Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Employers skirting privacy



There are new privacy concerns as some employers are beginning to ask job applicants to waive their right to medical privacy as a condition of employment consideration.

A North Carolina reporter obtained the following waiver from a large employer:

“I, (applicant), hereby authorize and permit the release to any authorized representative of (employer) any and all records in your possession pertaining to me, including but not limited to the following: credit information and records; bank account records; criminal and arrest records; medical records; employment information, including wages and benefits; driving records and accident or incident reports.”

Why anyone would release their medical records to a potential employer is questionable and is unnecessary for the majority of cases.

I am sure there are some legal opinions on whether this could be considered discriminatory.

Our office would think long and hard before we would release this information and certainly not before contacting the patient, but there are occasions that when forms look legal and have the patient signature, mistakes could occur.

Everyone needs to be aware of this new privacy concern.

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Monday, September 29, 2008

The Racial Difference in Medicine


New research out of Harvard tracked more than 6000 patients with diabetes and found that African American fared worse on key factors for controlling their disease even though the physician and treatment protocols were the same.

The thought was that even though the treatment was equal, the cultural and dietary differences of the two groups were substantially different and probably unrecognized.

The bottom line is that a cookbook style approach to diabetes or other diseases leaves out an important aspect of care; personal choices and responsibilities!

Not all patients respond to the generic approaches that so many insurance companies and oversight bodies want us to follow.

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Saturday, September 27, 2008

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Beginning today at 10:00 AM Northside Christian Church is sponsoring an International Festival.

The festival is designed to bring together our community to celebrate the international community and connect through food from local ethnic restaurants, crafts from local artisans, and music, dance and other arts from local performers.

The Kentuckiana area has over 77 languages that are spoken in the public schools and 50% of the last 15 years' growth has come from international residents.

With our community being more culturally diverse than ever before, this is a great opportunity for unity and an educational experience.

This festive celebration will open with a flag and drum procession kicking off a two-day celebration of fun, food and connection. Admission to the event is FREE and will feature a performance stage, world market tent, food sampling and sales, petting zoo of animals from around the world (including camel rides), booths to teach about culture and ministry, global partners and local international clubs and programs.

The hours of operation for the International Festival will be Saturday, 10am-10pm and Sunday, 10am-3pm

Come on out and enjoy and celebrate our cultural diversity.

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Friday, September 26, 2008

A Variety of Political Humor

Some people believe that if Obama starts becoming the butt of jokes and more comedians begin mocking his ability to win as they did with John Kerry it will be very indicative of a lost election.

With that in mind, here are a collection of jokes from a wide variety of sources and are credited to the sources where known:

"Earlier today, John McCain released 1,200 pages of his medical records. Or, as his doctor calls it, Chapter One." (Conan O'Brien)


"Cindy McCain sprained her wrist. Doctors say it's nothing serious -- she probably did it cutting John McCain's meat into little tiny pieces." (Craig Ferguson)


"Good news for John McCain -- his poll numbers are up 4 percent, liver spots down 3 percent." (Jay Leno)


"Joe Biden is Barack Obama's running mate. Yeah, nothing says change like a guy who's been in the Senate for 35 years." (David Letterman)


"Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has many views. She says she's opposed to same-sex marriage. Yeah, Palin says everyone knows marriage isn't for gay people; it's for pregnant teenagers." (Conan O’Brien)


"The McCain people believe Americans will disregard her inexperience because they will fall in love with her story. She was a runner-up in the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant, which may sound trite, but you try walking in high-heeled snow shoes." (Bill Maher)


"I saw that they're selling Sarah Palin action figures. Sad incident at Toys R Us today -- a Sarah Palin doll shot My Little Pony. (Jimmy Kimmel)


"We're learning more about Sarah Palin. It turns out she and her entire family once had a chair-throwing brawl on 'Jerry Springer.'" (David Letterman)


"Sources in North Korea say that dictator Kim Jong Il is very sick. He may have to shift power to one of his three sons. Still, there's an out-of-the-box chance he'll pick Sarah Palin." (Conan O'Brien)


"Barack Obama gave a speech in Germany and 200,000 people showed up. There were so many Germans shouting and screaming that France surrendered just in case." (Craig Ferguson)


"They're saying that Barack Obama is starting to slip in the polls. But don't worry. He has a plan. He's going to go back to campaigning in Europe." (David Letterman)


John McCain turned 72 on Friday and apparently decided he deserved a really hot birthday present so he introduced his “Vice President” choice.


John McCain said he had to talk to his wife Cindy before making a final choice for VP. Well, of course he did, the wife always has veto power on any threesome.


