Free Republic

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Award-winning author, renowned poet and civil rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou has died. She was 86. Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines confirmed Angelou was found by her caretaker on Wednesday morning.

On May 7, the Obama administration boasted that ObamaCare was improving health-care quality for seniors, and it pulled out a bag of statistical tricks to prove it. But a closer look shows that it’s not improving care. It’s skimping on it, socking seniors with unexpected bills for “observation care” and likely shortening their lives. President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services announced that fewer seniors discharged from the hospital are returning for additional care within a month’s time. HHS claims that this drop in “readmissions,” from 18.5 percent in 2012 to 17.5 percent in 2013, signals quality improvement. Nationwide,...

Naomi Phillips, 85, sat in the shade outside Village Crossroads II watching the community’s formal dedication May 19. She moved to the new Catholic Charities affordable senior housing community in March after living most of her adult life in Latrobe Homes, subsidized city housing in East Baltimore. Village Crossroads, she said, is “real nice” and reminds her of her childhood home in North Carolina. “I love it because I was born in the country,” she said. “There’s nice country air and peace and quiet.” The 180-unit community includes two buildings, Village Crossroads I and II, near the intersection of Belair...

On May 7, the Obama administration boasted that ObamaCare was improving health-care quality for seniors, and it pulled out a bag of statistical tricks to prove it. But a closer look shows that it’s not improving care. It’s skimping on it, socking seniors with unexpected bills for “observation care” and likely shortening their lives. President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services announced that fewer seniors discharged from the hospital are returning for additional care within a month’s time. HHS claims that this drop in “readmissions,” from 18.5 percent in 2012 to 17.5 percent in 2013, signals quality improvement. Nonsense....

At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list. The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor, according to a recently retired top VA doctor and several high-level sources. For six months, CNN has been reporting on extended delays in health care appointments suffered by veterans across the country and who died while waiting...

Believe it or not, Doris Day is now 90 years old. Looking back on nine decades, all she can do is appreciate all she has. "All I ever wanted in my life was to get married, have kids, keep house and cook, and even though I did all these things, I still ended up in Hollywood," she told Closer magazine. "It was a great trip. I've had an amazing life and wonderful times. And I'm happy!" Day, who lives a quiet life in California, told the magazine that aside from "little aches and pains," she has been "blessed with good...

Fred Phelps Sr., the founder of the Kansas church held in disgust worldwide for its antigay protests of prominent funerals, is in hospice care and "on the edge of death," according to one of his estranged sons. Nate Phelps posted the information on Facebook Saturday night, adding the revelation that his father had been excommunicated from the church in 2013. A church spokesman told the Topeka Capitol-Journal that Phelps was indeed in the hospice but that Nate Phelps "is not well informed." The spokesman also refused to comment on the allegation that the elder Mr. Phelps has been excommunicated. Another...

An elderly woman violated her probation by leaving bread crumbs out in her yard for crows and will remain behind bars. Eighty-one-year-old Mary Musselman was first arrested last month for feeding bears in her backyard. One of the bears was euthanized over it because the Fish and Wildlife Service said the bears might learn not to be afraid of people anymore and then get aggressive. The judge in the case warned Musselman not to feed any more wild animals of any kind: A judge gave her probation at the time, and made it clear: Do it again, and go to...

WASHINGTON -- After an elderly couple got the boot from their local McDonald's for sitting too long, management and the owner are not answering the question if there really is a 30-minute sitting limit at the Culpeper, Va. fast food restaurant. Carl Becker, 87, a World War II veteran, and his wife Barbara Becker, 81, say they both were at the Culpeper McDonald's on Feb. 21 at about 2:30 p.m. when they were approached by the manager. The location is a place the pair has frequented for years. "And he says 'You two are going to have to leave.' He...

She may not look anywhere near her 76 years but Jane Fonda says she is well aware of her age. The Hollywood legend – who has made her career in an industry which isn't exactly kind to aging actresses - admits she has been brought to tears on more than one occasion recently as she comes to terms with her own mortality. In a thoughtful blog post entitled 'Crying', which has since been removed, Jane wrote: '[I've been thinking], how come my tears are so close to the surface? And I’ve come to feel it has to do with age....

Thursday is my mother's birthday; she would have been 78. This is the first year that she won't be with us to celebrate, but will be in heaven looking down. In my mind, she is still with us in spirit and love. My mother came from a long line of strong-willed women. Her grandmother ran a county store in rural Georgia. Her mother, one of 11 children, ran away from the family farm, with the help of her mother, to go to the big city of Columbus, Georgia, and earn her nursing degree. She was the first in her family...

Obesity comes with a number of life threatening risks. The condition, for instance, is linked to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and even cancer. However, loneliness is a more threatening killer than obesity, at least among elderly people. The researchers also found that extreme loneliness increases an older person's risks of early death by 14 percent which means that loneliness has a double the impact on early death as obesity. Cacioppo explained that chronic loneliness is associated with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which raises risks of strokes and heart attacks. It is also linked with high blood pressure and...

WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Michael and Olympia DeNittis literally spent a lifetime together in New Jersey, and died just hours apart this week.

The victim was an elderly woman who was invited by the Iraqis for what she believed to be lemonade; and what occurred afterwards, the woman cannot even remember.

The brains of older people only appear to slow down because they have so much information to compute, much like a full-up hard drive, scientists believe. Older people do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe. Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full up, so to (sic) do humans take longer to access information, it has been suggested. Researchers say this slowing down it is not the same as cognitive decline. “The human brain works slower in old age,” said...

<p>The elderly man accused of shooting a movie theater patron in Florida after an argument over text messaging told police that he fired because he "was in fear of being attacked."</p> <p>Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a news conference today that the victim, Chad Oulson, 43, was texting his young daughter's babysitter when an argument erupted with Reeves over texting during previews before the movie "Lone Survivor."</p>

BATAVIA — A judge as required by a higher court officially reduced the sentence for Jacquetta Simmons Monday in Genesee County Court. “It was obvious the sentence I imposed I thought appropriate,” Judge Robert C. Noonan said. “I have no discretion to modify the sentence.” Noonan then sentenced Simmons to one year in Genesee County Jail, with credit for time already served. Simmons served about four weeks before she was released after a judge granted her a stay pending appeal. With good behavior, she could be released after about seven months. Simmons was convicted Aug. 24, 2012, of second-degree assault...

The UK may soon tighten its health care rationing to prevent new medicines from getting to the elderly. From the Telegraph story: “New drugs would only be licensed for the NHS [National Health Service] if they help those judged to be a benefit to wider society under proposals from the health watchdog. Pharmaceutical firms on Thursday night warned that the move could lead to new medicines being denied to the elderly. “A senior professor also said that the plans could threaten the well-being of older people and were ‘deeply suspect’, while charities questioned the ethics of the policy. The National...

On January 7, the capital murder trial began for a man charged with killing his neighbors after a prolonged dog-poop dispute. Issues of race, language, economics and age complicate the already unusual case. Chung Kim, 76, allegedly shot and killed Michelle Jackson and Jaime Stafford on February 4, 2013, at Sable Ridge Condominiums in North Dallas. Jackson and Stafford, who were African-Americans in their 30s, lived in the unit above Kim and his wife. Kim, a South Korean immigrant, is using an interpreter for the trial and has previously stated he acted in self-defense. It is well-documented that Jackson and...

Former First Lady Barbara Bush has been hospitalized in Houston, according to a local report.