MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'class'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:55:50 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181895&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F09%2F02%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-september-2-2011%2F It starts at a young age. Schools encourage it. Our families help define it. We begin our lives with the labels they give us like big brother, baby sister, only child. And as we get older, they just get more serious. Sometimes the way we’re perceived such as the “good one,” the “bad one,” the “troubled one,” the “drama queen,” inevitably follow us throughout the rest of our life. Sometimes these seemingly harmless labels take on a life of their own. If we don’t achieve our own sense of self, they begin to define who we are. And we grasp on tight. These lyrics from the Barenaked Ladies song What a Good Boy reminds me of the pressures they can have on us: “When I was born they looked at me and said What a good boy, what a sma... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181895 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:04:52 +0100 5181895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130727&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FdPEw5_rzjh0%2F By Daniel J. MitchellWarren Buffett’s at it again. He has a column in the New York Times complaining that he has been coddled by the tax code and that “rich” people should pay higher taxes. My first instinct is to send Buffett the website where people can voluntarily pay extra money to the federal government. I’ve made this suggestion to guilt-ridden rich people in the past. But I no longer give that advice. I’m worried he might actually do it. And even though Buffett is wildly misguided about fiscal policy, I know he will invest his money much more wisely than Barack Obama will spend it. But Buffett goes beyond guilt-ridden rants in favor of higher taxes. He makes specific assertions that are inaccurate. Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130727 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:45:01 +0100 5130727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125718&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHY2drzLh5ns%2F By Neal McCluskeyQuite simply, Pell Grants are not supposed to be for the middle class. As the U.S. Department of Education’s website makes clear, Pell is supposed to be for “low-income undergraduate and certain postbaccalaureate students.” So why characterize Pell as a benefit for the middle class? Because lots of people consider themselves to be in that group — which federal politicians rarely define — and policymakers want their votes. Unfortunately, as Rep. George Miller (D-CA) recently demonstrated, saying Pell is intended for the middle class also makes it a valuable weapon in waging class warfare. “Pell is the reason they are able to go to college and get ahead,” Miller said in response to congressional Republicans purportedly looking to trim the program ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125718 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:06:44 +0100 5125718 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118614&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSySMAOLX3OM%2F By Sallie JamesI don’t know which part of this truly dismaying interview is more upsetting: the joy in their voices as these girls describe the “fun” they are having at the riots and their hope that they continue the next day, the class-warfare-based justification they feel for the looting and burning of shops, or their almost comic ignorance of which party holds control of the government (“Conservatives. Yeah. Whatever who it is. I dunno…”). Listen and Weep, courtesy of the Beeb. Disgraceful Soundbite from the London Riots is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118614 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:53:24 +0100 5118614 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086141&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXHhlVhgZfyk%2F By Neal McCluskeyWan to know a major reason Washington won’t make the cuts we need? Because winning elections is largely about getting “middle-class” votes, and just about any program can be spun as a savior for that big — but rarely defined by politicians — chunk of Americans. Case in point, an animosity-stoking assertion uttered last week by House education committee Ranking Member George Miller.  As reported by CNN, the subject was the possibility of a cut being made to the federal Pell Grant program: Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat, defended Pell Grant funding on Friday, calling it the “great equalizer” for millions of students. “Pell is the reason they are able to go to college and get ahead,” Miller sai... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086141 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:43:38 +0100 5086141 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050537&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtukJttLWUFI%2F The on-again, off-again “Gang of Six” has come back on the scene and is offering a “Bipartisan Plan to Reduce Our Nation’s Deficits.” The proposal is quite similar to the one put forth by the President’s Simpson-Bowles Commission, which isn’t too surprising since some of the same people are involved. At this stage, all I’ve seen is this summary (A BIPARTISAN PLAN TO REDUCE OUR NATIONS DEFICITS v7), so I reserve the right to modify my analysis as more details emerge (and since I fully expect the plan to look worse when additional information is available, the following is an optimistic assessment. The Good Unlike President Obama, the Gang of Six is not consumed by class-warfare resentment. The plan envisions that the top personal income tax rate will fall to no higher than ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050537 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:36:45 +0100 5050537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028452&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F14%2Fone-of-the-biggest-barriers-to-creativity-and-how-to-overcome-it%2F Anyone who writes — or creates anything that goes out to the public — knows that oftentimes the product is akin to putting your heart out on a piece of paper (or laptop, or canvas and so on). Vulnerable, scary and vomit-inducing. So even if you get 100 compliments and kind words, one negative remark roars above the rest. It sticks out and stays with you. Not only does it have you questioning your work but, worse, your worth. Or even just the idea of being evaluated gets under your skin. Instead of telling the truth or letting your creativity flow freely, limitless and liberated, you’re paralyzed because you’re thinking about what everyone else will be thinking. So one of the biggest barriers to creativity is, as you’ve probably guessed by now: concern over the critics — be they... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028452 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:15:04 +0100 5028452 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952800&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FofDEWKTgXJc%2F By Walter OlsonIn today’s decision in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the Supreme Court unanimously found that the Ninth Circuit had jumped the gun in certifying what would have been one of the largest class actions in history, a job-bias action against the giant retailer on behalf of female employees. A five-justice majority led by Justice Scalia found that the plaintiffs had clearly not met the requirements needed to have the case certified for class treatment; four dissenters led by Justice Ginsburg would have sent the case back for more consideration. While some press commentary simplistically treated this case as a “Which Side Are You On” parable of workplace sexism, both the majority and the dissent spend much time grappling with more lawyerly issues specific to class actions a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952800 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:57:44 +0100 4952800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893553&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F04%2Fwhen-should-you-consider-hospitalization-for-depression%2F I wish psychiatrists sent people with depression home with instructions on when to go to the hospital similar to the ones obstetricians give to pregnant women once they reach 37 weeks of gestation: when your contractions last for a minute each and are five minutes apart, start the ignition! “How did you know it was time to go to the hospital?” a friend asked me the other day. “I didn’t,” I replied. “My friends did.” Each psych ward experience is different. And no doctor judges the decision to enter one in the same way. In hindsight, I wonder why my therapist didn’t urge me to commit myself months before I did. I talked about wanting to die most of my hour with her. Because it was all I thought about. That idea, alone, gave me relief. But I ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893553 Sat, 04 Jun 2011 12:02:02 +0100 4893553 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4852938&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F05%2F23%2Fhard-to-find-a-male-therapist%2F Well, yes. Fewer men are choosing clinical psychology as a profession. We’ve known this for many years, as graduate programs in psychology — both Master’s level and doctoral — have increasingly become female-dominated. In my graduate class of 1990, over 75% of the class was female. That percentage has only increased in the past two decades. So Benedict Carey’s new article in the New York Times is a bit of a puzzler. The angle is that because of this gender discrepancy, a good male therapist is increasingly becoming difficult to find: Researchers began tracking the “feminization” of mental health care more than a generation ago, when women started to outnumber men in fields like psychology and counseling. Today the takeover is almost complete. And I say, &#... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4852938 Mon, 23 May 2011 12:46:49 +0100 4852938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775431&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F05%2F02%2Ftwo-important-lessons-from-my-much-procrastinated-trip-to-the-dentist%2F The other day, I finally went to the dentist. I was due for a check-up in July, and for the last eight months, I’ve been moving the reminder card around my office and coming up with new excuses about why I couldn’t make an appointment. I made the Thursday, went in, and the whole process took thirty-eight minutes from the time I picked up a magazine in the waiting room to the time I walked out the door holding my bag with freebie toothbrush and floss. I walked the twenty-five blocks to get there, too, on this beautiful spring afternoon, so even half of my travel time was well-spent. From this experience, I draw two lessons for myself — both of which were quite apparent to me, although I neglected to act on them… 1. Procrastination is itself draining. That reminder c... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775431 Mon, 02 May 2011 19:08:24 +0100 4775431 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4762746&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F23_CKqjvSp8%2F By Ilya ShapiroA few readers have now asked me about the “libertarian” reaction to yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that allows companies to use boilerplate contract provisions that require consumers to arbitrate any disputes individually rather than coming together as a class action for arbitration purposes (let alone being able to bring claims into court).  That is, where an individual claim isn’t worth that much money (about $30 in yesterday’s case of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion), no lawyer will take the case and so only by having a class file collectively, the argument goes, will justice be served. The ruling broke down 5-4 on “conventional” lines, with an opinion by Justice Scalia, joined by the Chief Justice and Justices Kennedy, ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4762746 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:28:39 +0100 4762746 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4762728&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fwhen-will-first-class-action-lawsuit-on.html At this post a few weeks ago about FDA (non)regulation of health IT, I observed several salient points:FDA's Chair of the Center for Device and Radiological Health (CDRH) Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, a physician and lawyer, stated that under the Federal, Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [that regulates all drug, medical devices, etc. in the United States - ed.] HIT software is a medical device (link to testimony);FDA is aware of HIT risks of injury and death, including specific examples, and issued an internal memo (direct link to memo PDF) taxonomizing these risks in great detail. The memo was publicly divulged by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund; The aforementioned chair of CDRH believes these incidents - including 44 reported injuries and 6 reported deaths - are likely just the "tip of the ice... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4762728 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:21:00 +0100 4762728 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4742370&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDyUGDvchcKI%2F By Daniel J. MitchellUnder current law, Social Security is supposed to be an “earned benefit,” where taxes are akin to insurance premiums that finance retirement benefits for workers. And because there is a cap on retirement benefits, this means there also is a “wage-base cap” on the amount of income that is hit by the payroll tax. For 2011, the maximum annual retirement benefit is about $28,400 and the maximum amount of income subject to the payroll tax is about $107,000. It appears that President Obama wants to radically change this system so that it is based on a class-warfare model. During the 2008 campaign, for instance, then-Senator Obama suggested that the program’s giant long-run deficit could be addressed by busting the wage-base cap and imposing the ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4742370 Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:43:46 +0100 4742370 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4714826&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F14%2Fwhen-physical-exercise-feels-just-like-a-panic-attack%2F Photo credit: Thomas Hawk I’ve had more honest-to-goodness panic attacks in my life than I can count. And by “honest-to-goodness”, I mean the real deal: racing heart, palpitations, nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath, incredibly unsolicited surges of adrenaline…and so on. Simultaneously. Many people — from friends to doctors — told me to start exercising. My friends said it would reduce my stress and help me to sleep better at night. The University of Georgia says it can reduce my anxiety. My doctor told me that getting in shape will reduce heart palpitations and increase my lung capacity. True, true, and true. But here’s the big Catch-22 that kept me from following everyone’s good advice: exercising made me panic. And why? Well, a body ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4714826 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 01:22:48 +0100 4714826 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676765&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6P-uydf45mM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellA new study from the Adam Smith Institute in the United Kingdom provides overwhelming evidence that class-warfare tax policy is grossly misguided and self-destructive. The authors examine the likely impact of the 10-percentage point increase in the top income tax rate, which was imposed as an election-year stunt by former prime minister Gordon Brown and then kept in place by his feckless successor, David Cameron. They find that boosting the top tax rate to 50 percent will slow economic performance. And because of both macroeconomic and microeconomic responses, tax revenues over the next 10 years are likely to drop by the equivalent of more than $550 billion. Here's a key paragraph from the executive summary of the new study. The country is suffering from a 50%-­plus ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676765 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:15:59 +0100 4676765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4482745&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FG2b5b7cI130%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI looked yesterday at the spending side of Obama's budget and found some good news and bad news. The good news was the absence of any big new initiative to expand the burden of government. That's a welcome relief since the past couple of years have featured budget busting proposals such as the so-called stimulus scheme and a government-run healthcare plan. The bad news is that the budget does nothing to undo any of the damage of the past two years. Nor does it undo any of the damage of the previous eight years. And because the President's budget refuses to address entitlement spending, it certainly doesn't do anything to avert the damage of rapidly expanding budgets over the next several decades. Now let's look at the tax side of the fiscal equation. In large part, the... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4482745 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:52:28 +0100 4482745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4343113&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmkInMDtTIGQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe Laffer Curve is one of my favorite issues (see here, here, here, here, here, etc). But it is a very frustrating topic. Half my time is spent trying to convince left-leaning people that the Laffer Curve exists. I use common-sense explanations. I cite historical examples. I even use information from left-of-center institutions in hopes that they will be more likely to listen. The other half of my time is spent trying to educate right-leaning people that the Laffer Curve does not mean that “all tax cuts pay for themselves.” I relentlessly try to make them understand that there is a big difference between pro-growth tax cuts that increase incentives for productive behavior and therefore lead to more taxable income and other tax cuts such as child credits th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4343113 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:01:52 +0100 4343113 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4272286&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmedical-ethics-does-context-matter-or-is-wrong-always-wrong%2F2010.12.20 I have always felt that issues should be judged by the context of their times. For some issues, however, context provides no justification. Thankfully, the field of medical ethics has evolved into a robust discipline, and there is an enormous need for it. I have read defenses of prior ethical lapses, and even some recent ones, suggesting that context matters. If a three-month, placebo-controlled study is conducted in the developing world testing a medicine that was highly effective against a serious illness, are the ethical dimensions considered and respected? Were the pharma companies choosing this study locale as a cheap test run for their drug, which will ultimately be marketed in the west? Is it ethically problematic not to provide additional medications to ill subjects after the 3 mon... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4272286 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0100 4272286 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4259032&cid=t_120472_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FXzPIfCIS5Y8%2F Yesterday I had the chance to chat with Yaakov Stern, leading Cognitive Reserve researcher at Columbia University, and then with a group of 25 lifelong learners in Arizona who attended a brain fitness class (hello, Robert and friends!) based on our consumer guide The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness. On reflection, I found both conversations to be very stimulating for the same reason: they were forward-looking, focused not so much on status quo but on how emerging research, technology and trends may impact our society and lives in years to come. Let’s continue the conversation. Let me share the 10 main trends that we analyzed/ forecasted in our book, and then ask you, sharp readers, to add your own 2 cents to the discussion. 1. We predict an increased emphasis on brain maintenance in ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4259032 Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:51:03 +0100 4259032 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4233170&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FoWhkg6aROzo%2F By Daniel J. MitchellMuch to my surprise, Senate Republicans held firm earlier today and blocked President Obama’s soak-the-rich proposal to raise tax rates next year on investors, entrepreneurs and small business owners. I fully expected that GOPers would fold on this issue several months ago because Democrats were using the class-warfare argument that Republicans were holding the middle class hostage in order to protect “millionaires and billionaires.” Republicans usually have a hard time fighting back against such demagoguery, and I was especially pessimistic since every Republican senator had to stay united to block Senate Democrats from pushing through Obama’s plan for higher tax rates on the so-called rich. But the GOP surprised me earlier this year with the... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4233170 Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:27:38 +0100 4233170 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4230152&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FoWhkg6aROzo%2F By Daniel J. MitchellMuch to my surprise, Senate Republicans held firm earlier today and blocked President Obama’s soak-the-rich proposal to raise tax rates next year on investors, entrepreneurs and small business owners. I fully expected that GOPers would fold on this issue several months ago because Democrats were using the class-warfare argument that Republicans were holding the middle class hostage in order to protect “millionaires and billionaires.” Republicans usually have a hard time fighting back against such demagoguery, and I was especially pessimistic since every Republican senator had to stay united to block Senate Democrats from pushing through Obama’s plan for higher tax rates on the so-called rich. But the GOP surprised me earlier this year with the... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4230152 Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:27:38 +0100 4230152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4214082&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Ftc4ChoXppkw%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’ve always had a soft spot for Switzerland. The nation’s decentralized structure shows the value of federalism, both as a means of limiting the size of government and as a way of promoting tranquility in a nation with several languages, religions, and ethnic groups. I also admire Switzerland’s valiant attempt to preserve financial privacy in a world dominated by greedy, high-tax governments. I now have another reason to admire the Swiss. Voters yesterday overwhelmingly rejected a class-warfare proposal to impose higher tax rates on the income and wealth of rich residents. The Social Democrats did their best to make the hate-and-envy scheme palatable. Only the very richest taxpayers would have been affected. But Swiss voters, like voters in Washington... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4214082 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:47:01 +0100 4214082 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4179360&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F18%2Fone-third-of-a-college-class-caught-cheating%2F I must be getting old. When I was in college, and then again in graduate school, there was a simple expectation. I was there to learn, the university was there to help me learn. They do that through centuries’ old methods — teaching in classrooms, testing on that material, and occasionally having some hands-on experiences in the laboratory or on computers. This isn’t rocket science (unless you’re studying rocket science). So why was I so surprised when I watched the video (linked to below) where a professor teaching a management class discovered a statistical anomaly while grading his classes’ midterm exams. His startling findings? Rampant cheating. Because a kind of amnesty was offered to the class of 530 students, over 200 students eventually admitted to ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4179360 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:49:27 +0100 4179360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151766&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKbvf19QYBTI%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe White House recently released a video, narrated by Austan Goolsbee of the Council of Economic Advisers, asserting that higher tax rates on the so-called rich would be a good idea. Since Goolsbee’s video made so many unsubstantiated assertions and was guilty of so many sins of omission, here’s a rebuttal video, narrated by yours truly. This new Center for Freedom and Prosperity video includes the full footage of the White House production, so viewers can decide for themselves which side is correct. Debunking White House Pro-Tax Increase Propaganda is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151766 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:41:45 +0100 4151766 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133675&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5jjDY7jFbOw%2F By Walter OlsonWriting at CNN, my colleague Jeffrey Miron puts his finger on one reason for the disappointing defeat of California’s Prop 19: Prop 19 failed also because it overreached. One feature attempted to protect the “rights” of employees who get fired or disciplined for using marijuana, including a provision that employers could only discipline marijuana use that “actually impairs job performance.” That is a much higher bar than required by current policy. Like so many other developments in employment law in recent years, this would have chipped away at the basic principle of employment at will, which holds that in the absence of a contract specifying otherwise, either party to an employment relation may end that relation at any time for any reason or f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133675 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:39:47 +0100 4133675 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4098057&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F10%2F22%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-october-22-2010%2F Anyone catch the Oprah Winfrey show yesterday? Tyler Perry was on. I was running around checking my computer, looking at my iPhone and cleaning up with the show running in the background. When I finally sat down to watch, I was moved by what I saw. Perry revealed the pain and struggle he endured from his traumatic childhood. While it was heartbreaking and difficult to watch, what he said was also hopeful. He talked about forgiveness, his ability to use writing as his escape and how he was able to empower himself and the little boy he lost when he was abused. It’s a touching piece. One that reminded me of the impact inspiring people can have on us and the importance of support through times of adversity. It’s a hope we all have for you as well. That you’ll read these posts... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4098057 Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:20:28 +0100 4098057 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4077232&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQTQlc2lMaiM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellHere are a handful of the posters being used in the United Kingdom to fight the perversely-destructive proposal to increase tax rates on capital gains. (for an explanation of why the tax should be abolished, see here) Which one is your favorite? I’m partial to the last one because of my interest in tax competition. But this isn’t just a popularity contest. With Obama pushing for higher capital gains rate in America, it’s important to find the most persuasive ways of educating people about the damage of class-warfare tax policy. By the way, “CGT” is capital gains tax, and “Vince” and “Cable” refers to Vince Cable, one of the politicians pushing this punitive class-warfare scheme. A Clever British Campaign against ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4077232 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:08:27 +0100 4077232 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4003246&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLjELq4jbnBY%2F By Daniel J. MitchellWarren Buffett once said that it wasn’t right for his secretary to have a higher tax rate than he faced, leading me to point out that he didn’t understand tax policy. The 15 percent tax rates on dividends and capital gains to which he presumably was referring represents double taxation, and when added to the tax that already was paid on the income he invested (and the tax that one imagines will be imposed on that same income when he dies), it is quite obvious that his effective marginal tax rates is much higher than anything his secretary pays. Though he is right that his secretary’s tax rate is much too high.    Well, it turns out that Warren Buffett also doesn’t understand much about other areas of fiscal policy. Like a lot of ultra-... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4003246 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:03:40 +0100 4003246 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3993920&cid=t_120472_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2FQ7Fh24TxSIs%2F Fly like Comet Superstar on our new de Haviland G-ALYS! Most safety issues have now been addressed resulting in a 1.5 star rating from the Air Accidents Investigation Institute for the 8th year running. (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3993920 Wed, 22 Sep 2010 10:04:36 +0100 3993920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3987035&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYHZGYI1lNxs%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThanks to the Obamacare legislation, we already know there will be a new 3.9 percent payroll tax on all investment income earned by so-called rich taxpayers beginning in 2013. And the capital gains tax rate will jump to 20 percent next year if the President gets his way. This sounds bad (and it is), but the news is even worse than you think. Here’s a new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity that exposes the atrociously unfair practice of imposing this levy on inflationary gains. The mini-documentary uses a simple but powerful example of what happens to an investor who bought an asset 10 years ago for $5,000 and sold it this year for $6,000. The IRS will want 15 percent of the $1,000 gain (Obama wants the tax burden on capital gains to climb to 23.... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3987035 Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:08:20 +0100 3987035 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3899379&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMT_OKhxSwvs%2F In a very predictable editorial this morning, the New York Times pontificated in favor of higher taxes. Compared to Paul Krugman’s rant earlier in the week, which featured the laughable assertion that letting people keep more of the money they earn is akin to sending them a check from the government, the piece seemed rational. But that is damning with faint praise. There are several points in the editorial that deserve some unfriendly commentary. First, let’s give the editors credit for being somewhat honest about their bad intentions. Unlike other statists, they openly admit that they want higher taxes on the middle class, stating that “more Americans — and not just the rich — are going to have to pay more taxes.” This is a noteworthy admission, though it does... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3899379 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:50:02 +0100 3899379 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3823123&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F08%2F04%2Felizabeth-warren-shell-take-a-bite-out-of-slime%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on Politics Daily. Elizabeth Warren: She’ll Take a Bite Out of Slime. Filed under: Politics Daily Tagged: consumer, elizabeth warren, finance reform, financial, middle class, protection, watchdog (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3823123 Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:11:29 +0100 3823123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3790692&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fb4DM7DLQdWY%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of this year, which means a big tax increase in 2011. Tax rates for all brackets will increase, the double tax on dividends will skyrocket from 15 percent to 39.6 percent, the child credit will shrink, the death tax will be reinstated (at 55 percent!), the marriage penalty will get worse, and the capital gains tax rate will jump to 20 percent. All of these provisions will be unwelcome news for taxpayers, but it’s important to look at direct and indirect costs. A smaller paycheck is an example of direct costs, but in some cases the indirect costs — such as slower economic growth — are even more important. This is why higher tax rates on entrepreneurs and investors are so misguided. For every... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3790692 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:48:04 +0100 3790692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3772421&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F07%2F20%2Fdemocrats-to-middle-class-yes-we-can-ignore-you%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on Politics Daily. Democrats to Middle Class: Yes, We Can . . . Ignore You. Filed under: Politics Daily Tagged: comics, congress, democrat, economy, foreclosure, middle class, political cartoon, recession, unemployment (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3772421 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:16:37 +0100 3772421 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3757922&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F07%2F15%2Fmel-gibson-bipolar-disorder-and-alcohol%2F As Mel Gibson’s voicemails to his ex-girlfriend continue to be leaked to the Internet this week, many media outlets are asking questions about Mel Gibson’s mental health. That’s no wonder — the voicemails are laced with profanity, racial epithets, and threats. In a 2008 documentary, Acting Class of 1977, he first talked about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But are the rants to his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva related to a possible mental health diagnosis? Alcohol? Or something else? It’s not easy to answer this question, because nobody except Mel Gibson, 54, and his doctors know. All we can do is speculate, based upon observations of his reactions, tone and behavior as recorded in the voicemails that are publicly available. So let’s take a loo... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3757922 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:30:22 +0100 3757922 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3753794&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_BHR3LouvLM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellAustralia got rid of its death tax in 1979. A couple of Aussie academics investigated whether the elimination of the tax had any impact on death rates. They found the ultimate example of supply-side economics, as reported in the abstract of their study. In 1979, Australia abolished federal inheritance taxes. Using daily deaths data, we show that approximately 50 deaths were shifted from the week before the abolition to the week after. This amounts to over half of those who would have been eligible to pay the tax. Although we cannot rule out the possibility that our results are driven by misreporting, our results imply that over the very short run, the death rate may be highly elastic with respect to the inheritance tax rate. It looks like this experiment is going to b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3753794 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:02:28 +0100 3753794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3753759&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F14%2Finvolving-users-in-commissioning-local-services%2F Title: Involving users in commissioning local services Skinny: Study by Age Concern London brought commissioners and diverse service users together to discuss how service users can be involved in shaping local services. The project reflected on what is actually happening and provided pointers to how user involvement in commissioning could work in practice. Publisher: Joseph Rowntree Foundation Size of Publication: 58p Published: 18/05/2010 Filed under: Community Services, Grey Literature, Practice Based Commissioning Tagged: Best Practice, Commisioning, Cost Effectiveness, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Service Users, Social Care, World Class Commissioning (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3753759 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:41:52 +0100 3753759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3687086&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIUyMrWIY1gA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellSmart statists understand that there are very strong Laffer Curve effects at the top of the income scale since investors and entrepreneurs have considerable ability to control the timing, level, and composition of their income. So if higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers don’t collect much revenue, why is the left so insistent on class-warfare taxation? The answer, I think, is that soak-the-rich taxes are a “loss-leader” that politicians impose in order to pave the way for higher taxes on the middle class. Indeed, I made this point in my video on class warfare taxation, and noted that are not enough rich people to finance big government. As such, politicians that want to tax the middle class hope to soften opposition among ordinary people by firs... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3687086 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:21:46 +0100 3687086 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3644764&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmusings-from-a-member-of-the-medical-class-of-2010%2F2010.06.09 As a medical student in his last year, I can attest that my classmates and I would like nothing less than a crystal ball. Always a daunting time in a future physician’s career path, the direction we point ourselves as we launch out of medical school this year seems as arbitrary as ever. As we examine the rolling seas of medicine and try to determine our individual paths, there seem to be more clouds than blue skies, and certainly more shadows than light. This may or may not be a feeling many prospective physicians feel, but for the class of 2010 it comes as a tough pill to swallow. In a profession at the heart of a national policy debate and with a storied history to examine, it’s extremely disconcerting to be faced with so many question marks. (more…) (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3644764 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:00:36 +0100 3644764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3640949&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F08%2Fachieving-world-class-productivity-in-the-nhs-200910-201314-the-mckinsey-report%2F Title: Achieving world class productivity in the NHS, 2009/10-2013/14: the McKinsey report Skinny: Advice from the consultancy McKinsey to the the Department of Health on how commissioners might achieve world class NHS productivity to inform the second year of the world class commissioning assurance system and future commissioner development. Publisher: DH Size of Publication: 124p. Published: 02/06/10 Filed under: Commissioning, Financial Management, Grey Literature, Management, NHS, Primary Care, Quality Tagged: Commissioning, Financial Management, Grey Literature, NHS, Productivity, World Class Commissioning (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3640949 Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:28:31 +0100 3640949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3610318&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEh7cpDw-RHA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellHillary Clinton recently opined that Brazil was a great role model for the idea of soaking the rich with higher tax rates. She didn’t really offer evidence for that specific assertion, but Politico reports that she did say that “Brazil has the highest tax-to-GDP rate in the Western Hemisphere and guess what — they’re growing like crazy.” I’m not sure if “growing like crazy” is an accurate description, particularly since poor nations normally have decent growth rates because they start from such a low baseline. But let’s excuse that bit of rhetorical excess and focus on the really flawed portion of her remarks. Contrary to her direct quote, Brazil does not have the “highest tax-to-GDP rate in the Western Hemispher... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3610318 Sat, 29 May 2010 01:26:07 +0100 3610318 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3567889&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEL030zabcUQ%2F By David BoazThe sight of middle-class Americans rallying to protest overtaxing, overspending, Wall Street bailouts, and government-directed health care scares the bejeezus out of a lot of people. The elite media are full of stories declaring the Tea Partiers to be racists, John Birchers, Glenn Beck zombies, and God knows what. So it’s a relief to read a sensible discussion (subscription required) by John Judis, the decidedly leftist but serious journalist-historian at the New Republic. Once the managing editor the journal Socialist Revolution, Judis went on to write a biography of William F. Buckley Jr. and other books, so he knows something about ideological movements in the United States. Judis isn’t happy about the Tea Party movement, but he warns liberals not to dismiss ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3567889 Sat, 15 May 2010 19:38:52 +0100 3567889 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3526727&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQZPXOLxWLuU%2F By Daniel J. MitchellEvery economic theory — even socialism and Marxism — agrees that saving and investment (a.k.a., capital formation) are a key to long-run growth and higher living standards. Yet the tax code penalizes with double taxation those who are willing to forgo current consumption to finance future prosperity. This new video, narrated by yours truly, explains why the capital gains tax should be abolished. Unfortunately, Obama wants to go in the wrong direction. He wants to boost the official capital gains tax rate from 15 percent to 20 percent – and that is after imposing a back-door 3.8 percentage point increase in the tax rate as part of his government-run healthcare scheme. The video concludes with six reasons why the tax should be abolished, including its... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3526727 Mon, 03 May 2010 12:44:18 +0100 3526727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3472007&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F04%2F15%2Felizabeth-warren-bank-watchdog-who-belongs-on-supreme-court%2F My new post on Politics Daily / Woman Up. Elizabeth Warren: Bank Watchdog Who Belongs on Supreme Court. Elizabeth Warren On Monday CNN reported that Elizabeth Warren, Harvard law professor and chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), made the short list of nominees to replace Justice John Paul Stevens. What a difference a year makes. I called it here on Politics Daily last May, but back then I was dreaming more than predicting. On Tuesday night Warren appeared on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” to address runaway foreclosures and the indifferent response of the very banks that taxpayers just bailed out to the tune of $700 billion. Warren pointed out that TARP was supposed to repair the economy at large, not just banks. It... Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3472007 Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:30:20 +0100 3472007 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3448844&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbFVtG7fuqj4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellA Washington Post columnist reports on a group of limousine liberals who are lobbying to pay more taxes. Of course, there’s no law that prevents them from writing big checks to the government and voluntarily paying more, so what they’re really lobbying for is higher taxes on the vast majority of investors and entrepreneurs who don’t want more of their income confiscated by the clowns in Washington and squandered on corrupt and inefficient programs: A group of liberals got together Tuesday and proved that they, too, can have a tax rebellion. But theirs is a little bit different: They want to pay more taxes. “I’m in favor of higher taxes on people like me,” declared Eric Schoenberg, who is sitting on an investment banking fortune. He c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3448844 Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:01:20 +0100 3448844 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3390714&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F22%2Fhealth-service-journal-2010-18th-march%2F Fade Fade: World class commissioning scores to top charts Fade Skinny: The Department of Health is expecting the best primary care trusts to receive the highest score available under world class commissioning this year for the first time. (Print subscription held at Fade Library) Filed under: Current Awareness, Journals Tagged: Current Awareness, Journals, Primary Care Trusts, World Class Commissioning (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3390714 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:32:30 +0100 3390714 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3378457&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpvbkCO_jQVY%2F By Michael F. CannonDavid Goldhill has done it again. You may recall his article, “How American Health Care Killed My Father,” from the September 2009 issue of The Atlantic. Now, at HuffingtonPost, he comments on the health care legislation that may soon face a final vote (of some sort) in the House: [C]ontinuing our Party’s almost unquestioned conflation of health insurance with health care, the central feature of the proposed “reform” is further extension of our flawed insurance-based system…[D]espite the Administration’s recent heated rhetoric, most of the entrenched health industry interests are quietly or openly in favor of this bill. Should the bill become law, I suspect we will look back at it as an industry bailout… How…can Dem... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3378457 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:05:40 +0100 3378457 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3342638&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDgss7Ji69TQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPresident Obama is proposing a series of major tax increases. His budget envisions higher tax rates on personal income, increased double taxation of dividends and capital gains, and a big increase in the death tax. And his health care plan includes significant tax hikes, including perhaps the imposition of the Medicare payroll tax on capital income — thus exacerbating the tax code’s bias against saving and investment. It is unclear why the White House is pursuing these punitive policies. The President said during the 2008 campaign that he favored soak-the-rich taxes even if they did not raise revenue, but his budget predicts the proposals will raise lots of money. Because of the Laffer Curve, it is highly unlikely that all of this additional revenue will ma... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3342638 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:34:14 +0100 3342638 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3279960&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbOOWjQtMbTI%2F By Daniel J. MitchellBarack Obama wants higher tax rates on the so-called rich, including steeper levies on income, capital gains, dividends, and even death. Along with other politicians in Washington, he acts as if successful taxpayers are like sheep meekly awaiting slaughter. I’ve explained in this video why class-warfare tax policies are misguided, and a new study from Boston College provides additional evidence about the consequences of hate-and-envy tax policy. The research reveals that high tax rates in New Jersey have helped cause wealthy people to leave the state, leading to a net wealth reduction of $70 billion between 2004 and 2008. Wealth and income are different, of course, so it is worth pointing out that another study from 2007 estimated that the state lost $8 billion o... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3279960 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:38:36 +0100 3279960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3267185&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=34844&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheicarusproject.net%2Fevents%2Fsocial-forum-icarus Icaristas from near and far will be gathering at the US Social Forum in Detroit this summer, June 22-26. Join in the planning  discussion on the forums!read more (Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness) The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3267185 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:13:44 +0100 3267185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3163989&cid=t_120472_134_f&fid=34841&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diabetesmine.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fa-funny-thing-happened-as-i-fell-off-my-spin-bike.html OK, I didn’t exactly fall, but it’s the closest I’ve come since I started taking spin classes a little over a year ago… On Dec. 31, hubby and I decided to attend the “New Year’s Special” combo class — 60 minutes of body conditioning followed by a 90-minute marathon spin session — run by our favorite [...] (Source: Diabetes Mine) Diabetes Mine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3163989 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:00:47 +0100 3163989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3156443&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPsSROUEajeA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellChris Edwards and I wrote a nice book on this topic, but maybe this video gets the point across without having to turn a page. Here’s another video, hopefully more substantive, on the issue of tax competition. And here’s one on the perils of class warfare. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3156443 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:09:30 +0100 3156443 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3149034&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtVv87lxdqr0%2F By Daniel GriswoldThree items in the news this week remind us why we should be glad we live in a more global economy. While American consumers remain cautious, American companies and workers are finding increasing opportunities in markets abroad: Sales of General Motors vehicles continue to slump in the United States, but they are surging in China. The company announced this week that sales in China of GM-branded cars and trucks were up 67 percent in 2009, to 1.8 million vehicles. If current trends continue, within a year or two GM will be selling more vehicles in China than in the United States. James Cameron’s 3-D movie spectacular “Avatar” just surpassed $1 billion in global box-office sales. Two-thirds of its revenue has come from abroad, with France, Germany, and Russia the lea... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3149034 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:02:52 +0100 3149034 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3100734&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F18%2Fworld-class-commissioning-december-2009-update%2F Title: World class commissioning – December 2009 update Skinny: Dear colleague letter detailing the latest information on the WCC assurance framework, practice based commissioning and integrated care pilots, PCT Spend and Outcomes Factsheets and Tool (SPOT), Whats new on the WCC Website and the Belfield Blog. Publisher: DH Size of Publication: 4p. Published: 16/12/2009 Posted in Commissioning, Grey Literature, NHS, Primary Care Tagged: Assurance Framework, Commissioning, Good Practice, Grey Literature, Integrated Care, Practice Based Commissioning, Quality, World Class Commissioning (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3100734 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:53:01 +0100 3100734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4060665&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34859&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.davemsw.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F12%2Fpoll_reveals_depth_and_trauma_of_joblessness.php Very sad and difficult times for people in this economy. Those who are still working are waiting for the next lay-off notice. Small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Worse yet the unemployed are at their wits end. Virtually everyone I see in my practice these days are seeking treatment directly or indirectly because of the economy. Another hidden part of the drama is that the unemployment rate no longer includes those whose unemployment insurance has lapsed and they no longer register at the unemployment office as looking for work. Some reports say another 400,000 have stopped looking for work. 15.7 million Americans are out of work. The number is expected to rise until mid-2010 to 11 percent or about another 1.5 million. Image via WikipediaI include an excerpt from an articl... Ψ Dare To Dream... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4060665 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:37:36 +0100 4060665 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3039976&cid=t_120472_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2Fc0SiG2Oi6gU%2Flearning-to-master-the-art-of-french-cooking.php I've really been wanting to take some French cooking lessons.  I've been looking all over the Cleveland area and have found nothing.  I want a small class with a teacher who really knows French food.  What I've found is one day classes at the Viking store, which sound like fun.  