Cindy McCain has to be careful. John has a history of dumping his current wife for beauty pageant contestants.


John McCain says he won’t need an intern when he moves in to the Oval Office. He will simply rely on his Vice President.

When John McCain takes office, he intends to be less formal than his predecessors. Instead of “Mr. President,” he’ll have his Vice President call him “Daddy.”


John McCain has denied rumors that if he wins they will start referring to the White House as the Playboy Mansion. He said Hefner has three girlfriends and the Constitution limits him to only one Vice President.

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Obama's ongoing decision failures

Obama's true character shown brightly yesterday.

When the country is in a financial crisis that could potentially destroy the markets and millions of everyday American's investments, Obama could not put aside his personal interests in his own campaigning and return to Congress to do his job as a Senator.

McCain demonstrated what a true leader does in times of crisis while Obama makes statements like "if they need me, I may come".

Another one of Obama's statements yesterday referred questioners to his campaign staff to get answers.

He evidently cannot make decisions on his own any more than he can make speeches without the teleprompter.

Here is another opinion about Obama's character written by Daniel Finkelstein and reposted here. Comment Central - Times Online - WBLG: What Sarah Palin tells us about Obama

Here are a few thoughts of my own on the lipstick on a pig moment (see this earlier post for the views of others).

First, demonstrating that McCain had used the same phrase before doesn't cut it.
The reason the pig idea popped into Barack Obama's mouth is that Palin had used the pitbull and lipstick joke in her speech. Can anyone doubt that?

So Obama was using it as a jibe against her. This was monumentally foolish. And this raises questions about Obama's character.

Second, the character question it raises is not that he is a sexist or that he lacks courtesy. It is that he folds under pressure.

Obama has looked amazingly uncomfortable under the pressure that Palin has put him under. He relies on his cool - it is a core part of his appeal. So he looks bad when he loses it. During the Hillary contest he rarely came under any pressure from the media. When he did he reacted badly.

So the problem caused by Palin isn't really about Palin - it's about Obama.

Which brings me to the third point. Obama cannot change how Palin is seen anywhere near as much as he thinks he can. He needs to work on how he is seen.

But,
as Jay Cost argues, he hasn't been disciplined enough to do this.


***So the question remains as to whether or not Obama can stand up under pressure when things aren't going as easy for him. As this financial crisis has shown with Obama's response, he is not ready to lead this country.

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Obama's mistake on Freddie and Fannie

With the current bail out of Fannie and Freddie, I think there is enough blame for everyone to share, but this op-ed from the WSJ certainly points out where McCain and Obama stood on the issue before the catastrophe.

Once again, McCain recognized the impending problem and tried to be part of a solution whereas Obama followed his same pattern of behavior; which was wrong again.

Blame Fannie Mae and Congress For the Credit Mess - WSJ.com

Blame Fannie Mae and Congress For the Credit Mess
By CHARLES W. CALOMIRIS and PETER J. WALLISON

Many monumental errors and misjudgments contributed to the acute financial turmoil in which we now find ourselves. Nevertheless, the vast accumulation of toxic mortgage debt that poisoned the global financial system was driven by the aggressive buying of subprime and Alt-A mortgages, and mortgage-backed securities, by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The poor choices of these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) -- and their sponsors in Washington -- are largely to blame for our current mess.

How did we get here? Let's review: In order to curry congressional support after their accounting scandals in 2003 and 2004, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac committed to increased financing of "affordable housing." They became the largest buyers of subprime and Alt-A mortgages between 2004 and 2007, with total GSE exposure eventually exceeding $1 trillion. In doing so, they stimulated the growth of the subpar mortgage market and substantially magnified the costs of its collapse.

It is important to understand that, as GSEs, Fannie and Freddie were viewed in the capital markets as government-backed buyers (a belief that has now been reduced to fact). Thus they were able to borrow as much as they wanted for the purpose of buying mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. Their buying patterns and interests were followed closely in the markets. If Fannie and Freddie wanted subprime or Alt-A loans, the mortgage markets would produce them. By late 2004, Fannie and Freddie very much wanted subprime and Alt-A loans. Their accounting had just been revealed as fraudulent, and they were under pressure from Congress to demonstrate that they deserved their considerable privileges. Among other problems, economists at the Federal Reserve and Congressional Budget Office had begun to study them in detail, and found that -- despite their subsidized borrowing rates -- they did not significantly reduce mortgage interest rates. In the wake of Freddie's 2003 accounting scandal, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan became a powerful opponent, and began to call for stricter regulation of the GSEs and limitations on the growth of their highly profitable, but risky, retained portfolios.

