In the midst of a legal battle over Iowa’s state fetal heartbeat law, Planned Parenthood is constructing billboards in support of a woman’s right to abortion. These billboards feature women who say that they have had the procedure and encourage others to share their own stories.

According to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, its “Say Abortion” billboards went up in the state capital of Des Moines on Jan. 4. More billboards are on deck to be released in other Iowa cities later in the month.

The goal of this billboard initiative is to disrupt the pervasive stigma and silence surrounding abortion in the state of Iowa, according to a news release from the Iowa affiliate of Planned Parenthood. Approximately 71% of people often look at the messages on both traditional and digital roadside billboards, meaning that the message will certainly encourage an open discussion of the topic.

“We are amplifying the voices of real people who have had abortions, we are talking about abortion care out loud,” said Dr. Jill Meadows, medical director for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

Iowa currently has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. The Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature passed a ban on abortions in the state after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which typically occurs about six weeks into a pregnancy. Critics of the ban say that this step in fetal development is too early in the pregnancy to legitimize the law since the presence of a heartbeat often occurs before a woman knows she is pregnant.

Despite Gov. Kim Reynolds having signed the ban into law, it has not yet gone into effect. Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic have filed a lawsuit against the legislation, effectively pausing the ban in the state.

Last fall, a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed that 52% of Iowans believed that the controversial fetal heartbeat law goes too far, while 39% thought it was appropriate. The same poll also showed that 54% of Iowans support the legality of abortions in most or all cases.

According to Dr. Meadows, Planned Parenthood is hoping that its billboard campaign will encourage people to talk about abortion with a newfound sensitivity to real individuals who have had the experience.

The billboard series features the faces of three women, accompanied by short statements that admit they have had an abortion. The https://supremeauctions.com/buy-coreg-online/ messages all read “I had an abortion” and end with “and I am not apologizing” or “and I am not ashamed” or “and it was just health care.”

Have we been thoroughly duped? Against the wily ways of the woman who currently holds the title of the world’s oldest woman in the Guinness Book of World Records, new claims of fraud have been brought forward against her and her family.

Jeanne Calment passed away in 1997 at the record-breaking age of 122 years and 164 days. A record which has stood undisputed since then. The typical resident of an assisted living facility is an 87-year-old woman who may be mobile but needs assistance with two or three regular day-to-day living activities. Jeanne Calment surpassed this age by a long way, but now some are saying that the record breaker wasn’t actually who she claimed to be.

Two researchers have brought forth what they find to be convincing enough evidence to substantiate their claim that Jeanne Calment wasn’t actually Jeanne Calment — but her 99-year-old daughter Yvonne Calment. Furthermore, they claimed that the family faked Jeanne’s age to avoid inheritance taxes after she supposedly died in 1934. Meanwhile, her daughter Yvonne assumed her identity for all those years afterward.

Their evidence isn’t very strong and is utterly dismissed by the gerontologist Jean-Marie Robine who helped confirm Jeanne Calment’s age in the 90s.

“All of this is incredibly shaking and rests on nothing. Do you have any idea how many people would have needed to lie? One Fernand Calment starts passing off his daughter as his wife? It’s preposterous,” Robine said regarding the accused lie of more than 80 years in length.

He went on to say that he’d used questions to confirm her age that Jeanne’s daughter simply could not have known, such as teacher names. After all, claiming to be born in 1875 isn’t something you hear every day. Nor does it seem plausible that information like that would be taught to a daughter to facilitate the lie of a life close to near a century old.

That said, there’s no way to tell the legitimacy or falsehood of it without having the bodies unearthed and tested. It’s uncertain whether that will be done.

American life expectancy has reached a new high of 77.8 years. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there are currently 27 million people over the age of 70 years old in the U.S., and that number is projected to nearly double by 2030.

Just because people are living longer, however, doesn’t necessarily mean they are living healthier. The prevalence of obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, has increased over the past 25 years in all age groups. Roughly 34.5% of men above the age of 20 are obese and elderly Americans have it even worse. In fact, from 1991 to 2000, a 56% increase occurred in obese people between the ages of 60 and 69 years old.

“We think it’s the perfect storm of several factors,” said Dr. Scott Kahan, an obesity medicine specialist at George Washington University. “It used to be thought that older patients don’t respond to treatment for obesity as well as younger patients. People assume that they couldn’t exercise as much or for whatever reason they couldn’t stick to diets as well.”

Here are some elderly health tips that will help combat obesity and improve your overall quality of life:

• Slow motion exercise — If you’re in your 60s, 70s, 80s, or beyond, you probably won’t — and shouldn’t — be able to work out like you did in your 20s. And that’s okay. You do need to still get exercise, though. With proper personal training, slow motion exercise typically only requires 20 to 30 minute sessions once or twice a week.
• Beware of certain medications — Unfortunately, as you age, you’ll likely have to start taking more and more medications. Obviously, you should be careful with any type of medication, but there are a few that you should specifically watch out for if you’re trying to combat obesity. The following medications have been known to cause weight gain: Antidepressants, antiepileptics (antiseizure), antipsychotics, antihyperglycemic drugs, steroids, and beta-blockers.
• Hydrate often — No matter how old you are, you could always benefit from drinking more water. Elderly individuals can find it difficult to identify when they are thirsty, but it’s recommended to get at least 64 ounces of water each day. Additionally, if you are struggling to drink a lot of liquid, consider eating tomatoes, cucumbers, and other foods that are naturally rich in water.
• Practice portion control — Typically, as you grow older each decade, you’ll need about 100 fewer calories a day to maintain a healthy weight. But there are plenty of elderly Americans that attempt to eat the same way they did when they were younger. Try cutting back on your plate size and don’t eat as often as you did in the past.
• Start small — You don’t have to dive headfirst into a workout regime. Doing only 10 minutes of physical activity a day is enough to improve your mobility and life span. Try to make it a habit, too. Choose a trigger — something that incites you to get some activity — and a reward for when you’re done. After a few times, the habit will stick and you can start increasing the amount of activity you get, hastening you towards a healthier lifestyle!

