High Rate of Rehospitalizations Costing Billions

Salary Survey Report for Job: Nurse Case Manager (click here)

When a salary is this good, there is no limit on 'keeping the job.' The actual 'EVIL DOERS' are the CEOs that have faux perspective on what actually defines 'effective Case Management.' But, the 'warriors' themselves will do anything for their jobs and keeping 'Managers/Management' happy with their 'bottom line.' So much for compassionate care. Kick 'em to the curb !!!!

The current health care system is ineffective. Hospitals are still trying to 'make money' by finding a way to make stays shorter.

CASE MANAGERS over step the 'rights and privacy priviledges' of patients in order to please superiors and find early discharge dates.

I have witnessed Case Managers scouring patient records for ANY phone number or connection or word that would indicate the patient has NOT had a hospitalized event, but, the 'current health assessment' going forward IS their baseline. It is elder and patient abuse. It is amazing !

Example: "Hi are you Dora Darling, Mrs. Patient's great, great granddaughter once removed?"

"No? Then who are you, because, your phone number is listed in a patient history from five years ago?"

"Oh, who me? You want to know who I am? Well, I am Mrs. Patient's Case Manager and I am required (NOT BY LAW, BUT, BUY MANAGEMENT) to speak with family to ascertain the prior state of her mentality and physical well being."

"Oh, so you are her grand niece. My mistake. Can I ask you if you are aware of the current health of Mrs. Patient?"

"You are? How wonderful. So, Mrs. Patient is here in the hospital and we are attempting to determine if she truly needs to be and would like your insight."

"Her Health Care Power of Attorney? Oh, I see. You aren't her Health Care Power of Attorney. Well, thats okay because I am not asking you for permission for any procedure I am asking about a 'knowledge base' we may not have and I need your information."

"You know Mrs. Patient well? Okay. You know her Health Care Power of Attorney well. Okay. But, you didn't state the level of wellness she was WITNESSED to have before being SENT to the hospital this time."

"You were the one that sent her to the hospital because her Health Care Power of Attorney is out of town. Okay. And...you took Mrs. Patient to the doctor's yesterday because she was exhibiting a level of confusion. But, was this confusion permanent or don't you know? I mean what made YOU think you had to send Mrs. Patient to the hospital, plans to go out of town maybe?"

"Oh, I see, her physican stated her urinalysis was positive for bacteria. Okay. He was concerned it was resistant since she has been in the hospital recently, so you did what you were told and sent her by ambulance because your car didn't have enough gas. Okay. But, I still want to know if her confusion was permanent or not, can you tell me that?"

"Oh, sorry...I wasn't trying to insult you or Mrs. Patient, but, I was simply trying to determine her mental status AS YOU SEE IT before she was sent to the hospital. That's all. I wasn't trying to provoke anger or regret, Mame. Could you just answer the question? Oh...my boss? I am my boss, I am the Case Manager and need simple information. That's all. Oh...hello? Hello? Oh, well, what was that other number I found in the chart?"

Guilt as charged. The truth we will never know. Was Stevens involved with 'favors?' You bet he was.

What was the evidence withheld?
Someone's phone number?
Technicalities. What a shame.

...Faced with embarrassing revelations about withheld evidence, the Justice Department on Wednesday moved to reverse the conviction of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who lost his bid for re-election just days after a jury found that he had lied about gifts and home renovations....

There were NO home renovations?

No gifts?

Like hell there wasn't.

The Younger Generation - Time for Hope

Leaders wrangle on rescue measures (click here)
(China Daily)Updated: 2009-04-02 08:03

I haven't found the man's name.

Man dies during G20 protests in London (click here)
Day of protests that began peacefully turn sour as man dies during G20 demonstrations
James Meikle, Paul Lewis, Jenny Percival and Sandra Laville
guardian.co.uk
Thursday 2 April 2009 02.05 BST
...The man's death ended a day in which the contrasting faces of British policing were on display in London.
The Met called in support from 30 forces across the country to create a 5,000-strong team of officers for at least six diverse demonstrations in the City of London and Trafalgar Square. Outside the Bank of England police horses and riot officers were pushed back by the sheer force of demonstrators – helmets were torn from officers' heads and cans, fruit and flour rained down. In retaliation the police surged forward, cracking heads with batons, using pepper spray and CS gas, and sirens wailed all around.
Three minutes' walk away, in Bishopsgate, smiling officers shared a joke with men and women pitching tents along the road, a family offered them chocolate brownies from an organic food stall and a few lads politely queued up outside the compost toilet tent.
But late last night there was a stand-off as officers moved to start to break up the climate camp that had been set up.
Violence spread as far as London Bridge, with riot police chasing groups of demonstrators, who responded with bottles and other missiles....

Can the markets stand the strain of China - USA talks with a new set of rules?

Obama, China's Hu set up new economic dialogue (click here)
Obama accepts invitation to visit China later this year
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
Last update: 10:20 a.m. EDT April 1, 2009
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to set up a high-level dialogue for the two countries to discuss issues of economics and security, and Obama will visit China at Hu's invitation later this year, the White House said Wednesday.
Obama and Hu met Wednesday on the sidelines of the G20 financial summit in London....

