I'm just glad she's not a doctor, and I don't

• Tina Fey spot on again. sm - Anon
  • huffingtonpost is crap. That garbage should be - banned from the web, shameful site. nm
    • Certain groups in this country sure are big on - BANNING things.
    • Tough. Still a free country. sm - Anon
      • So true. What those guys say on the air - borders on outright hate speech.
      • huff is a great site - wickedwicky
        • for folks who don't want to think for themselves - reboot
      • Unfortunately, our "free country" celebrates "Huff" - and the hateful left. Why are you like that?nm
        • Probably the same reason the hateful right is - 'celebrated' by some. Different opinions.
        • It's true. The left hate anyone who disagrees with - them. I used to be one, til I learned more.nm
          • We don't HATE, like the right does. We simply - DISAGREE.
            • Read all the posts here and then come back.. - sam
            • Playground Politics - reboot
              • Shouldn't your pen name be "ROBOT"? - ?
                • Wow - how long did it take you to think of that one? - reboot
                  • must be that ol' dyslexia again - !
                    • Boy, that never gets old. Never. You should write Osamabama's speeches. - reboot
          • Maybe it was just you that was hating. nm - I don't hate nobody
            • Right, you don't hate nobody, you hate - everybody who doesn't
          • please back up this sweeping - wickedwicky
            • The Right's been CLUTCHING AT STRAWS these - past few days, haven't they?
      • There is a difference between the two - jmo
        • Faux news and Huff - wickedwicky
        • And what do you think Faux news is? Sm - Anon
          • At least they make an effort to be fair - jmo
            • Yes fair and balanced. sm - Anon
  • Saw it. Funny indeed. Need a good laugh right. - Laughter is the best medicine
  • We are about to be on the hook for billions... - sam
    • The democrats did not cause - You'vegottobekidding
      • Presented with irrefutable truth.... - sam
      • Are you kidding? - They are both at fault!
        • I can understand you being sick of it.... - sam
          • It's been awhile since I've posted - They are both at fault!
      • You have got to be kidding!!!! - Backwards typist
        • No, I'm not kidding - You'vegottobekidding
          • This doesn't sound like it is coming from your "mouth" - Backwards typist
            • Why didn't you appeal the assessment to the county? - Just wondering
              • We did. That's why it's only $100,000. - Backwards typist
          • all the regulatory failures you list here... - sam
            • How much time did you spend watching - Working 7 days a week here
              • It's more than borderline obsessive.... - FANATICAL is more like it!
              • It took about an hour after I viewed the video. - sam
      • Barney Frank is a big culprit in this... - indemt
        • It is not the errant homeowners who are being bailed out...sm - VTMT
          • I just read the draft of the bill on line... - sam
            • Exactly right, the modifications... - indemt
          • Hoodwinked? Some maybe, but most - indemt
    • Can anyone interpret this? sm - Anon
      • I'm just glad she's not a doctor, and I don't - have to TRANSCRIBE that! Aaaahh!
      • I do believe she is sincere in caring about... - sam
      • Standard beautiy queen boilerplate - wickedwicky
        • I thought "Boilerplate" was the brand of hairspray she - uses on the "B-52's" beehive.....
      • First of all, I don't see that she answered the question. nm - oldtimer
      • Maybe the transcription was outsourced to India! nm - And that is why it doesn't make sense
        • Your post wins the BEST COMEBACK award! - Totally cracked up at that one! ; )
    • Answer. sm - Anon
      • The bimb* comment speaks volumes.... - sam
      • And even worse, 2 heartbeats away... - another oldtimer

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The health-care reform debate is in full roar with the arrival of Michael Moore's documentary Sicko, which compares the U.S. system unfavorably with single-payer systems around the world. Critics of the film are quick to trot out a common defense of the American way: For all its problems, they say, U.S. patients at least don't have to endure the endless waits for medical care endemic to government-run systems. The lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans spells it out in a rebuttal to Sicko: "The American people do not support a government takeover of the entire health-care system because they know that means long waits for rationed care."

