The stuff smiles are made of…

Noche de Nachos: The citizens of Las Cruces, NV know how to celebrate Noche de Nachos, a festival celebrating the Mexican dish that blends tortilla chips, cheese, salsa and ground beef spiced up with jalapeno peppers. They gathered smack dab in the center of town recently to snack on the world’s largest serving of the stuff. It weighed in at 5,039 pounds, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] giving Las Cruces a good shot at getting into the Guinness Book of World Records. The current record stands at a measly 4,689 pounds.

###

Sky cops: Traffic cops in Dubai are apparently preparing for the day flying cars come into vogue. The police there are learning how to fly so-called Hover Bikes, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. The drone-like vehicles will also be used to access hard to reach areas in an emergency.

###

The 24 days of Christmas: Just in time for the holidays, a British spirits distributor is offering an advent calendar for adults. Instead of chocolate treats the calendar offers up daily doses of “very old and rare” whiskies from around the world. The calendar features 24 individual drams of whiskies including one that would set you back $24,656.78 if you purchased a bottle of the stuff, says the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. In fact, the alcoholic advent calendar, which comes in a walnut or ebony box, costs a pretty penny, $12,977.19 to be exact.

###

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth: They call Oleg Skavych “Tug-Tooth.” The Ukrainian strongman earned the moniker by pulling a 21 ½ ton streetcar with his teeth, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. Recently old Tug-Tooth did it again, this time pulling a 677-ton cargo ship a distance of more than 52 feet using only his choppers.

###

Foot fetish: A pair of Canadian shoe designers have come up with a pair of high heel shoes designed not for comfort but for their shock value. The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] explains that you have to see these pumps to believe them. The thigh-high shoes are called “Skin Heels” because they are unabashedly designed to look like a woman’s feet. But, if you are interested in being fitted for these boots, let the buyer beware because they’ll cost you an arm and a leg or $10,000 a pair.

###

A rare bird, indeed: It might look like a colorful decoy, but it is a real, live duck. New York City was abuzz recently with the news that a genuine Mandarin duck had found a home in a lake in Central Park. It was first spotted last month, and Park Ranger John McCoy believes a pet owner might have released it in Central Park. It’s more than unlikely that this rara avis winged it to the Big Apple all the way from Asia on its own.

###

Up the mazy river: People tend to get creative around Halloween. Take Tom Pearcy, owner of the York Maze, the largest maze of its kind in the U.K. According to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC], Tom grew a massive pumpkin this year. It weighs nearly 1,400 pounds and so he petitioned the folks who keep track of official world records at Guinness, not that he thought he could win the title for the biggest pumpkin ever grown. That belongs to a Belgian whose gourd weighed in at 2,624.6 pounds. Tom sought the title for the biggest pumpkin boat. He scooped out his jack-o-lantern and turned it into a pumpkin boat. There is no standard record for a pumpkin boat, so Tom might be the first record holder for that category – if Guinness agrees to establish one.

###

Old news: Goodwill of Southern New Jersey and Greater Philadelphia received quite the contribution from an anonymous donor — an intact pre-revolutionary war newspaper. The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] reports that the Dec. 28, 1774 edition of the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser was appraised at $18,000. Appraiser Robert Snyder, who authenticated the newspaper, noted that there are three other copies of the same paper at Yale, Illinois State University and Chicago University.

###

Hey, big tipper: A customer tipped his waitress at the Sup Dogs Restaurant in Greenville, NC after paying for the bottled water he’d ordered. It was a big tip. It was a very large gratuity. It was enormous, says the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. To be exact, it was $10,000 worth of thank yous. The waitress was taken aback but didn’t forget her coworkers with whom she shared her good fortune.

###

Nose news: Winter will soon be upon us and that means another season of cold, runny noses. But, fear not, says the Association of Mature American Citizens. AMAC reports that a British company has come out with a new way to keep Jack Frost from nipping at your nose this year.  Aptly enough, it is called the NoseWarmer. The Nose Warmer Company offers a fashionable array of proboscis protectors and they ship worldwide for about $10 a pop

###

Honesty is the best policy: Nebraska has a new campaign to attract tourists.  It boasts print ads with headlines such as “Lucky for you there’s nothing to do here.”  Yet another advertisement brags that the state is “Famous for our flat, boring landscape,” according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC].  Noting that Nebraska is “the least likely state” when it comes to attracting tourists, State Tourism Director John Ricks says “the new brand platform is defined by honesty. The overarching concept of honesty is rooted in a mindset that values transparency, purity and simplicity.”