If they were not making mortgages cheaper and were creating risks for the taxpayers and the economy, what value were they providing? The answer was their affordable-housing mission. So it was that, beginning in 2004, their portfolios of subprime and Alt-A loans and securities began to grow. Subprime and Alt-A originations in the U.S. rose from less than 8% of all mortgages in 2003 to over 20% in 2006. During this period the quality of subprime loans also declined, going from fixed rate, long-term amortizing loans to loans with low down payments and low (but adjustable) initial rates, indicating that originators were scraping the bottom of the barrel to find product for buyers like the GSEs.

The strategy of presenting themselves to Congress as the champions of affordable housing appears to have worked. Fannie and Freddie retained the support of many in Congress, particularly Democrats, and they were allowed to continue unrestrained. Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass), for example, now the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, openly described the "arrangement" with the GSEs at a committee hearing on GSE reform in 2003: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have played a very useful role in helping to make housing more affordable . . . a mission that this Congress has given them in return for some of the arrangements which are of some benefit to them to focus on affordable housing." The hint to Fannie and Freddie was obvious: Concentrate on affordable housing and, despite your problems, your congressional support is secure.

In light of the collapse of Fannie and Freddie, both John McCain and Barack Obama now criticize the risk-tolerant regulatory regime that produced the current crisis. But Sen. McCain's criticisms are at least credible, since he has been pointing to systemic risks in the mortgage market and trying to do something about them for years. In contrast, Sen. Obama's conversion as a financial reformer marks a reversal from his actions in previous years, when he did nothing to disturb the status quo. The first head of Mr. Obama's vice-presidential search committee, Jim Johnson, a former chairman of Fannie Mae, was the one who announced Fannie's original affordable-housing program in 1991 -- just as Congress was taking up the first GSE regulatory legislation.

In 2005, the Senate Banking Committee, then under Republican control, adopted a strong reform bill, introduced by Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole, John Sununu and Chuck Hagel, and supported by then chairman Richard Shelby. The bill prohibited the GSEs from holding portfolios, and gave their regulator prudential authority (such as setting capital requirements) roughly equivalent to a bank regulator. In light of the current financial crisis, this bill was probably the most important piece of financial regulation before Congress in 2005 and 2006. All the Republicans on the Committee supported the bill, and all the Democrats voted against it. Mr. McCain endorsed the legislation in a speech on the Senate floor. Mr. Obama, like all other Democrats, remained silent.

Now the Democrats are blaming the financial crisis on "deregulation." This is a canard. There has indeed been deregulation in our economy -- in long-distance telephone rates, airline fares, securities brokerage and trucking, to name just a few -- and this has produced much innovation and lower consumer prices. But the primary "deregulation" in the financial world in the last 30 years permitted banks to diversify their risks geographically and across different products, which is one of the things that has kept banks relatively stable in this storm.

As a result, U.S. commercial banks have been able to attract more than $100 billion of new capital in the past year to replace most of their subprime-related write-downs. Deregulation of branching restrictions and limitations on bank product offerings also made possible bank acquisition of Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, saving billions in likely resolution costs for taxpayers.

If the Democrats had let the 2005 legislation come to a vote, the huge growth in the subprime and Alt-A loan portfolios of Fannie and Freddie could not have occurred, and the scale of the financial meltdown would have been substantially less. The same politicians who today decry the lack of intervention to stop excess risk taking in 2005-2006 were the ones who blocked the only legislative effort that could have stopped it.

Mr. Calomiris is a professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Wallison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was general counsel of the Treasury Department in the Reagan administration.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Charles Krauthammer Op-Ed

This article originally appeard in The Washingto Post and was reprinted in the courier journal. It is reprinted here and written by Charles Krauthammer.

WASHINGTON -- The Democrats are in a panic. In a presidential race that is impossible to lose, they are behind. Obama devotees are frantically giving advice. Tom Friedman tells him to "start slamming down some phones." Camille Paglia suggests, "be boring!"

Meanwhile, a posse of Democratic lawyers, mainstream reporters, lefty bloggers and various other Obamaphiles are scouring the vast tundra of Alaska for something, anything, to bring down Sarah Palin: her daughter's pregnancy, her ex-brother-in-law problem, her $60 per diem, and now her religion. (CNN reports -- news flash! -- that she apparently has never spoken in tongues.) Not since Henry II asked if no one would rid him of his turbulent priest, have so many so urgently volunteered for duty.

But Palin is not just a problem for Obama. She is also a symptom of what ails him. Before Palin, Obama was the ultimate celebrity candidate. For no presidential nominee in living memory had the gap between adulation and achievement been so great. Which is why McCain's Paris Hilton ads struck such a nerve. Obama's meteoric rise was based not on issues -- there was not a dime's worth of difference between him and Hillary on issues -- but on narrative, on eloquence, on charisma.