In reality, both data and anecdotes show that the American people are already waiting as long or longer than patients living with universal health-care systems. Take Susan M., a 54-year-old human resources executive in New York City. She faithfully makes an appointment for a mammogram every April, knowing the wait will be at least six weeks. She went in for her routine screening at the end of May, then had another because the first wasn't clear. That second X-ray showed an abnormality, and the doctor wanted to perform a needle biopsy, an outpatient procedure. His first available date: mid-August. "I completely freaked out," Susan says. "I couldn't imagine spending the summer with this hanging over my head." After many calls to five different facilities, she found a clinic that agreed to read her existing mammograms on June 25 and promised to schedule a follow-up MRI and biopsy if needed within 10 days. A full month had passed since the first suspicious X-rays. Ultimately, she was told the abnormality was nothing to worry about, but she should have another mammogram in six months. Taking no chances, she made an appointment on the spot. "The system is clearly broken," she laments.

It's not just broken for breast exams. If you find a suspicious-looking mole and want to see a dermatologist, you can expect an average wait of 38 days in the U.S., and up to 73 days if you live in Boston, according to researchers at the University of California at San Francisco who studied the matter. Got a knee injury? A 2004 survey by medical recruitment firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates found the average time needed to see an orthopedic surgeon ranges from 8 days in Atlanta to 43 days in Los Angeles. Nationwide, the average is 17 days. "Waiting is definitely a problem in the U.S., especially for basic care," says Karen Davis, president of the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, which studies health-care policy.

All this time spent "queuing," as other nations call it, stems from too much demand and too little supply. Only one-third of U.S. doctors are general practitioners, compared with half in most European countries. On top of that, only 40% of U.S. doctors have arrangements for after-hours care, vs. 75% in the rest of the industrialized world. Consequently, some 26% of U.S. adults in one survey went to an emergency room in the past two years because they couldn't get in to see their regular doctor, a significantly higher rate than in other countries.

There is no systemized collection of data on wait times in the U.S. That makes it difficult to draw comparisons with countries that have national health systems, where wait times are not only tracked but made public. However, a 2005 survey by the Commonwealth Fund of sick adults in six nations found that only 47% of U.S. patients could get a same- or next-day appointment for a medical problem, worse than every other country except Canada.

The Commonwealth survey did find that U.S. patients had the second-shortest wait times if they wished to see a specialist or have nonemergency surgery, such as a hip replacement or cataract operation (Germany, which has national health care, came in first on both measures). But Gerard F. Anderson, a health policy expert at Johns Hopkins University, says doctors in countries where there are lengthy queues for elective surgeries put at-risk patients on the list long before their need is critical. "Their wait might be uncomfortable, but it makes very little clinical difference," he says.

The Commonwealth study did find one area where the U.S. was first by a wide margin: 51% of sick Americans surveyed did not visit a doctor, get a needed test, or fill a prescription within the past two years because of cost. No other country came close.

Few solutions have been proposed for lengthy waits in the U.S., in part, say policy experts, because the problem is rarely acknowledged. But the market is beginning to address the issue with the rise of walk-in medical clinics. Hundreds have sprung up in CVS, Wal-Mart (WMT ), Pathmark, (PTMK ) and other stores—so many that the American Medical Assn. just adopted a resolution urging state and federal agencies to investigate such clinics as a conflict of interest if housed in stores with pharmacies. These retail clinics promise rapid care for minor medical problems, usually getting patients in and out in 30 minutes. The slogan for CVS's Minute Clinics says it all: "You're sick. We're quick."

There are so many ways to cut food costs and eat healthy.

Cook, repeat cook oatmeal for breakfast. Eggs anyway

One pound of ground turkey, chopped onion sauteed, mix with 1-2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1-2 cans of beans (pinto, black, etc.) seasonings like cumin, chili, etc. serve over brown rice that you cook - or over a small pasta, or in a tortlla.

Soup - homemade - diced tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots, any type of beans, frozen cut okra, etc. add water and seasonings - add Butterball smoked turkey sausage cut into half slices

I make a pot of soup every week and eat until gone, then a new one.

