From the Wired Magazine website
The high cost of repairing sensor-packed vehicles outpaces the savings from fewer crashes.
American car insurance rates are going up up up. In the past decade, they climbed 29.6 percent, to an average of $1,548 in 2019 from $1,194 in 2011. The surge, detailed in a new report from insurance shopping site The Zebra, outpaced both inflation (by far) and the increase in average car prices (more narrowly). And it came even as the rate of crashes has fallen year over year.
A more surprising, counterintuitive culprit isn’t the wider world or the person behind the wheel but the car itself. It turns out that new features designed to keep vehicles in their lanes and out of trouble are contributing to rising insurance rates.
Most of us find it nerve-wracking enough that we’re forced to focus on gathering our piles of paperwork to fill out our tax returns.
Now adding to our stress, we must watch out for tax season scam artists, too. The crooks are everywhere from the gym parking lot to the latest emails and text messages.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States from 1941 through 1945. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 pounds.
The 199th Fighter Squadron flew P-47 “Jugs” from 1947 to 1954. While reviewing old photographs of the early Hawaii Air National Guard aircraft, we came across this one. On the back of the original photograph was written, “The result of lying in trail of (flight) leader firing .50 caliber and ejecting shells.”
The damaged area is highlighted by the arrow (added).
From the National Public Radio website
“I’m not anti-hospice at all,” says Joy Johnston, a writer from Atlanta. “But I think people aren’t prepared for all the effort that it takes to give someone a good death at home.”
Even though surveys show it’s what most Americans say they want, dying at home is “not all it’s cracked up to be,” says Johnston, who relocated to New Mexico at age 40 to care for her dying mother some years ago.
She ended up writing an essay about her frustrations with the way hospice care often works in the U.S.
Johnston, like many family caregivers, was surprised that her mother’s hospice provider left most of the physical work to her. She says that during the final weeks of her mother’s life, she felt more like a tired nurse than a devoted daughter.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released in January an updated Department of Defense (DOD) list of locations outside of Vietnam where tactical herbicides were used, tested or stored by the United States military.
“This update was necessary to improve accuracy and communication of information,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “VA depends on DOD to provide information regarding in-service environmental exposure for disability claims based on exposure to herbicides outside of Vietnam.”
DOD conducted a thorough review of research, reports and government publications in response to a November 2018 Government Accountability Office report.
“DOD will continue to be responsive to the needs of our interagency partners in all matters related to taking care of both current and former service members,” said Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper. “The updated list includes Agents Orange, Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and White and other chemicals and will be updated as verifiable information becomes available.”
Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including an Agent Orange Registry health exam, health care and disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. Their dependents and survivors also may be eligible for benefits.
Off the Hawaii Adjutant General’s Facebook page
Adjutant General of Hawai‘i, Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Hara, visited Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPH-H) during Sentry Aloha exercise training, January 21, 2020. Approximately 35 aircraft and 1,000 personnel from eight states participated in the two-week air exercise.
#OTD 1967 our nation mourned the loss of the Apollo 1 crew. Let us reflect on the service of the #Soldiers, #Sailors, #Airmen, #Marines & #CoastGuardsmen who served as @NASA Astronauts, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. @USArmy @USNavy @usairforce @USCG @USMC pic.twitter.com/3bUEEO6qnm
— AF Space Command (@AFSpace) January 27, 2019
Well, it’s time for the gathering of the members, past and present, of the Hawaii Air National Guard in 2020. This gathering is open to all members on all islands. See old friends and enjoy the memories of past!!
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Wong’s Restaurant, Hanapepe, Kauai
1200 to 1700
Buy your own food (no outside food please)
BYOB
For headcount purposes, I would appreciate if you would contact me by April 30th. You may also contact me for additional information.
Stan De La Cruz
Cell: (808) 393-9055
Email: standelacruz@yahoo.com
For those members receiving this message, your assistance in notifying other Guard members of his function with contact info will be greatly appreciated.
Optional for attendees: A donation of $5 at the door per Guard member will be used towards the gratuities for the restaurant workers.
From the Frolic Hawaii website
Legend has it that Kapiolani Coffee Shop and Kam Bowl share da same legendary oxtail soup recipe. Something about one divorce and da secret recipe as part of da settlement. All those rumors add to da mystique behind this restaurant rivalry, but in da end all da backstory stuff’s not really that important. What’s important is how these oxtail soups taste!
From the This Day in Aviation website
McDonnell Douglas F-15A-6-MC 72-0119 Streak Eagle | Air Force Photograph | click to enlarge
26 January 1975: In a continuing series of time-to-altitude records, Major David W. Peterson, U.S. Air Force, a test pilot assigned to the F-15 Joint Test Force at Edwards AFB, California, ran the engines of the McDonnell Douglas F-15A-6-MC, 72-0119, Streak Eagle to full afterburner while it was attached to a hold-back device on the runway at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.
The fighter was released and 161.025 seconds later it climbed through 82,020.997 feet (25,000 meters), setting another Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world record. This was the seventh time-to-altitude record set by the modified F-15 in just ten days.
26 January 1945. First flight of the McDonnell XFD-1 (FH) Phantom 1, (48235) US twin-engine jet fighter aircraft. First purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier and the first jet deployed by the USMC. pic.twitter.com/dKsEDhKb03
— Ron Eisele (@ron_eisele) January 26, 2019
The 199th Fighter Squadron flew the F-4C Phantom II from 1976–1987. We wondered what kind of plane was the Phantom I, but never researched the topic.
The McDonnell FH Phantom was a twinjet fighter aircraft designed and first flown during World War II for the United States Navy. The Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier and the first jet deployed by the United States Marine Corps. Although with the end of the war, only 62 FH-1s were built, it helped prove the viability of carrier-based jet fighters. As McDonnell’s first successful fighter, leading to the development of the follow-on F2H Banshee, which was one of the two most important naval jet fighters of the Korean War, it would also establish McDonnell as an important supplier of navy aircraft. When McDonnell chose to bring the name back with the Mach 2–class McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, it launched what would become the most versatile and widely used western combat aircraft of the Vietnam War era, adopted by the USAF and the US Navy.
The FH Phantom was originally designated the FD Phantom, but the designation was changed as the aircraft entered production.
From the Frolic Hawaii website
As you celebrate Chinese New Year today….
Jin dui, jian dui, ma tuan or sesame balls – whatever you call them, they’re beloved not only in China but around the world. Made from mochi rice and filled with coconut, red bean, sesame paste or char siu, they puff up when fried, resulting in a thin, crispy, chewy ball of golden brown deliciousness.
From the Kaiser Health News website
Within 10 years, all of the nation’s 74 million baby boomers will be 65 or older. The most senior among them will be on the cusp of 85.
Even sooner, by 2025, the number of seniors (65 million) is expected to surpass that of children age 13 and under (58 million) for the first time, according to Census Bureau projections.
“In the history of the human species, there’s never been a time like [this],” said Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, referring to the changing balance between young people and old.
What lies ahead in the 2020s, as society copes with this unprecedented demographic shift?
Savers who spend a lifetime clipping coupons, chasing credit card points, cooking all their meals and cutting corners at every turn typically don’t stop being frugal once they quit working and they’re staring at a healthy seven-figure nest egg in retirement.
“They don’t change their spots,” said Ed Slott, an IRA expert who has hosted a variety of retirement specials on public television.
“In fact, they tend to spend less (in retirement).”
Retiree News 