Articles by Steven Gilchrist

Later this year, from October 18, 2020  –  October 24, 2020, National Retirement Security Week will take place.  Since 2006, National Retirement Security Week has taken place  annually during the 3rd week of October.  The goal of this campaign is to help raise awareness among the American workforce regarding retirement best practices and to encourage people to take steps towards these best practices. In 2006, U.S. Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) introduced Congressional legislation enacting the first resolution establishing National Save for Retirement Week.  According to a survey from National Today.com, approximately 2/3rds of Americans are worried that they won't be able to save enough money for retirement. For more National Today.com retirement survey results visit:  https://nationaltoday.com/national-retirement-security-week/

Florence, MA. – Sojourner Truth, born Isabella (Belle) Baumfree (c. 1797 – 1883), was a prominent abolitionist, public speaker, and women’s rights activist.   Truth was born a slave in Swartekill, New York.   In 1826, Truth escaped enslavement from John Dumont of Nest Park, New York and she eventually lived at the home of Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen of New Paltz, New York.   Truth resided at the Van Wagenen home until 1827, the year in which the New York State Emancipation Act was approved.   In 1844, Truth joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Northampton, Massachusetts. Although Truth was unable to read or write, she was able to dictate her life’s story to one of her neighbor’s in Florence, Massachusetts.   In 1850, abolitionist and journalist William Lloyd Garrison privately published her book titled: The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: a Northern Slave .   Also in 1850, Truth purchased a home in the area of what would eventually become Florence, Massac

In 2017, Reuters news service conducted a 6-part investigation titled: Shock Tactics. This series investigated the usage of Taser guns by U.S. law enforcement officials.  The Reuters investigation revealed that 1,005 people have died after law enforcement officers have stunned them using a Taser since the year 2000.  The Reuters examination also found that Tasers were the cause or contributing factor in 153 of those deaths.  25% of the 1,005 people from the Reuters investigation were suffering from a mental health breakdown or a neurological disorder.  In 90% of the incidents the deceased individual was unarmed.  In addition, a majority of the deaths in the Reuters investigation involved other types of force including: batons or pepper spray.  Critics of Taser guns say that use of the weapon can lead to excessive force and more confrontation between law enforcement officers and civilians.   According to a 2011 National Institute of Justice study it is difficult to ascertain sol