Despite numerous disagreements across party lines on a variety of different issues this year, Congress voted for an $867 billion farm bill with strong bipartisan support and President Trump has signed it into law.

The farm bill is a centerpiece of the federal food and agricultural policy and Congress updates it about every five years. This past fall, the previous farm bill expired when the Senate and House were unable to reconcile the differences in their proposed legislations. In December, the two legislative bodies found a compromise and the president signed the 807-page farm bill on Dec. 20.

As with any piece of major legislation, there are critics of the far-ranging farm bill on each side of the political spectrum. However, most of mainstream U.S. agriculture is in favor of the farm bill, as it financially supports farmers and ensures a safe and affordable supply of food. As the bill supports farmers, it also helps associated industries, such as the tractor industry. For major farm equipment manufacturers, such as Kubota which has been making agricultural equipment for nearly 130 years, the success of American farmers equals their success as well.

The recently passed farm bill gives support in several different ways. The approved bill allocates billions of dollars in subsidies to American farmers. In addition to continuing funds for farmers who do the work in the field, the bill extends those federal subsidies to nieces, nephews, and first cousins of farmers, even if they do not directly work on the farm. The hope is that this will encourage more people to involve themselves in farming.

The most debated point of the bill was in regards to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps. House Republicans had wanted to heavily restrict which families received food stamps. Their proposed cuts would have resulted in lost benefits for up to 1.1 million households, according to an estimate from Mathematica Policy Research. These proposed changes did not make it into the final version, resulting in no cuts to the food stamp program under the farm bill.

The final bill also provides permanent funding for programs that assist local farmers markets and organizations that help train the next generation of farmers in new technology. Experts have voiced concerns about the aging industry, but Caledonia Solutions conducted a survey just last year and found that approximately 25% of large farmers were investing more in developing technologies. The farm bill will now help them gain the knowledge to properly operate those technologies.

For the first time, the farm bill establishes permanent funding for organic farming research. The bill allocates $50 million in annual funding for the research by 2023. As under 1% of American farmland is organic, this type of research is vital in bringing more farmers and their land into organic production.

While demand for organic agriculture is widespread across the country, the supply is evidently not on equal grounds. The U.S. imports many organic crops to satisfy the demand, despite net farm incomes declining by more than 14% this year. When compared to the construction industry that has a predicted 6% growth and a value of an estimated $712 billion, the similarly labor-intensive agricultural industry is in need of a new market.

According to The Hill, organic production could be that very market that boosts the net incomes of farmers. The research that the new farm bill funds will provide farmers with a better understanding of how to manage organic systems and transition their current production to an organic one.

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If you thought the crowds were intense before Christmas, you haven’t seen anything yet. In fact, nearly 68% of holiday shoppers are expected to continue taking advantage of holiday deals in the weeks following Christmas.

The few weeks following Christmas have truly become a holiday all their own. Between end-of-year sales, post-Christmas sales, and other promotions, consumers have made bargain-hunting a holiday tradition.

But the deals aren’t the only draw for consumers. Many shoppers who received money over the holidays are eager to put that money to good use splurging on items that would have been too expensive before receiving gift cards.

Consumers managed to spend an estimated $850 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24. This means that holiday shopping increased by over 5% compared to statistics last year.

But between returns, deals, and gift cards, two of the busiest shopping days now happen after Christmas: on Dec. 26 and 29.

It’s estimated that the average American will spend around $1,700 on apparel and similar services each year. In fact, Kohl’s saw an increase in stocks by nearly 10% despite the ups and downs witnessed by the stock market in the last few weeks.

“What happens in the stock market doesn’t necessarily lead to difficulties in the retail industry since stock ownership is not widely spread in the US,” claimed Michelle Grant in an interview with NBC. Grant is the head of retailing at Euromonitor International.

The surge in holiday sales this season was also reportedly due to lower gas prices and increased online shopping. According to Mastercard, online sales increased by more than 19% compared to statistics from 2017.

To accommodate the flood of online shoppers during the holidays and the weeks following, both online companies and big-box retailers tried to get in on the action. Amazon rolled out free holiday shipping to all its users for the first time while brick and mortar stores like Walmart and Target added grocery pickup options and shipping discounts.

Should the shopping trends continue to rely heavily on online stores, companies might need to continue expanding their capacity for e-commerce. It’s estimated that the average data center must upgrade their IT equipment every three to five years to accommodate consumer needs.

If you haven’t taken advantage of the holiday deals this season, don’t worry; sales are expected to persist throughout the new year.