This is by Oliver North in Human Events.
Even the Russians see Barack Hussein Obama as weak.
This is what we get when a community organizer gets elected President. We get a clueless, limp-wristed, empty suit who has no backbone.


St. Petersburg, Russia -- “What are you Americans thinking?” asked the young woman in perfect, if slightly accented English. She was wearing a nametag with “Marie” in both Cyrillic and English print and had greeted us pleasantly when we ducked out of the rain and into her store to buy postcards and mementos for our grandchildren.

Her question about American “thinking” came in the midst of a conversation about how dramatically life in Russia had changed during her twenty-seven brief years.

“What do you mean?” I replied.“What are you Americans thinking about freedom?” Marie asked.

Somewhat perplexed, I answered, “We think individual liberty is wonderful. Why do you ask?”

Her response was a reproach: “Why isn’t America supporting freedom for the people of Iran?”

My meandering rejoinder about “uncertainty” and “unique challenges” were unsatisfying to both of us -- a tawdry example of my inability to criticize our government while in a foreign country.

A few hours after this encounter, our ship sailed into the Baltic Sea, past the nearly-abandoned base at Khronshtadt, once a stronghold of the no longer mighty Soviet Navy. Seeing its now-dilapidated structures and rusting hulls was a reminder that we have not always had a problem of explaining what America stands for.

Twenty-two years ago this month, President Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, boldly pointed to the barrier dividing the city and declared, “There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe...Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

President Reagan’s words were the knockout punch that buckled the knees of the Soviet Empire. While some may think it was a just a great line in a speech, Marie and tens of millions of other once captive people know better.

The challenge Reagan issued in the heart of Europe precipitated the end of a tyrannical system that had bullied, enslaved and murdered three generations of human beings for more than six decades. It wasn’t just a sound-bite. It was a consistent part of what Ronald Reagan said he wanted to achieve as President of the United States.

The “tear down this wall,” line in President Reagan’s 1987 speech in Berlin was the culmination of a clearly articulated course of action that began in the opening days of his administration.

Despite near-unanimous opposition from the so-called mainstream media, most foreign governments, nearly all elected Democrats, and even some in his own party, Reagan was always clear about what he believed to be best for our country: ending the threat of totalitarian communism.

In May, 1981, at the University of Notre Dame, just weeks after being nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet, Mr. Reagan fearlessly predicted that in the years ahead, “[T]he West will not contain communism, it will transcend communism.”

Reagan’s wholesale rejection of more than three decades of failed “Cold War” foreign policy was met with horror by the political elite, media pundits and striped-pants diplomats around the globe.

But people behind the “Iron Curtain” were listening -- and heartened.

At home, the president set out to make his stated goal a reality. He described the Soviet Union to be an “Evil Empire,” declared that the U.S. would build a 600-ship Navy and start work on a defense system to protect the American people from attack by Soviet ballistic missiles.

In 1983, he sent the U.S. Marines, U.S. Army Rangers and the 82nd Airborne to Grenada to prevent American medical students on the Island of Grenada from being taken hostage.

Because his plain, unequivocal talk educated and inspired the American people, their representatives in Congress voted overwhelmingly to give him what was needed to get the job done. Allies and adversaries knew what United States stood for and what to expect.

Sadly, that’s no longer the case -- and that’s why Marie asked her question in St. Petersburg.

In the aftermath of last Sunday’s fatally flawed elections in Iran, Barack Obama responded saying, “I can’t state definitively one way or another what happened with respect to the election.”

That was hardly a resounding statement of support for freedom.

No wonder Marie asked, “Why isn’t America supporting freedom for the people of Iran?” The Iranian people are undoubtedly wondering the same thing.

And Obama’s message to them is that “it’s not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling.”

It’s a good thing for people in this part of the world that Ronald Reagan never thought of U.S. efforts to help people escape tyranny constituted “meddling.

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Todays jobs reports counts as a setback.
The number of job losses, which had fallen every month since January, picked up in June. The losses are still far smaller than they were at the end of 2008 or the start of this year, but they remain by any objective standard enormous. In this way, this mornings report is a good snapshot of where the economy is: it has stepped back from the precipice of depression, yet it is a long, long way from being in good shape.
The average hourly wage of rank-and-file workers, who make up four-fifths of the work force, has flat-lined. This wage was $18.53 in June, unchanged from May. Average weekly pay is falling because employers are still cutting worker hours.
The one bit of good news on wages is that prices have also been falling, even faster than weekly pay. So the buying power of most workers has actually risen a bit over the past year.
A few other details from the report:
The economy lost 467,000 jobs in June, compared with 322,000 in May and peak of 741,000 in January. In order to keep up with population growth and keep the unemployment rate from rising the economy needs to be adding roughly 150,000 jobs a month. The unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent last month, its highest point since 1983.
Many people also like to look at a broader measure of unemployment, which also counts part-time workers who would like to be working full-time. This category had been rising rapidly last year and early this year. But it no longer is. The number of part-time workers who want full-time work declined a bit in June and has been hovering around 9 million for months now.
As a result, the Labor Departments broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment rose only slightly, to 16.5 percent from 16.4 percent, in June.
Clearly, though, 16.5 percent is a miserable number.

