News

Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dead At 96

Published

1 year ago

2023-11-19

ATLANTA, Ga. – Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter’s closest counsel throughout his one time as President of the United States and for the next four decades as a worldwide humanitarian, has died at the age of 96.

According to the Carter Center, she died on Sunday after suffering from dementia and poor health for several months. According to the announcement announcing her death, she “died peacefully, with family by her side” at 2:10 p.m. in Plains, Georgia.

“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Carter stated. “She provided me with sound advice and encouragement when I needed it.” “As long as Rosalynn was alive, I knew someone loved and supported me.”

Jill Biden said she had to “lead this off with a sad announcement” of Rosalynn Carter’s death while speaking at a Naval Air Station event in Norfolk, Virginia. “She was well-known for her work in mental health, caregiving, and women’s rights.” So I hope you’ll remember the Carter family in your prayers during the holidays,” she stated.

She spoke at a hangar where she and President Joe Biden prepared to host an early Thanksgiving dinner for service members and their families.

Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dead At 96

The Carters were married for over 77 years, forming what they both called a “full partnership.” Unlike many prior first ladies, Rosalynn Carter attended Cabinet meetings, spoke out on difficult matters, and accompanied her husband on foreign tours. Aides to President Carter secretly referred to her as “co-president.”

“Rosalynn is my best friend… the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life,” Jimmy Carter told aides during their time in the White House, which lasted from 1977 to 1981.

Rosalynn Carter was a fiercely loyal and caring first lady who was also politically smart, and no one denied her influence behind the scenes. When her role in a widely publicized Cabinet shuffle was revealed, she was forced to publicly declare, “I am not running the government.”

Many presidential advisers claimed that her political instincts were superior to her husband’s, and they frequently sought her approval for a project before discussing it with the president. Her steely determination, ostensibly modest attitude, and sweet Southern accent prompted Washington reporters to dub her “the Steel Magnolia.”

According to both Carters, Rosalynn Carter was always the more political of the two. After Jimmy Carter’s overwhelming defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who considered an unlikely comeback, and she said years later that she missed their life in Washington.

Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that, just months into his presidency, he dispatched her on a mission to Latin America to assure dictators that he meant what he said about refusing military aid and other forms of support to human rights abusers.

She also had strong sentiments about the Carter White House’s style. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public events, but Rosalynn did allow US wine. There were fewer ballroom dancing nights and more square dancing and picnics.

Throughout her husband’s political career, she made mental health and senior issues her defining policy focus. When the news media didn’t cover her efforts as much as she thought they deserved, she chastised them for writing solely about “sexy subjects.”

Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dead At 96

As honorary chairwoman of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, she once spoke before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first lady to do so since Eleanor Roosevelt. She returned to Washington in 2007 to lobby Congress for better mental health care, stating, “We’ve been working on this for so long, and it finally seems to be in reach.”

She stated she became interested in mental health during her husband’s run for governor of Georgia.

“I used to come home and tell Jimmy, ‘Why are people telling me about their problems?'” “And he said, ‘Because you may be the only person they’ll ever see who knows someone who can help them,'” she explained.

Rosalynn Carter appeared more distraught than her husband after Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980. She first hesitated to return to Plains, Georgia, where they were both born, married and lived the majority of their life.

“I was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles,” she said in her autobiography, published in 1984, “First Lady from Plains.” Eventually, “we slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before.”

Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work after leaving Washington. She led the center’s annual mental health symposium and gathered funds for programs to help the mentally ill and homeless. She also published “Helping Yourself Help Others,” a memoir about the difficulties of caring for elderly or unwell family, and a sequel, “Helping Someone With Mental Illness.”

Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dead At 96

The Carters frequently departed home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and supporting public health and democracy in foreign countries.

“I get tired,” she admitted of her journeys. “However, something wonderful always happens.” Going to a town where they have Guinea worm and then returning a year or two later and there is no Guinea worm, the people dance and sing — it’s so amazing.”

Jimmy Carter’s physicians identified four tiny lesions on his brain in 2015. The Carters felt he had only a few weeks to live. He was given a medicine to enhance his immune system and later declared that no indications of cancer remained. But when they first heard the news, she stated she didn’t know what to do.

“I depend on him when I have questions, when I’m writing speeches, anything, I consult with him,” she said.

She later assisted Carter’s recovery after he had hip replacement surgery at the age of 94 and had to relearn how to walk. She was with him earlier this year when he opted to forego additional medical procedures and initiate end-of-life care following a series of hospital stays.

Jimmy Carter is the longest-serving president of the United States. Rosalynn Carter was the second-longest-living first lady in American history, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at 97.

Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dead At 96

Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, the eldest of four children, was born in Plains on August 18, 1927. Her father died while she was young, so when her mother went to work part-time, she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings.

Rosalynn Carter also helped support the family by working at a beauty salon after school. “We were very poor and worked very hard,” she once stated, yet she continued her education, finishing as class valedictorian from high school.

