Friday, January 3, 2025
Playing
Today I watched my Dog playing in the snow.
Tomorrow, I
will play in the snow as my Dog watches me.
New Veterans Bill
From Military.com:
“Biden
Signs Wide-Ranging Veterans Bill that Includes Improvements to Veteran
Caregiver, Homelessness Programs”
More support
for home caregivers of aging and disabled veterans and bolstered services for
homeless veterans are now law after President Joe Biden signed a wide-ranging
veterans bill. Biden signed the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans
Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act into law on Thursday evening, the White
House said in a news release. The bill was the most comprehensive piece of
veterans legislation approved by Congress in its 2023-24 session and combined
several smaller measures on caregiver programs, homelessness, community care,
job training, education benefits and more into one package. "The men and
women who have served have earned access to a VA that puts them -- not
government bureaucracy -- at the center of its operations," House Veterans
Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., said in a statement after Biden
signed the bill. "From expanding job training opportunities for
transitioning service members and veterans, to improving mental health care for
caregivers, to protecting veterans' health care options for day-to-day services
to more elderly care options, and much more in between -- I know this
legislation will make a difference for veterans and their families."
The marquee
provision in the bill, which is named after former senator and veterans
caregiver advocate Elizebeth Dole, aims to make home nursing care more
affordable for veterans by increasing the Department of Veterans Affairs' share
of covering the costs of the care from 65% to 100%. That change is one of
several in the bill related to caregivers programs that were long pushed by
advocates who say that veterans should be able to live out their final days at
home if they choose. Another key change in the bill is a new grant program for
mental health care for veteran caregivers.
While the
final bill received widespread bipartisan support, the legislation got bogged
down in politics over the summer amid a partisan fight over the future of the
VA's community care program, which allows veterans to see non-VA doctors using
VA funding. Ultimately, negotiations stripped the bill of one controversial
community care provision but left another in. The provision that is now law
bans VA administrators from overriding a VA doctor's referral for their patient
to get outside care.
On veteran
homelessness, the bill will increase the per diem rate the VA can pay to
organizations providing short-term transitional housing from 115% of costs to
133%. It will also give the VA flexibility to provide unhoused veterans with
bedding, shelter, food, hygiene items, blankets and rideshare services to
medical appointments.
Other changes
in the bill include extending a high-tech job training program for veterans
through 2027; allowing GI Bill beneficiaries to continue getting a housing
allowance even if they are only part-time students in their final semester; and
requiring the VA to reimburse ambulance costs for some rural veterans. The bill
was sent to Biden's desk after a 382-12 vote in the House on Dec. 16. It was
the second time the House approved the bill after the Senate approved a version
of the legislation that fixed some drafting errors.
^ This is much
needed. ^
Our Poorest Surpasses
From Euronews:
“Poorest US
state rivals Germany: GDP per capita in US and Europe”
Mississippi,
the poorest state in the United States, is close to surpassing Europe's largest
economy Germany's GDP per capita. Euronews Business compares US states with
European countries. The poorest US state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per
capita is higher than that of Europe's top five economies, except for Germany.
However, Mississippi competes closely with Germany, with a difference of just
€1,500. GDP per capita, adjusted for
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), in the US also surpasses that of all EU
countries, except for Luxembourg and Ireland, which are outliers.
How do GDP
per capita figures, both in current prices and adjusted for PPP, in the US's
richest and poorest states compare with European countries, specifically the EU
and the UK? We derived the 2024
country figures from the IMF's Global Outlook report, reflecting data as of
October. We made the calculation for US states using seasonally adjusted
datasets from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) for Q3 2024, and
population estimates from the US Census Bureau as of July. In Q3 2024, GDP per
capita in the US ranged from €49,780 ($53,872) in Mississippi to €246,523
($266,787) in the District of Columbia. At the lower end, West Virginia
(€56,554), Arkansas (€56,917), Alabama (€58,061), and South Carolina (€59,375)
followed Mississippi.
Among the top
five, New York (€107,485), Massachusetts (€101,666), Washington (€99,844), and
California (€96,836) followed the District of Columbia. The figures are shown
in US dollars in the chart.
For the EU in
2024, GDP per capita ranged from €15,773 in Bulgaria to €125,043 in Luxembourg.
The EU average stood at €40,060, while the US average was €80,023 ($86,601).