Obama’s Summit With Hu Follows Catalog of Trade Complaints (click here)
By Mark Drajem
April 1 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama took aim at Chinese barriers to U.S exports and investment, making good on a campaign pledge to take a tougher line on trade enforcement while risking increased tensions with the Asian nation....

The 'Progress' to peace will be more than interesting and I believe quick. The people of nations have elected leaders that are eager to address 'within their opportunity in history/time' the issues of nuclear weapons and their proliferation. It is more of 'the perfect storm' created by an oppressive USA Republican regime for eight years.

When it comes to 'counting' weapons to disarm, in my opinion, a weapon is a weapon and not just a warhead. Warheads are the destructive instrument, but, the delivery systems are just as destructive as the warheads themselves when it comes to 'potential to nuclear war.'

What is the sense in destroying warheads and even eliminating them IF the delivery systems are left in place? It is like saying, for the time President Obama is in office we will have peace without nuclear anniliation, BUT, by leaving the weapon delivery systems in place that could change in a matter of moments when the next USA President or Russian President takes office.

The manufacturer of nuclear weapons can occur quickly and with the delivery systems remaining in place, a signed Peace Treaty really isn't COMPLETELY an expression of peace if war can still occur within moments.




President Medvedev is age 43.

President Obama is age 47.

It is about time, the two largest nuclear powers met with a long view of the future and short on patience for peace.


Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama meet ahead of the G20 summit in London to discuss nuclear disarmament. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

STEP ONE : Set the tone.

Russia, U.S. enter new phase of relations - Lavrov (click here)
21:56
01/ 04/ 2009
LONDON, April 1 (RIA Novosti) - Relations between Russia and the United States have a "new quality," with each side ready to give heed to the other's positions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"A new atmosphere of relations has been created," Lavrov said in London after talks between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama. "There is mutual interest and, most importantly, readiness to listen to each other, something we had lacked for many years."
"This means a new quality of relations," he said.
In a joint statement issued after their meeting, which took place ahead of the G20 summit on the global economic crisis, the leaders pledged "to move beyond Cold War mentalities and chart a fresh start."
"We today established a substantive agenda for Russia and the United States to be developed over the coming months and years. We are resolved to work together to strengthen strategic stability, international security, and jointly meet contemporary global challenges," the presidents said in a statement.
The sides agreed that the talks had opened up the route to cooperation in nuclear nonproliferation, the fight against terrorism and extremism, resolution of Middle East conflicts, and efforts to improve economic stability.
However, the leaders admitted that crucial differences remain on some issues, in particular Georgia and the U.S. missile shield plans for Central Europe.



Russia, Britain to rebuild ties despite differences - ambassador (click here)
21:49
01/ 04/ 2009
LONDON, April 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Britain are set to improve relations despite persisting differences, Russia's ambassador to London said on Wednesday after a meeting between the Russian president and British prime minister.
"Dmitry Medvedev and Gordon Brown confirmed that the sides regard each other as partners in tackling the [global economic] crisis and creating a new architecture of economic and financial relations," Yury Fedotov said.
Medvedev and Brown met ahead of Thursday's Group of 20 summit in London, where leaders will discuss the ongoing financial crisis.
London wants Moscow to extradite a key suspect in the 2006 poisoning in London of former Russian security officer and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, and Britain is also unhappy about the closure of its British Council offices in Russia.
Moscow has long sought the extradition of fugitive oligarch Boris Berezovsky, Chechen separatist emissary Akhmed Zakayev and other high-profile suspects, without success.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Wednesday that he saw no obstacles to the development of Russian-British relations.



Obama to Seek Unity at G-20 Summit, Agrees with Medvedev on New Round of Arms Talks (click here)
By Paula Wolfson Washington01 April 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama says he seeks unity at the G-20 economic summit in London, and a new arms deal with Russia. It was a busy day of diplomacy for Mr. Obama as he launched his first overseas trip as president....
...Barack Obama made his presence known on the world stage. "I came here to put forward our ideas. But I also came here to listen and not to lecture," he said....

Study: Climate change affecting ocean food web

Over 1500 Dead Penguins Found In Chile (click here for video)
Authorities in Chile are investigating what caused the death of nearly 15 hundred penguins found in a southern bay.The dead birds were discovered yesterday on a beach more than 12 hundred miles north of Antarctica.Navy officials say experts from nearby Austral University are working to determine what killed the penguins.They did not know immediately where the penguins were from and sayIt's not unusual for some penguin species to migrate thousands of miles. (But it is unusual for 1500 to die trying.)