Rosalynn Carter quickly fell in love with one of her best friend’s brothers. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other their entire lives — Jimmy’s mother, nurse Lillian Carter, was the one who delivered Rosalynn — but he went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, while she was still in high school.

Jimmy told his mother after a blind date, “That’s the girl I want to marry.” They married in 1946, shortly after his Annapolis graduation and Rosalynn’s graduation from Georgia Southwestern College.

Their boys were born at the locations where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in 1967 in Plains. Carter was a state senator at the time.

Rosalynn Carter’s first opportunity to travel the world came from her Navy time. When Carter’s father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter returned the family to Plains, where he took over the family property without asking his wife. She worked with him daily, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks.

“We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business,” Rosalynn Carter said proudly in an interview with The Associated Press in 2021. “On paper, I knew more about the business than he did.” He would listen to my suggestions.”

Lillian Carter said of her daughter-in-law at the height of the Carters’ political power: “She can do anything in the world with Jimmy, and she’s the only one.” He pays attention to her.”

SOURCE – (AP)

News

Cases Of The US Flu Season Are Rising, While Vaccinations Are Behind Schedule.

Published

8 hours ago

2024-12-21

Salman Ahmad

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

(VOR News) – The U.S. flu season has begun, according to health experts, who also noted a sharp rise in cases countrywide on Friday.

Significant increases were noted by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in a number of indicators, such as laboratory tests and ED visits. “For the past few weeks, it has been increasing steadily.” “Yes, we are in flu season right now,” CDC’s Alicia Budd said.

Last week, flu-like sickness was reported at elevated or very elevated levels in 13 states, roughly twice as many as the week before. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, says Tennessee is seeing a spike in sickness in the Nashville area.

Schaffner said, “Influenza cases have been increasing, but they have increased significantly in the last week.” He noted that up to 25% of patients in a nearby clinic, which is a gauge of illness trends, have flu-like symptoms.

An early focal point was Louisiana.

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Centre, the largest private hospital in the state, in Baton Rouge, has infectious diseases specialist Dr. Catherine O’Neal, who said, “This week is a significant turning point as individuals are affected by the flu.” “Parents frequently say, ‘I have the flu and can’t go to work,’ and ‘Where can I get a flu test?'”

Fever, cough, sore throat, and other influenza-like symptoms are caused by a variety of viruses. COVID-19 is one of them. Another flu season common disease that causes cold-like symptoms but poses serious hazards to infants and the elderly is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Recent CDC numbers indicate a decline in COVID-19 hospitalisations since the summer. According to CDC wastewater data, COVID-19 activity is modest nationwide but elevated in the Midwest.

Although RSV hospitalisations are still marginally more common than flu admissions, they started to rise before flu season cases and currently show signs of perhaps stabilising. RSV activity is low nationwide, but wastewater data shows that it is high in the South.

Based on a number of indicators, such as laboratory results from hospitalised patients and outpatient clinics, as well as the percentage of ED visits that resulted in an influenza diagnosis at discharge, the CDC declared the start of the flu season.

According to Budd, it is too early in the season to determine the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine, and no type of virus seems to be more common.

The flu season last winter was classified as “moderate” overall, but it continued for 21 weeks, and the CDC estimates that 28,000 people died from the virus. With 205 paediatric deaths reported, the situation was particularly dangerous for kids. It was the largest number ever recorded for a conventional influenza season.

The prolonged flu season was probably one of the reasons, Budd added.

The lack of influenza vaccinations was one of the contributing factors. The CDC reports that 80% of children who passed away and had verified vaccination status and were of the right age for flu shots were not completely immunised.

Children’s immunisation rates are drastically lower this year. About 41% of people had a flu shot as of December 7, which is similar to the percentage at the same time last year. For youngsters, the figure is steady, although it is lower than in the previous year, when 44% received an influenza vaccination, according to CDC data.

About 21% of adults and 11% of children are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which is still a poor vaccination rate.

Influenza experts advise everyone to get vaccinated, especially as people get ready for holiday gatherings where respiratory diseases could spread widely.

“This virus also has the potential to spread from person to person at all those happy, pleasant, and heartwarming events,” Schaffner said. “flu season Vaccination remains a viable option.”

However, Louisiana’s health department announced on Friday that it was rescinding its COVID-19 and flu vaccination recommendations. According to an official, the department’s current position is that people should speak with their doctors about whether the immunisations are suitable for their situation.

The department’s spokesperson, Emma Herrock, did not respond to follow-up questions regarding the policy. Dr. Ralph Abraham, the state’s surgeon general, has expressed concerns in the past regarding the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness and safety.