I also cook my beans from dry - very inexpensive and very nutritious

Hope you think this is helpful for that is what I want to be. Your present eating program is soooo unhealthy. I would be glad to share any of my other low-cost recpies with you.

Best wishes.

landerson@theadvocate.com

Advocate staff writer

In the midst of administering chest compressions to a dying woman several days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ordered to stop by a federal official because he wasn't registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

I begged him to let me continue, said Perlmutter, who left his home and practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Pennsylvania to come to Louisiana and volunteer to care for hurricane victims. People were dying, and I was the only doctor on the tarmac (at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport) where scores of nonresponsive patients lay on stretchers. Two patients died in front of me.

I showed him (the U.S. Coast Guard official in charge) my medical credentials. I had tried to get through to FEMA for 12 hours the day before and finally gave up. I asked him to let me stay until I was replaced by another doctor, but he refused. He said he was afraid of being sued. I informed him about the Good Samaritan laws and asked him if he was willing to let people die so the government wouldn't be sued, but he would not back down. I had to leave.

FEMA issued a formal response to Perlmutter's story, acknowledging that the agency does not use voluntary physicians.

We have a cadre of physicians of our own, FEMA spokesman Kim Pease said Thursday. They are the National Disaster Medical Team. ... The voluntary doctor was not a credentialed FEMA physician and, thus, was subject to law enforcement rules in a disaster area.

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A Coast Guard spokesman said he was looking into the incident but was not able to confirm it.

Perlmutter, Dr. Clark Gerhart and medical student Alison Torrens flew into Baton Rouge on a private jet loaned by a Pennsylvania businessman several days after Katrina hit. They brought medicine and supplies with them. They stayed the first night in Baton Rouge and persuaded an Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot to fly them into New Orleans the next day.

I was going to make it happen, the orthopedic surgeon said. I was at Ground Zero too, and I had to lie to get in there.

At the triage area in the New Orleans airport, Perlmutter was successful in getting FEMA to accept the insulin and morphine he had brought. The pharmacist told us they were completely out of insulin and our donation would save numerous lives. Still, I felt we were the most-valuable resource, and we were sent away.

Gerhart said the scene they confronted at the airport was one of hundreds of people lying on the ground, many soaked in their own urine and feces, some coding (dying) before our eyes. FEMA workers initially seemed glad for help and asked Gerhart to work inside the terminal and Perlmutter to work out on the tarmac. They were told only a single obstetrician had been on call at the site for the past 24 hours.

Then, the Coast Guard official informed the group that he could not credential them or guarantee tort coverage and that they should return to Baton Rouge. That shocked me, that those would be his concerns in a time of emergency, Gerhart said.

Transported back to Baton Rouge, Perlmutter's frustrated group went to state health officials who finally got them certified -- a simple process that took only a few seconds.

I found numerous other doctors in Baton Rouge waiting to be assigned and others who were sent away, and there was no shortage of need, he said.

Perlmutter spent some time at the Department of Health and Hospital's operational center at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries before moving to the makeshift Kmart Hospital doctors established at an abandoned store to care for patients. After organizing an orthopedics room and setting up ventilators there, Perlmutter went back to the Swaggart Center and then to the LSU Pete Maravich Assembly Center's field hospital to care for patients being flown in from the New Orleans area.

We saw elderly patients who had been off their medicine for days, diabetics without insulin going into shock, uncontrolled hypertension, patients with psychosis and other mental disorders, lots of diarrhea, dehydration and things you would expect. I slept on a patient cot there every night until I came home.

Gerhart said he felt the experience overall was successful and rewarding, although frustrating at times. You don't expect catastrophes to be well organized. A lot of people, both private citizens and government officials, were working very hard.

Perlmutter did not return home empty-handed. He brought a family of four evacuees back with him and is still working with Baton Rouge volunteer Hollis Barry to facilitate the relocation of additional hurricane victims to Pennsylvania.