...The journal Science on Thursday published findings by Martin Montes-Hugo and Oscar Schofield that offer an explanation for the southern shift of Antarctic coastal species as the Western Antarctic Peninsula gets warmer -- at a rate scientists say is one of the fastest observed anywhere. Adelie penguins have been moving their range southward for years, leaving their old niches to species like gentoo and chinstrap penguins that are more adaptable to milder conditions, Schofield says....


acquired January 27, 2009
The Moderate Resolution Imaging (click here) Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this composite image on January 27, 2009. Few features are visible on the ice-covered landscape. The surface appears rough where the Transantarctic Mountains curve in a shallow “s” from the shore of the Ross Sea to the Ronne Ice Shelf. The Polar Plateau in the center of the continent is smooth, shaded only by the faint shadow cast by clouds. The Weddell Sea is textured with chunks of sea ice.




This image (click here), based on the analysis of weather station and satellite data, shows the continent-wide warming trend from 1957 through 2006. Dark red over West Antarctica reflects that the region warmed most per decade. Most of the rest of the continent is orange, indicating a smaller warming trend, or white, where no change was observed. The underlying land surface color is based on the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) data set, while the topography is from a Radarsat-based digital elevation model. Sea ice extent in the Southern Ocean surrounding the continent is based on data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) collected on May 14, 2008 (late fall in the Southern Hemisphere).

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

Local Time: 2:07 AM AKDT (GMT -08)

Lat/Lon: 58.8° N 137.0° W

Elevation :: 33 ft

Temperature :: 32 °F

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 93%

Dew Point :: 30F

Wind :: Calm

Windchill :: 32F

Pressure :: 29.80 inches Falling

Visibility :: 10.0 miles

UV :: 0 out of 16

Clouds :: Mostly Cloudy 4200 ft
Overcast 4800 ft
(Above Ground Level)

State, Feds sue BP over 2006 spills (click title to entry - thank you)
Alaska Dispatch
Tuesday, 31 March 2009 19:58
Mar 31, 2009
By Tony Hopfinger and Margaret Cronin Fisk
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- The Alaska unit of BP Plc, Europe's second-largest oil company, was accused in a Justice Department lawsuit of violating federal clean air and water laws in the leak of more than 200,000 gallons of oil in 2006 at Prudhoe Bay.
Alaska filed a separate complaint in state court in Anchorage today seeking reimbursement of lost revenue over the Prudhoe Bay spills. The state also is seeking damages for violation of state environmental protection laws and injuries to land and mineral resources, according to the complaint.
The U.S. complaint, filed today in federal court in Anchorage, said BP failed to prevent spills and improperly removed asbestos-containing material from pipelines in 2006. The complaint covers two spills, one in March 2006 of more than 200,000 gallons and a smaller leak in August of that year....

Republican Legacy to the Middle Class - Bankrupt General Motors Corporation

GM should be allowed to be Employee Owned and Operated through the UAW !

What Corker advocated was protectionism, not capitalism.

Corker worries TN plant could be targeted by Obama auto industry plan (click here)
...``Certainly, I'm laying a marker out there,'' Corker said. ``I want it to be known (that) my sense is that the only reason they would close it is for political reasons.''
About 2,900 hourly workers are employed at Spring Hill, which opened in 1990.
The comments by the Tennessee Republican, a key player in congressional efforts to rescue the auto industry, were part of his scathing critique of the plan unveiled Monday by Democratic President Barack Obama.
The plan gives GM 60 days to come up with a proposal to fix the ailing company or face bankruptcy. It also pushes Chrysler to take a buyout from Fiat....

NO ONE WANTS THE CARS !!!!!!

The 'incentive' program will never work because General Motors manufactures the "W"rong cars !!!!!!!!!!!!

No one wants high performance cars OR SUVs. They suck down gasoline like it were water. We don't want them. What makes the morons at GM believe an incentive program will work?

That was the beauty of the Bush Offensive against American automakers, HENCE, American Unions. During his occupation of the White House, the 'trend' was to buy big, cumbersome, gas guzzlers so Security Mom's felt safe. No one in their RIGHT mind wanted the monstrosities and the manufacturers fell into huge debt. The debt complicated by the Banking/Housing Crisis, which was more "W"rong headed merchanizing; was spread out over international offices and venues to soak up the Bailout Monies as if sponges.

I said on November 19, 2008 (click here) to let the entire mess go to bankruptcy. Yeah, I did. How many billions later and what is going to happen? Yep. How many banks are still failing? Yep. There is a right way and a "W"rong way to do this and BAILOUTS are the "W"rong way. That's Bush and Paulson. They began to bailout everything under the sun rather than letting water find its natural course.

GM rolls out incentive program to quickly drive car sales (click here)
...On Tuesday, even as its new chief executive acknowledged the growing possibility of bankruptcy, the ailing carmaker announced an aggressive new incentive plan that, in part, will cover car payments for customers who lose their jobs....



...Under the plans being considered, GM would seek to quickly move its most profitable units into a new company separate from its other units in the early days of the bankruptcy filing, said the source who asked to remain anonymous because the person was not authorized to speak to the media.
The aim would be to show consumers, taxpayers, and the government that the new GM can survive and compete in the autos sector as a viable company, the source said.
Old components of the company not included in the new GM, such as Saturn and Hummer, would remain in bankruptcy over a longer period of time to be sold or wound down, said the source....