The unease at the Denver convention, the feeling of buyer's remorse, was the Democrats' realization that the arc of Obama's celebrity had peaked -- and had now entered a period of its steepest decline. That Palin could so instantly steal the celebrity spotlight is a reflection of that decline.

It was inevitable. Obama had managed to stay aloft for four full years. But no one can levitate forever.

Five speeches map Obama's trajectory.
Obama burst into celebrityhood with his brilliant and moving 2004 Democratic convention speech

It turned an obscure state senator into a national figure and legitimate presidential candidate.

His next and highest moment was the night of his Iowa caucus victory when he gave an equally stirring speech of the highest tones that dazzled a national audience just tuning in.

The problem is that Obama began believing in his own magical powers -- the chants, the swoons, the "we are the ones" self-infatuation. Like Ronald Reagan, he was leading a movement, but one entirely driven by personality. Reagan's revolution was rooted in concrete political ideas (supply-side economics, welfare-state deregulation, national strength) that transcended one man. For Obama's movement, the man is the transcendence.

Which gave the Obama campaign a cult-like tinge. With every primary and every repetition of the high-flown, self-referential rhetoric, the campaign's insubstantiality became clear. By the time it was repeated yet again on the night of the last primary the tropes were tired and flat. To top himself, Obama had to reach. Hence his triumphal declaration that history would note that night, his victory, his ascension, as "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."

Clang. But Obama heard only the cheers of the invited crowd. Not yet seeing how the pseudo-messianism was wearing thin, he did Berlin and finally jumped the shark. That grandiloquent proclamation of universalist puffery popped the bubble. The grandiosity had become bizarre.

From there it was but a short step to Paris Hilton. Finally, the Obama people understood. Which is why the next data point is so different. Obama's Denver acceptance speech was deliberately pedestrian, State-of-the-Union-ish, programmatic and only briefly (that lovely coda recalling the March on Washington) lyrical.

The problem, however, was that Obama had announced the Invesco Field setting for the speech during the pre-Berlin flush of hubris. They were stuck with the Greek columns, the circus atmosphere, the rock star fireworks farewell -- as opposed to the warmer, traditional, balloon-filled convention-hall hug-a-thon. The incongruity between text and context was apparent. Obama was trying to make himself ordinary -- and serious -- but could hardly remember how.

One star fades, another is born. The very next morning McCain picks Sarah Palin and a new celebrity is launched. And in the celebrity game, novelty is trump. With her narrative, her persona, her charisma carrying the McCain campaign to places it has never been and by all logic has no right to be, she's pulling an Obama.

But her job is easier. She only has to remain airborne for seven more weeks. Obama maintained altitude for an astonishing four years. In politics, as in all games, however, it's the finish that counts.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Some of the political issues

As we get closer and closer to the election, I am going to spend every other week posting articles, commentaries and opinions on the candidates and their positions.

The health of Floyd County as well as the nation will be drastically different depending on who gets elected. This site, unlike the mainstream media, will have a conservative slant and will have commentaries that may not be read in other places.

The Following information has been compiled from some of the following sites and links but as with all politicians, their ideas and stances on issues change. For some, they change more frequently depending on the polls:

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html
http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

Here are some of the issues:

Favors new drilling offshore US
McCain Yes
Obama No

Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it
McCain Yes
Obama No

Served in the US Armed Forces
McCain Yes
Obama No

Amount of time served in the US Senate
McCain 22 YEARS
Obama 173 DAYS

Will institute a socialized national health care plan
McCain No
Obama Yes

Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy
McCain No
Obama Yes

Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately
McCain No
Obama Yes

Supports gun ownership rights
McCain Yes
Obama No

Supports homosexual marriage
McCain No
Obama Yes

Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase
McCain No
Obama Yes

Voted against making English the official language
McCain No
Obama Yes

Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals
McCain No
Obama Yes

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

McCain 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
Obama 28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)

DIVIDEND TAX
McCain 15% (no change)
Obama 39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. Some experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would severely affect the stock market in a negative way, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')

INCOME TAX
McCain (no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Obama (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750
Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!

INHERITANCE TAX
McCain 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
Obama Restore the inheritance tax
Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes, new taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity), new taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....new taxes to pay for socialized medicine.

