After 39 deaths, the fungal meningitis infection had entered a second phase.

Dr. April Pettit is an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. Her discovery prompted a national alert that may have saved lives.

I wonder what her bonus was? I suppose the idea she was saving lives was enough to motivate a dedicated professional.

Fri, Dec 21, 2012

CDC's December 20 Health Alert Update (click here)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health update yesterday, alerting physicians to the continued concern for the development of spinal or paraspinal infections in those who had received injections of MPA before the recall of the potentially contaminated drug on Sept. 26....

...there is increased reason for concern about the possibility of infections below the skin at or near the spinal injection site.

According to NBCNews.com , researchers from three of the 19 affected states had magnetic resonance imaging tests performed on 128 of such people who now had new or worsening symptoms, such as injection site pain. The MRI testing revealed 52 percent of those tested had signs of an active infection, ranging from an abscess to infection of the bone....

...Current Data on Fungal Meningitis Outbreak 2012

Although neither physician knew it at the time, the actions of Dr. April Pettit, a Tennessee physician, and Dr. Marion Kainer of the The Tennessee Department of Health  in the identification of fungus as a cause of a recently diagnosed case of meningitis and then linking the source of the infection to a contaminated injectable drug used in spinal injections, was the beginning of a public health nightmare....

I doubt sincerely the USA military needs nor wants blood drenched oil from Nigeria.

Jim Lane | November 28, 2012

...The Committee-passed annual Defense Authorization (click here) bill would have blocked efforts to develop a commercial supply of cost-competitive advanced biofuels as detailed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) led a successful effort to strike language in the bill that would have restricted DOD from buying any fuels that cost more than traditional fuels.  This language, which was added by Senator Inhofe during mark-up, was a direct assault on the Defense Department’s advanced biofuels policy....

The thing is this. If the USA demands oil from areas of the world such as Nigeria become more of an enemy than the oil companies. So, to expect the USA military to indulge in purchasing from the petroleum industry because they can't use advanced biofuels is counter productive to PEACE.

It can be taken one step further and actually accuse power brokers for Wall Street such as Inhofe with human rights violations.

Submitted by admin on December 14, 2012 – 12:51 pm

The rationale behind the military’s energy programs (click here) can be broken down into two efforts:

1. Adapting to operational energy requirements and security challenges in Afghanistan and other combat theatres;
2. Hedging against future uncertainty in the global petroleum market....

The future is at hand and it is not a slippery slope.

Meredith Wadman

07 January 2013

The US Supreme Court today (click here) ended an effort to shut down government support of human embryonic stem cell research, refusing to hear a case that challenged the legality of funding for the work by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The high court’s refusal to consider an appeal in the case of Sherley v. Sebelius ends a more than 3-year-old effort by the plaintiffs, two adult stem cell researchers, to stop NIH backing of the work, which holds the promise of treatments for a variety of diseases, but which depends upon the destruction of days-old human embryos. As is its typical practice, the court did not give its reasons for declining the case....

By AUDREY GRAYSON
ABC News Medical Unit

Feb. 20, 2008

Doctors may be one step closer to using stem cells to cure diabetes, (click here) according to a new study by researchers at the stem cell engineering company Novacell, Inc. in San Diego who report that they managed to convert human embryonic stem cells into insulin-producing cells.

Insulin is the chemical produced in the pancreas that allows the body to regulate blood-sugar levels — and it is precisely the substance that many of those with diabetes lack.

The researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Nature Biotechnology, found that when they injected these human cells into diabetic mice, the treatment alleviated diabetes in the rodents....

Why aren't these jobs going to Nigerians?

Halliburton Nigeria Jobs for Account Representative, Business Developtment (click here)

Hasn't Nigeria had enough of oil companies damaging its environment? Why aren't Nigerians running their own companies and filling jobs with their own people? The salaries are unbelievable. 

...Calls on assigned and non-assigned accounts to effectively promote and sell the Company’s products and services. Plays an active role in the business planning process. Job role directly create value via personal relationships. Skills typically acquired through completion of an undergraduate degree in business administration, marketing, engineering, or similar disciplines and 3-8 years of related sales experience. Revenue scope typically in the range of $5 – 50 M. That is $5 - 50 Million. 