The problem is that I don't think that I'll really be able to dive into the class and learn what I want to in one night.The best solution that I've found is to self teach.  Who better to learn from than Julia Child herself?  I ordered volumes 1 and 2 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and have dedicated the next couple weeks to immersing myself in her books.  Want to learn along with me?  Order her books from Amazon.com and let's learn together!I am still on the lookout f... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3039976 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0100 3039976 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3023381&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2009%2F11%2F23%2Flou-dobbs-the-haters-are-wrong%2F My new post on Politics Daily / Woman Up: Lou Dobbs has quit his news anchor job at CNN, his network home for three decades. Currently he’s considering all kinds of offers, including opportunities in politics. Dobbs has a reputation as an anti-immigration racist and a right-wing nut. His detractors lump him in with Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck. And, of course, Hitler. I confess – for years I watched the now-defunct “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on CNN. Whenever I let that detail slip, friends respond with shock or horror. Or both. But that’s because they assume I watched Dobbs for his politics. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lou is the grandfather I never knew. If you factor in his use of language – words like balderdash and phrases like &#8... Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3023381 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:51:10 +0100 3023381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3015272&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1Jo668QVLVs%2F After several posts about crazy decisions by the UK government, mostly involving extreme political correctness, it’s time to get back to basics and look at tax policy. A financial services consulting firm in London has just released a survey with the stunning finding that one-fifth of entrepreneurs are thinking of escaping the country because of punitive taxes — particularly the new top tax rate of 50 percent. Here’s what Tax-news.com reported: The poll of more than 300 entrepreneurs by business advisors Tenon also found that many more may follow in an attempt to escape the 50% rate of income tax, due to be introduced from next April on annual incomes above GBP150,000, with nearly half of the respondents (48%) still deciding what action to take. …Tenon points out that... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3015272 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:49:53 +0100 3015272 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3008349&cid=t_120472_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FWs1lBJ_-MqE%2Fback-to-school.php Cooking is one of my favorite passions.  I really enjoy putting ingredients together to get something wonderful.  Well, wonderful most of the time.  I'm still learning a lot!  Lately I've been thinking a lot about taking a cooking class or two.  Not culinary school.  I don't have the time or energy to put into something like that.  I'd love to, but not at this point in my life.  What I'm looking at is something very casual.  I would love so much to go to Italy or France and take a week long class.  Stay in a villa, drink wine and cook- what better way to live life?For the time being, I'm on the lookout for somewhere local.  Unfortunately, I'm not finding too much.  All of the classes are offered through Sur la Table, Viking, and t... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3008349 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0100 3008349 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2984773&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcM9wwSbomHM%2F In his CNN swan song last night, Lou Dobbs told his loyal if shrinking audience that important national issues are now defined in the public arena by partisanship and ideology rather than by rigorous empirical thought and forthright analysis and discussion. I will be working diligently to change that as best I can. I would argue that his very act of resigning from his prime-time perch is probably the best contribution he’s made yet to advancing “rigorous empirical thought.” Since he launched his program “Lou Dobbs Tonight” in 2003, the CNN anchor has been engaged in one long rant against immigration, free trade, and other populist bugaboos. His approach was anything but rigorous and empirical. In a review of his 2004 book, Exporting America, I critiqued his flabby reasoning and q... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2984773 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:14:45 +0100 2984773 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2974169&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2009%2F11%2F09%2Fhealth-care-reform-youll-learn-to-love-it%2F My new post on Politics Daily / Woman Up: I know you conservatives are upset about the health care reform bill clearing the House, but let me spin it another way for you. Gone are the days when you could pay the doctor with chickens and rutabagas, and those days are not coming back unless we’re in a nuclear winter (in which case our current problems will seem small). Who among you can say you haven’t looked at Medicare recipients and wished you too were 65 years old? Probably the first time in history that an adult longed for old age. Likewise, Medicaid for the poor may have looked like a pretty good deal if you earned too much to qualify but not enough to buy insurance on your own. A generation ago, Medicare and Medicaid were sufficient because most people had group health ins... Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2974169 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:47:53 +0100 2974169 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2934660&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEXljzyLCQKo%2F At today’s Politico Arena the editors ask: Reid’s Option: Does it help or hurt the chances for healthcare passage by Christmas? My response: Like every other part of ObamaCare, the “opt-out” proposal for the “public option” is a mystery — and almost certainly will continue to be even after the likely 1,500-page bill emerges, if ever it does. Will residents in states that opt-out be able to opt-out of the taxes needed to support the public option? (Please don’t say the public option will be self-supporting: we’re grown-ups.) Healthy taxpayers in North Dakota, after all, have no incentive to subsidize unhealthy New Yorkers. But if states can opt out of the tax part, then we’ll have “adverse selection” at the state level,... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2934660 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:56:08 +0100 2934660 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3164088&cid=t_120472_167_f&fid=37833&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnutrition.edublogs.org%2F2009%2F10%2F24%2Funderstanding-the-class-of-2013%2F For professors and instructors who grew up in the era prior to the Internet and Digital Technology, the Digital Immigrants often have difficulty understanding the Digital natives, our students who have always had access to computers, Internet, mobile phones, iPods and DVD’s. MSNBC takes a look at some of what is considered a normal part of their lives for the new class of college freshmen. These findings are based on the Beloit College’s Mindset list,  a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college. You can read the full list for the Class of 2013 at the Beloit College’s website. The list is the creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Emeritus Public Affairs Director Ron Nief. They have been publish... Nutrition and Wellness Biology 50 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3164088 Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:05:08 +0100 3164088 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2943946&cid=t_120472_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FL4Vkd6TGdG4%2F Here you have the October edition of our monthly newsletter covering cognitive health and brain fitness topics. Please remember that you can subscribe to receive this Newsletter by email, using the box at the top of this page. We recently run an online survey among subscribers of our monthly eNewsletter, and over 500 people said we have helped them make better personal or professional decisions on how to maintain and improve brain fitness. Most gave very illuminating examples, which we are reading and enjoying as we speak. Respondents also had many good questions to ask, so I have selected 15 common ones, paraphrased/ synthesized them below, and answered them by linking to our most relevant posts and resources. I hope you enjoy the FAQ session. Q: I teach a brain fitness class at my librar... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2943946 Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:32:09 +0100 2943946 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2904997&cid=t_120472_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FL4Vkd6TGdG4%2F We recently run an online survey among subscribers of our monthly eNewsletter, and over 500 people said we have helped them make better personal or professional decisions on how to maintain and improve brain fitness. Most gave very illuminating examples, which we are reading and enjoying as we speak. Respondents also had many good questions to ask, so I have selected 15 common ones, paraphrased/ synthesized them below, and answered them by linking to our most relevant posts and resources. I hope you enjoy the FAQ session. Q: I teach a brain fitness class at my library/ senior center/ school, using much of your info. Can you share some of your presentations? A: Yes, we have just decided to share, using a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License, the full presentation of my recen... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2904997 Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:32:09 +0100 2904997 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2881182&cid=t_120472_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2F10%2Fwhat-makes-a-good-emt%2F I get a bunch of E-mails from people just starting their EMT education who want advice on how to excel in their programs. “How should I prepare? What books do you recommend?” The questions vary but their is always the familiar flavor of enthusiasm and the same basic question, “How do I do this well?” Success in this field is fairly predictable. Use the right recipe and you’ll get there. I think the hierarchy of EMS success looks like this:            1.) Attitude 2.) Motivation 3.) Tolerance for repetition 4.) Goal orientation 5.) Strategy and tactics 6.) Performance              Attitude is at the top of the list for a reason. You need to start with an outward focused desire to serve others or you’ll always be fighting against... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2881182 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:29:33 +0100 2881182 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2820205&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiGD2fKS-X2A%2F For a fair and authoritative (and did I mention favorable?) assessment of my new Cato book, Mad about Trade: Why Main Street America Should Embrace Globalization, you can read William H. Peterson’s review in today’s Washington Times. Dr. Peterson is an adjunct scholar with the Heritage Foundation and the Ludwig von Mises Institute who holds a Ph.D. in economics from New York City University. In his review he writes: Daniel Griswold’s tour de force explores, reasons and documents how import competition benefits the American consumer, seeing him move ahead toward greater peace incentives, lower real prices, more choices, better quality. Mr. Griswold also tracks how the big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Best Buy deliver the world’s goods mostly by sea via mill... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2820205 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:51:30 +0100 2820205 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2800302&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F16%2Fworld-class-commissioning-assurance-%25e2%2580%2593-year-2%2F Title: World class commissioning assurance – Year 2 The Skinny: A guide for PCTs and SHAs that explains World Class Commissioning assurance in detail.  