###

She’s a big girl: It was Fat Bear Week at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Beadnose was the people’s choice for this year’s fattest bear competition, reports the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC].  The park posted pictures of 12 bears to choose from on its Web site and, Beadnose, whose estimated weight was figured to be 409 pounds, took the honors.  The park put it this way when describing why Beadnose was selected: “Her radiant rolls were deemed by the voting public to be this year’s most fabulous flab.  Our chubby champ has a few more weeks to chow down on lingering salmon carcasses before she heads up the mountains to dig herself a den and savor her victory.”

###

The facts of life for would-be retirees in the 21st Century

The average 50-something-year-old is ill prepared for retirement

WASHINGTON, DC, Sep 21 – Recent reports of an increased rate of bankruptcies among America’s senior citizens provides a new incentive to prepare for retirement, according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC].

“It’s not as easy as it used to be to retire. It’s even harder to imagine early retirement these days. So, for the over 50 set, in particular, it is time for a reality check. Ask yourself ‘do I have a plan’ and if the answer is no, you’d better start making up for lost time,” says Weber.

Meanwhile, President Trump has stepped in issuing an executive order that would “expand access to workplace retirement savings plans for American workers.” Weber notes that the order is aimed at lowering the costs for small businesses to create retirement plans for their employees. It would also let small business owners pool resources to create retirement plans. In a recent interview with iHeartMedia’s Sally Adams, Weber also explained that the order would allow employees to put away more money in IRA and 401k accounts for a longer period of time.

He told reporter Adams, “Right now, you have to start collecting from your IRA or 401K at 70 1/2 years old. Many people are still working at 70 and don’t want to take out money that’s making money for them quite yet. This will allow them to have some flexibility.”

Most of the experts on the subject of retirement agree that the average 50-something-year-old is ill prepared for retirement. Many of them will tell you that a family man, these days, will need a million dollars in savings. That may seem like a lot but people are living longer in this day and age and things are only going to get more expensive as the years go by.

Social Security can supplement retirement savings, but bear in mind that the average recipient currently receives a monthly benefit of $1,329. And, if you decide you want to retire earlier than the Full Retirement Age [FRA] of 65 to 67 years old, bear in mind that your benefits will be reduced. For example, if you decide to file for Social Security at age 62, it can be 20 to 30 percent less than it will be at your FRA.

If you want to see what you’ll have in your retirement, the American Institute for Economic Research offers a handy retirement calculator. It will tell you how much you’ll be able to safely spend from your savings when you retire.

Weber notes that “many of us will decide to continue working in either full-time or part-time positions in order to supplement retirement savings and income.  We’re also making life-style adjustments such as reassessing our housing needs.”

He noted that more than 80% of those in the 65-plus-age bracket own their own homes in the U.S. and that in the great majority of cases their homes are their single biggest asset.  “So, it stands to reason that when the kids grow up and move on, many of them start thinking about downsizing by moving into more efficient and affordable housing.”

Or, he says, you may want to consider moving to another part of the country where the weather is better, the cost of living is lower and there are no local income taxes.  “However, it can be difficult to choose that option if it’s a big move and there are other considerations such as proximity to friends and family.”

###

The stuff that smiles are made of…

Pretty scary pumpkin: A competitive farmer in New York State was just 600 pounds shy of making it into the Guinness Book of World Records. His 2027-pound pumpkin was a lightweight compared to the pumpkin that won the title of world’s heaviest in 2016—a 2,624.6-pound gourd that still holds the record, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. But, Karl Haist had the satisfaction of winning $3,500 in prize money at the World Pumpkin Weigh-Off held in Clarence, NY recently. It was declared the biggest pumpkin ever grown in the state of New York.