The bottom line: Both candidates have proposed economic plans that experts don't expect will either raise enough revenue or cut spending sufficiently to pay for them in their entirety. But if you just consider the spending side of the equation, McCain's numbers are likely to be lower than Obama's. By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer

The bottom line: It's not fair to say that McCain's dependent exemption proposal is his "only middle-class tax cut." But Obama's claim that "more than 100 million Americans" will be left out of tax relief under McCain seems to be in the ballpark. So which Americans would see no benefit from McCain's proposal? People without dependents, of course, and those who don't make enough money to file or to owe enough federal income tax to benefit fully from the exemption.

When the Tax Policy Center, which has analyzed both candidates' tax plans, considered McCain's proposals as a whole minus his health care plan, it estimated that 66 million tax "units" - or 78 million people - would still not see tax relief next year. Add their kids and Cousin Itt upstairs, and you get closer to that 100 million number Obama touts.

But one caveat: The numbers are expected to fall once researchers incorporate the effects of McCain's health care credit, which they expect to do in the coming weeks. By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer

As with all of this, there is “spin” on both sides. Congress has got to quit spending more they collect in revenue. Everyone has a part to play.

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Friday, September 19, 2008

Olympic Verbal Slips


Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators at the Summer Olympics that they would like to take back:

1. Weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing."

2. Dressage commentator: "This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother."

3. Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."

4. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious."

5. Softball announcer: "If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again."

6. Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces."

7. At the rowing medal ceremony: "Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew."

8. Soccer commentator: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field."

9. Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them... Oh my God, what have I just said?"

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

A Hefty Load

Winston Salem had a new set of twins born earlier this year that nearly broke the record. The twins, Sean and Abigail Maynard, were about four pounds shy of the record birth weight for twins but still had a respectable combined weight of 23 pounds, 1 ounce.

Sean William weighed in at 10 pounds, 14 ounces and Abigail weighed in at 12 pounds, 3 ounces.

The twins were delivered two minutes apart by Caesarean section.

The record for twin births is 27 pounds, 12 ounces, and they were born in Arkansas in 1927.
I'm sure there are many women out there who are glad this isn't a record they were competing for!

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Japan's New Policy on Obesity



Japan is embarking on a very controversial plan. The government has launched a nationwide campaign to minimize the waistlines of everyone 40-74 years of age.

Companies and local governments must meet specific targets to help the country decrease its collective poundage. The goal is to be 10% lighter by 2012 and 25% lighter by 2015 or they will face penalties.

Employers may begin measuring the waistlines of the employees and reporting the results to the federal government. Now that may be a motivator.

The Japanese Ministry of Health believes it will combat the spread of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

What is ironic is that the overall obesity problem in Japan is far less than the United States, but the smoking problem is worse.

No evidence that any efforts are in the works to reduce the tobacco dependency.

I’d bet the Minister of Health is a smoker!

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Monday, September 15, 2008

PAFK Struggles with Power Outages


I know everyone in the area is struggling with power outages, fallen trees and downed power lines. Our office at Highlander Point is no different.


We have struggled with keeping a generator running to protect our vaccines. They say timing is everything, but when you just get a shipment of immunizations and flu vaccines with a dollar value of in the tens of thousands of dollars, it places an extra burden trying to keep them refrigerated.


We many times take for granted the simple things like electricity and refrigeration.


I thought we had it made earlier today when the power returned around 10:00 am, but then it went off again around 3:00 pm and has remained off.


Rather than fight another night of generators, I elected to pack up all the vaccines in coolers and move them to a safe location.


All appointments were cancelled today and we will have to see in the morning if we can operate on Tuesday. Even during the daylight hours, the inside of the building is pitch black and it is difficult for patients to get to the 3rd floor without elevators.


There are no phones and no computers which make things worse when you have electronic medical records.


If you are a patient, please call in the morning. If there is no answer, the power is still out and we will not be open.


As always, the ER is available for emergencies and our answering service can be reached at 502-375-6885.

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Revoking the HIV Travel Ban

The U.S. Senate recently voted to repeal the law barring HIV-infected visitors and immigrants from the country.

Since 1987, there has been a travel ban prohibiting U.S. entry by HIV-positive foreign nationals, unless they obtained a special waiver allowing short-term visits only. The ban also prevented most foreign nationals with HIV infection from legally obtaining permanent U.S residency.

As imagined, the numerous human rights organizations were never happy with this legislation and seem thrilled with the passage of the amendment.

This recent amendment was tacked on by the Senate while they were reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) bill. It will now go to a conference committee before being sent to President Bush for approval.

The original ban was called "ineffective, unnecessary, and simply bad public health policy....The Senate's change is welcome, and long overdue."

Part of the reason for the original ban was because treatment for HIV was much more readily accessible in the United States and people were attempting to come for that sole purpose placing an even greater strain on our healthcare system.

It should pass without much controversy in 2008.

