrial average.)

More from Dow Jones.

The 37 Best Websites To Learn Something New

Forget overpriced schools, long days in a crowded classroom, and pitifully poor results. These websites and apps cover myriads of science, art, and technology topics. They will teach you practically anything, from making hummus to building apps in node.js, most of them for free. There is absolutely no excuse for you not to master a new skill, expand your knowledge, or eventually boost your career. You can learn interactively at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home. It’s hard to imagine how much easier it can possibly be. Honestly, what are you waiting for?

More from medium.com>

ZIP Codes.com

With its FREE zip code finder, ZipCodes.com has many ways of finding information.

Use it to: look up ZIP+4 of any address in the U.S.; find all the Zip Codes in a given radius; find the distance between any two Zip Codes (line of sight + driving distance/directions).

Compare your State’s Economy Against the Rest of the World

The US economy is so big, that the economies of all 50 states are comparable in size to those of entire countries. To illustrate this, howmuch.net used national GDP data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and state data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to put together a map that displays a country of comparable size (in terms of GDP) for each US state. All of the countries shown have 2014 GDPs that are roughly equivalent (+/- 10%) to the GDP of the state on which it is shown.

See the methodology and more info at HowMuch.net

2015 International Population Estimates and Projections

In time for World Population Day (July 11), the Census Bureau has released an update of population estimates and projections for 24 countries, including China, Jordan, Malawi, Syria and Ukraine through its International Data Base. 

The International Data Base contains population estimates and projections to 2050 for 228 countries and areas. Along with total population, characteristics for countries include age structure, fertility and mortality rates, and migration numbers.Additional analyses for some countries have been conducted to include the estimated effects of HIV/AIDS. As of July 1, 2015, the world population reached 7.256 billion.

2013 Capital Spending Report

This report provides a historical look at the industry investment shares and capital spending patterns for structures and equipment by all U.S. businesses with and without employees at the national and industry sector level. Sector level data are available only for businesses with employees. Data from this report comes from the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey and covers 2004-2013. 

Internet address: <http://www.census.gov/econ/aces/>.

The Newest New Yorkers

The Newest New Yorkers report demonstrates that New York’s immigrants have played an integral role in maintaining the City’s record population growth and significantly boosting the City’s economic vitality. The City’s immigrant population has reached a new peak at more than 3 million; a number which would form the third largest city in the United States, bested only by New York City and Los Angeles.

The strength of immigrants is most evident in Queens, where the largest percentage of the newest New Yorkers has settled; nearly one-half of the borough’s residents are foreign-born. The largest numeric growth in immigration took place in the Bronx, while Staten Island saw the largest percentage increase.

The report is the product of expert demographic analysis of data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, as well as other federal and city administrative data. Complementing its new report, City Planning also launched an easy-to-use, interactive online map showing the largest immigrant groups in each of the City’s neighborhoods as well as where the City’s top ten largest immigrant populations live.

FTC Action Stops Massive Payday Loan Fraud Scheme

Defendants Agree to be Banned from Consumer Lending

The operators of a payday lending scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from consumers by trapping them into loans they never authorized will be banned from the consumer lending business under settlements with the Federal Trade Commission.

The settlements stem from charges the FTC filed last year alleging that Timothy A. Coppinger, Frampton T. Rowland III, and their companies targeted online payday loan applicants and, using information from lead generators and data brokers, deposited money into those applicants’ bank accounts without their permission. The defendants then withdrew reoccurring “finance” charges without any of the payments going to pay down the principal owed. The court subsequently halted the operation and froze the defendants’ assets pending litigation.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants told consumers they had agreed to, and were obligated to pay for, the unauthorized “loans.” To support their claims, the defendants provided consumers with fake loan applications or other loan documents purportedly showing that consumers had authorized the loans. If consumers closed their bank accounts to stop the unauthorized debits, the defendants often sold the “loans” to debt buyers who then harassed consumers for payment.

Allergen-Free Peanuts Lead USDA Report Highlighting New Innovations in Ag

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new report on discoveries by USDA researchers that have led to new patents and inventions with the potential for commercial application and potential economic growth. USDA innovations included in this annual report range from USDA supported research that could offer solutions for millions who suffer allergies from peanuts and wheat to safe mosquito control that can help halt the transmission of diseases they spread, and others.

"USDA has a proven track record of performing research that has tangible benefits for the American public, and studies have found every dollar invested in agricultural research returns $20 to our economy,"  said Secretary Vilsack. "USDA is now accelerating the commercialization of federal research, and government researchers are working closely with the private sector to develop new technology and transfer it to the marketplace."

USDA received 83 patents in Fiscal Year 2014, up from 51 patents in 2013. USDA filed 119 patent applications and disclosed another 117 new inventions, which may lead to future patents and are detailed in the Department's 2014 Annual Report on Technology Transfer release. Helping drive these innovations, USDA has 267 active Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with outside partners, which includes Universities, and other organizations, and more than 100 small businesses. The USDA's technology transfer program is administered by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.

Part-time private industry workers less likely to have access to benefits in 2013

In March 2013, part-time private industry workers were less likely than full-time workers to have access to employer-provided benefits, such as retirement plans, health insurance, and paid sick leave.

In March 2013, nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of full-time private industry workers had access to retirement benefits, compared with just 37 percent of part-time workers. Similarly, 85 percent of full-time workers had access to health insurance through their employers, compared with only 24 percent of part-time workers. Full-time workers were also much more likely than part-time workers to have access to paid holidays, sick leave, and vacations.

More from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Commuting Safety Tips for Bicycle Commuters

Bicycle commuting is on the rise, increasing by more than 62% nationwide from 2000 to 2013, according to the League of American Bicyclists. In bicycle-friendly communities, rates have increased more than 100% over that same period.

If your workers are going to give bicycle commuting a try this summer, encourage them to stay safe with these tips.

If you bike to work, good for you! Biking is good for your health and the environment. But bike riders can be at a disadvantage in traffic, so some caution is advised. Be sure to:

*Plan your route. You don’t want to just get on your bike on Monday morning and take your usual driving route to work. Instead, work out a bike-friendly route.

Your bike route to work will probably be along side streets, bike lanes, and bike paths rather than heavily traveled “main drags.” Practice your route on your day off, and make sure you work out any tricky spots along with your new commute time.

- See more at Safety Daily Advisor