###

What a cookie: A Pennsylvania man who commutes to work in New Jersey played the lottery there after having a meal at a Chinese restaurant, at the end of which he was presented with fortune cookie that turned out to be worth, well, a fortune. The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] says that he used numbers contained in the witty message of an after-dinner cookie, numbers that were worth a million dollars, it turned out.

###

Word play: Next time you sit down for a game of Scrabble, confuse your opponents with words like besty, ew and zomboid. You’re sure to be challenged, says the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC], but take the challenge and turn to the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Dictionary and prove these three “new words” and more have been officially added to the lexicon. A besty is, of course, a very close friend. Ew is an expression of disgust. And, a zomboid is just what you think it is—someone with a zombie like demeanor.

###

Grand pianos: Piano solos can be inspiring. Piano duets can be whimsical. But, you might think that more than 600 pianists banging out a tune by Schubert [his Marche Militaire in D Major] could be a bit overwhelming. But, the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] reports that Franz, himself, would have approved when a melodious mob – 639 pianists to be precise – took to the stage and surrounding streets in a town in China with their grand pianos. They did it for the love of the classics and to get themselves into the Guinness Book of World Records.

###

Some nightcap: True aficionados of whisky are willing to pay dearly for a sip of an extraordinary scotch. Some would pay hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars for a bottle of a rare distilled spirit. For example, a flask of Isabella’s Islay scotch once sold for more than $6 million. But, notes the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC], the bottle was made with white gold and adorned with 8,500 diamonds and 300 rubies, which probably had something to do with the price tag. But, AMAC says more recently a bottle of Macallan scotch that was distilled in 1927 sold for $27,000 in 1994 and just recently changed hands for a whopping $1.1 million.

###

Equine mischief: A skittish horse at the famed French racetrack, Domaine de Chantilly, bucked and threw his jockey recently and then headed straight for a nearby bar. Customers scattered and ducked for cover as the skittish steed galloped from one end of the establishment to the other, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. You can bet that Paris was abuzz with jokes about horses and bars. Perhaps you will recall the one about the horse that walked into a bar and was asked by the bartender: “why the long face.”

###

L.M. Elliott to receive the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize for Suspect Red and an Honorable Mention for Hamilton and Peggy!

An Honorable Mention also goes to Teri Kanefield for her Making of America series biography of Andrew Jackson

WASHINGTON, DC, Sep 20 – The winner of the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize is L.M. Elliott, for her historical novel, Suspect Red, a look at McCarthyism and the Red Scare, published by Hyperion-Disney. She will also receive an Honorable Mention award for Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, published by HarperCollins and Katherine Tegen Books. It’s the first time an author will be given the Prize, and an Honorable Mention.

Author and publisher David Bruce Smith, who co-founded the Prize with the late Dr. Bruce Cole, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, calls Suspect Red “a historically accurate novel of suspense that will engage young readers in a complicated period of America’s history.”

The School Library Journal review of Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, noted “The story is drawn from extensive research on each of the characters, through their letters, magazines, newspapers, and personal diaries. Elliott has accomplished something wonderful here, and this is an absolute must-have for all middle and high school collections.”

Teri Kanefield, who will receive an “Honorable Mention” for her biography of Andrew Jackson, is a prolific contributor to “The Making of America” series published by Harry N. Abrams. In addition to “Jackson”, she has written about Alexander Hamilton (2017), and Abraham Lincoln (2018). Her “Susan B. Anthony” and “Franklin Delano Roosevelt” will appear in 2019, and the publication date of “Thurgood Marshall” is pending.

The goal of the Grateful American Book Prize, as Ms. Elliott described it, is to “restore history as the captivating subject it is. History is, after all, a human drama, the story of how we got to where we are. Teachers are faced with the daunting task of covering centuries of events, leaders, political and cultural movements, wars, and statistics, on and on. Historical or biographical fiction, if done well, immerses its reader in a time period and brings a beating heart to those ‘dry’ facts. It offers something for which students hunger—humanizing the history they must memorize for tests by telling it through the eyes of an ‘everyman’—a character who must navigate national situations and experiences fears, longing, and moments of revelation, a person with whom readers empathize and turn each page concerned about what happens next. Engaged in a compelling, well-researched story, teens learn so much about a time period and its challenges by osmosis. They’re just enjoying a good story–even if it’s about frightening, complex times, with large lessons, as is Suspect Red.