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Nearly 100 consumers, advocates, medical experts, healthcare professionals and legislators gathered at the State House on Tuesday morning to testify before the Joint Committee on Public Health on bills relating to patient safety, malpractice and medical errors prevention and reporting.
During the three hour hearing, many of those in attendance testified in support of the three priority bills of HCFA’s Consumer Health Quality Council. HCFA’s Executive Director, Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, introduced the Consumer Council’s three-person panel. The consumers told compelling personal stories as part of their testimony. Virginia Harvey testified in support of H. 2138 and S. 878 “An Act to Improve the Delivery of Health Care,” filed by Representative Provost and Senator Moore, which would require hospitals to use checklists to prevent serious errors that can lead to serious injury and possibly death. Checklists promote teamwork and collaboration among surgical teams and better surgical outcomes. The point was made that many other professions use them including construction companies and accountants, not to mention pilots. Ms. Harvey, who had to have her leg amputated because of an infection that she got during ankle surgery, said she hopes this gives patients a better chance than she had. The use of one particular checklist, a surgical checklist, has been found to result in approximately a 36% reduction in serious complications (including surgical site infections) and deaths.
Lucilia Prates testified on the importance of H. 2139, “An Act to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections,” filed by Representative Provost. This legislation would require hospitals to screen incoming high-risk patients for MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) - a bacterium that can be easily spread from person-to-person and cause infections among patients. Ms. Prates father died from complications due to a hospital acquired infection which was preventable. Nearly 100,000 Americans die from a hospital-acquired infection each year and 19,000 of those are MRSA. Five other states have similar laws in place.
Consumer Council President Ken Farbstein testified in support of S. 909/H. 2084, “An Act to Reduce Medication Errors,” which was filed by Representative Khan and Senator Tucker. These bills would establish an expert panel to study medication errors in Massachusetts and develop a prioritized list of concrete recommendations and best practices for how the Commonwealth can reduce the prevalence of medication errors. Nineteen years ago, Mr. Farbstein’s wife was given the wrong medication for a number of hours while she was in labor. Their newborn son spent 3 weeks in the NICU. He and his family did not report the error then but he’s sharing their story now to encourage others to do the same. He testified that more oversight and reporting mechanisms are needed.
A number of legislators testified in support of the more than thirty bills being heard. Rep. Provost testified in support of the two bills she filed and that are mentioned above- MRSA screening and using checklists. Of the first she mentioned that as a former trial lawyer, she only knew of two ways to handle the problem: 1) legislative oversight and regulation or 2) the inefficiencies of the malpractice system. She urged the legislature to take the initiative to regulate versus leaving the problem to the more expensive option. Rep. Provost also urged her colleagues to support the checklist bill. She cited figures from the study on surgical checklists that found their use in all operating rooms in the U.S. could save $15-25 billion per year. Senator Tucker also testified in support of the quality bills, saying “this is exactly the right time” to do this in the Commonwealth.

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Working through a Tom Clancy novel Ive always likened it to eating an entire loaf of bread, with the meat only between the last few slices.  Its arduous, but the last third of the story makes the labor all worth it.
So Im reminded of Clancys Rainbow Six recently because of some of the utterances of those who know with religious fervor and zeal that global warming, I mean climate change is going to kill us all.  Soon.  Of course, Al Gore and his Gorebots will save usonly as long as we accept without questioning all that they proclaim.
I came across this piece by David Owen of THE NEW YORKER entitled, Economy Vs. Environment.  First, let me lay out the basic plot of Rainbow Six.  A small (and elitist) group of people engineer an extremely potent form of Ebola virus.  Its going to kill about 99% of the earths population.  Those chosen few who will be immunized (the vaccine is secret and reserved for the worthy) shall inherit the earth and treat Mommy Nature like shes supposed to be.
Owen explains that Canada had trouble meeting its Kyoto Accord goals, despite billions spent in the effort.