Halliburton is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

I am quite sure there are Undergrads in Nigeria capable of doing this work. Perhaps, Halliburton is worried about conscience. If placing a Nigerian in the job there might actually be a conscience of how the environment is treated. Maybe Halliburton intends to start a war with the people all over again?

Page last updated at 14:52 GMT, Sunday, 14 September 2008 15:52 UK

Militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region say they have "declared war" on the government after battling security forces guarding facilities.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it was responding to attacks by the military.

The military said it had repelled several Mend attacks. Both sides say their opponents suffered heavy losses.

Mend's violent campaign for a bigger part of the area's oil wealth has cut Nigeria's oil output by more than 20%.

Mend militants are the largest of several armed groups operating in the impoverished delta region. They frequently kidnap foreign oil workers and sabotage oil installations and pipelines.

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'adua is under pressure to crack down on the militants and make the delta safer for international oil firms....

This has gone on for DECADES and now Halliburton is at it again. This was in 2008. How many people died in the Delta since 2008?

11 October 2012 Last updated at 13:34 ET

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell (click here) has rejected claims by four Nigerian farmers that it should pay compensation for damage to their land.

The farmers are suing the company in a civil court in The Hague, claiming oil spills ruined their livelihoods.

Shell's lawyers told the court it could not be held liable because most spills were caused by criminal damage.

They said repairs were hard to carry out because of insecurity in the Niger Delta.

Then get out of the country. Why hasn't the Nigerian government garnered enough expertise to have their own people handle oil exports? Decades of environmental damage, citizen's deaths and birth defects. Somehow, I do understand the militias there. It never stops. The assault by oil companies to this country never stops and they actually have the idea they belong there over the rights of the people of Nigeria. 

Shell lawyer Jan de Bie Leuveling Tjeenk told the court that sabotage and oil theft were widespread in the region....

Oh. Wait. I forgot. We have a cheap oil policy globally and this is the cost. Of course. No reason for CEOs to have a conscience, they have a noble cause on their hands.

Call me crazy, but, I have a sneaky suspicion that if the quality of life of the people actually improved, the environment was cleaned up and safe and the $50 million per year went to pay Nigerians to improve their quality of life, the militias might actually stop being so difficult to deal with.

What bothers me more is the fact that long confrontations become generational. You know, like Northern Ireland. The longer the people of Nigeria are impoverished, die at the hand of their oil contamination and basically suffer, the more entrenched the hatred becomes and the wars become permanent. Can you imagine that? Wars brought on because of oil extraction. It is true and it never stops.

Russian antisemitism has been falling since the changing of the guard.

By Marc Tracy
February 16, 2011 10:00 AM
According to a classified cable from U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle, (click here) which was sent in late 2009 but released yesterday by WikiLeaks, Russia has shown “clear signs of throwing off its long and tragic history of anti-Semitism.” The government’s policy “has involved an aggressive campaign against anti-Semitism, coupled with positive official statements towards the Jewish community,” Beyrle reports. “Societal attitudes have also improved.” Warmer ties with Israel have helped as well, he says. The cable’s title is “Anti-Semitism on the Wane in Russia,” and it agrees with the Russian government’s contention that the Soviet-era Jackson-Vanik amendment, which linked trade status to Soviet Jews’ freedom of emigration, is “an anachronism.”...

I am sure everyone recognizes this man. He is Sergey Brin. He was born in Russia and emigrated with his parents at the age of six to the USA. He is the co-founder of Google. I am quite sure Russia regrets his emigration.

The Russian Jew was a victim no different than many minorities are in other nations. At the turn of the 1900s there were about 5.2 (not 2.5 - typo) million Hebrews in Russia. By the time the USA finally got around to write a letter to Russia about anti-semitism it was 1999 and there was about one tenth that many; about 500,000 Jewish people. The trend for the previous 100 years was emigration. Some emigrated to Israel, others the USA, others to Europe, etc.. While it was nice for the USA Senate to write a politically popular letter in 1999 to Russia, wasn't it a bit late?

The Soviet Union was primarily responsible for the emigration of its Jewish population. The Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

I suppose it was good for the USA Senate to notice the Jewish population in Russia had fallen by 90% due to emigration, but, in all honesty where were they for the previous 100 years?

Better late than never, I suppose.