He also returned with a sense of outrage. I have been trying to call Sen. Arlen Specter (of Pennsylvania) to let him know of our experience.

I have been going to Ecuador and Mexico (on medical missions) for 14 years. I was at ground zero. I've seen hundreds of people die. This was different because we knew the hurricane was coming. FEMA showed up late and then rejected help for the sake of organization. They put form before function, and people died.

Both FEMA and the Coast Guard operate under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has been widely criticized for its disjointed, slow response to the devastation caused by Katrina. Federal officials are urging medical personnel who want to volunteer to help with disaster relief to contact the Medical Reserve Corps or the American Red Cross for registration, training and organization.

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Both sides should have a choice, on both sides, pregnant woman and doctor...nm
bm

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I for one am glad AG
some opposing views. I'm all for that. Too often "stalking" gets mentioned when it's really just someone who finds a lot to argue with in someone else's posts - of course they're going to reply if they have something to say. It's usually nothing personal. And even if it becomes that after so much back-and-forth, so what? If a person is arguing with facts and debating relevant issues, the other poster ought to have their facts in line also for a good reply. Challenging isn't "stalking." I think those who fear challenge are those who don't really have a desire to debate at all, or aren't sure of their own information - in which case why are they here in a political forum when there are happy happy recipe exchanges going on a couple of forums over?

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Glad to see him go...nm

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I'm Glad...
Judith Regan, the woman who wrote the book, claims she contracted with his lawyers that the money went to the kids or she would not have done it. Don't know if that is true or not; that is what I read. I am also glad that Fox dropped it. Pressure on NBC also resulted in the crucifixion-like scene in Madonna's concert being cut. The people do have a voice...we just need to continue to use it.

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Yes, and I am very glad
that there are less of our troops dying over there. I guess my point was just that some people (not meaning you, but people on the news) discuss how things are going good in Iraq without always necessarily taking into context how BAD it was. I do recall hearing on MSNBC I think how that even though the number of deaths has gone down in recent months, 2007 was still the deadliest year in the war. I would be curious to see how the number of deaths/injuries now compares to each month/year since the war began.

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Glad to see someone else...
has refused to drink the Kool-Aid.

Excellent post with great points, not bashing, threats, scare tactics and hot air. Refreshing these days.

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I'm glad -nm
.

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I'm glad you know her so well.
You see her one way, I see her another.  I don't like her, you do, so what's the big deal?  I think she is phony, you think she's sincere.  We'll see.

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I'm glad! nm
x

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I'm so glad I don't believe all that s#it.
Or the gum on the bottom of your shoe is an omen of the end of the world because it resembles Satan.

Ooga-booga-booga -
whattabunchavoodoo.

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I'm glad you are.............sm
but that is not the case with everyone.

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While I am glad
That part of the stimulus was taken out, I don't agree with the fact that the alternative is a depression. We are already walking a razor's edge of a depression. There isn't a whole lot that is going to "save the economy" or the world financial markets. Prices and company stocks were over inflated for many years and each market must reset themselves. With more money being printed and nothing to back it up, we will have hyperinflation probably towards the end of this year. There are a few very respected analysts that are saying September of 2009 is going to be the worst.

I give Obama all the credit in the world for trying to undertake this massive problem but at the same time it is his job. I hope he is able to pull something out of his hat that is fair and right to everyone.

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Thank you - I'm glad I was not the only one
I got through the first sentence, but the rest just rambled on and I could not understand what point was being made except that the poster was too happy to call someone a teabagger. I guess that's the "trendy" thing to do now. I still would like to know if she would like me to call her the "c" word and see how she likes it.

Like cuss words that you cannot say on this board I think this is one of those terms that should be banned.

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I am glad he is doing SOMETHING
I am willing to give the man a chance. I don't condemn him simply because he is not of "my party."

I do not like the spending at all - but he was not the cause of that spending. He is just trying to "fix" the broken system he was given.

As has been asked numerous times on this board, what better ideas do you have?

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YES! Right on GP! Glad to see you again.