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The first method that many of us are familiar with is the direct approach. With this we go out and help build a home for Habitat For Humanity, we donate blood to the Red Cross, or we send canned food to the local food bank. With each of these there is a relatively short road from the donor to recipient. Even in situations like the Red Cross or Goodwill where there may be an administrative level of isolation, there is still a direct connection between the organization we are giving to and the recipients of that donation. Maybe we should call this “Main Street Philanthropy”.
In the second method, there is a more indirect approach. Here we have practices as varied as educating people about problems in other areas of the world to holding benefits to raise money for charities. There isnt anything at all wrong with this methodology, but there is a bit of distance put between the donor and the recipient. In addition, due to that distance and often infrastructure overhead, there is a certain signal loss before the end is achieved. We can call this “Trickle Down Philanthropy.”
An example of what I am talking about is this. If I have $100 to give, I could go to the grocery, buy $100 worth of food and give that out at the food bank. In this instance, 100% of my donation reaches the end recipients. Conversely, if I took that $100 and sent it to any number of well known charities, part of it would go to processing fees. Part of the donation would also go to pay for office staff, rent perhaps, and maybe even transportation. In the end, it is possible that only $50 of my donation would actually reach the recipient at the end.
And if instead I spent that $100 to give a few lecture or classes on the plight of the impoverished and starving, then it is also conceivable that absolutely none of my money would reach those in need. It is possible that all that money I had to offer was simply washed away.
This would seem like a clear choice to make until we realize that when the Trickle Down Philanthropy method works, it can actually amplify our donation. If that class I spent a $100 to teach was paying attention, didnt fall asleep, and heeded my message, it is possible that each of the 25 people in attendance reached into their purse or wallet and made a $100 donation to the food bank. And they may also take what they have learned, spread the lesson, and triggered more donations. That amplification of effort is the magic of the Trickle Down theory.
So, here we have two methods of donation – one direct and one indirect. As I said before, neither is write or wrong. Certain people feel drawn to the direct satisfaction of the Main Street method and others have the vision and planning for the Trickle Down method. The truth is, each one needs the other to survive. Without feet on the street doing the work, the Trickle Down method is just so much posturing and conjecture. And without individuals doing the background education, fundraising, and paper work, those people doing the work on the street would have no funds, supporters, or growth. The key is finding where you fit in the picture and applying yourself there. And realizing that just because someone uses a different method, that doesnt mean they are doing it wrong.

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If anyone is interested in viewing an extremely twisted literary investment from obviously one of todays most subjectively inept writers, they only need open the Independent Journal in Marin County to the B section. An article from a few weeks ago called re a smoldering public health issue, stretches the truth so far it is sure to snap rather smartly in the authors lap.

The writer, Dustin Ballard, has the audacity to claim that it is guns which create, and codify, the problem of violence in this nation. Truly, Mr. Ballard? If this nations citizens were to relinquish their guns, as the violence invariably took some other despicable form, who would he blame then? Should all knives be taken from the market? Maybe auto accidents will cause him to demand cars be banned as well. Possibly chicken should be snatched from every menu because some over zealous eater choked on a bite of it. Perhaps this nation should also do away with theatres because fervent adolescents engage in acts of violence when leaving a Schwarzenegger film.

These types of solutions are all indications of a mentality which insists that the cart lead the horse, or that the ends justifies the means. Truly, who will engage the question when the answer is alleged to be the problem?

Mr. Ballard actually insists that bullets are to be likened to a pathogen, carrying disease across the nation. Really now, and just what pathogen is directed specifically at one particular person? Just how many diseases stop in their proverbial path at the behest of their instigator or creator? None, thats how many. Unless one begins to investigate the bio-weapons being employed in the world today. Maybe Ballard should write about that.

Must this nation be constantly conned into acqueiscing to the incessant whiles of fear mongering malcontents who are tantamount to some propagandistic enablers of a tyrannical government? Why must this nation be required to proclaim its innocent right to freedom, and the right to bear arms over and over again?
People must be allowed to protect themselves. There is no police force able to protect and defend anyone when the chips are down and some criminal is attempting to rob or kill someone. Police forces are only there to sweep up the pieces, and write reports. Why are so many people being raped, kidnapped and murdered like fish in a barrel? Because gun restrictions make it harder, and harder for law abiding citizens to own personal firearms for protection.

Where are most of the Uzis and assault rifles? In the hands of criminals that is wheremilitary and otherwise. However, there would be a lot less murderers in jails, and more of them in graves if people were required to arm themselves for protection.

Regardless of what the media insists, as they sell violent movie upon violent and bank robbing, war glamorizing, twisted serial murder fearing movie, while simltaneously claiming it is guns which kill people. Baloney, it is the lack of guns in legal hands which proliferates mass murdering gun violence by cowards who know damned well other people in their murderous path are not armed as well.

Writers such as Mr. Ballard expose, quite explicitly, their penchant for assisting legislators who request the media implicate the many law abiding citizens of this country as the enablers of the latest in mass shootings. Indicting freedom loving citizens, hunters and household protectors for having the nerve to engage in their second amendment right to purchase firearms is insolent and contemptuous.
It would be more logical to indict the manufacturers of prescription drugs which mentally destabilize people with anti-depressants and mood altering drugs that cause people to lose control of themselves and consider murder the only viable option. Censoring violence on all forms of media wouldnt hurt eithertruly, what does this nation need such violence on television and movie screens for? Oh, thats right, to make despicable and salacious people rich beyond any form of necessity, so that they can then attempt to control and contort entire societiesbut I digress.