“This Prize is a gift to all of us taking on the responsibility (and the joy!) of writing historical pieces for young people. I am very lucky to have wonderful editors who believe in historical narratives and are willing to take on the extra work they require. Others in the publishing industry need convincing that such novels have just as much interest-value and potential audience as more pop-culture genres–this Prize does so much to promote that! So I know I speak for all historical novelists when I say we are GRATEFUL!”

The Grateful American Book Prize comes with an award of $13,000, a lifetime pass to the New-York Historical Society, and a medallion created by the American artist, Clarice Smith. The October 11^th presentation will be at The Society of the Cincinnati in Washington, D.C. The “Honorable Mention” authors receive the medallion, and $500 each.

###

AMAC urges seniors to enter into a ‘Fitness Protection Program”

You’ll feel better and it can improve your health, says the senior advocacy organization

WASHINGTON, DC, Sep 21 – Americans are living longer than ever before. The average lifespan in the U.S. has doubled over the past 100 years. In 1918, you were lucky if you made it past 40 years of age. Today we’re living into our 80s and the number of people living past 100 is at an all time high.

Fitness expert Jena Walther, Exercise Physiologist at the Scripps Center for Executive Health in La Jolla, CA, says more than half of us who are over 55 don’t even meet the minimum recommended guidelines for exercise. They lack confidence, are afraid they’ll hurt themselves or are just plain uninterested. And, it gets worse as they get older.

“In addition to making older folks feel better, the advantages of keeping fit include the ability to prevent some of the more serious diseases associated with aging, including Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even Alzheimer’s,” according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC].

Weber is encouraging AMAC’s membership to enter into what he calls a “Fitness Protection Program.”   He says, “As we get older we tend to seek ways to avoid activities that involve exertion. To quote one anonymous wag: the only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, sidestepping responsibility, and pushing their luck. We need to overcome inertia and find ways of improving our heart rates and blood sugar levels by developing good exercise habits. Of course, it is important to check with your doctor before beginning any regimen that involves strenuous activities.”

Exercise is particularly good at fending off Type 2 Diabetes and other chronic conditions. The World Health Organization says that a healthy diet, increased physical activity and avoiding tobacco use can prevent 80% of premature heart disease, 80% of type 2 diabetes cases and 40% of cancers. And, according to the Alzheimer’s Association: “”Exercise or regular physical activity might play a role in both protecting your brain from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and also living better with the disease if you have it.”

AMAC suggests that, ideally, your own Fitness Protection Program will include formal exercise routines – even if it is going for a walk around the block. But being active doesn’t have to be limited to your workout times. There are plenty of ways to become more active as you go about your day. For example:

• When you are out and about, always choose stairs over the elevator, park at the far end of the parking lot when arriving at appointments and meetings, walk down every isle of the grocery store while shopping, practice balancing skills while standing in line, do neck rolls while waiting at a stoplight.
• When you are at home, do a set of wall pushups while waiting for water to boil, vigorously vacuum, tend to the garden, sweep the sidewalk, rake leaves, lift weights while watching the news, try toe-raises while talking on the phone, do knee bends after sitting for a long period of time.

Says Weber, “you will feel better if you keep active. Guaranteed!”

###

The stuff that smiles are made of…

They got a kick out of her: Kaylee Foster was recently crowned Homecoming Queen at Ocean Springs High School in Mississippi, but that didn’t stop her from trading in her tiara for a football helmet shortly thereafter. The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] says Kaylee just happens to be a place kicker on the school’s football team and she apparently is a pretty accomplished player. And, it was good thing she was on hand because the game was tied in overtime and Kaylee kicked the winning goal.

###

The flying Lamborghini: The successful test flight of a drone-like flying passenger car has encouraged a Philippines inventor to seek investors to fund mass production, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. He has high hopes and says ”I wanted it to be a sports car, a flying Lamborghini, maybe.”

###

Attack of the moths: Residents of the French town of Oyonnax must have scrambled to put their woolens in a safe place recently when a massive swarm of moths gathered in in the center of town. The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] reports that the whole thing was caught in a cell phone video by a resident who arrived late one night to find the insects circling around street lights and trees.