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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Medicare Advantage "A Failed Policy"

Beginning in the ‘80s and ‘90s, our congressional leaders had the belief that they could reduce costs and improve healthcare through better management. Towards this end, they believed that setting up networks with the big insurance companies would facilitate this goal.

But unfortunately, the policy has failed because the patients were once again removed from the decision making and financial decisions.

Medicare is failing and the “Medicare Advantage” plans are expediting the downward decline.

Many of the private health insurance plans that now represent one fifth of the government-sponsored programs for older Americans, the “Medicare Advantage”, are siphoning off the top of Medicare's already overstretched budget.

Before this change occurred and at present, Medicare provides equitable access and delivers all the targeted services more cheaply and more efficiently than the Medicare Advantage plans by paying hospitals and doctors directly.

Medicare pays a 13 percent premium effecting a 17% overpayment to Medicare Advantage plans (compared to what they’d pay for the same services in fee for service Medicare).

This policy change has not improved the quality or delivery of healthcare to these seniors.

What it has done is distance seniors from taking a more direct path to their healthcare and it has substantially increased the bottom line of the Humana, Anthem and the other insurance companies at the expense of the providers.

Providers are required to jump through more hoops and over more hurdles than was already required on the original Medicare plan leading to increased cost and more hassles.

Congress needs to rethink this policy and the Democratic majority needs to make some substantial changes. If they do not like big business, this is their opportunity to make an impact.

As it stands now, the beneficiaries in traditional Medicare are paying higher premiums to subsidize questionable benefits for the minority in private plans, and the taxpayers are chipping in to boot.

The only winners are the insurance companies!

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Friday, September 12, 2008

Big Spender Obama

Since the earlier joke didn't set well with many readers, I apologize to those who were offended.

Racism is a serious issue and accusation and certainly was never the intent.

For the remainder of the weekend, we'll move on to some real facts regarding the candidates and see if we can get some discussion on these issues.

Waste is definitely prevalent in Washington and both parties are to blame.

But with Obama touting “change”, can we really believe anything he says based on his track record.

McCain has always been the maverick when it comes to earmarks and the pork-barrel spending, so Obama will never be able to win that comparison.

But the mainstream media continually acts as if Palin is a spender because of the Bridge-to-nowhere issue. Senator Demint summarized some details in the Wall Street Journal recently.

Here are some of the facts:

• Governor Palin vetoed more local projects than any other governor in the Alaska's history.

• She cut nearly 10% of Alaska's budget this year, saving state residents $268 million.
o This included vetoing a $30,000 van for Campfire USA and $200,000 for a tennis court irrigation system.
o She succinctly justified these cuts by saying they were "not a state responsibility."

• Obama voted for numerous wasteful earmarks last year including the following:
o $12 million for bicycle paths
o $450,000 for the International Peace Museum
o $500,000 for a baseball stadium
o and $392,000 for a visitor's center in Louisiana.

• Governor Palin cut Alaska's federal earmark requests in half last year which was one of the strongest moves against earmarks by any governor

• Obama delivered over $100 million in earmarks to Illinois last year
o Obama requested nearly a billion dollars in pet projects since 2005
o His running mate, Joe Biden, is still indulging in earmarks, securing over $90 million worth this year.

• Governor Palin killed the infamous Bridge to Nowhere in her own state.
o It is true that she once supported the project, but after witnessing the problems created by earmarks for her state and for the nation's budget, she did change her position and saved taxpayers millions.
o Even the Alaska Democratic Party credits her with killing the bridge project. So yes she did flip-flop but unlike most flip-flopping democrats, she changed and made the right decision.
o When the Senate had its chance to stop the Bridge to Nowhere and transfer the money to Katrina rebuilding, both Obama and Biden voted for the $223 million earmark, siding with the old boys' club in the Senate. And to date, they still have not publicly renounced their support for the infamous earmark.

• Governor Palin has also taken on the big spenders in her own party.
o In March of this year, the Anchorage Daily News reported that, "Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is aggravated about what he sees as Gov. Sarah Palin's antagonism toward the earmarks he uses to steer federal money to the state."

• Obama failed when he had a chance to take on his party when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered a sham ethics bill, which was widely criticized by watchdog groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste for shielding earmarks from public scrutiny.
o Obama voted for the bill rather than standing up for taxpayers
o Obama is now claiming he helped write the bill that failed to clean up Washington.

• Obama just this year (election year) is claiming to co-sponsor an earmark moratorium authored by Mr. McCain.

I’d say based on this information, Obama is less than honest and really has no facts to support a claim that he will cut spending.

Governor Palin is one of the strongest antiearmark governors in America and if other legislators would follow her lead, we might finally be able to balance a budget and spend less than we take in.