Mr. Ballard has made a complete mockery of the Constitution of the United States of America, and has been paid to do it. By whom, one might ask. By a community of rich authoritarian masochists who truly intend to trample the Constitution daily.

This is a community whos lawyers will actually claim, when one demands they follow the law, that this is Marin County, things are different here. Really, hmmmso, law dont go round here, huh?

Be certain that this is the way many of the residents in Marin County view the rule of law in this nation.
The Constitution of the United States of America was written for the purpose of legalizing freedom and enabling people to exercise their inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To constantly insist that this document be changed because there are people in this nation who do not respect it, is completely absurd.

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Two Fridays ago on the first day of its release, I went to an early afternoon screening of the film The Soloist. I'd been eager to see it since it focuses on the real life relationship between Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a homeless member of Los Angeles' Skid Row community suffering from debilitating mental illness.In the story, as told in Lopez' columns in the LA Times, in his book, and in the screenplay by Susannah Grant, Lopez first meets middle-aged Nathaniel Ayers in downtown Los Angeles in front of a statue of Beethoven where Ayers is playing a two string violin. In that serendipitous meeting Lopez discovers that as a youth Ayers had been a gifted student at Juilliard, New York's prestigious school for the performing arts. This revelation leads Lopez on a personal mission to rehabilitate the troubled man - a mission Lopez is still on today, four years after their first encounter.
My intense desire to see this film had been predicated, foolishly as I have since come to learn, on the romantic notion that viewers would see The Soloist and be moved to help the homeless. But the film I saw, with its cartoon-like unsympathetic portrayal of the people of Skid Row, that displayed none of their individuality, humanity or humor, would never provoke such action. Instead of showing the hearts of the inhabitants and telling a few of their tales, the film portrayed them as a Fellini-esque monolith - a tainted Gomorrah teeming with decadence and dereliction.

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A special briefing on health care, Health Care Reform: Opportunities for New Directions, was held yesterday at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Spectators almost filled the room. Speakers included Congressman Christopher Murphy, 5th District; Joy Johnson Wilson, Health Policy Director for the National Conference of State Legislators; and Enrique Martinez-Vidal, Vice President of State Coverage Initiative for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Academy Health. The briefing was sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut.

Congressman Murphy thinks there are excellent prospects for reform at the federal level because of the economy, the desire of the American people, and a President who has made health care reform a priority. The downturn in the economy has led more people to see health care reform as urgent, especially as more people are losing their jobs and their employer-sponsored health coverage along with them. Because their constituents see reform as important, this is reflected in Congress. There are different types of health reform plans at the federal level, including single payer, making it easier for groups to combine for the purposes of providing health care, and some type of mandate (either individual or employer).

According to Congressman Murphy, a public plan, which would compete in the private market, would test out a single payer system on a smaller scale. He also said that the work on health care reform that is being done in states like Connecticut is pushing the federal government to take action. When asked about the timetable for reform, Mr. Murphy stated that they are hoping for something by the end of the summer. But to use the reconciliation process, Congress wont be able to vote until October 15, 2009.

Ms. Johnson Wilson spoke about challenges and opportunities for states, some of which are overlapping. The economy presents a challenge because of limited funding and all of the other problems that come with a recession but an opportunity because it forces us to concentrate on the problem of health care reform and reduce inefficiencies. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 has placed more restrictions on funding than did previous federal economic assistance to states.

On the federal level, some areas of consensus are: the expansion of Medicaid, improving quality, expanded use of health information technology, refocusing on primary care and preventive health, and increasing transparency and accountability. Some of the areas on which there is disagreement are: a public plan option, individual or employer mandates, and changing the tax treatment of health care premiums in the employer-based system. According to Ms. Johnson Wilson, draft bills for health care reform will be available in the next 2-3 weeks. The goal is for the bills to be reviewed on the floor before the recess in August. Congress will have to find offsets for some of the spending on health care.

Enrique Martinez-Vidal gave some examples of insurance market reforms that states are working on, including extending coverage for dependants past the age of 18, eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions when someone is going from one insurance policy to another (including the individual market), and merging the small group and individual markets. Some of the cost containment and quality improvement goals for the states are: an emphasis on preventive care and primary care, care management for chronic illness, health information technology, and value-based purchasing.

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* City Infrastructure Ranking 2009 includes the following criteria: electricity, water availability, telephone, mail, public transport, traffic congestion and airport.