Although we do disagree at times, just like I disagree with JTBB sometimes, at least they are normal "conversations." 

 

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Thank you. I'm glad someone can understand
Most of the time on these boards I feel like I'm on another planet.

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Glad to be back. sm
No I am not walking on eggshells because of the other board. I re-read my post.  I am the daughter of a Command Sergeant Major, from the real old Army, and we did not discuss rank at all; it was not proper at that time.  When we were overseas, we were all Americans and equal; rank, race, religion did not matter, we were all the same - AMERICANS. When I said earlier my dad was "spat upon".  He wasn't but many VN soldiers were; and I was speaking for them.  No one in their right mind would have spat on my dad.  He was infantry, a sharp-shooter, a marksman.  That was his MOS - military occupational specialty.  The second time he went to VN he got two kinds of malaria at once, and he was shot so full of quinine, he had tremors, I probably did not spell it right, probably tremers, he could never hold a gun again. We were stationed in Germany between 1960-1963, and I still don't know the deal.  All I know is there would be a lot of activity all of a sudden in the middle of the night; mom would be up helping him pack, and he would be gone - maybe for a day, maybe for three months, maybe for a year, and he never talked about it.  I did ask him one time when I was a child if he had ever killed anyone.  He teared up and said he had killed many men, but the hardest was that he had to kill a kid who had a grenade in his hand and was trying to kill him.  Anyhow, we got back to the states in late 63, early 64, just in time for the JFK assination; that is when all innocence stopped for me, and I became a bitter person - working on it though. Thanks gals, just got mom to bed, needed to vent.

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I'm certainly glad you didn't go into it...

This is a joke, a parody of all the ridiculous right-winger fundamentalists telling us the tsunami is God punishing people who don't think like them, that Katrina looked like a fetus.......blah-blah-blah. 

The difference is that this is a JOKE and the other examples are DEAD SERIOUS!!!!!  I hope you understand this better now.

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You're welcome, glad
He is an excellent writer. Too bad it often falls on deaf ears and blind eyes. Yes, I agree with you, that people tend to take their news with 30-second soundbites and don't read anymore.

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I'm glad you posted this. Thanks! nm
x

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Wish I'd seen that! Well, actually glad I didn't.

Gawd,  just think about the possibilities for teenage rebellion reasons when these kids are old enough.  And I thought I had it bad at age 15!!!!! 

I tend to see a link in:  Oppression of women = viewing women as baby machines

Mind you, I do think babies are precious but I don't necessarily believe that quantity equals quality.

Some religions foster woman as baby-machines (Catholicism included, unfortunately), some cultures foster it.  But as I said, it's part of the destruction of our world if it continues.  Okay, I'll climb down off my soapbox now.

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I'm glad someone is helping.
Shame on this administration!

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I'm very glad you're here.
I enjoy reading your posts.  I hope you stay. 

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Then I'm glad you know Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11

and that they had no WMDs. 

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Glad to not be a democrat. Please sm

 

