it's a marathon today on Destination America Channel. I love this corny show. The re-enactments are a bit cheesy, and I'm a skeptic, but I really enjoy these paranormal tales. I love a rainy day off watching a marathon!

Biden's Chance to Save the Everglades
With passage of the Covid-19 relief bill behind it, the Biden administration will soon offer its encore, one or more big proposals reflecting President Biden’s multitrillion-dollar Build Back Better, which will enlarge government’s role in the American economy. Together, these budget requests will be bigger in dollar terms than the relief bill, will address daunting problems like infrastructure and climate change — and, inevitably, will revive the partisan divide that plagues Washington.

There is, however, one environmentally important project that boasts remarkable bipartisan agreement and has important climate implications. It may be the most ambitious ecosystem recovery project ever, not just in the United States but anywhere, and it has the added virtue of being an act of atonement for past government failures.

scheme aimed at replicating as nearly as possible the historical flows of fresh water from Lake Okeechobee — flows that a pioneer advocate named Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the River of Grass — that once made South Florida a biological wonderland. These flows slowed to trickle starting in the late 1940s when Congress ordered up a massive flood control project to protect Florida’s booming cities, which looked like a smart idea at the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/opinion/biden-environment-everglades-florida.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

With passage of the Covid-19 relief bill behind it, the Biden administration will soon offer its encore, one or more big proposals reflecting President Biden’s multitrillion-dollar Build Back Better, which will enlarge government’s role in the American economy. Together, these budget requests will be bigger in dollar terms than the relief bill, will address daunting problems like infrastructure and climate change — and, inevitably, will revive the partisan divide that plagues Washington.

There is, however, one environmentally important project that boasts remarkable bipartisan agreement and has important climate implications. It may be the most ambitious ecosystem recovery project ever, not just in the United States but anywhere, and it has the added virtue of being an act of atonement for past government failures.

scheme aimed at replicating as nearly as possible the historical flows of fresh water from Lake Okeechobee — flows that a pioneer advocate named Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the River of Grass — that once made South Florida a biological wonderland. These flows slowed to trickle starting in the late 1940s when Congress ordered up a massive flood control project to protect Florida’s booming cities, which looked like a smart idea at the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/opinion/biden-environment-everglades-florida.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

WASHINGTON — Democrats have spent the last several years clamoring to raise taxes on corporations and the rich, seeing that as a necessary antidote to widening economic inequality and a rebuke of President Donald J. Trump’s signature tax cuts.

Now, under President Biden, they have a shot at ushering in the largest federal tax increase since 1942. It could help pay for a host of spending programs that liberal economists predict would bolster the economy’s performance and repair a tax code that Democrats say encourages wealthy people to hoard assets and big companies to ship jobs and book profits overseas.

The question is whether congressional Democrats and the White House can agree on how sharply taxes should rise and who, exactly, should pay the bill. They widely share the goal of reversing many of Mr. Trump’s tax cuts from 2017, and of making the wealthy and big businesses pay more. But they do not yet agree on the details — and because Republicans are unlikely to support their efforts, they have no room for error in a closely divided Senate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/business/biden-taxes-business-rich.html

Mr. XanaDUer2 snagged an appointment somehow. Good to see all ages getting their shots. Overhearing the pharmacist telling phone callers staff don't make appointments. I'm just worried there are people not computer friendly having a hard time

I Google Marco's. It's closed. The guy who answered the phone told me they closed. Then
I had the nerve to ask him did he have the number of the other, presumably open Marco's. No, he didn't. The name of the place I wanted is Vito's.

It's hell getting old. Or my meds are frying my brain

www.vaccinefinder.org

He couldn't find a place that had any, including local health department. Our medical practice was out. Two minutes on vaccine finder, we found doses at a cvs right nearby in stock. The only pharmacy we could find was ten miles away; a problem for us.

I hope I can post this here. I want the widest group of opinions, since this is making me sick and I have no one to talk to about it other than my shrink.

I suffer from bipolar and extreme anxiety and depression. I work in a white-collar service industry. We have one workroom, where we all sit and you can see and hear each other. I am the oldest person at my location. The bully is a few years younger. I'm 55. The bully is the wife of a local politician. I was moved to the location to avoid stress at my previous location, due to constant violence and harassment by the public (not just me, other staff, esp female, also subjected to it). I've been out on FMLA twice here in 8.5 years, I am considering going out again. The work situation, aside from the bully, is very stressful anyway.