###

The punch line was a payoff: A pair of practical jokers hit the jackpot when they surreptitiously put up a homemade poster on the wall of their local McDonald’s in Houston, TX. The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] says it all started when the two noticed that the eatery was adorned with multiple posters showing individuals of various ethnicity noshing away at their fast food of choice. As Jevh Maravilla explained it: “They had other races, but no Asians, so we felt like it was our duty to put ourselves up there.” It took a while, but after painstakingly producing photos of themselves eating store bought fries and putting together a rather professional looking advertisement, they quickly and quietly put it up on a blank wall. And, they taped their escapade from start to finish and posted it on YouTube. They were secretive about their project because they thought the store and the company might frown on their endeavor. Instead, McDonald’s recently presented each of them with $25,000 for their efforts. You might say it was a joke with a very rewarding punch line.

###

What a little determination can do: Daniel Grinnell of Rochester, NY was determined to buy lottery tickets that day so when he found that the ATM at his favorite Fastrac café was on the fritz, he went to another store to place his bets. It was a lucky decision, not because he was able to withdraw funds from their ATM and wound up winning $27, but because he returned to the Fastrac used his winnings to pay for new scratch-off tickets one of which was worth $3,000,000 and which netted him a $1,558,576 lump sum payment after Uncle Sam got his share.

###

Who was that masked man: A woman in Pinellas County, Florida woke up one morning recently to find a “masked” intruder in her bedroom. She, of course, called the cops. But, explains the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC], he didn’t mean her any harm. He probably was looking for something to eat, as raccoons are wont to do. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s office posted photos of the furry critter and the deputy who came to the woman’s rescue on its Facebook Page.

###

The integrity principle

In 1964 I was a young reporter at the American Forces Network headquarters news desk in Frankfurt, West Germany. My editor — a crusty, chain smoker who routinely tossed copy back at me and said just two words, “fix it,” – had assigned me to cover the controversial Johnson- Goldwater presidential election campaign. “Fix it,” he said tossing my first story back to me. He’d done a word count and was concerned that I had devoted 10 or 15 extra words to Mr. Goldwater. He saw it as bias. I learned my lesson.

It was a lesson about integrity. Without that quality journalists become irrelevant. They become partisan hacks. They become hit men for personal causes. More important, they erode the confidence the public had in them and in all news reporters. It’s their job to provide the facts; it is the readers’ prerogative to interpret those facts. We don’t need the spin of a biased newsman.

The majority of journalists and their editors still adhere to the rules and most publishers offer swift justice in the form of pink slips for those who stray. But, it seems that these days it has become difficult, at best, to know when a report in a newspaper or on TV is actually news or a personal opinion.

It’s bad enough that anyone with a computer, a basic knowledge of grammar and a vivid imagination can be a reporter these days by posting their so-called news stories on the Internet. These new age town criers have no rules; they are free to twist and turn their so-called coverage of an event or personality to suit their personal agendas. But when mainstream reporters do it, we all lose. We lose confidence in the purpose and accuracy of the stories we read in the morning paper and those we watch on the evening news.

Doctor of Psychology Seth Meyers, writing in the journal Psychology Today, says, “an individual with integrity is the antidote to self-interest.”

The late Dr. Charles Krauthammer was such an individual. In his Washington Post obituary Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest, a publication focused on American interests, is quoted as saying: “Krauthammer wasn’t simply a reflexive, unthinking conservative who was peddling the party line. He had real discernment and independence. At bottom, he was an intellectual, not just a journalist, with real literary flair and style and insight.”

Before he died, Krauthammer, who was a columnist for the Post, wrote what was to be his last column for the newspaper. It was an Opinion article in which he discussed his ill health and impending death. His words are the very essence of what it means to be a journalist with integrity:

“I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking. I am grateful to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this extraordinary nation’s destiny.”

News reporters are bound by a code of ethics. They stick to the facts. They do not take advantage of the stories they are covering to promote a personal agenda. The integrity principle is taken seriously and, if they stray, there are editors who strictly enforce the code. Editorials are for the editorial pages.