SOURCE: AP

News

Social Security Change Approved By Senate Despite Fiscal Concerns

Published

12 hours ago

2024-12-21

Salman Ahmad

(VOR News) – On Saturday, the U.S. Congress passed a plan to increase Social Security retirement payouts for some retirees who receive public pensions, a move that critics say will further erode the program’s financial stability. Among these pensioners are former firefighters and police officers.

The Social Security Fairness Act was passed by the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 76-20 just after midnight. The act may lower payments for those receiving pensions and aims to repeal provisions that have existed for 20 years.

The House of Representatives passed the bill last month by a vote of 327-75, meaning that if the Senate also approves it, it would be delivered to Democratic President Joe Biden to become law.

The White House dodged enquiries regarding Social Security’s objectives.

In order to limit government benefits for certain higher-paid employees who are also getting pensions, the measure will reverse a long-standing change to the program. It has become increasingly common in recent years for municipal employees, such as postal workers and firefighters, to face pay limitations.

The vast majority of Americans do not take part in pension plans that provide a fixed return on investment, instead relying on their own savings and Social Security. According to data from the Department of Labour, only 10% of private sector employees in the US are covered by pension plans.

The new rules apply to about 3 percent of Social Security users, or more than 2.5 million people in the United States. Legislators are heavily influenced by the workers and retirees impacted by these rules, and the powerful advocacy organisations that speak for them have been using the legislative process to push for a legislative cure.

According to retirement experts, some retirees may be able to earn hundreds of dollars more in government benefits each month as a result of the move.

According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, the bill is expected to cost approximately $196 billion over the next 10 years. As a result, federal budget experts are worried that the change could negatively affect the program’s already fragile financial status.

In an interview with the Bipartisan Policy Centre, Emerson Sprick, associate director of economic policy, said he was frustrated by “the overwhelming support in Congress for the contrary of what policy researchers concur on is quite frustrating.”

Instead of eliminating current formulas, we could improve them.

Among these changes is the Social Security Administration’s increased disclosure of the anticipated monetary benefits for these public sector workers.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal think tank, has voiced concerns that the additional cost will impact the program’s ability to continue.

Maya MacGuineas, the organization’s leader, made the declaration, saying, “We are hastening towards our own fiscal ruin.”

“It is noteworthy that lawmakers are in a position to shorten the timeframe by six months, as there are just nine years left before the trust fund for the biggest program in the country runs out.”

Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, said on the Senate floor on Wednesday that the bill in its current form would “throw granny over the cliff.”

According to what he stated, “every senator who votes to impose a burden of $200 billion on the Social Security Trust Fund is opting to put the interests of senior citizens who have contributed to Social Security and earned those benefits in jeopardy.”

Those who favoured the legislation said that the question of what would happen to Social Security could be settled later.

“Those are significantly longer-term concerns that we must collaboratively address,” a supporter of the idea Senator Michael Bennett told Reuters when asked if the move would affect the government’s capacity to be viable.

SOURCE: BR

News

King Charles Could Millions Annually from Renting His Properties

Published

24 hours ago

2024-12-21

Geoff Brown

Estimated Annual Rental Income of £1.4 Million

A recent analysis suggests that King Charles might earn over £1 million each year by renting out royal properties to holidaymakers.

The Royal Family’s historic houses and mansions are popular holiday rentals, contributing significantly to the Palace’s revenue.

Pikl Insurance estimates that the royals may earn up to £118,775.85 per month, or around £1,425,310.20 per year, from their holiday rental portfolio. Even after accounting for cancellations, the monarchy is anticipated to generate a net annual income of somewhat more over £1.4 million.

Estimated Annual Rental Income of £1.4 Million

The four primary royal properties accepting public bookings are Balmoral Castle, Castle of Mey’s Captain House, Restormel Manor, and Dumfries House, according to Express.co.uk. Cottages at Balmoral Castle in Scotland are expected to generate £36,798.30 per month after accounting for cancellations.

According to the numbers, the 500-year-old Restormel Manor in Cornwall is the most profitable of them all, earning a solid £47,082 every month. The resort, located in the Fowey Valley, has four booking spaces and six converted barns.

Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, adds an estimated £31,185.63 and offers 25 rooms for booking. The Castle of Mey’s Captain House in the Scottish Highlands is estimated to generate a more modest £3,709.92 per month, despite the fact that the entire property is available for booking.

The analysts stated, “While the Royal Family’s primary role is undoubtedly to serve the nation, it is clear that their properties are also a valuable asset.” These estimates highlight the royal estate’s considerable financial potential and provide an intriguing peek into the monarchy’s corporate operations.”

Royal Family received £86.3 million from the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant in the previous fiscal year, according to official numbers released in July.

All revenues from the Crown Estate, which includes royal households, forestry, agriculture, and offshore wind, are paid directly to the Treasury, with a portion of this money, now 12%, returned to the Royal Family to finance their tasks.

The records also cover a period of jubilation, including the coronation and festivities surrounding the King and Queen’s crowning in May of last year.