Among Europe's
top five economies, Germany recorded the highest GDP per capita at €51,304,
followed by the UK at €48,441 and France at €44,365. Italy stood at €37,227,
while Spain recorded €33,070. The top
five European economies are defined by their total economic size, not by GDP
per capita.
These figures
show that GDP per capita in Mississippi, the poorest US state, is higher than
in Europe's top economies, except for Germany, where it falls short by €1,524.
Germany ranked as the third-largest economy in the world in 2024, contributing
24.3% to the EU's total GDP. Mississippi's GDP per capita is significantly
higher than the other four top European economies, exceeding Spain by €16,710,
Italy by €12,553, France by €5,415, and the UK by €1,339. The second poorest
state, West Virginia, had a noticeably higher GDP per capita than all five
European countries, surpassing Germany by €5,270
How do
rankings change with PPP adjustments? Purchasing power parities, (PPPs),
are indicators of price level differences across countries. "PPPs tell us
how many currency units a given quantity of goods and services costs in
different countries", Eurostat explains. When GDP per capita is adjusted for PPP,
both the figures and rankings change significantly. According to the IMF, which
converts these figures into US dollars, GDP per capita in the US is $86,601,
compared with the EU average of $62,660. GDP per capita in PPP terms is
higher in the US than in all EU countries and the UK, except for Luxembourg and
Ireland, which are considered outliers. However, the gap between the US and
European countries narrows significantly under PPP adjustments. For instance,
Germany's GDP per capita, which is $55,521 in current prices, rises to $70,930
when adjusted for PPP.
This suggests
that the rankings between US states and European countries also shift
accordingly. For a fair comparison, regional price parities (RPP) for US states
should be taken into account. The RPP covers all consumption goods and services
including housing rents. According to
BEA, in 2023, the RPP in Mississippi was 87.3, compared to the US average of
100, indicating that the cost of living in Mississippi was 12.7% lower than the
national average. Applying this rate to
Q3 2024, the GDP per capita in PPP could be approximately $60,714, though
variations in definitions might affect the calculation. In this scenario,
Mississippi's GDP per capita in PPP would be likely to fall slightly below the
EU average but remain higher than Spain's.
Why are
Luxembourg and Ireland considered outliers? According to Eurostat,
Luxembourg's high GDP is "partly explained by the fact that a large number
of foreign residents are employed in the country and thus contribute to its
GDP, while they are not part of Luxembourg's resident population." Dr
Tom McDonnell, co-director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, told
Euronews Business that Ireland's GDP is distorted due to the tax planning
activities of US multinationals. GDP represents the monetary value of
all final goods and services produced within a country over a specific period.
It serves as a key indicator to measure the size and growth of a nation's
economy. GDP per capita is commonly used to compare countries, while GDP
per capita adjusted for PPP offers a more fair basis for comparison. Disposable
income, along with average and median salaries, is also used for a fair
comparison.
^ This says it
all. ^
Growing Up
"I grew up on the street........ Sesame Street. It was down the road from ...... Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Ágnes Keleti
Ágnes Keleti died today at 103
Ágnes Keleti (née Klein) was born
on January 9. 1921 in Budapest Hungary. She is a Hungarian-Israeli, a Holocaust
Survivor and retired Olympic and World Champion Artistic Gymnast and Coach.
Keleti is Jewish. Her Father was
Ferenc Klein, born in Szeged, Hungary and her Mother was Róza Gyárfás (née
Grünberger.)
She began Gymnastics at the age
of 4, and by 16 was the Hungarian National Champion in Gymnastics. Over the
course of her career, between 1937 and 1956, she won the Championships Title
ten times.
Keleti was considered a top
prospect for the Hungarian Team at the 1940 Olympics, but the escalation of
World War II canceled both the 1940 and the 1944 Games.
She was expelled from her
Gymnastics Club in 1941 for being a non-Aryan by the Hungarian Nazi Arrow Cross
Party in charge.
Because she had heard a rumor
married Women were not taken to Labor Camps, she hastily married István Sárkány
in 1944. Sárkány was a Hungarian Gymnast of the 1930s who achieved National
Titles and took part in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. They divorced in 1950.
Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in
1944. Keleti survived the War by purchasing and using an Identity Card of a
Christian and worked as a Maid in a small Village.
