Elaine’s Place

(Glad I got mine renewed last year.) WASHINGTON — Passport fees are increasing as of July 13. The fee for first-time adult passport applications is going up $35, from $100 to $135, according to the U.S. Department of State. For minors under age 16, fees will increase from $85 to $105. For passport cards, fees [...]

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Exceptionally long heat waves and other hot events could become commonplace in the United States in the next 30 years, according to a new study by Stanford University climate scientists. “Using a large suite of climate model experiments, we see a clear emergence of much more intense, hot conditions in the U.S. within the next [...]

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An in-depth report ranking US health care against six other industrialized countries. Sadly the United States comes in last. (HealthDay News) — Compared with six other industrialized nations, the United States ranks last when it comes to many measures of quality health care, a new report concludes. Despite having the costliest health care system in [...]

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The maker of Benadryl and Tylenol has added five lots of the popular over-the-counter drugs to its growing list of recalled products, McNeil Consumer Healthcare announced Wednesday in a written statement. Saying the drugs were "inadvertently omitted from the initial recall action" of January 15, McNeil disclosed it was voluntarily recalling four lots of Benadryl [...]

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It’s already known that ugly people earn less than real lookers, and now research from Cornell University finds they are more likely to be convicted of crimes and get harsher sentences than average-looking defendants. Allegedly "impartial" jurors fall into two camps, according to the study involving 169 Cornell psychology undergraduate students, MSNBC reported. One group [...]

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PepsiCo Inc. plans to cut the sodium found in each serving of its key brands by one-fourth in five years, the company announced Monday, as the industry deals with pressure from the government and health-conscious shoppers who want more options. The maker of Frito-Lay chips and Pepsi drinks announced several nutrition goals Monday at the [...]

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A special federal court ruled that there is not enough evidence to support a link between childhood vaccines and autism in three separate cases, CNN reported. Debate has raged over whether routine childhood vaccines containing a mercury preservative, thimerosal, might help trigger autism. Thousands of parents have sought compensation from the Department of Health and [...]

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Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross will postpone its much-criticized plan to raise rates for some California residents who buy insurance on their own, after reaching a deal Saturday with state regulators. Anthem’s planned rate hike, which the state estimates would affect about 700,000 customers, averaged 25% and would have been as high as 39% for [...]

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For any of you that still use Internet Explorer (are there any?) A F.Y.I for you. Microsoft has told consumers it is ready patch a hole in its Internet Explorer browser. The firm, which normally issues patches each month at the same time, has decided to go ahead with a special patch to prevent hackers [...]

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Johnson & Johnson’s consumer division said it is recalling a variety of over-the-counter products after reports of an unusual odor, expanding on an issue that led to a Tylenol recall last year. The latest voluntary recall followed consumer reports of “an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor that, in a small number of cases, was [...]

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