The first time I was formally introduced to the bully, she says in front of everyone, "Why are you here?". She has yelled at me in front of her boss (!). She has yelled at and gotten aggressive with other staff, but she really hates me. Her opinion is that I am not working hard enough. She will stand in the center of the workroom and announce that not everyone works hard there. I suspect she is negatively gossiping about me to other staff. I am pretty sure, however, they don't want to get involved with that, but they joke around with her other times. Maybe everyone is scared of her. The worst thing she ever did was, during an all-staff meeting with the director of our division, she raised her hand and announced that I and (insert other staff member) don't know enough about what was going on there. I cried publicly. She frankly, seems to be suffering from stress and anxiety herself, but I don't care at this point.

I have spoken to her boss a few times, and I like her boss very much. I believe she has spoken to her. However, she now has the attitude that I should confront this woman myself. I don't want to. My shrink says I have to protect myself and to document everything, including witnesses, from hereonin, and that I have to protect myself. I dread our meetings, not knowing what she'll say. This is really affecting my life.

Our personnel policy has an anti-bullying policy. This woman's MO, and her boss admitted she's passive-aggressive, is to make a pronouncement in the middle of the room like, "Some people don't work hard here." I am at a higher level than she is, and there are things I have to do that involve culling statistics, employee evaluation, etc. so I am doing at-my-desk things she, at a clerk level, is not responsible for.

I have never worked in such a toxic environment, but I was moved here and don't want to move again. I am getting to the point that if she is worse, I go to HR since I feel her boss does not want to deal with her. Her husband, the local pol, is awful a lot of the time, too. And I voted for this asshole twice.

More than this has happened, and this is just the highlights so you get the atmosphere. I wear earphones to keep her voice out; she;s extremely loud. I turn the music up high. I'm trying to ignore it, but it's triggering anxiety in me that I feel on days off. I miss a lot of work. Ignoring it may be making it worse.

I have a good working relationship with her boss, and I don't want to ruin it. I just don't know what to do. Friends who have quit but worked with her tell me she's crazy and a bully. Hope I get SSDI.

happy saint Patrick's day everyone

PROTECT AND STRENGTHEN ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Trump Administration has systematically attacked the Social Security disability programs—from proposing monitoring people with disabilities through social media in order to cancel their benefits, including their health care, to tightening eligibility through a proposal to redefine the number of hours in a work week so some applicants do not receive benefits. The National Council on Disability found that “people with disabilities live in poverty at more than twice the rate of people without disabilities.” To protect the economic security of people with disabilities and increase employment opportunities, Biden will take a holistic approach to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicaid, and other programs to support people with disabilities. He will:

Increase the benefit level for people receiving SSI. Biden will set a federal benefit rate of at least 100% of the poverty level.
Eliminate the five-month waiting period for SSDI and two-year waiting period for Medicare. Biden will work to pass legislation to ensure working people who develop a condition or disability are able to get their Social Security support as well as their Medicare benefits as soon as they qualify.

Eliminate the “benefit cliff” for SSDI. Earnings limits under SSDI can discourage people with disabilities from engaging in employment or internship opportunities when they depend on SSDI funds. Biden will increase this limit and phase out this benefit gradually so people with disabilities don’t have to choose between employment and health care.
Reform the SSI program so that it doesn’t limit beneficiaries’ freedom to marry, save, or live where they choose. Biden will work with Congress and the disability community to eliminate the SSI marriage penalty and “in-kind support and maintenance” provision and raise the asset limits associated with SSI that have not been increased since 1984.

Expand access to tax-advantaged savings accounts, ABLE accounts, which provide people with disabilities a way to pay for “qualified disability-related expenses, such as education, housing and transportation.” Biden will work to pass the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which will make ABLE accounts available to 6 million additional adults with disabilities, including 1 million veterans.

Reverse damage done to Social Security rules by the Trump Administration. President Trump announced that he wants to change the Social Security rules for people who get disability benefits, including SSI and SSDI. His proposed change would require many to re-verify their disability every two years, a tough enough process to get through once, targeting adults with disabilities who are close to retirement, children with disabilities, and people with certain medical conditions including cancer and behavioral disorders. If approved by the Trump Administration, Biden will rescind this harmful proposal.

Strengthen the Social Security Administration. Ensuring that Social Security benefits are easy to access and that field offices and teleservice centers are fully funded is key to our bedrock commitment to seniors and people with disabilities. Cutting Social Security services will only hurt the most vulnerable in our communities. Biden will provide sufficient resources for staffing needs to meet the needs of beneficiaries today and into the future.

Www.joebiden.com/disabilities/