Social Security celebrates 75th anniversary
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. The original Social Security Act (1935) and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs. The larger and better known programs are: Federal Old-Age (Retirement), Survivors, and Disability Insurance Unemployment benefits Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled (Medicare) Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs (Medicaid) State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Social Security is a social insurance program that is funded through dedicated payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). Tax deposits are formally entrusted to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, or the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. The main part of the program is sometimes abbreviated OASDI (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) or RSDI (Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance). When initially signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 as part of his New Deal, the term Social Security covered unemployment insurance as well. The term, in everyday speech, is used to refer only to the benefits for retirement, disability, survivorship, and death, which are the four main benefits provided by traditional private-sector pension plans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_(United_States) http://www.ssa.gov/75thanniversary/

November 11, 1933 in history Cities and towns from Texas to Canada are feeling the effects of the "black blizzard" that struck the mid-west today. This massive dust storm created sand drifts as high as six feet in areas of the country, burying roads and vehicles. As the worst drought in American history continues to turn over-farmed soil into dust, more of these devastating storms can be expected. http://newdeal.feri.org/timeline/1933b.htm

New 2010 estimates show that the number of Americans without health insurance is growing, affecting middle-income Americans as well as those living in poverty. About 50 million adults 18–64 years old had no health insurance for at least some of the past 12 months. People in all income brackets have been affected, not just adults living in poverty, according to a 2009 survey. In the past few years, the number of adults aged 18–64 who went without health insurance for at least part of the past 12 months increased by an average of 1.1 million per year. About half of those additional adults were middle-income. Adults without consistent health insurance are more likely to skip medical care because of cost concerns, which can lead to poorer health, higher long-term health care costs, and early death. http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/HealthcareAccess/

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) is best known for her cookbooks The Frugal Housewife, 1830 later retitled as The American Frugal Housewife, 1832 and The Family Nurse, or, Companion of The Frugal Housewife, 1837. Most people have sung "Over the river, and through the wood" which is taken from her poem The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day from "Flowers for Children, II" 1845. The original first and last stanzas are as follows:
Over the river, and through the wood,
to Grandfather's house we go;
the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.

Over the river, and through the wood-
now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! http://www.angelfire.com/md3/openhearthcooking/Monthrecipe/aaThanks.html
For recipes on page 70 from The Frugal Housewife for pumpkin, carrot and cherry pies, see: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/display.cfm?TitleNo=3&PageNum=78 Go to page 69 for mince pie.

Q: Are all Coast Guard boats called "cutters"? A: No. A Coast Guard vessel must be at least 65 feet to be a "cutter." Cutters have always been its largest ships. The term is English and refers to "a small, decked ship with one mast and bowsprit, with a gaff mainsail on a boom, a square yard and topsail, and two jibs or a jib and a staysail," according to "The Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea," 1976. The British Royal Navy's definition of a cutter was a small warship capable of carrying eight to 12 cannons. By general usage, the term came to define any vessel of Great Britain's Royal Customs Service. The term was adopted by the U.S. Treasury Department at the creation of what became the Revenue Marine, a forerunner of the Coast Guard. -- U.S. Coast Guard.
http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Nov/JU/ar_JU_110810.asp?d=110810,2010,Nov,08&c=c_13