Ireland
Dublin, 29 April 2009

* Dublin ranks 25th of 215 in Mercer's 2009 Quality of Living Global City rankings
* Vienna scores highest for overall quality of living, Baghdad the lowest
* Dublin ranks ahead of several major cities including Paris (33rd ), London (38th), and Barcelona (joint 42nd with Portland, USA) in the Quality of Living survey
* This year's rankings also identify cities with the best infrastructure
* Singapore ranks top for city infrastructure; Dublin ranks 58th of 215 cities
* Cities ranked ahead of Dublin in the City Infrastructure rankings include London (joint 8th with Frankfurt and Hong Kong), Paris (13th), Birmingham / Glasgow (ranked joint 45th)


Dublin ranks 25th of 215 (in top 12%) in the Mercer 2009 Quality of Living Global City rankings, ahead of several major cities including Paris (33rd), London (38th), and Barcelona (42nd). Vienna has passed Zurich to take the top spot as the world's city with the best quality of living, according to the Mercer 2009 Quality of Living survey. Geneva is in third position, while Vancouver and Auckland are now joint fourth in the rankings.

Patrick Robertson a Principal at Mercer commented: "As a result of the current financial crisis, multinationals are looking to review their international assignment policies with a view to cutting costs." "Many companies plan to reduce the number of medium to long-term international assignments and localise their expatriate compensation packages where possible though an allowance, based on quality of living criteria," he added.

This year's ranking also identifies the cities with the best infrastructure based on electricity supply, water availability, telephone and mail services, public transport provision, traffic congestion and the range of international flights from local airports. Singapore is at the top of this index (score 109.1) followed by Munich in second place and Copenhagen in third. Dublin is ranked 58th out of the 215 cities rated. Cities ranked ahead of Dublin in the City infrastructure rankings include London (8th), Paris (13th), Birmingham / Glasgow (ranked joint 45th).

Europe

Europe's cities once more dominate the world's top 10 for quality of living. Vienna is the city rated with the best quality of living worldwide, moving up one place in the rankings following improvements in Austria's political and social environment. The rest of the top 10 for Europe are dominated by German and Swiss cities, most of them retaining last year's ranking and scores. Zurich, in second place, is followed by Geneva (3), Dusseldorf (6), Munich (7), Frankfurt (8) and Bern (9).

Many Eastern European cities have seen an increase in quality of living. A number of countries which joined the European Union back in 2004 have experienced consistent improvement with increased stability, rising living standards and greater availability of international consumer goods. Ljubljana in Slovenia, for example, moves up four places to reach 78 while Bratislava moves up three places to 88. Zagreb moves three places to 103.

Americas

There have been few changes in the rankings for North American cities. Canadian cities still dominate the top of the index for this region. Vancouver (4) retains the top spot and Honolulu (29) ranks as the city in the United States with the highest quality of living. Washington and New York remain in positions 44 and 49 respectively.

In Central and South America, San Juan in Puerto Rico retains the highest ranking at 72, followed by Montevideo, Uruguay at 79. Port au Prince (206) in Haiti continues to rank lowest in the region and has gone down four places in the overall ranking due to food shortages experienced in 2008 and the subsequent riots.

Middle East and Africa

Dubai (77) in the United Arab Emirates and Port Louis in Mauritius (82) are the region's cities with the best quality of living. Dubai's transport facilities have witnessed improvements, with the development of its road infrastructure and expansion of its international airport and the city is up six places in the ranking.

Cape Town in South Africa, previously the city in the region with the best quality of living, has dropped substantially in this year's ratings (from 80 to 87 in 2009). This move follows violent riots in South Africa's main cities in 2008.

Asia Pacific

Auckland (4) in New Zealand retains its position as the highest ranking city for quality of living in the region. Sydney in Australia follows at 10 and Wellington in New Zealand at 12. While the majority of the region's cities retain a similar ranking to last year, Singapore (26) is the region's highest riser, up six places since 2008. The city has gained importance as a financial centre and offers a wide range of international and private schools to cater to its expatriate community. Beijing has also moved three places in the ranking, up from 116 to 113, mainly due to improvements in public transport facilities from the Olympic Games last August.

The Quality of Living Global City rankings are based on a point-scoring index, which sees Vienna score 108.6, and Baghdad 14.4. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city with an index score of 100. Mercer's Quality of Living ranking covers 215 cities and is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments.

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THE OBAMA administration's decision to release more Bush-era memoranda, which sought to rationalize torture, shows that President Obama is following through on his promise to ban torture and to provide transparency to our government. The Bush-Cheney administration not only broke the law, it shattered the public trust and undermined America's reputation around the world.

[snip]

The techniques are wrong and their supposed legal rationale is just as bad. The idea that the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel would be used to contort our laws on subjects as serious as torture is appalling. The rationalization of these memos showed a willingness to ignore legal requirements as long as there is no clear mechanism of enforcement. These memoranda seem calculated to provide legal cover - a legal free pass - for these unlawful policies. The Justice Department was apparently being used to immunize government officials to conduct torture by defining it down and building in legal loopholes.