It details on the assurance process and focus’ on Outcomes Competencies Governance Potential for improvement Publisher: DH Size of Publication: 111p Published: 16/09/2009 Posted in Commissioning, Grey Literature, NHS, Primary Care, Quality Tagged: Assurance, Commissioning, Grey Literature, Primary Care, Quality, World Class Commissioning (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2800302 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:00:14 +0100 2800302 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2800375&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwXo02MyF5Uo%2F In response to yesterday’s post making the case against the Google Book Search Deal, I had spirited conversation with Google policy analyst Derek Slater, who helped me understand Google’s perspective on the case and some of the issues I discussed. He raised a reasonable objection to my claim that “the settlement would give Google carte blanche to use these orphan works without making a serious effort to contact their owners.” He points out that the settlement stipulates that the Book Rights Registry will make an effort to locate orphan works holders and hold funds in escrow for five years to be paid to any orphan work holders who surface. Describing this as “carte blanche” was probably too strong. I think my basic point—that Google won’t be requi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2800375 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:24:27 +0100 2800375 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2793136&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwDbkAurfUmk%2F Five years ago, Google began scanning millions of books for inclusion in what eventually became Google Book Search. Google carefully designed the service to stay within the boundaries of copyright’s fair use provisions, at least as Google interpreted them. Still, some authors and publishers objected, and in 2005 they filed a lawsuit accusing Google of copyright infringement. The lawsuit dragged on for more than three years. Finally, in 2008, the parties announced a settlement of the lawsuit. Its text runs for 140 pages, not counting a secret termination clause available only to Google and its adversaries. The deadline for comments on the settlement was earlier this month, and on October 7 a federal judge must decide whether to approve or reject the settlement. I was (and still am) fi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2793136 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:07:12 +0100 2793136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2719951&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=34844&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheicarusproject.net%2Fraceclass%2Ficarusprojectandusnuspcollaborateonhumanrightsalltour In June and July, Leah Harris and Daniel Hazen of the U.S. Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry organized a "Human Rights for ALL" tour,  co-sponsored by many organizations include The Icarus Project, MindFreedom, CAFETY, and the Freedom Center. The tour was designed to raise awareness about human rights and particularly the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Read Leah's report here... read more (Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness) The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2719951 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:08:13 +0100 2719951 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2699657&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F08%2F13%2Flocking-up-kids-with-mental-illness%2F A few weeks ago, we wrote about the opening of a mental health court in Philadelphia to help deal with a problem that’s overwhelming the U.S. justice system — poor mental health care in prisons, affecting up to 30 percent of those incarcerated. Some of the problems our prisons face can be traced back to a pretty straightforward issue — our prisons are overcrowded. For instance, the prisons have been so overcrowded in California, the California prison system has been under a federal court’s oversight for years. And that court has become so frustrated by California’s lack of interest in the humane treatment of their prisoners, they recently ordered the number of prisoners cut by 27 percent within two years. The case that resulted in the court order began as the ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2699657 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:05:14 +0100 2699657 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2630050&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FncC9gk5xDgw%2F President Obama will hold a press conference tonight to answer questions about his health care reform proposal. This is what I would ask him: Mr. President, during your campaign, you said, “I can make a firm pledge…Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase.”  You also said that “no one will pay higher tax rates than they paid in the 1990s.” Your National Economic Council chairman, Larry Summers, has written that employer mandates “are like public programs financed by benefit taxes.”  Under the House health reform bill, an uninsured worker earning $50,000 per year, with no offer of coverage from her employer, would face a 15.3-percent federal payroll tax, a 25-percent federal marginal income tax rate, an 8-percent reduction i... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2630050 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:41:12 +0100 2630050 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2605915&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F07%2F16%2Fsigns-for-improvement-commissioning-interventions-to-reduce-alcohol-related-harm%2F Title: Signs for Improvement: Commissioning interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm The Skinny: Guidance to direct commissioners in areas where tackling alcohol harm is an identified priority, to the resources and guidance, which will assist them in commissioning interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm in their local community. It offers ways to improve commissioning, looking at each World Class Commissioning competency and all stages in the commissioning cycle. Publisher: DH Published: 15/07/2009 Size of Publication: 92p Posted in Alcohol, Commissioning, Grey Literature, NHS, Primary Care, Quality Tagged: Alcohol, Commissioning, Grey Literature, World Class Commissioning (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2605915 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:05:14 +0100 2605915 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2605946&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcElIjZRcwC0%2F Appearing on Fox News on Monday, Cato’s Daniel J. Mitchell explained why taxing the rich to pay for big government programs may make for a good sound bite on the campaign trail, but when there aren’t enough wealthy people to tax, the middle class ends up footing the bill. “When politicians are aiming at the rich, it’s the middle class that winds up getting hit in the crossfire,” Mitchell said. “They use ‘tax the rich’ as the rhetoric, but they always go after the ordinary people to get more money to fund their big government schemes.” Watch the whole thing: (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2605946 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:09:55 +0100 2605946 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2510274&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXRf-8rG1MnY%2F The class-warfare crowd in Washington wants bigger government and higher tax rates, so it’s a bit shocking to see that a group of Northeastern Democrats are slashing tax rates. Yet that is exactly what Maine’s politicians are doing. The Governor even makes the common-sense observation (that so far has escaped President Obama’s attention) that there won’t be any jobs without investors and entrepreneurs. The Wall Street Journal approves: This month the Democratic legislature and Governor John Baldacci broke with Obamanomics and enacted a sweeping tax reform that is almost, but not quite, a flat tax. The new law junks the state’s graduated income tax structure with a top rate of 8.5% and replaces it with a simple 6.5% flat rate tax on almost everyone. Those with ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2510274 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:33:19 +0100 2510274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2510290&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F17v3--_vIJo%2F Another day, another story on financial troubles at the federal government’s mail monopolist.  We don’t expect the government to make our blue jeans, transport fruits and veggies from the farm to the market, build computers and IPods, or manage the manufacturing of automobiles, so why must it continue to deliver first-class mail?  The quality of the USPS’s “services” has been a punchline in my family since I learned to walk.  But with technology rendering it’s clunky business model increasingly moot, Government Mail’s bottom line is looking uglier and uglier. It would cost me 44 cents to mail a letter to California, and it would cost me the same amount to mail that letter to the next town over.  What sense does that make? As today’s edito... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2510290 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:06:25 +0100 2510290 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2512367&cid=t_120472_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F06%2Fclass-and-opposition-to-teenage-sex.php The GSS asks people about the morality of premarital sex between post-pubescent minors (TEENSEX):What if [a male and female] are in their early teens, say 14 to 16 years old? In that case, do you think sex relations before marriage are always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at all?Most people say "always wrong," so I'll just look at those responses; the other responses have little room to vary since all must add up to 100%. How does opposition vary across demographic groups? [1] As for social class, the elites say they're more ethical than the rabble, but on the other hand, they're big supporters of "sex is natural and therefore can't be harmful." So which is it?Let's see what the data say:Clearly, those with more prestigious jobs (SEI) are less opposed. Perh... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2512367 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:51:00 +0100 2512367 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511159&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F06%2F20%2Fthankful-for-my-dad%2F As we get older, we gain perspective, if we open ourselves up to understanding and knowledge. It doesn’t always come readily or naturally. Of course, one of the primary things you gain perspective about as you age is, well, aging. You grow older and people you know start dying. Friends. Family. Colleagues. Death is the ultimate giver of perspective. You begin to appreciate the richness of the lives that have been voluntarily shared with you, and stop taking them for granted. And you start to understand that despite all of the things our parents might have done wrong by us, they got a lot of things right too. I can’t complain about my childhood, as I grew up in a decidedly middle-class suburb in a university town, living a decidedly middle-class life. While I may have not gotte... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511159 Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:11:11 +0100 2511159 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477496&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F06%2F15%2Fcommissioning-in-a-cold-climate%2F Title: Commissioning in a cold climate The Skinny:This discussion paper outlines the challenges facing commissioners over the next few years and identifies actions that PCTs might take to prepare their health economies for what is to come. Key points: PCTs should plan for a real-terms reduction of at least 2.5% to 3% in the resources available to them from 2011. Different PCTs will need different strategies for coping with the financial and health effects of the economic downturn. More could be done to improve the productivity and efficiency of services in all healthcare sectors, but this will not be sufficient. To manage with fewer resources is capacity and costs will have to be removed from the system. Effective clinical leadership and public engagement will be critical to ... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477496 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:25:35 +0100 2477496 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473189&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOVHZMzbFKSM%2F Will Obama Raise Middle-Class Taxes to Fund Health Care? President Obama is promoting an expansion in federal health care spending, and Democratic leaders are scrambling to find ways to pay for it. The plan is expected to cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade, but the administration has promised that health care legislation won’t add to already huge federal budget deficits. In a new paper, Cato scholars Michael D. Tanner and Chris Edwards argue that expanding government health care will likely involve huge tax increases on the middle class. Tanner warns of “Obamacare” to come, saying that Obama’s new health care plan will give “government control over one-sixth of the U.S. economy, and over some of the most important, personal, and private decisions in Americans&#8217... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473189 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:17:08 +0100 2473189 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2424025&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHixRbfIt_qA%2F I’ve been reading the debate between our own Andrew Coulson and Rev. Joseph Darby with interest, not least because it is an extreme rarity to find an opponent of school choice with the courage and good faith to engage in such a public debate on the topic. That said, something Rev. Darby wrote in his response caught my attention because of its parallels with the modern fight over school choice: The first schools established for African-Americans following the Civil War were private schools. They sometimes, however, exclusively accepted the children of the black upper and middle economic classes while excluding the children of former slaves who struggled economically to survive. Public schools for African-Americans were decidedly and intentionally inferior, and the irony is that the oppone... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2424025 Tue, 19 May 2009 20:13:57 +0100 2424025 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2424037&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcFpwPOHV67s%2F Democrats in Congress are reportedly considering taxing employer-provided health insurance benefits as a way to pay for their health care reform plan.  And, even though he brutally attacked John McCain for something similar (see below) during the campaign, President Obama may now go along with the idea. Much of the media coverage around the idea has equated this tax hike with the McCain plan and other proposals by advocates of market-based health reform over the years that would shift the tax break from employer-provided insurance to individual insurance.  