Chuck took a different approach and actually thought the Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, should do her job. That approach works for me.

...Hagel said (click here) at the time his policy was to never sign letters to foreign heads of state telling them how to handle affairs in their own countries, as it often served to alienate and embolden them. However, he said he took stronger and more effective action by writing directly to President Clinton, asking him to appeal to Boris Yeltsin to stop anti-Semitic acts in his country.

"My intent is to find the best avenue, the best vehicle to effect change," Hagel said. "I think what I've done is far more effective than a letter that Yeltsin probably will never see."

"Anti-Semitism or any form of religious persecution should never be tolerated," Hagel wrote in his letter to Clinton. "The United States should predicate its support for democratic institutions in Russia upon unwavering opposition to anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice and intolerance within that government."

Hagel said signing the Senate's letter would have been "a pretty easy way to get off the hook." He added that "my interest is not in getting some political points. I want to accomplish this in the best and most effective way."...

Senator Hagel didn't put it quite that way. He was more diplomatic than saying the Secretary of State should do her job.

I really get the impression, the Former Senator Hagel was a bit of a maverick and took the path with FUNDING and effectiveness. Why does that seem intelligent?

The new Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel will prove an interesting partner with the military because Russia's Putin supports Israel. But, Russia's role in the region since 1991 has been more complicated than simply Pro-Israel and Anti-Iran. 

The Iranian rift with the global community sincerely started with the politician Ahmadinejad and his overt antisemitism. He was elected in 2005 after Bush was reelected. The Russian presence with Iran started long before Ahmadinejad became President. Russia has a precarious position in Iran in that it had to help develop peaceful nuclear technology after the USA lied to Iran and provided faux blueprints. I suppose that was a USA strategy, but, it was a huge failure and only acted to alienate Iran even further.

What I admire about Senator Hagel is his recognition of complex issues and the FACTS. He isn't a 'mind speak' Republican as "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" has become. Senator Hagel seeks the facts, examines the options and doesn't seek political populous to determine his decisions. He thinks for a living. 

I suppose some arrogant politicians would call him 'rough cut.' Not so. He is HONEST and if the truth appears CRUDE and hurts, then so be it.

Have a better day.

Where is David Vitter when they need him?

Let's get a few things straight. Hurricane Katrina did the massive damage it did to New Orleans while killing 1833 people because the warning issued by the Army Corp of Engineers was never heeded.

David Vitter came into office January 5, 2005. Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 23, 2005. The problems with the levees and the degradated wetlands were known to Louisiana long before Katrina ever made land fall. Long before Katrina breathed its first breath. So, Vitter can stop his grandstanding right now. He is as responsible for the 1833 deaths as much as the Bush Administration and those before that denied invaluable funding to prevent those deaths.

If it weren't for Mayor Ray Nagin there would be all that many more dead. Okay? Got that right? Mayor Nagin enforced the idea the residents needed an ax in the roof. Got that?

By Alex Johnson and Kiran Chawla
msnbc.com and NBC News
updated 8/20/2010 
NEW ORLEANS  — Five years after Hurricane Katrina (click here) destroyed more than 200,000 Louisiana homes, the state program established to help families rebuild still hasn’t paid out more than three-quarters of a billion dollars and has come under fire from a federal judge for discriminating against black homeowners....

That said, the current emergency in New Jersey and New York is every bit as important as the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after the negligent agenda of the white people in the federal government decided to build parks for their constituents rather than return wetlands to the Louisiana coast and improve the circumstances of the residents of the Ninth Ward.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (click here) serves the Armed Forces and the Nation by providing vital engineering services and capabilities, as a public service, across the full spectrum of operations— from peace to war —in support of national interests.

Recreation.gov - Really?

Earmarks. The Army Corp MONIES is earmarked for recreational areas throughout the USA. Not that the Army Corp builds them. No, no, nothing like that. The Army Corp works with private companies to pay for their talents to build recreational areas.

Not that there is anything else the Army Corp has to do or worry about like wetlands off Louisiana or levees. Nah. The monies are best spent to keep constituents believing their politicians actually do some kind of work in DC. The wetlands are still unrestored in Louisiana after all the money provided to date. 