If change is going to occur with finances, the McCain/Palin ticket is by far our best chance.

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A most distressing knock-knock joke





















**the letter "ur"were added to the post

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Attack snake



Police in Bridgeport, Conn. Responded to a domestic violence call and had an interesting welcoming. The owner, Victor Rodriguez, ordered his 9-foot pet albino python to attack, yelling, "Get them!"

He either thought snakes were much smarter than they are or believed he would intimidate the officers. Either way, the snake was taken to the city's animal control shelter and the officers took Rodriguez downtown.




Maybe the Attack-Dem's and mainstream media will try using a similar tactic to intimidate Palin. Their mentality thus far seems to be along the same level.

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

25 Years

I know it is going to be hard for some of you to believe, but today I am honored and blessed with celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary.

For some of my most avid critics and my atheist friends, this should convince some of you that there has to be a God as many would believe this event to be truly a miracle that there is someone who could stick with me for this long.

But in all seriousness, my wife Stephanie is my very best friend and we have enjoyed our past 25 years. We have been blessed with four wonderful, successful children and a beautiful granddaughter. We have a fabulous extended family and wonderful friends.

We are excited and a little nervous about becoming empty-nesters as our youngest son will be finishing his senior year in high school and is applying to the Air Force and Naval Academies.

Love is one of those supernatural things that is difficult to explain, but I thank God every day for my wife and look forward to many more rewarding years.

A toast to all the other couples who have been blessed with a wonderful marriage as well!

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Democratic mentality

Dependency on government is a worsening problem that historically had its roots with the Democratic Party. The democratic convention and Obama continue to advance the notion that government is the only entity that can save us.

The roots of the problem began with the progressive style of Woodrow Wilson who often wrote of creating a "God state" in America where the government had social control and demolished individual freedom for the good of the population. An example of this was the War Industries Board around World War One which was ultimately a failure. Then came Franklin Roosevelt as a Democrat to implement programs such as Social Security, Welfare, and to a more controversial extent the National Recovery Act and National Labor Relations Act.

These programs had their place but should have been temporary measures to meet immediate needs. They have created our dependent society and through a century of pushing big government down our throats, it has put us into a position where there is no longer a "right" side to the debate.

Sarah Palin, as well as most Republicans, are the exact opposite of this. We do believe the government has a role in the life of the country, but, we do not believe that the lives of Americans rely on constant intervention by the Government.

The recent attacks on Sarah Palin demonstrate clearly the democratic party and mainstream media believe that Government has to be involved in individual's personal decisions.

Co-dependent Democrats and mainstream media cannot understand how someone like her can take care of 5 children without Government help.

They cannot understand how someone can be so independent that they have made a decision to allow their children to grow up and live their own lives.

They cannot understand how individuals can rely on their family for support and not a government programs.

They cannot understand how Sarah Palin can stand up and live according to her heart and mind and still be able to handle the duties of mother, wife, governor and maybe even Vice President.

The video here epitomizes the democratic mentality!

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Monday, September 08, 2008

Courier Op-ed

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the Op-Ed article that the liberally-bent Courier Journal published recently. The media's hypocrisy courier-journal The Courier-Journal

It highlights what most thinking-Americans already knew and it brought it to the forefront.

As you read the article, you will see that the writer is very open about the obvious bias in the media. But what is also reassuring for lots of us conservative republicans is that Sarah Palin is connecting on a personal level with many average folks.

This bodes well for the upcoming November election. The continued obvious hypocrisy and bias of the mainstream media is going to erode away any chance the democrats have of winning.

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Friday, September 05, 2008

Reasons to vote Democrat

I'm voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending my money I earn than I would.

I'm voting Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

I'm voting Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the bad guys will stop what they're doing because they now think we're good people.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday, CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

I'm voting Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see fit.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe three or four pointy headed elitist liberals need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would NEVER get their agendas past the voters.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe that when the terrorists don't have to hide from us over there, when they come over here I don't want to have any guns in the house to fight them off with.

I'm voting Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.

I'm voting Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

Makes you wonder why anyone would EVER vote Republican, now doesn't it?

NOT!!!

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Thursday, September 04, 2008

Thoughts on Palin


I am continually amazed at the democrats and their unrelenting attacks on Sarah Palin. I ask myself why this is occurring and the answer continues to come back to fear and jealousy.

They are fearful that the Republicans have chosen such a strong candidate who most represents everyday Americans. They are fearful she will connect with everyday moms and wives and garner the votes of many democratic women who would have voted for Hilary.

She is well-educated, well-spoken, beautiful and unrelenting in her convictions and resolve. She is complimentary to those women who paved the way before her whether they were democrat or republican.