[snip]

Unfortunately, former top Bush administration officials continue to use fear tactics to resist the Obama administration's effort to restore America's standing in the word. To see a former attorney general refer to our treaties, statutes, and the Constitution as matters of "political fashion" is to return to the discredited days when White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales called the Geneva Convention "quaint." Arguing that revealing the withdrawn memoranda gives terrorists a leg up is a red herring that has been too often used by the past administration.

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This difference is because, in part, the US has much higher mortality at younger ages due to accidents and violence – including suicides.  Also, as the Humana video does depict, our diet and other lifestyle factors lead to poorer health. So it might be that while we are living as long as other countries, we use more intensive healthcare services to treat/manage  our greater burden of chronic illnesses brought about by obesity and lack of exercise, etc.
One reform option that Humana mentions is ensuring that people with pre-existing conditions can get insurance coverage.  The insurance industry has rallied around that change – as long as it is coupled with changes that ensure everyone has insurance so that people don’t wait until they get sick before buying insurance.  This makes sense both for the insurance industry and the country as a whole.
What Insurance Does
The Humana video also presents the concept that insurance is a mechanism for spreading out the costs from a few ill people over a much larger healthy population.  This social insurance model is what Medicare is based upon and is really the model for most insurance.  Another theory of insurance – and one that some insurance products follow – is that insurance is a way to prepay for expected future costs.  Some consumer directed health plans with health savings accounts combine these two theories of insurance into one type of policy, i.e. the high deductible insurance policy spreads high costs across a larger group, while the savings accounts enable individuals to put money away for expected future needs.
Competition with a Public Plan
The Humana video glosses over perhaps the biggest reform issue in today’s debate:  Creating a public plan to compete with private insurance.  The video describes the public plan as “like the one government employees have today.” While the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan is cited as some as a “government plan,” it is really a lot more like an employer plan, since it provides Federal employees with multiple private insurance plan options.  I don’t think this is what most people consider to be a government plan.  Rather they are thinking more of something like Medicare or Medicaid, where the government sets the coverage and reimbursement rules and contracts with private organizations to pay physicians, hospitals, etc. for actual healthcare services.  And of course the VA is another model for a government health plan, where the government actually owns and runs the hospitals, and the clinicians and staff are government employees, etc.  While exactly what the political and policy leaders in Washington are thinking about for a public plan option remains to be seen - there are certainly many options for what this label could become.
Cutting Costs
The Humana video’s final section is about how to reduce costs.  Here they present several current hot-topic options like technology and electronic medical records, giving people more information to compare prices and performance “like they do for everything from new cars to groceries so they might use their money more efficiently,” paying physicians for performance rather than volume, and helping people eat right, exercise more and take better care of themselves.  All these are reasonable ideas, but will require considerable investments up from to achieve costs savings in later years.
Conclusions
The Humana video on health reform presents a number of superficial observations about the problems in the US healthcare system and some of the global options for change, but doesn’t delve into how to actually make any changes, and more importantly, the trade-offs that many of these changes would require.  So while it might make some people feel they understand the issues better, it really won’t move the debate forward to improve the US healthcare system.
The video also notes that no clear consensus has emerged about what options to pursue, and it suggests that “if you have an idea, call your Member of Congress.”  My experience having worked for a Member of Congress makes me wonder if that will really help move the debate forward.  It also reminded me of the idea submitted to a newspaper by a reader to answer the question, How Would You Fix the Economy.

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The victory sets the stage for a major battle this summer over health care reform in which Obama will have the added leverage of special budget procedures allowing him to circumvent the threat of a Republican filibuster in the Senate.
Democrats insist that it is still their intention to try to move forward without using this power, and the Senate Finance and Health, Education and Labor committees are each slated to begin their markups in June. If real progress is made, the hope is to avoid invoking the so-called reconciliation procedures, but the president and Democratic leaders badly wanted them as a backstop if no resolution is reached by Oct. 15.

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Americas health crisis does not have either a single cause or a silver bullet solution. Yet previous attempts at reform have often focused too narrowly on the financing and delivery of health care. In a report released last week, a Commission of national health experts convened by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) emphasizes a wide spectrum of actions needed to become the healthiest nation in the world. The Commission on U.S. Federal Leadership in Health and Medicine: Charting Future Directions that we co-chair has identified seven strategies to mobilize all sectors of American society to help put into our nations health care system.
The report, New Horizons for a Healthy America: Recommendations to the New Administration, adopts a comprehensive perspective in framing its seven recommended strategies for a high-performance health care system and a healthier nation. These recommendations include:


Issue a Presidential Call to Action for a Healthy U.S. The Administration, working with Congress, should set a bold framework for action for improving health in the United States (Healthy U.S.), mobilizing all sectors of society and emphasizing comprehensive health promotion, disease prevention, and the delivery of high quality medical care .

