The U.S. Social Security Administration plans to formally announce that there will be no increase in next year’s cost-of-living benefits for American retirees and disabled citizens. The announcement will be made after inflation figures for the month of September are released.

Automatic adjustments in cost-of-living benefits were set in place in 1975 to take into account the country’s inflation rates. There were no cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) this year. Now, it seems that American retirees and disabled citizens, currently numbering more than 58 million, will have to make do without COLA for another year.

Current consumer prices are lower compared to two years ago, thus the Social Security project’s board of trustees decided not to increase cost-of-living benefits for 2011, the Associated Press’ Stephen Ohlemacher reports. As per U.S. law, no increase will be sanctioned until consumer prices rise beyond 2008’s figures.

The COLA for 2009 was made possible by the sudden spike in energy prices in the previous year. According to AP, it was the biggest increase in benefits that the country saw in the last 27 years.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told AP that to in an effort to compensate for the lack of a 2011 COLA, the House will convene in November and vote on a proposed move to provide US$250 Social Security payments for beneficiaries. The proposal, however, will still need the Senate’s approval even if the House approves it.

Recipients enjoy roughly US$1,072 a month in Social Security benefits. Social Security was the main source of income for 64% recipient retirees in 2008.

Just so you know, I’m not making light of warfare — it’s just that virtual training like this, while valuable, does remind one simultaneously of Modern Warfare and Ender’s Game . Of course, as this article notes , the current generation of potential soldiers has grown up in a digital age and expects a little Xbox with their ammo box. Training has, since the introduction of America’s Army in 2002 (remember, everyone thought it was going to suck, and it really didn’t at all), incorporated more and more virtual or simulated training, though admittedly the technology used is decidedly last-generation still. But when you can save a million rounds of ammo by having your recruits shooting pixelated guys in a 360-degree combat room like this one, the benefits are clear. I wish we didn’t have to send 19-year-olds into a war zone, but every advantage we can give them is helpful. And for the record, if I had to have someone watching my back while bullets whiz past, I wouldn’t mind if it was one of my old Counter-Strike clanmates.

Read more from the original source:
360-degree virtual combat room is like Iraq: The Arcade Game