AARP: Concerns about Social Security ignored during debate

An official with AARP said Monday that voters concerned about the future of Social Security got no answers during Sunday night’s presidential debate.

"Opinions on who won Sunday night's Presidential debate will vary but who lost is clear: the millions of American voters who want to understand how the candidates would keep Social Security strong for future generations," said John Hishta, AARP senior vice president for campaigns.

"The debate was the best chance for voters to get real answers on how the Presidential candidates would address Social Security's significant financial challenges," Hishta said.

"Failing to ask a question about how to fix Social Security disregarded thousands of voters who contacted the debate moderators via social media to urge them to ask the candidates how they'll lead on Social Security.  We will now turn our attention to pressing Fox'sChris Wallaceto answer voters' call for the answers they deserve beforeElection Day," he said.

Social Security faces a significant revenue shortfall that, while still a number of years away, would result in a nearly 25 percent, across-the-board benefits cut for all Social Security recipients if left unaddressed.

Despite recent polling in support of more focus on the issue, it has been largely ignored in this election.  A battleground AARP survey of Boomer women found 71 percent want the next president and congress to address Social Security immediately and more than two-thirds have heard nothing about the candidates' plans, AARP said.

"Opinions on who won Sunday night's Presidential debate will vary but who lost is clear: the millions of American voters who want to understand how the candidates would keep Social Security strong for future generations," AARP Senior Vice President, Campaigns, John Hishtasaid.

"The debate was the best chance for voters to get real answers on how the Presidential candidates would address Social Security's significant financial challenges," Hishta said.

"Failing to ask a question about how to fix Social Security disregarded thousands of voters who contacted the debate moderators via social media to urge them to ask the candidates how they'll lead on Social Security.  We will now turn our attention to pressing Fox's Chris Wallace to answer voters' call for the answers they deserve before Election Day," he said.

Social Security faces a significant revenue shortfall that, while still a number of years away, would result in a nearly 25 percent, across-the-board benefits cut for all Social Security recipients if left unaddressed. Despite recent polling in support of more focus on the issue, it has been largely ignored in this election.  A battleground AARP survey of Boomer women found 71 percent want the next president and congress to address Social Security immediately and more than two-thirds have heard nothing about the candidates' plans, AARP said.

Cat YTD stock performance tops DJIA through first three quarters

Despite a gloomy year to date, Caterpillar Inc. has been the best performer of the 30 stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average through the first three quarters of 2016, according to Wall Street experts.

And it appears headed toward a strong fourth quarter, as well; at least in regards to its stock performance.

Cat stock reached a 52-week high four out of the last five days. On Wednesday it hit the current 52-week high at $89.87 a share before settling back to $89.42 at the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

At the start of 2016, Caterpillar stock was trading at about $56 a share.

Paul Ausick of 24/7 Wall Street reported Wednesday that Cat’s stock value has risen 30.62 percent through the first nine months of 2016, outperforming the other DJIA stocks. The index itself is up 5.06 percent through the third quarter of the year.

Ausick wrote that Caterpillar’s performance is likely because of three factors: It’s dividend yield, which at 3.52 percent as of last Friday trails only Verizon and Chevron among the Dow 30; the fact the company has been cutting costs throughout the year to bring them in line with demand; and there has been an increase in demand for gold and other metals that are mined with Caterpillar machines.

Also helping is the fact that despite sales and revenues being below last year in almost every category, the company is still making a profit. It hasn’t posted a loss in any quarter for several years, thanks almost solely to the restructuring.

Caterpillar will next declare a quarterly dividend later in October and it is scheduled to release its third quarter financials on Oct. 25. In its most recent outlook, the company said it expected full-year sales and revenues to be down to about $40 billion and profits to be about $2.75 a share. At the start of the year the company forecast a 2016 profit of $3.50 a share, but that was before it took on more restructuring than originally planned.