###

The stuff smiles are made of…

The business of dying: Death is big business in Japan and the competition is fierce, says the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. The population over there is aging at a quickening pace, and so is the demand for funerals and funeral services. In fact, innovative Japanese entrepreneurs have come up with new ways to cash in on that demand. Take the funeral parlor that has begun offering drive-thru funerals. Meanwhile, the frenzy to cash in on the business of dying caused quite a stir not long ago when Amazon began offering a rent-a-monk service and a competitor began offering the services of a robotic “monk.” Who was it that said, dying is easy; comedy is hard?

###

How did he do it: Police took a homeless man with no arms into custody in South Beach, FL. recently for allegedly assaulting a tourist. Police say he stabbed the victim with a pair of scissors clutched in his feet, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. Apparently, he is quite adept at using his feet in place of hands and is known in the neighborhood for sidewalk works of art.

###

Down the rabbit hole: And you thought the White Rabbit was a fictional character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland who leads Alice into Wonderland down the rabbit hole. Well, reports the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC], he’s for real. Londoners who commute via buses and the tube, as they say in England, took to social media to keep track of the mysterious bunny’s whereabouts. And, some of them have shared snapshots of the cute critter. Others posted comments such as “I saw him on the overground to hackney the other day.. he’s very busy & important, rarely late” and “I have seen that bloody rabbit in Hackney, was sure I was hallucinating.”

###

Real fat cats: A pair of fat cat New Yorkers are bound to get even fatter considering the inheritance they just received. No, they’re not obese rich guys; they are real fat cats—the feline kind, explains the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. Their owner – a recently deceased 88-year-old woman with an estate worth some $3 million – left the kitties a cool $300,000 inheritance.

###

Job-hunting: If you are looking for a new line of work, you may want to view this posting on the U.K. Web site, http://www.childcare.co.uk/profile/2398492. There you’ll find a posting for the position of nanny, but this is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill kind of baby-sitting assignment. It comes with a few surprising and rewarding perks, say the folks at the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] who spotted the listing. They include a salary of $128,000, the free-time use of a some pricey automobiles, including a Porsche, a Range Rover and a Maserati, and three gourmet meals a day prepared by a top-rated international chef. So far, the family has collected more than 1,000 applications but apparently hasn’t found the right candidate as yet. There’s international travel involved as well since the family has homes in London, Barbados, Cape Town and Atlanta.

###

 

 

There’s a new way to wage war in the 21st Century; it’s called cyber warfare

It’s very real and very deadly

WASHINGTON, DC – At eleven AM, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 2018, the world will commemorate the end of World War I, which back in the day was called “the war to end all wars.” But, it didn’t.

“In fact, the 20^th Century was a particularly bellicose period in the history of the world. And, a hundred years later – in the 21^st Century – a new way to wage war has emerged. It’s called cyber warfare and it does not rely on bullets and battleships. Rather, instead of brave foot soldiers, artillery brigades, fighter pilots and sea captains, this new kind of conflict relies on sedentary computer technicians and the World Wide Web. This new battleground has no defined theaters of operation; it exists in time and space. But, it is very real and very deadly, perhaps even more so than the way wars were fought in the past,” according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens.

A few months ago, Army Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, was appointed as the new Director of the National Security Agency [NSA]. He is also the new chief of the U.S. Cyber Command [USCYBERCOM], which does in cyberspace what traditional military forces do on land, air and sea.

During his confirmation hearings, General Nakasone stated, “the current level and tempo of cyber attacks [against the U.S.] is not tolerable. Our adversaries see opportunity for strategic advantage through continuous activity in the domain. We must act purposefully to frustrate their intentions, increase their costs, and decrease their likelihood of success.”

He said that USCYBERCOM is engaged in the task of “aggressively defending our network, conducting daily operations against adversaries, and strengthening the combat power and lethality of U.S. forces around the world.”

Weber points out that there are 195 countries in the world and that perhaps more than 120 of them have developed the capacity to weaponize the Internet. “Chief among them are Russia and China. But, America’s cyber forces, along with those of strategic allies such as Israel, are well prepared to overcome the threat they pose.”

An article by analyst Bob Mason on the NASDAQ Web site identifies America and Israel as having the world’s most formidable cyber forces.