Why expect them to be important after all. Vitter has no room to complain about the on going Climate Crisis and the never ending monies needed in the country. I suppose Vitter would be far more silent should Sandy had landed in Louisiana this year rather than Hurricane Issac. Right? Issac seems so puny now.

Hurricane Isaac's legacy: wetland destruction, and a test of the  New Orleans levees (click here)

By Dr. Jeff Masters

Published: 5:05 PM GMT on January 07, 2013

The hurricane season of 2012 will rightfully be remembered for the legacy left behind by Hurricane Sandy. But in Louisiana, the other hurricane to affect the U.S. in 2012--Hurricane Isaac--left a legacy of its own. Isaac hit Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds on August 28, but the storm's massive wind field brought a storm surge characteristic of a Category 2 hurricane to the coast....

The photo to the right is from NASA. It is Superstorm Sandy before it made landfall. I mean you've got to be joking. There is going to be a delay in the funding?

It is the crazies from the Tea Party. AGAIN.

If the Tea Party is holding the nation hostage again this time, there are lots of parks and recreational areas that can be cut from funding to provide needed relief for the Northeast.

EXCLUSIVE: As Hurricane Isaac Targets New Orleans, GOP Rep. Calls For Making Disaster Relief Contingent On Budget Cuts (click here)

By Scott Keyes and Adam Peck on Aug 28, 2012 at 3:07 pm

...Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told ThinkProgress at a Hispanic Leadership Network luncheon that Republicans should take a similar approach with disaster funding for Hurricane Isaac as they did after natural disasters last year. In 2011, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) led the Republican charge to deny disaster funding following major hurricanes and tornadoes unless the federal budget was cut in other areas.

Labrador said that Congress must “readjust everything we do” in order to find cuts to pay for Hurricane Isaac disaster relief. “If there’s emergencies, we don’t always need to keep borrowing money,” said the freshman Republican....

There is plenty of money in the National Debt that doesn't need to be there that the Tea Party Hostage Takers can cut to provide the Northeast with plenty of money for restoration.

The Gulf Coast has a problem separate and completely different in dynamics than the Northeast USA. It is saturated with the petroleum industry destruction of wetlands and a return of oil from the bottom of the Gulf to the shorelines. So, there is really no need for vast amounts of federal monies on the Gulf Coast since so much of the damage belongs to the petroleum industry anyway.

Get rid of the pork in the national debt and the Northeast will be just fine.

When earmarks syphon off the monies out of the Federal Budget, the government leaves vital work undone. Get rid of the earmarks and start to fund the government without interruption including the restoration of Climate Crisis damage.

A USA Appeals Court upholds "Off Label" medication use?

Excuse me? Is it necessary under the new patent law to actually exploit the uses of this drug before the patients die of it or get sicker?

How a Sleeping Drug Company Increased Prices 300% Without Anyone Noticing (click here)

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) has pushed up the price of its narcolepsy drug Xyrem fourfold since 2006, and it's a good example of how prescription costs in the U.S. are out of control. Xyrem now costs as much as $35,000 per year of treatment, and the company says it could double the price again without anyone noticing....

I am sorry, but, the idea any one can say anything to sell medications to the American public is nothing short of selling snake oil. I can't over look this. It is about the designer laboratories again. 

Event Details Title Jazz Pharmaceuticals at JPMorgan Global Healthcare Conference (click here) Date and Time Tuesday, January 8, 2013 10:00 a.m. PT   Location Westin St. Francis Hotel San Francisco, CA

Jazz Pharmaceuticals is scheduled to launch 'the idea' that any medication can be applied to any ailment even on the authority of laymen. I don't think so. This is playing on the commercialization of desperation of the chronically ill. This is outrageous. Who the heck bought the courts on this one?

Nature Medicine 

19,

1

(2013)

Published online

 

07 January 2013

...In fact, virtually anyone (click here) who doesn't work for the pharmaceutical industry can advocate for the off-label use of a medicine. Under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), which gives the FDA its regulatory authority, it is a crime to promote a drug for purposes not listed in its label. In FDCA language, “introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce” is illegal. GlaxoSmithKline's $3 billion settlement last summer for promoting Avandia and other drugs for unapproved uses is a stern reminder  reminder that the FDCA means business.

