"Crabby Old Lady has had enough. She has lost all patience with age denial.

If you've had a face lift or Botox, get out of Crabby's way. She doesn't want to know you. If you shave five or ten years off your age, who do you think you're kidding? You have made yourself ridiculous.

If you say things like “age is just a number” or “you're only as old as you feel” or “gee, you don't look that old”, stop insulting Crabby's intelligence. Anyone who uses those phrases is, by definition, old. Get over it and enjoy your great good fortune at still being upright. Many people don't get the chance."

"A century ago, John F. Carter wrote an essay about “These Wild Young People’ by One of Them,” in the Atlantic Monthly (September 1920,  pp. 301-304, an excerpt is here, although as far as I know the entire essay isn't freely available online). It offers a useful reminder that complaints from young adults about the terrible world they are inheriting, so much worse than any previous generation ever inherited, are nothing new. Enjoy the 100 year-old version of the classic young-to-old intergenerational rant:"

Go here -> http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-young-adults-of-1920-thought-of.html

The ACA has improved overall health care coverage for many older Americans with limited income and resources. Shortly after the ACA’s Medicaid expansion and reforms to the individual and group health insurance markets were implemented, the uninsured rate for older adults ages 50-64 was cut in half.

One of the ACA’s most well-known provisions, Medicaid expansion, extended coverage to more older adults ages 50-64 who are too young to qualify for Medicare and had no health coverage options pre-ACA.  Before the ACA, older adults could only qualify for Medicaid if they had dependent children, were age 65 or older, or had a disability meeting strict Social Security criteria, in addition to having income and assets below strict limits.

ACA effectively eliminated those categories and the asset test for adults under age 65 in states that chose to expand Medicaid coverage to adults without dependent children up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL) using new authority and federal funding."

Go here ->  https://www.justiceinaging.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/10-Year-Check-Up-The-ACA-Has-Enhanced-Access-to-Quality-Health-Care-for....pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=d69dff8c-c8ec-493f-a1da-c8cbf8f7b88c

"In 2021, all 50 states will redraw legislative and congressional maps for the next decade, making 2020 the last chance to put fair redistricting processes in place around the country before maps are redrawn. The last round of redistricting saw unprecedented gerrymanders, often targeting communities of color. The good news is that Americans across the political spectrum support independent redistricting systems that promote equitable representation. A well-designed commission can do just that.

Independent redistricting commissions that put citizens at the helm of map-drawing and have strong guidelines in place can help guard against partisan and racial gerrymandering. And commission-based redistricting has a clear track record of fairer outcomes with less litigation."

Go here -> https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-ensure-fair-voting-maps-next-decade-and-beyond

And here -> https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/gerrymandering-fair-representation

"As critics of the map have pointed out, Democrats won 53% of all the Assembly votes cast statewide while coming away with only 36% of the seats."

Go here -> https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/blogs/wisconsin-voter/2018/12/06/wisconsin-gerrymandering-data-shows-stark-impact-redistricting/2219092002/

"Despite the clamor to turn out Wisconsin voters in 2020, some voters might be stopped at the doors of their polling places.

Auditors have flagged hundreds of violations at Wisconsin polls that make it harder or impossible for voters with disabilities to vote in person. A Journal Sentinel review of audits found officials are missing required action plans to fix most of these issues from the last two years.

Though Wisconsin once had a robust program for monitoring accessibility problems at polls — one that was lauded as a best practice by a presidential commission in 2014 — state officials have let it wane. Since the recognition, officials have missed audits, been slow to follow up on accessibility violations and provided fewer supplies to help polling places become more accessible."

Go here -> https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/solutions/2019/12/23/wisconsins-model-disability-rights-voting-program-has-declined/2694478001/

Did you ever notice that when fat cat politicians and pundits talk about policies that screw poor people they say "it's for their own good."
 "The Department of Agriculture recently finished work on a new rule that may take food stamps away from nearly 700,000 Americans by tightening work requirements. Several times in the past year, the government has proposed cutting food stamp eligibility. The new rule it s intended to save almost $8 billion over five years.

Go here -> https://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/how-cutting-food-stamps-can-add-costs-elsewhere/

 "Might the Republican zeal to constrict government programs and limit the number of people from receiving some services actually cost the country more in the long run? Some studies have suggested that very well may the case, as with food stamps. With nearly 700,000 people potentially being cut from the federal program comes a consequence that deserves national attention. "

Go here -> https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/01/04/op-ed-food-cuts-could-hike-medical-costs/

And here -> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28973507

"So in addition to the costliness, the Fox-con has likely done a lot to give Foxconn benefits and incentives that Wisconsin-based companies haven't been able to set, and has paved the way for other giveaways in Wisconsin to the politically-connected at the expense of everyone else (can you imagine how many more times this would have been abused under a third term of Walker?)"

Go here -> http://jakehasablog.blogspot.com/2020/01/foxconn-project-continues-to-cost-whole.html

And here -> https://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2019/12/subsidies-for-foxconn-weaken-trumps.html

How Pets Contribute to Healthy Aging
"Many older Americans live with pets and consider them part of the family. Pets can offer companionship and have a positive impact on
a person’s health and well-being. In October 2018, the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging asked a national sample of adults
age 50–80 about their pets, reasons for having — or not having — pets, and the benefits and challenges of owning a pet."

Go here -> https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/148428/NPHA_Pets-Report_FINAL-040319.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Is anyone aware of this type of thing in Wisconsin?
"GreenFields has about 500 full- and part-time employees, including doctors, therapists, nurses, certified nursing assistants, nurses’ aides, housekeepers, and laundry and maintenance staff. Roughly three-quarters of those workers are women.

“Almost all of our staff is at an age where either they're caring for kids or they're caring for parents,” Koenig said. “You can't just throw dollars at them. It doesn't work, especially with unemployment as low as it is. They have a bad day, they can just go somewhere else, so the thought process was, ‘How do we get people to come to campus to stay, to be invested? How do we make the staff feel part of the family?’ If we can keep them here for a couple of months, we'll have a better chance.”

Go here -> https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/04/a-childcare-center-on-a-campus-for-seniors-its-working-in-lancaster/