Senators vote on English       33 Senators Voted Against English as America 's Official Language June 6, 2007   On Wed, 6 Jun 2007 23:35:23 -0500, "Colonel Harry Riley USA ret" wrote:   Senators,   Your vote against an amendment to the Immigration Bill 1348, to make English America's official language is astounding. On D-Day no less when we honor those that sacrificed in order to secure the bedrock character and principles of America . I can only surmise your vote reflects a loyalty to illegal aliens.   I don't much care where you come from, what your religion is, whether you're black, white or some other color, male or female, democrat, republican or independent, but I do care when you're a United States Senator, representing citizens of America and vote against English as the official language of the United States   Your vote reflects betrayal, political surrender, violates your pledge of allegiance, dishonors historical principle, rejects patriotism, borders on traitorous action and, in my opinion, makes you unfit to serve as a United States Senator... impeachment, recall, or other appropriate action is warrented.   Worse, 4 of you voting against English as America 's official language are presidential candidates: Senator Biden, Senator Clinton, Senator Dodd, and Senator Obama.    Those 4 Senators vying to lead America but won't or don't have the courage to cast a vote in favor of English as America's official language when 91% of American citizens want English officially designated as our language.    This is the second time in the last several months this list of Senators have disgraced themselves as political hacks... unworthy as Senators and certainly unqualifed to serve as President of the United States.   If America is as angry as I am, you will realize a back-lash so stunning it will literally rock you out of your panties... and preferably, totally out of the United States Senate.   The entire immigration bill is a farce... your action only confirms this really isn't about America ; it's about self-serving politics... despicable at best. "Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ~ anonymous  The following senators voted against making English the official language of America :    Akaka (D-HI)  Bayh (D-IN)  Biden (D-DE) Wants to be President? Bingaman (D-NM)  Boxer (D-CA)  Cantwell (D-WA)  Clinton (D-NY) Wants to be President? Dayton (D-MN)  Dodd (D-CT) Wants to be President? Domenici (R-NM) Coward, protecting his Senate seat... Durbin (D-IL)  Feingold (D-WI) Not unusual for him Feinstein (D-CA)  Harkin (D-IA)  Inouye (D-HI)  Jeffords (I-VT)  Kennedy (D-MA)  Kerry (D-MA) Wanted to be President Kohl (D-WI)  Lautenberg (D-NJ)  Leahy (D-VT)  Levin (D-MI)  Lieberman (D-CT) Disappointment here..... Menendez (D-NJ)  Mikulski (D-MD)  Murray (D-WA)  Obama (D-IL) Wants to be President? Reed (D-RI)  Reid (D-NV) Senate Majority Leader Salazar (D-CO)  Sarbanes (D-MD)  Schumer (D-NY)  Stabenow (D-M) "Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged."  ~ President Abraham Lincoln  "   Amen  "     ________________________________________

 

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way
I have a really hard time with the religous nut bags who have their own idea of what is right or wrong. Maybe right and wrong is not the correct words. I just wish they would mind their own busness and not push their opionions/viewpoints on other people as though what they say is correct. Like one poster said years ago there was segregation... can't imagine that happening today, just like inter-racial marriage or gay marriage. What is wrong with sharing your love for another person no matter what shape, color, size or sex they are. I definitely think this needs to be changed - period! There should be no question about gay marriage. You love a person and want to get married then that's it you get married. The question is when is some politician going to stand up and do the right thing. So I say live in peace and harmony. Do not tell me how I should and should not live and I won't tell you how you should or should not live. And for pitty's sake - stop making gay marriage a political issue. It is a personal issue between two people and nobody's elses business unless they want to tell you about it. - Okay that's my rant of the day.

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Not hardly. I am glad for her support....
but unlike the rest of you, I do not post to support myself. I do have the courage of my convictions and all the bullying and badmouthing you all throw my way only makes me more determined. So pile it on, bullies, pile it on. apparently that is what you need to feel empowered and relevant. Go ahead, knock your socks off. If you are raggin on me you are letting someone else rest.

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I'm glad he did those things.
generation that will need his leadership and experiences.   

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And you better be glad that someone is willing to get in their face....
because that is all they understand, and that is why we have not had another attack in this country. It is precisely THIS kind of thinking that we DO NOT need in the white house. Diplomacy is fine...and many times it works. But your enemies have to know that if hit, you will hit back hard. I have no faith that Barack Obama would act decisively (like Clinton with Khobar Towers, the first world trade center bombing, the COle, and on and on and on). I don't want things like that happening again. I want them sitting back on their heels like they are now. John McCain will keep them there and he won't be having tea with Ahmadinejad without rules. It just shows that Barack Obama has no clue what he is dealing with. No clue.

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Well, whatever happened, I am sure glad
nm

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Boy am I glad you both left....sm
There's only so much rudeness a person can take.

You call out sam on her posting everything...at least she's nice and civil....

You two...or three...people, are still, just downright rude, under your smug little comments and innuendos, accusing sam of the very same things you're doing.

No wonder people don't like coming here very much anymore, me included....yuck.

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