Her Mother and Sister went into
hiding and were saved using Swiss Protection Papers issued by Diplomat Carl
Lutz who worked with the Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest. Her Father and other Relatives were murdered
by the Nazis by gassing in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
In the winter of 1944–45, during
the Siege of Budapest by Soviet Forces near the end of World War II, Keleti
would collect bodies of those who had died and place them in a mass grave.
After the War, Keleti played the
cello professionally and resumed Gymnastics training. In 1946, she won her
first Hungarian Championship.
In 1947, she won the Central
European Gymnastics Title. She qualified
for the 1948 Summer Olympics, but missed the Competition due to tearing a
ligament in her ankle. At the World University Games of 1949 she won four Gold,
one Silver, and one Bronze Medal.
She continued training and
competed at the Olympics for the first time at the age of 31 at the 1952 Games
in Helsinki. She earned four Medals: Gold in the Floor Exercise, Silver in the
Team Competition, and Bronze in the Team Portable Apparatus Event and the
Uneven Bars.
At the 1956 Summer Olympics in
Melbourne, Australia, Keleti won six Medals including Gold Medals in three of
the four Individual Event Finals: Floor, Bars, and Balance Beam, and placed
second in the All-Around.
She was the most successful
athlete at those Games. At the age of 35, Keleti became the oldest Female
Gymnast ever to win Gold.
The Soviet Union invaded Hungary
during the 1956 Olympics. Keleti, along with 44 other Athletes from the
Hungarian Delegation, decided to remain in Australia and received Political
Asylum. She became a Coach for Australian
Gymnasts.
Keleti emigrated to Israel in
1957, competing in the 1957 Maccabiah Games, and was able to send for her
Mother and Sister in Communist-Hungary.
In 1959, she married Hungarian
Physical Education Teacher Robert Biro whom she met in Israel, and they had two
Sons, Daniel and Rafael.
Following her Retirement from
Competition, Keleti worked as a Physical Education Instructor at Tel Aviv
University, and for 34 years at the Wingate Institute for Sports in Netanya.
She also coached and worked with
Israel's National Gymnastics Team well into the 1990s.
Since 2015, she has lived in
Budapest.
She was the oldest living Olympic
Champion and Medalist, reaching her 100th birthday on January 9, 2021.
Saving Ukraine's Animals
Saving the Animals of Ukraine
Directed by Travel
YouTube Vlogger turned War Correspondent Anton Ptushkin, the Documentary
chronicles stories of survival, love and resilience from the heart of war-torn
Ukraine.
See those
rescuing Cats and Dogs in abandoned buildings as well as Lions and Tigers in
the Nation’s Zoos, and the extraordinary efforts to bring them to safety.
Hear from Volunteers
of the Nation’s Animal Shelters, who are risking their own lives to care for
their charges during bombardment.
Meet Patron,
the bomb-detecting Jack Russell Terrier who has saved countless lives, as well
as Shafa, a Cat in Borodyanka who becomes a symbol of hope.
“I never
imagined I would become a war or nature documentarian, but when this war began,
I was so inspired by the footage of people trying to save their pets,” said
director Anton Ptushkin. “I knew I wanted to tell the story of the important
relationship between the Ukrainian people and their animals. Animals have
helped us cope with the stress and consequences of this war, and I’m honored to
showcase their stories of resiliency alongside those of the humans rescuing
them.”
^ I just
watched this DVD (which I received as a Christmas Present) and while I have
known about many People and Organizations working hard over the past 2 years
and 11 months inside Ukraine to save the Animals watching this Documentary put
the whole War more into prospective.
Ordinary People
are working under Russian Occupation and threatened with Russian War Crimes to
save Animals in danger.
Ordinary People
are working under Russian Bombs to save Animals in danger.
These are
Ukrainians and Non-Ukrainians who are risking their own lives to save the
Animals of Ukraine.
While the
Russians continue to murder Ukrainian Men, Women, Children and Animals there
are good People working hard to protect the innocent. ^
UK ETA
Starting
January 8, 2025 The United Kingdom Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
becomes mandatory for many Nationalities
including Americans and Canadians.
Citizens of:
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Antigua
and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana,
Brazil, British National Overseas (Hong Kong), Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa
Rica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Macau,
Malaysia, Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Nauru,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, the Solomon Islands,
South Korea, Taiwan, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, the United States and
Uruguay.
A UK ETA is
valid for Multiple Entries for two years or until the Applicant's Passport
expires, whichever is sooner.
It costs £10
per Passport.