But on 3 December, a federal appeals court changed the status quo by overturning the conviction of Alfred Caronia, a sales representative for Orphan Medical, who promoted a drug for uses not approved by the FDA. The case involved the drug Xyrem, the active ingredient of which is γ-hydroxybutryate, a compound federally classified as the 'date rape drug'. Xyrem is prescribed for certain types of narcolepsy, but Caronia was caught promoting the drug for patients with conditions as diverse as fibromyalgia, restless legs syndrome, chronic pain and Parkinson's disease....

Xyrem has been under study with UMDNJ since 2007 for the application for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia without any published results to date. Where is Jazz Pharmaceuticals getting their authority to advocate this very dangerous trend in medication application in this country?

...I have prescribed sodium oxybate (click here) in my own practice for patients who have both CFS and FM with good results. Anecdotally, patients reporting less pain also reported better quality sleep and less fatigue upon awakening. This has led me to hypothesize that sodium oxybate will reduce fatigue in patients with CFS alone (i.e., without also having FM).

To test this hypothesis, I propose doing a double blind, placebo controlled trial of sodium oxybate in 30 patients who fulfill a formal case definition for chronic fatigue syndrome and who do not also have FM.

The FDA has a long history of fast tracking medications, ie: HIV Medications (Initially AZT), that is not what this is. If this medication was proven to be safe for patients without harmful side effects worse than the disease itself or a threat to longevity the FDA would have approved it accordingly.

Anecdotally is a problem. Sincere trials are the only methods of achieving real information regarding a drug. Since when are drugs prescribed to patients on the basis of anecdotal knowledge? Patients are suppose to receive guarantees by established knowledge bases, not surprise effects they didn't know anything about.

γ-hydroxybutryate - Active Ingredient is different than chemical composition and/or generic name as in the case of Xyrem, sodium oxybate. It is a highly reactive compound that I have reservations about just looking at it. The half life of the compound is 30 minutes to one hour. How many of these can a person tolerate a day to sustain its effect? Toxic levels? And at this price the USA could be rooked out of a lot of money through those receiving Medicare while disabled. It is a mess.


This is it's parent compound, gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid. Sound dangerous? Right? I mean it is an acid after all. It is a naturally occurring substance found in the human central nervous system, as well as in wine, beef, small citrus fruits, and almost all animals in small amounts. GHB has been used in a medical setting as a general anesthetic, to treat conditions such as insomnia, clinical depression, narcolepsy, and alcoholism, and to improve athletic performance. 

Basically, Jazz Pharmaceuticals put the parent compound through a chemical process to remove a H (hydrogen) and add a Na (sodium). It is a probably a very slick way of getting a patent for exploitation. If the parent compound is exposed to sodium chloride (NaCl) TABLE SALT, the ionic OH will be replaced with NA and the second product would be HCl, hydrocloric acid of which can be neutralized with H2O, water.

Yes, sir, it sure looks like a miracle drug to me.

The NLRB is moving labor disputes forward to resolution. Thank you.

IATSE Local 500 (click here) is striking the Kravis Center right now in South Florida.

For more than 12 years, the Kravis Center has been in continuous violation of federal labor law.

Local 500 "would request that the public call [Kravis Center Directors] Judith Mitchell and Jim Mitchell at (561) 833-8300 and tell them to stop violating federal labor law."

In case the working public doesn't understand the verbiage, it is called UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES!!! These practices prevents competition in the work place and lowers pay to citizens. The practices the NLRB litigates prevents poverty and expands the economic power of the Middle Class.

New Agreement Means $2.2M in Back Pay, New Work for Florida IATSE Members (click here)

January 4th, 2013 | Mike Hall

...McKenzie deadpanned, ‘Well, a strike had something to do with it.’

In 2000, the theater fired several IATSE members and withdrew recognition of the union after declaring an impasse had been reached in negotiations. In 2001, attorneys for the regional director of the NLRB concluded that Kravis had committed “massive and continuous violations” of federal labor law when it unilaterally withdrew recognition of the union, refused to negotiate, discharged union-represented department heads and other major violations.

Kravis appealed the decision to the Bush–era full NLRB, which took five years before the board ruled that the center violated the law when it ejected the union and fired union workers. But the center appealed to a federal appeals court, which upheld the NLRB ruling....

None of these health care insurance companies are moderate sized companies.