Establish Health in All Policies. Marshal the leadership and resources of the more than 40 federal agencies that address health into a coordinated, synergistic effort.

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Another survey from Kaiser and NPR released this week found that the majority of respondents believed that Americans get both too many tests and treatments they don't need, while failing to get access to the medical care they do need.
Given the growing burden of health care, a solid majority of Americans (59 percent) believe it is more important than ever to take on health reform now. That level of support has remained consistently high, even in the face of worsening economic conditions.
The survey also dived into respondents' views on specific health reform issues.
On ways to expand coverage, a variety of options received strong majorities of support from respondents - 72 percent in favor of requiring all Americans to have health insurance, with subsidies for those who can't afford it.

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Quinton Young, the Chicago physician picked by Gov. Pat Quinn to lead the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, has withdrawn his nomination.

Young, a longtime presence on the Chicago medical scene, withdrew when "he discovered the former medical practice he retains an ownership stake in was leasing land to Advocate Health Care, the Quinn administration said," according to the Tribune.

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Central banks have a crucial role in addressing the financial and economic crisis. Unlike the rest of the financial sector, they are growing their business, and like national governments they are leveraging their financial positions. Central banks are also making different kinds of credits and purchasing different kinds of financial assets compared to the norm. These initiatives are not only experimental but also, for now, open-ended. And they eventually have to stop and be reversed.
It is clear now that the period from the early ’90s into 2007 was remarkably successful for central bankers. Contrary to the concerns of those who thought that fighting inflation would usher in subpar economic performance, the 1980s focus on controlling inflation was followed by a long stretch of good growth and broad financial stability, at least in the developed world.
This extended span of good performance — sometimes called the Great Moderation, the Great Stability and even the Golden Decade — had an unexpected impact. It led to a lowering of guards regarding the risks that were likely to be incurred. These could well stem, as can now be seen more clearly, from the very success in generating a steadily expanding, low-inflation, low-interest rate, low-unemployment economy.
With the bias in financial institutions slanted in an optimistic direction, the bets became increasingly large. Why not assume that the monetary authorities have now finally got the formula right, and that the recent period represents all relevant history as regards risk? Why not calibrate your value at risk models accordingly?
In summary, central banks came into the current crisis with clear success on the macroeconomic stability front, but with a build-up of sunny, often self-serving expectations among private sector agents as to the dangers the future held.
Once the crisis struck, central bankers turned to past experience, especially from the Great Depression. The work of Milton Friedman and others demonstrated the influence of monetary policy shortcomings in deepening the economic decline in the United States in the 1930s.
The one element that comes through very clearly now is that central banks are determined to do what they can to avoid the policy mistakes of the 1930s. Central banks, therefore, have all become very expansionary.
This has been strikingly evident in standard central bank money market operations. The one interest rate that central banks directly control (as opposed to, say, “influence”) is that on overnight money market funds, which has now been pushed down to virtually zero.
In normal times, a lowering of central bank rates would induce a fairly predictable ripple response in other credit instruments — gradually less of course as you go out along the yield curve horizon. However, as conventional short-term interest rate easing took place, there was scant response in other interest rates. Government interest rates, say at 3 months, 2 years, 5 years, might respond to central bank actions. But other ones, for example on mortgages, commercial paper and the like, have been stubborn. Indeed, they might rise, depending on the degree of market nervousness about the credit situation, even as overnight rates declined.