The most obvious threats posed by the cyber enemies of the U.S. are designed to target the nation’s infrastructure and financial institutions, according to Weber. “But, there is an even more dangerous peril – the ability of bad actors to use the Internet to create chaos and revolutionary dissension via social media. One can only wonder if the intense anti-government protests, in the guise of a movement to bring down President Trump, are not the carefully orchestrated activities of cyber enemies, both domestic and foreign.”

Weber’s speculation is not so far-fetched. Facebook revealed to Congress recently that there have been dozens of incidents of “inauthentic” activity on its site and that of Facebook’s Instagram App. The social media giant stated, “we’re still in the very early stages of our investigation and don’t have all the facts — including who may be behind this. But we are sharing what we know today given the connection between these bad actors and protests that are planned in Washington.”

The AMAC chief concludes that Internet warfare is “a clear and present danger for the U.S., one with consequences that are just as deadly as traditional armed military conflict. It has long been the preferred method of targeting us for mayhem and murder among radical Islamic terrorists. Remember, ISIS effectively used the World Wide Web to declare war on the civilized world.”

###

Peak senior travel time draws near; here are some tips from AMAC

Help ensure your journey is enjoyable, worry free and safe

WASHINGTON, DC, Aug 24 – Summer vacations are the norm for full-fledged families with work and school schedules, but retirees prefer the leisurely, less costly pace of off-season escapes, says Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens. Thus, he says, the start of the peak travel season for senior citizens begins after Labor Day.

“While the rest of the world goes back to school and back to work, the most popular vacation destinations are not so crowded and in many cases less expensive. These are ideal conditions for seniors,” Weber explains.

There are a lot of reasons travel is at the top of the lists for retirees. Those who can afford it want to see the world and fly or sail off to exotic destinations now that they have the time. Even those on limited budgets can satisfy their wanderlust by taking road trips.

And, Professor of Sociology and Gerontology at the University of Kansas, Dr. David J. Ekerdt, says that travel is good for seniors. He tells Forbes Magazine “it is something to anticipate, something that populates your future with a project or event. It’s an affirmation of good health — that you can actually get in a car and go two states away.” Some say travel can even help you live longer and healthier.

But, whatever the benefits of travel for older Americans, there are a few tips that can help ensure your journey is enjoyable, worry free and safe.

AMAC, says Weber, recommends early planning. “For one thing, you need to take note of physical limitations you may have and, if you are traveling with a wife or husband, what concerns they may have. So, begin by planning a getaway that will not be so physically demanding if you are not up to it. It might be a good idea to check with your doctors to discuss your medical needs during your trip.”

Once you’ve picked a destination that’s right for you, here are a few tips:

• Pack a sufficient supply of the medications you take in your carry-on luggage so that they will be easily accessible when you need them. And, make a list of the meds, just in case you run out or lose them.
• According to the official site for Medicare “In general, health care you get while traveling outside the U.S.isn’t covered. Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands are considered part of the U.S. So check with your insurance provider to make sure you can receive insured medical attention at your destination if and when you might need it. If your insurance does not cover you, purchase supplemental coverage that will be available at your destination or destinations
• Make sure you pack comfortable walking shoes and, if you are headed into a sunny clime, get yourself headwear that will protect you.
• Provide a family member and/or a trusted neighbor with an itinerary, complete with the names and locations of the hotels at which you’ll be staying.
• If you are flying to your destination and have any dietary restrictions, contact your airline to ensure they can provide meals that meet those restrictions.
• Check that your passports are in order if you are traveling abroad and if you don’t have a current passport, apply for it giving yourself time for it to be processed.
• Take a spare pair of glasses—particularly prescription glasses, just in case of breakage or loss.
• If you have a long flight to your destination, be sure to periodically walk the aisles during your flight lest you fall prey to Deep Vein Thrombosis.
• Use a money belt or safety pouch to carry your valuables, including your passport, travelers’ checks and cash. Leave expensive jewelry at home.
• Make copies of all the documents you carry, including your passport, airline tickets, etc. Leave one set with a family member or a trusted friend; hold on to a second set—just in case you misplace an original.

###