Wall Street is seeking to undo the new economy of the Democratic leadership. This is active political directives by Wall Street. There is no other reason for it, except, "They can not that they should."

The Wall Street health care insurance companies are a cartel. That is a fact. They are well organized and definitely 'bonded' by the purpose of defeating adverse political entities.

This is anti-trust in a very big way. Where they 'act together' against the free market system they are definitely an anti-trust entity.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Rise in Health Insurance Costs Outpacing Income Growth, Report Finds

Growth in employees' health insurance premium costs outpaced growth in income in all 50 states from 2003 to 2011, while deductibles nearly doubled during that period, according to a new report released by the Commonwealth Fund, Modern Healthcare reports.

The report, which aimed to better understand the financial strain on households and business budgets from the nation's rising health care costs, found that:

• A worker spent an average of $3,962 on premiums for employer-based family health coverage in 2011, an increase of 74% from 2003;
• 
  
• The average premium for a family plan in 2011 was $15,022, up 62% from 2003;
• 
  
• Seventy-eight percent of insured workers had deductibles in 2011, compared with 52% in 2003;
• 
  
• The average deductible for an individual health plan in 2011 was $1,123, an increase of 117% from 2003; and
• 
  
• The average deductible for a family plan in 2011 was $2,220, an increase of 106% from 2003 (Evans, Modern Healthcare, 12/12).

Premiums increased three times faster than incomes for workers in New Mexico, South Carolina and West Virginia, where the premiums exceeded 25% of median wages, the report found....

This is fairly straight forward. The companies are only allowed to keep 15% of its premiums. A full 85% is suppose to be spent on actual costs. The difference between that 85% and the actual cost to the subscriber over 15% has to be refunded in a premium refund.

The health care insurance CARTEL is front loading its profits while at the same time attacking a soft economic target in the Small Business Persons to prevent the American People from actually reclaiming their economy from Wall Street.

See, health care is mandated now. So, the Small Business Owner in a "Cartel Experiment" will seek to sink the growth of the USA economy in favor of their Chinese import counter parts. China's penetration into the global economies is shrinking. There are many reasons why that is the case, partly because statistically it was going to happen anyway (Bubble and Bust) and other factors such as energy costs.

But, Wall Street is talking to each other and seeking to control the impact of the Independent Business Owner in the USA that could actually see penetration into global markets when their products are better quality and a better value 'for the money.' There is nothing more precise than a product produced by an American Small Business Owner. There just isn't. They oversee everything and the quality is extremely important to them. 

So, Wall Street is scared to their skivvies. They see the curve on the success of the American economy of Small Business Owners and they know where their profit margins are headed as well as their bonuses.

Now, that health care is mandated in the USA with State Exchanges being established as of 2014. Which, by the way, I am happy as a bee on a honey pot, conservative states (Red States) aren't taking on the challenge. These states would seek to play excruciating politics with health care insurance to enforce their political goals. That said, the State Exchanges will provide a venue the current companies want. If the State Exchanges (as a larger group of nameless and faceless individuals) can be manipulated to PROVE this is a hugely bad idea, they may get their old methodology back.

Believe me, the PLANS these companies have to control the USA economy and the outcome of their profits and bonuses are amazing.

Think it through. These are global companies and they don't want to give up any minuscule percentage of the USA economy they now hold. That is a baseline of success in profits for them. Now, how is it best to control the propaganda to the government committees that will ultimately make their decisions about rate hikes? Would the propaganda be contestable by INDIVIDUALS in a State Health Insurance Exchange or would the propaganda work best when addressing Small Business Owners who know their employees very well?

The propaganda would work best with a larger more random 'identity' of the insured. Yes, I am saying the companies will lie to the public to make their case a populous demand known to work well in the Right Wing electorate.

Getting the picture and why 'the truth' and getting down to the facts is important?

It is vital to the USA Economy to rid itself of 'mind speak political propaganda.' It is corrupt and it is toxic. It allows for easy manipulation of the electorate and discouraging it from participation in its own government. 

That is my focus when I read this mess. Wall Street definitely is not a trustworthy entity in the USA economy. Health Care Insurance Companies are among the worst of the worst of Wall Street.

I don't know how accurate this list is, but, it was available from US News and World Report, so it is probably fairly accurate. It is a good starting place.