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Majority of the current tape formats use the streaming drives. The data is read and written at a particular transfer speed. The performance of the tape drive is at its best when there is a reasonable match between the host and drive’s data rate. If the data rates do not match, then the tape drive will stop its operation, and will have to start again to match with the data stream. This repositioning will continue until the input/output task is finished or the tape media is full. As the difference among the data rates increases, there will be more time loss as the tape will have to reposition itself. This repositioning and start-stop dramatically lowers the performance and efficiency.
The reliability of the tape drive will also be effected as there will be additional stress and wear on the tape path, media and motors of the tape drive. Some of the tape drives will lower their speed so that they can match with the speed of incoming data. Compression techniques are employed by most of the drives, as the data rate of tape drive is multiplied by the compressibility factor. When the effectiveness of the tape medium is considered, then it is important that the gap of the compressed data rate must be evaluated.
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The Sony AIT 5 tape drive delivers outstanding performance and results against the different data compression levels and scales mostly at hundred percent of its rated performance. So the throughput capability of AIT-5 should be 256 GB/hour, for avg. 3:1 data compressibility ratio. Input/output throughput capabilities of the most branch office and SMB servers to tape drive lies in between the range of 150 to 200 GB/hour.
AIT-5 tape technology’s helical-scan technique results in lower tape tension and power consumption with increased packing density. Single pass recording is enabled by the rotating head/drum assembly which is incorporated in a compact mechanism. Sony AIT 5 technology is very space efficient and is ideal for large libraries that comprise of hundreds of cartridges and many tape drives. Powerful and Innovative features of AIT tape technology ideally position it for SMB server environment’s archiving data backup applications. Other large form enterprise tape formats cannot ideally match with rated speeds and data throughput of the SMB server environments, and these formats are more costly.
Fast data access and native 400 gigabytes capacity of Sony SDX5-400C AIT-5 makes it perfect tape solution for SMBs. The results and performance of Sony AIT5 tape are far more superior and consistent in the SMB applications in comparison to other enterprise storage formats. The users of AIT-5 tape technology have the advantage of lower ownership cost and user-friendly backup solution. Sony SDX5-400W tape technology is very adaptable and has higher storage density. Sony maintains its leadership in the SMB and enterprise environments with its enhanced and efficient AIT tape products. The compatible autoloaders, tape drives and libraries of cost effective Sony AIT family provide the luxury and facility to the enterprises to expand and enhance their backup storage medium’s capabilities according to their needs.
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[Editor’s note: Below are remarks as delivered by Kelly Cuvar at a roundtable on health care reform with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), organized by Health Care for America Now]
One thing you need to know about me is that I’m a hard worker. I live in New York, but every four years, I go back to Southwestern Ohio, where I grew up, and volunteer at the grassroots level for the presidential race, as a proud (and scarce) Democrat.
The second thing you need to know about me is that I was diagnosed with cancer ten years ago, when I was nineteen. I have had cancer ever since then. I have never been in remission. What I didn't know then -- my young nineteen year old self didn't have a clue -- was that for the rest of my life, the fact that I had cancer would be considered a huge hurdle that was made manifest in every aspect of my life -- that I'd have a pre-existing condition forever, and it would creep into everything I ever did.
Surviving and learning to live with cancer would not just be managing the disease physically, which is hard enough. The American health care system in general and my insurance providers in particular have been a greater affliction for me than cancer. Every single financial and life decision I make revolves around maintaining my ability to get vital health care. Where I live, if I can marry, if I can buy a home, changing my career, going back to school -- it is all mediated through my disease.
A decade ago, I didn't know what I was in for. A decade is such a long time, isn't it? For my father, the difference between 1969 and 1979 was Vietnam at one end, and me at the other. For me, it is cancer at one end, and cancer at the other.
A decade ago (a lifetime ago), my parents handled insurance issues and the never-ending bills. I would hear my father, the single nicest and most gentle person I have ever known, yelling at insurance providers. Everything was an issue, everything was a fight. My parents wouldn't let me speak with insurers, because I was so ill, and how could it help? I didn't know what to say. I didn't have any money. I was a student, so young. They, with composure I would come to cherish and emulate, took care of it. They took care of me.
Those were the easy times.
Since that time, I've always had health insurance. I’ve been very lucky. But I have come close to losing my coverage. And I'm getting closer now, every day.
I lost my job last year. I’m on CO
A right now, for as long as it lasts… which isn’t much longer.
I am going to be absolutely honest with you: having to worry about insurance, and to constantly fight for and pay for and find money for payments, is worse than having cancer. I know that sounds ludicrous, but I am better able to deal with dealing with my illness than I am when I am fighting with insurers, or now that I am unemployed, worrying about how I can maintain my coverage. This is more stressful than any of the treatments I've received over the last ten years, and any of the consequences of them.
What the cancer hasn’t been able to do, our broken health care system has done: force me to deal with anxiety on levels that I've never known before. I am frightened, and it is all I think about.
If you can say with honesty that worrying about insurance is more stressful than worrying about being ill with a chronic and life-threatening disease, what does that say about the state of healthcare right now?
What comforts me is knowing that we can fix health care – but it’s going to take all of us doing our part and telling our Senators that New York City says loud and clear that health care should be a right for every American, that you shouldn’t lose your health care when you lose your job, and that no one should be denied the medical care they need because of a pre-existing condition. I want to have that choice and that security of having public coverage that’s as good as a member of Congress while I’m looking for a job. And if we fight together, and get our Senators to fight for us, I believe this can be the year that we finally fix health care for all of us.
Thank you.

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approximately $17 billion in funding the Congressional Budget Office has identified as potential savings from eliminating FFEL. Under the President's proposal, that money would go to expanding Pell Grants. Under Sallie Mae's proposal it would be used, in effect, to continue the two competing loan programs.
Ultimately, the company wants to modify the bank-subsidized FFEL program that it currently dominates. It would allow lenders to use their own capital to issue federal student loans and guarantee that those loans would be sold to the Education Department within 120 days of full disbursement. The servicing rights (what regular people call billing and collections) associated with these loans would be retained by the lender or handled by one of the Department's contractors, with the added twist that the servicers would be penalized for defaulted student loans. Colleges would continue to choose which origination platform they would use to disburse the loans -- the one the government uses for Direct Lending or those of individual lenders.

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