It may be used
for Temporary Stays for Tourism, Visiting Family and Friends, Business, Study,
certain types of Work, or Transit.
Note: EU
Citizens (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lativia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) and Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco,
Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican will need a UK ETA starting on
April 2, 2025.
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
29 Schengen Countries
Romania and
Bulgaria have finally joined the Schengen Area.
Romania and
Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007 and met all the requirements to join
the Schengen in 2011, but discrimination from other EU/Schengen Countries
prevented them from joining until today.
Technically
you can now drive from Greece to Spain or Scandinavia without a border.
The Schengen Area
is 29 Countries (25 EU Member Countries – except Cyprus and Ireland – and the
Non-EU Countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Norway) that
supposedly can travel throughout the whole 1,744,190 square miles without
having to show a Passport or National ID Card.
Andorra,
Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican aren’t part of the EU or the Schengen, but
have open borders with the EU so are basically part of the Schengen Area.
In Theory the
Schengen Area offers the 475 Million People Freedom of Movement, but in reality
many Schengen Countries have in the past and some currently have Passport and
National ID Card Checks on their Borders:
Germany
has border checks with Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and the
Netherlands (until at least March 15, 2025.)
Austria
has border checks with Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia (until
at least May 11, 2025.)
Denmark
has border checks with Germany (until at least May 11, 2025.)
France has
border checks with Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland
(until at least April 30, 2025.)
Italy has
border checks with Slovenia (until at least June 18, 2025.)
Norway
has border checks on all ferries to Schengen Area Countries (until at least May
11, 2025.)
The
Netherlands has border checks with Germany and Belgium (until at least June
8, 2025.)
Slovenia has
border checks with Croatia and Hungary (until at least June 21, 2025.)
Sweden
has border checks with Norway and Finland (until at least May 11, 2025.)
Note;
When I flew from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany in November 2024 everyone
had to show their Passport or National ID Card to board the plane - Eurowings said it was a German Government requirement.
37th Country
Today (January 1, 2025) Liechtenstein becomes the 37th Country to allow Same-Sex Marriage.
The other
Countries allowing San Sex Marriage are: The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain,
Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal. Iceland, Argentina, Denmark,
Brazil, France, Uruguay, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Ireland,
the United States, Colombia, Finland, Malta, Germany, Australia, Austria,
Taiwan, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, Switzerland, Slovenia, Mexico, Cuba, Andorra,
Estonia and Greece.
Note: Thailand will make Same Sex Marriage legal on January 22, 2025.
Same Sex
Relationships are Illegal in:
Punishment Is
Death:
Mauritania,
Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, Malawi, Iran, Gaza, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen,
Afghanistan and Brunei
Punishment
Is Hard Labor:
Egypt, Morocco,
Jamaica and Russia
Punishment
is Imprisonment:
Algeria, Sudan,
Tunisia, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal. Togo, Cameroon, Chad, Burundi,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Comoros, Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,
Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Maldives,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, North Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia,
the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu
Holidays
January Holidays
Monthly Holidays and
Observances
Adopt a Rescued Bird Month
Bath Safety Month
Cervical Health Awareness Month
Human Resource Month
National Blood Donor Month
National Braille Literacy Month
National Poverty in America
Awareness Month
Weekly Holidays and Observances
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness
Week - January 7-14
European Cervical Cancer
Prevention Week - January 20-26, 2025
Hannukah - December 25, 2024 -
January 2, 2025
Daily Holidays and Observances
January 1st:
Apple Gifting Day
Copyright Law Day
Ellis Island Day
Euro Day
Haitian Independence Day
New Years Day
Polar Bear Plunge or Swim Day
Public Domain Day
January 2nd: National
Pet Travel Safety Day
January 3rd: J.R.R.
Tolkien Day
January 4th: World
Braille Day
January 6th:
Armenian Christmas
Epiphany, or Three Kings Day
January 7th: Orthodox Christmas Day
January 9th: National
Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
January 12th: National
Pharmacist Day
January 14th: Orthodox
New Year
January 15th: Wikipedia
Day
January 18th: Winnie
the Pooh Day
January 19th: National
Popcorn Day
January 20th:
Inauguration Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 23rd: Rhubarb
Pie Day
January 25th: Burns
Night
January 26th: Australia
Day
January 27th:
Auschwitz Liberation Day
International Day of
Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
https://www.holidays-and-observances.com/january-holidays.html
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