The Top 25 Health Insurance Companies (click here)

The largest U.S. health insurers collected some $650 billion in premiums in 2009, the latest year for which data were available in early 2011. The top 25, ranked below by market share, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total. Data were provided by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, whose members direct the state agencies that license insurance companies....

Then realize there are certain known FIXED costs. Yes, the cost to Americans is somewhat known as a factor in the USA economy.

...But let's consider what 17 cents of every U.S. dollar is purchasing. (click here) According to the most recent report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) -- an international economic group comprised of 34 member nations -- it's not as much as many Americans expect.

In the United States:

• There are fewer physicians per person than in most other OECD countries. In 2010, for instance, the U.S. had 2.4 practicing physicians per 1,000 people -- well below below the OECD average of 3.1.
• The number of hospital beds in the U.S. was 2.6 per 1,000 population in 2009, lower than the OECD average of 3.4 beds.
• Life expectancy at birth increased by almost nine years between 1960 and 2010, but that's less than the increase of over 15 years in Japan and over 11 years on average in OECD countries. The average American now lives 78.7 years in 2010, more than one year below the average of 79.8 years....

Then imagine a mandated health care insurance in the USA that actually provides for 'No Deductible Screenings' for health risks. My, my the American citizen may live a long time without any huge health care costs to tap into to exploit. What is Wall Street going to do?

I could go on for awhile, but, I think that paints a fairly clear picture as to the cartel of health insurance companies and their desperate CEO's that just don't know how they are going to pay for their new seashore house in New Orleans. 

It surprised me the House was struggling with passing the Flood Insurance Funding bill. It told me a couple of things, like maybe the wealthy should not be funded for their losses, possibly the corruption in Congress is actually breaking down and the most important speculation is the FACT this funding is actually running out. Why? Either it wasn't funded in the first place and/or there is so much flooding damage in the USA because of the Climate Crisis the Flood Insurance Program simply can't keep up.


January 7, 2013
The Weather Channel
Current Temperature Map of the USA

Take for example the massive amount of flooding that is going to occur now that the USA has been frozen for about a week and is now going to thaw. So much for Spring.

Well. The idea the Health Care Insurance Companies are HONEST dealers in the USA economy is about the most naive thought any citizen could ever believe is true. They aren't honest dealers. Hell, they have killed people for profit margins. Get for real about these CEOs and their henchmen/women.

Health care costs are going down in the USA. We know that for a fact. The cost curve will bend down. The insurance companies know it, too. They are seeking to front load their profits before reality actually hits and do some damage to the recovering USA economy with Small Business Owners as the current focus of the DIABOLICAL profiteers.

Oh, one other thing.

There are those Right Wingers that ALREADY state, "Look at the increasing costs of heath care premiums for the sake of insuring a few million Americans." Now, if that isn't a lousy attitude to begin with, realize the insurance companies are seeing a lot more than insuring a few million more subscribers. 

THE HEALTH CARE INSURANCE COMPANIES can't cheat the subscriber anymore. That costs money. While the Right Wingers like to focus on a few million of Americans now being insured, there are far larger issues, such as the way they actually cheat legitimate subscribers and the fact they allow death when there are treatments that increase longevity. This is more than a few million people, it is QUITE FRANKLY, the entire nation and THE QUALITY OF CARE they actually get.

When Right Wingers state, "The USA has the best health care system in the world.," they don't mean that in a democratic way. The USA health care system MIGHT be the best in world, but, not accessible by many, many Americans. So, when defining BEST, what exactly does that mean?

"Morning Papers" - Its Origins (Click Here - Thank You)

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

"Good Morning, Moon"

The waning crescent

24.2 day old moon

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Top Ten Celestial Events to anticipate in 2013

1. Comet ISON: (click here) This event could be the most spectacular naked-eye astronomical event in decades. This comet will come within 0.02 Astronomical Units, or about 2 million miles, of the Sun toward the end of the year. If it breaks apart the comet could become nearly as bright as the moon, according to some guesses. Or it could be another relative dud like Comet Kahoutek — but probably not. “I think it will certainly be as good as Hale-Bopp,” said Anita Cochran, a University of Texas astronomer.  I recall Hale-Bopp being pretty cool back in 1997. In any case, this is easily my most anticipated event for 2013. (Mid-November through December)