She values life, she values family, and she is unafraid of speaking out against corruption.

She has more leadership and decision-making experience than Obama and she is roughly the same young age. She has been the mayor of a city and the Governor of the largest state in the Union. Under her leadership, Alaska invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans. She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska. During her first legislative session, Governor Palin’s administration passed two major pieces of legislation – an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws and a competitive process to construct a gas pipeline. Obama’s leadership experience is limited to a community organizer and what he says he led there has been less than successful, as noted in the following article. . Read article.

In Obama’s book, he says being a community organizer taught him how to motivate the powerless and work the government to help them and he gave his chief example as the effort to remove asbestos from Altgeld Gardens, an all-black public housing project on Chicago's South Side. The problem with this is that those who were involved in the effort say Obama played a minor role in working the problem and never accomplished his goal.

A pre-existing group at Altgeld Gardens and a local newspaper, the Chicago Reporter, were working on the problem before Obama came on the scene, yet Obama does not mention them in his book, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance."

"Just because someone writes it, doesn't make it true," says Altgeld resident Hazel Johnson, who had been pushing for a cleanup of the cancer-producing substance years before Obama showed up

In a second article from the Boston Globe, another Obama housing project is a catastrophic failure and highlights how governmental intervention is not a successful approach and is not fiscally responsible. http://clintondems.com/2008/06/grim-proving-ground-for-obamas-housing-policy/

The hypocrisy of the Democrats advocating for women yet criticizing Sarah Palin and personally attacking her family really highlights their true color. They only want women to advance and be successful if they have the same fundamental beliefs; otherwise they want to crush any progress.
The media bias is also blantantly obvious. Obama's lack of experience is completely given a pass by mainstream media because he is a male while Sarah Palin is microscopically scrutinized even though she has more leadership experience simply because she is female.

I think the democrats and mainstream media are fearful that a republican woman, with very grounded fundamental values, is a heartbeat away from the presidency. It has nothing to do with experience. If that were the case, their candidate for the number one slot would have been disqualified before he started.

Sarah Palin resonates with voters, has more experience than Obama, is a mother of 5, grounded in her principles and is well-liked by her home state.

The democrats and mainstream media are jealous that the first female vice-president is going to be a republican!

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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

New concern with CT scans

Besides radiation exposure risks that have been addressed before, there is now and new concern with computed tomography (CT) scans.

In a recent article, it was reported that direct X-ray exposure from CT scans may cause some implanted and external electronic medical devices to malfunction.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the recent warning in a preliminary public health notification.

The FDA further stated that "To date, no patient deaths have been reported from CT scanning of implanted or externally worn electronic medical devices."

According to the report, a small number of patients have reported interference with devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neurostimulators, and implanted or externally worn drug infusion pumps.

Some of the adverse events have included unintended "shocks" from neurostimulators, insulin pump malfunctions, and transient changes in pacemaker output pulse rate.

It is unclear as to what exactly is causing the problem, but the increased number of cases may be due to an increased frequency of CT scanning, the higher dose-rate capability of newer machines, an increased prevalence of device use, and better reporting systems.

Until further information is obtained, careful observation and minimal exposure to the devices is recommended.

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Breathe Right Strips


In the following article, the reporting is pretty good but may lead some consumers to believe “Breathe Right” strips may be more beneficial than they actually are.

The article is informative and easy to read and it has clear consumer value and an explicit takeaway message.

But unfortunately, the story has two serious flaws which nearly negate its short and concise reporting.

It fails to acknowledge that taken as a whole the evidence of benefit is equivocal and not all of the studies are valuable. In addition, the failure to dig for negative findings results in an inaccurate positive impression of the product's effectiveness.

This does not serve the public as well as it could.

The second flaw is of even greater consequence because the story implies, or at least permits a reading that suggests, Breathe Right strips can treat sleep apnea.

The description of results from the Journal of Rhinology study are carefully worded: When used by people with snoring and sleep apnea, the strips "reduced nasal obstruction" for most study subjects.

This could be misread by consumers to mean the strips successfully treated apnea and this is not the case.

Apnea is caused when muscles of the palate or other tissue collapse and block airflow to the trachea. It is not caused by nasal obstruction. The strips may have improved nasal airflow for people with apnea, but this isn't relevant to the underlying disease mechanism.

Sleep Apnea is a serious condition with cognitive, cardiovascular and overall health consequences and it can be deadly.

Breathe Right strips cannot treat it although some who read the article may believe otherwise.

The overall article is short, concise and pretty good, but it needs to dig a little deeper to find the truth, and protect the public from harm.

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