Molly Crusen Bishop: Thomas Harris Lindsay was a Peoria pioneer

Thomas Harris Lindsay was born in McConnelsburg, Pennsylvania, in August of 1830, and later became one of Peoria’s first black citizens. His obituary says he came to Peoria when he was only a boy of 7 years old.

Peoria had a population around 1,400 citizens in 1840, of which eight were African Americans, making him one of the original eight. Tom’s life is intriguing, mysterious, and amazingly accomplished in a time when life was extremely difficult for black citizens in Peoria.

One of Tom Lindsay’s many mysteries is with whom he came to Peoria and who his parents were. Peoria city directories from the 1850s list Tom as mulatto, or in modern appropriate terms, bi-racial. 

The first official listing of Thomas Lindsay I can find on paper is when he was a married adult, owning a house and valuable land properties. It is believed one or both of his parents had money as Tom apparently came from large financial means, going by his incredible life.

Lindsay was Peoria’s first market master, which was a well-respected position to hold during that time period. He would have been in charge of goods being sold in downtown Peoria. His reputation was highly respected, and his obituary states that he was sober, industrious, and frugal, and accumulated considerable amounts of properties, some of which were quite valuable. He was also known as being a weather predictor and was called the weather prophet.

He is buried at Springdale Cemetery, buying a plot a few years before his death with his daughter Julia and her first husband, Henry Gibson.

Dr. Romeo B. Garrett mentions him with great respect in his manuscript, “The Negro In Peoria”, that chronicled some of the African American history in Peoria. He said that the best known black man in Peoria was Thomas Lindsay, who owned vast amounts of property and was a man who would fight militantly for the freedom and rights of African Americans.  

Tom married a woman named Sophia, from Kentucky, in Peoria and they had six children. The couple educated their children in the sporadic education system afforded to blacks in Peoria in the 1850s and early 1860s, and later finished their children’s education in an integrated high school in Princeton, Illinois.

His oldest daughter, Elizabeth, became a teacher, social activist, writer, and national historian, as well as the founder of dozens of women and children service clubs. Elizabeth wrote a book titled “Lifting As They Climb,” about the history of the women’s and children’s clubs histories in U.S. history. Elizabeth graduated from Princeton High School with a man named Henry Clay Gordon, who later married her younger sister, Julia.

Julia Lindsay Gordon became the first African American foot doctor not only in Peoria, but in the country.

Elizabeth founded the Peoria Negro Women’s Mutual Aid Club and Julia was also a charter member. Their organization helped the poor and promoted social activities. It also helped with investigations into arrests and those in the court system, the poor and African American’s welfare in particular.

Finding information about Thomas Lindsay and other African Americans history is difficult at times. Often it was because many African Americans didn’t have last names when they were slaves. In the south they weren’t allowed to own land usually or have wills leaving a good paper-trail on lineage. Often African American families were sold to other plantations and never saw each other again. 

Black people in Peoria, including Thomas Lindsay, worked tirelessly to help slaves gain their freedom as well as saving their money to “buy” the freedom of their relatives to bring them to Peoria or farther north. The earliest known black newspaper in Peoria was called the Advanced Citizen, founded in 1892, and running until 1932. There is nothing I can find in Peoria as far as newspapers for African Americans preceding this.

Thomas Harris Lindsay is a Peoria pioneer and he and his descendants helped build Peoria, the state Illinois and the United States with their many contributions to all our citizens. I will continue researching this incredible family and find out the rest of Tom’s fascinating life. I hope to find a photograph of him, and find out who his parents were and their story.

Teens believe U.S. lacks kindness, which leads to bullying

A large majority of teen-agers believe the United States lacks kindness, especially in the way we treat one another, according to a survey release Wednesday by STOMP Out Bullying™, the leading national bullying and cyberbullying prevention nonprofit organization for kids and teens.

The survey sought teens' (ages 13-17) attitudes toward our country's behavior and its effect on bullying among their peers, in order to highlight key issues for October's National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. Top findings include:

• A high majority of teens hold a very pessimistic view of our country, with almost nine in 10 (88 percent) who believe the U.S. is lacking kindness.
• Because of this current state, almost all teens (96 percent) believe today's lack of kindness impacts the way teens treat other teens.   
• Furthermore, 91 percent of teens believe we lack kindness in the way we treat one another.

"Whether at school, in front of a computer screen or on digital devices, bullying and cyberbullying are unfortunately more present than ever before," said Ross Ellis, founder and CEO of STOMP Out Bullying. "We need to continue emphasizing the importance of kindness, which is critical not only to youth character development, but kindness can also make a positive, lasting impact on our world today. It's not surprising to see why teens have such a negative view of our nation's behavior, given the onslaught of violence and hostility that we see on a daily basis.

"I urge everyone to raise awareness around bullying prevention and the power of kindness this October, which is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month,” she said.

STOMP Out Bullying advocates for teaching more empathy and kindness among a diverse population of students in schools to create a positive culture, stronger communities and more student leaders. There are some encouraging signs of progress being made in the effort to end bullying. Most teens are confident in their school's ability to tackle bullying, with over half (61 percent) who believe their school handles bullying issues sufficiently. Concurrently, teens themselves are becoming more empowered to stand up and report instances of bullying if they see them. Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) have reported instances of bullying to a teacher, parent or other authority figure. 

Additional survey findings include:

• 45 percent of teens see as much bullying online as they see in person.
• Teens in the U.S. are more likely to report instances of bullying in person (80 percent) than bullying online.
• Four out of five (81 percent) teens have stood up to bullying.
• Nearly all teens (95 percent) believe that seeing more kindness around them will make them want to act more kindly to others.
• Boys (35 percent) are more likely than girls (27 percent) to see bullying occur more often online than in person.
• Boys (22 percent) are slightly more likely to report online bullying than girls (17 percent).

To help further the organization's mission of ending bullying, STOMP Out Bullying recently announced a brand new ambassador, KIND the blue elephant. KIND acts as a symbol for the need to spread compassion and kindness throughout the world. Follow STOMP Out Bullying's social channels to get involved in spreading the word around the pro-kindness movement by sharing images of KIND the elephant with #whereiskind. 

For teens experiencing the effects of bullying, or even exhibiting bullying behavior, STOMP Out Bullying provides many resources to help:

• The STOMP Out Bullying Live HelpChat Line: a free and confidential online chat for kids and teens between the ages of 13-24. It is intended to assist those who are victims of all forms of bullying and those who may be at risk for suicide as a result of being bullied.
• The STOMP Out Bullying Educator's Bullying Prevention Toolkit: enables educators to create meaningful dialogue about bullying, educate students through proven Social Emotional Learning methods, adopt character building in schools and involve both students and faculty in working together to change school climate.
• The STOMP Out Bullying Student Participation Toolkit: enables students to participate in programs focused on anti-bullying, educate peers on the importance of ending bullying, teaches ways to advocate for the cause and how to inspire others to do the same.

STOMP Out Bullying is the leading national anti-bullying organization for kids and teens. A pioneer on the issue, STOMP Out Bullying is recognized as the most influential anti-bullying and cyberbullying organization in America. It focuses on reducing and preventing bullying, cyberbullying, sexting and other digital abuse, education against homophobia, racism and hatred, decreasing school absenteeism, and deterring violence in schools, online and in communities across the country. It teaches effective solutions on how to respond to all forms of bullying; as well as educating kids and teens in school and online.

This survey was conducted online Sept. 23 through Sept. 30, 2016 among a representative sample of 1,000 American teen-agers ages 13-17 years old by Toluna, an independent research provider, under the guidance of RF|Binder's research team. The results are nationally representative according to the US Census Bureau statistics to accurately reflect the gender and age of the U.S. general population.