However, there is an important distinction.  The market-based proposals would have taxed employer-provided health benefits (treating them as taxable compensation), but would have provided workers with a deduction or credit for purchas... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2424037 Tue, 19 May 2009 14:35:51 +0100 2424037 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2415639&cid=t_120472_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F_lK0-s4kndM%2F People outside the United Kingdom may not be familiar with Chris Woodhead, but he was the Chief Inspector of Schools in the UK who reported in 195 that some 15,000 UK teachers were incompetent and should be replaced. Five years after, Woodhead resigned from his position after he had several altercations with the then Secretary of Education. Almost ten years later, Woodhead is stirring up new controversies in The Guardian interview and in his book “The Desolations of Learning”. Do genes dictate success in school? Woodland says that children have differing abilities that the current British school system do not take into account when putting children together in classes. So what happens? Smarter children do worse after 4-5 years because these children succumb to the peer pressure to be ... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2415639 Sat, 16 May 2009 12:51:00 +0100 2415639 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405759&cid=t_120472_125_f&fid=34820&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dentalblogs.com%2Farchives%2Fadministrator%2Fdb-column-%25e2%2580%2593-two-sides-of-the-management-coin-2%2F No-Shows and Failed Appointments Staff Viewpoint by Linda Miles - Doctor’s Viewpoint by Dr. Rhonda Savage STAFF VIEWPOINT (Linda Miles) The Dental team members in some practices have no idea that their compensation is very closely associated with effective use of the dental chair time during the workday. It is no mystery to me why some practices have 10 wasted chair hours per day (doctors and hygiene), while others have only 2 hours throughout the day, which, in most cases, is normal. In some practices, the staff feels so overwhelmed with busyness that they find themselves secretly hoping for a no-show or failed appointment, which is the ONLY way they can possibly catch up. Some team members remain neutral and are not stressed about it, but often think, “There is nothing I can do ab... dental blog for dentists about dentistry blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405759 Mon, 11 May 2009 13:18:33 +0100 2405759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405521&cid=t_120472_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FY--vKwEGa0c%2F Summer breaks are coming soon to many lucky people. For some, this means staying at home and relaxing, for others it means traveling to visit family and friends or to explore new places. Of course, when we travel, we want to stay healthy so we get vaccinations if we need and we be sure to take necessary medicaitons with us, but what about unforeseen problems, like deep vein thrombosis (DVT)? What’s that you say? DVTs are blood clots that form in deep veins in your body - most commonly in the legs, but they could happen anywhere a deep vein exists. The vein sits along the vein wall and, if big enough, it can slow or block blood flow. But worse, if it breaks off - it could travel to your lung and cause a pulmonary embolism , a clot in your lung, which could lead to death. What has this... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405521 Mon, 11 May 2009 08:34:26 +0100 2405521 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2365301&cid=t_120472_129_f&fid=36036&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Fkelly-building-a-crohns-disease-community%2Fexercising-with-crohns-disease%2F I had a really bad flare up of my Crohn’s a few years ago where my ankles swelled up so much that I couldn’t walk for almost a month.  Crohn’s disease effects more than just the intestines, it can also affect the skin, joints, mouth, and throat.  In some people it can also affect the eyes.  Since this flare up, I stopped doing high impact exercise for fear that my joints would swell back up.  They were very touchy for a long time.  Recently, I had my yearly bone scan performed and found out that my bones actually got worse even though I was taking the bone strengthening medicine Boniva and lots of Calcium supplements (with Vitamin D) .  I started taking this dance class before I had my bone scan but am happy that I started it because moving your body around in any way helps the... Life with Crohn's blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2365301 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:47:55 +0100 2365301 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2287239&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2F18%2Fcongress-aims-to-combat-%25e2%2580%2598nature-deficit-disorder%25e2%2580%2599%2F Midweek Mental Greening Despite my thoughts about how some technological advances can help boost your mental health, ideally I think it’s best for people to spend as much time outdoors as possible. New friend requests, message alerts, and the hum of a computer can’t hold a candle to fresh air, sunlight, and the smell of newly cut grass. Is this why, after it won in the House but failed to pass overall last year, the “No Child Left Inside Act” is getting ready to be reintroduced to the House and Senate? Perhaps. That, and the idea (or fact, depending on who you’re talking to) that America’s children are becoming increasingly detached from the outside (i.e. natural) world – they’re coming close to or already suffering from “Nature-Deficit Disorder” – according to a rec... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2287239 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:56:52 +0100 2287239 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2234067&cid=t_120472_129_f&fid=36036&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Fkelly-building-a-crohns-disease-community%2Fa-day-in-the-life-of-a-crohns-flare%2F Yesterday started out really bad.  When anyone would ask me how my day was, I would say “fine” but there was a lot hidden behind that word that I didn’t say.  Here is what “fine” meant for me yesterday: The night before last night I had the worst migraine headache so I went to bed early but woke up a lot during the night because of the pain.  The headache was still there when I woke yesterday morning and I felt very tired.  I am the one who takes our daughter to school in the mornings and she likes to get there early and she doesn’t like to be late.  Also, they get written up if they are late.  I had about ten minutes to finish getting ready (do my hair and get dressed) and to make my lunch, when I felt that all too familiar awful Crohn’s disease cra... Life with Crohn's blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2234067 Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:31:40 +0100 2234067 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2182399&cid=t_120472_125_f&fid=34820&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dentalblogs.com%2Farchives%2Fadministrator%2Fselect-defense%25e2%2584%25a2-orthodontic-products-improve-oral-hygiene%2F Class One Orthodontics has launched SeLECT Defense in Texas and will launch it nationally in April. The product coats orthodontia components to reduce plaque and improve oral hygiene overall. It also eliminates the potential white spots on teeth that are caused by orthodontic brackets. Adhesives, cements, and sealants may also be mixed with SeLECT Defense to deter deminieralization and decalcification. No alteration to the orthodontic process is required from a patient standpoint. Researchers at University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio studied the products to gauge effectiveness. Results showed complete prevention of white spots on tooth enamel where brackets reside. This is 60% greater effectiveness than chlorhexidine varnish. In addition, teeth showed reduced demineraliza... dental blog for dentists about dentistry blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2182399 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:30:03 +0100 2182399 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2144456&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F01%2F29%2Fprimary-care-and-community-services-improving-gp-services%2F is a guide to support primary care trusts in becoming world class commissioners of primary care and community services.  Also in the series Primary care and community services: improving dental access, quality and oral health focus’ on dental health and commissioning. Posted in Commissioning, Dental Health, Grey Literature, NHS, Primary Care, Quality   Tagged: Commissioning, Community Services, Dental Health, Grey Literature, NHS, Primary Care, Quality, World Class Commissioning    (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2144456 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:38:19 +0100 2144456 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2100844&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F01%2F13%2Ftransforming-community-services-and-world-class-commissioning-resource-pack-for-commissioners-of-community-services%2F sets out the principles of good practice when commissioning community services, showcases examples of existing good practice through case studies in 6 clinical areas and signposts commissioners to the most pertinent and relevant information. Posted in Commissioning, Grey Literature, Primary Care, Quality   Tagged: Commissioning, Good Practice, Grey Literature, Primary Care, World Class Commissioning    (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2100844 Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:43:51 +0100 2100844 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2056180&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F12%2F20%2Fcatch-a-fire%2F It’s not everyday reading something on the Internet can move me to tears, but I’ve given up hope on seeing something like this post (and commentary) at Whiskey Fire. The study is not yet published and I know it only begins to scratch the surface but for the first time since the tests were done on me I have hope, if not for myself I can imagine glad tidings for tomorrow’s little Dickens. When the neuropsychologist laid it out for me 10 years ago I was crying and he was almost crying, because he couldn’t answer my very pointed questions and account for the disparities in my mental examination. An evaluation spanning eight hours over two days, as comprehensive as it gets, followed by a 25 page report and two hour debriefing and still something missing hangs in the air... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2056180 Sun, 21 Dec 2008 02:09:52 +0100 2056180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1976391&cid=t_120472_133_f&fid=37107&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aspieweb.net%2Fbreaking-wendy-portillo-suspended%2F If you recall earlier this year kindergarten teacher Wendy Portillo had her class vote out a autistic child, and now justice has happened.   The St. Lucie County School Board voted Ms. Portillo out of class for one year - Irony huh? I have to wonder though, is a year a good enough punishment or should there [...] (Source: AspieWeb.net) AspieWeb.net blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1976391 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:13:21 +0100 1976391 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1974920&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F11%2F19%2Fthe-role-of-the-primary-care-trust-board-in-world-class-commissioning%2F forms part of the wider WCC board development programme. It provides an update on the role and purpose of the PCT board in the context of world class commissioning. Posted in Commissioning, Governance, Grey Literature, Primary Care   Tagged: Commissioning, Governance, Grey Literature, World Class Commissioning    (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1974920 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:06:07 +0100 1974920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1955152&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F11%2F13%2Fhealthy-weight-healthy-lives-commissioning-weight-management-services-for-children-and-young-people%2F , developed to support local areas in commissioning weight management services for children and young people. It reflects the move towards world class commissioning and joint commissioning of children’s services, and complements the existing suite of Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives publications. Posted in Commissioning, Grey Literature, Local Authorities, NHS, Obesity, Practice Based Commissioning, Primary Care, Social Marketing, Social Services   Tagged: Children, Commissioning, Grey Literature, Interagency Relations, Obesity, World Class Commissioning, Young People    (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1955152 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:46:41 +0100 1955152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1873144&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F10%2F13%2Fchange%2F VOLDEMORT! He’s returned. no one dare speak his name He must be using the Imperius Curse Gotta be. Finite Incantatem! ********* This kind of crap has become so blatant it’s creepy. WTF? Enlightened progressives can wear “Palin is a cunt” t-shirts to a Republican rally; but no one can criticize their empty suited,  motherfucking candidate?! (who should have been Hillary) Yes, [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1873144 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:34:28 +0100 1873144 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1859655&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F10%2F07%2Fjimmie-dale-healer%2F Welp, I went ahead and signed up to put in my time and am delighted to find the Obama campaign has impeccable taste. Tonight’s local debate party will be kicked off with music by the world’s most charismatic outlaw who’s sly compassion is as legendary as his high and lonesome zensoaked warble. Jimmie Dale Gilmore is a Saint. This is not hyperbole, but a well-known fact. I can’t find the words and believe me I’ve tried. Anyone familiar with my (cough cough) oeuvre might recall I spent my first year in Austin lost and determined to self-destruct in a flamboyant way but what you don’t know is it was Jimmie’s Wednesday night supper shows at Threadgills that kept me tethered to the planet. And I didn’t have to pretend I wasn’t hateful, alien... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1859655 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:32:57 +0100 1859655 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1859409&cid=t_120472_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F10%2F07%2Fhow-to-achieve-world-class-commissioning-competencies-practical-tips-for-nhs-commissioners%2F Each autumn, a commissioning assurance process will assess whether primary care trusts (PCTs) are achieving better health outcomes for the local population. Part of this process will be an assessment of how well PCTs are performing against each of the 11 competencies.  How to Achieve World Class Commissioning Competencies. Practical tips for NHS Commissioners may help PCTs achieve the 11 competencies. Posted in Commissioning, Grey Literature, Health Economics, NHS, Practice Based Commissioning, Primary Care, Quality   Tagged: Commissioning, Competency, Grey Literature, Health Economics, Practice Based Commissioning, Primary Care, Quality, World Class Commissioning    (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1859409 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:15:15 +0100 1859409 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1859630&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2F412899773%2F One thing that I have learned this past week, when I have been busy not posting to the blog, is that Boulder has to be the capital of sushi-making in the world. I think that we here have to have more sushi restaurants per capita than, say New York City. Our current favorite sushi restaurant is Sushi Zanmai. We have been there for dinner the past two nights. They make a lovely Kobe beef sushi, and I must have eaten them out of their stock of Kobe beef. We sit at the sushi counter so we can keep an eye out on our food while it’s being made. I also love this city because I’m believing this place is imbuing me with health. I look and feel healthier than I looked and felt before the cancer diagnosis. I figure that that’s a good thing no matter how you look at it. Tea is coming... white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1859630 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:32:25 +0100 1859630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1844832&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2F407444979%2F If this is Tuesday, then I must be in Boulder, right? Right. The land of Yoga. Last night, Buck and I went to what we thought was going to be a beginner yoga class. Well, it wasn’t a beginner’s class, but I did manage to last the whole way through it. Therefore, I am totally pleased with myself. Even if it means sitting here with aching muscles — it’s a good ache. Therefore, today’s lesson is: when making a reservation in a yoga class, make sure that your definition of “beginner” matches that of the person signing you up for it. Copyright © 2008 white pebble. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please co... white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1844832 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:54:36 +0100 1844832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1811688&cid=t_120472_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2008%2F09%2F21%2Fa-busy-day-for-life-and-death%2F Jeff McCallum is the author of Somebody’s Bright Balloon, a collection of poems about and for cancer patients, caregivers and health professionals. McCallum lives in Minneapolis, where he works as a commercial building contractor. In his free time he’s involved in theater, activism and writing as therapy. Ed. Note: Not to hijack my own post, but regarding writing as therapy, I just gotta add: About a year ago I was approached by the founder of a new arts organization about teaching writing. Basically a volunteer position, but that alone didn’t stop me. I told the woman I’d be interested in teaching a class in cancer poetry or cancer memoir. She turned me down. She said cancer is so “negative” and her organization was new and she wanted to start things ... Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1811688 Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:32:57 +0100 1811688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2879571&cid=t_120472_123_f&fid=39035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.liddlekidzblog.com%2F2008%2F09%2Ffree-infant-massage-classes-for.html Check out all of our FREE Infant Massage Classes and join one today! Share your nurturing touch with your little, have a great time and meet other parents!View the full listing here: http://www.liddlekidzblog.com/2008/02/free-infant-massage-classes-for.html (Source: Liddle Kidz Infant and Pediatric Massage Blog) Liddle Kidz Infant and Pediatric Massage Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2879571 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:11:00 +0100 2879571 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1812883&cid=t_120472_160_f&fid=36190&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skincareblog.org%2Fentry%2Faffluent-classes-more-vulnerable-to-skin-cancer%2F If you are wealthy, this piece is for you. A recent study has revealed that wealthier people are more than twice vulnerable to the deadliest form of skin cancer, than those financially lesser lucky. The study conducted by Queen’s University Belfast and Royal Victoria Hospital on 23,000 cancer patients in Northern Ireland revealed that those lucky in terms of finances are unlucky when it comes to health. Those who live in affluent areas are two- and-a-half times more likely to develop malignant melanoma compared to the less well offs. The study places middle classes in the greater risk category next to the higher classes. Rate of the risk of basal cell carcinoma, a more common but easily treatable type of skin cancer, caused by prolonged exposure to sunlight, was 41 per cent higher... Skin Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1812883 Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:28:04 +0100 1812883 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1782894&cid=t_120472_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F387789589%2F Last year, Merck thought it had this class-action lawsuit in the bag. But a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated the securities case, which was brought by investors who claimed the drugmaker failed to disclose info concerning the Vioxx painkiller (here is the decision). A federal district court judge dimissed the lawsuit after ruling the clock had run out on the statute of limitations. In a statement, Merck says it may pursue an appeal with the full court of appeals or the US Supreme Court. “Merck presented several alternative grounds for dismissing the lawsuit. In reaching his April 2007 decision to dismiss the suit, the district judge considered arguments regarding the timeliness of the suit, but did not address the alternative grounds for dismiss... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1782894 Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:13:55 +0100 1782894 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1770725&cid=t_120472_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F384696202%2F Insurers, labor unions and pension funds can proceed with a class-action suit that claims they were overcharged by the drugmaker, which allegedly withheld information and disseminated misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of the antipsychotic, according to a hefty, 295-page opinion by US District Court Judge Jack Weinstein (pictured at left). His decision comes two months after he urged Lilly to settle. Interestingly, Weinstein writes that there is “sufficient evidence of fraud under RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act through mail fraud, predicated on overpricing supported by excessive claims of utility as well as disavowal of secondary effects of the drug, primarily weight gain and diabetes.” At the same time, the federal judge, who is ba... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1770725 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:41:27 +0100 1770725 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1686621&cid=t_120472_129_f&fid=36036&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.healthtalk.com%2Flife-with-crohns%2Fkelly%2Faugust-check-in-how-is-your-crohns-today%2F I missed our July edition of “How is your Crohn’s Today?” The month of July just seemed to fly by so fast and now it is already August. I just don’t know where the time went. Before I know it, 2009 will be here and I will have to learn to write a new date on my checks (it took me months to write 2008 instead of 2007). So…how is your Crohn’s today? I hope well, or at least better than yesterday. As for me, I am doing better than last week. I think I have made it through the lowering of the prednisone and will stay at this level for another two weeks. Mostly because I have a class in Washington D.C. on the 18th and I don’t want to rock the boat until after that. I really don’t want to get up to go to the bathroom 100 times during the class (oka... Life with Crohn's blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1686621 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:56:16 +0100 1686621 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1596564&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F07%2F08%2Fbusy-busy-busy%2F Discussion Presenters from implementation sites (Rhode Island Department of Corrections and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital) will discuss their work in creating trauma sensitive, trauma-informed programs that are responsive to the needs of trauma survivors by addressing key factors: 1) the role of agency leadership; 2) the identification and organization of trauma champions within the agency; 3) the raising of awareness and understanding of trauma through universal screening and assessment for trauma prevalence and its effects; the development of approaches/pract- ices that minimize re-traumatization, enhance safety, and promote models for trauma-specific interventions; 4) the development of empowerment models that integrate the consumer/survivor voice in all aspects of planning and services; a... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1596564 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:33:49 +0100 1596564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1596565&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F07%2F08%2Ftomorrows-fish-and-chip-paper%2F You remember that lady who fell down and died in front of everybody in a New York hospital? What are you, living in the past, that was 8 whole days ago! But here’s a footnote lest you were to think something relevant was about to happen — that video didn’t hit the airwaves as the result of an investigation into the deplorable conditions of our nation’s yadda yadda, it was a fluke stumbled on while investigating some other unrelated everyday civil rights violation. See that puff of smoke going up, that would be the change in the air, an allowance that what happened in Kings County Psychiatric Hospital happens all the time in those places, in your neighborhood and mine, standard and unremarkable. Putting eyes on it is what’s remarkable, which leads to necessary ... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1596565 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:39:55 +0100 1596565 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1509356&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F06%2F11%2Fthe-situation-of-the-american-middle-class%2F Last month, NPR’s On Point (with host Tom Ashbrook) had a one-hour show titled “Falling Behind Our Parents.” Here’s the show’s description. * * * Nan Mooney is thirtysomething, well-educated, the child of baby boomers who herself grew up with all the accoutrements of what was very recently thought to be a regular middle-class American life. Nothing fancy, but the full basics: a nice little home with steady income, housing, health insurance, and a summer vacation somewhere. Now, Nan Mooney and millions of others of her generation have none of those. And she’s not sure she ever will. Her new book is “(Not) Keeping Up with Our Parents.” And she’s mad. This hour, On Point: Nan Mooney, and a generation, not keeping up. Peter Gosselin, na... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1509356 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:44:48 +0100 1509356 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1480735&cid=t_120472_97_f&fid=35050&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmaGazette%2F%7E3%2F301524013%2Fclass_action_against_pfizer_oked_in_canada.html A class-action suit against pharmaceutical Pfizer Inc. and Pfizer Canada Inc. has been approved by a Quebec Superior Court Justice. The suit is to be brought by women who have taken the contraceptive Depo-Provera.Depo-Provera, which received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration black box warning, is an injectable that protects against pregnancy for a period of three months and has also been used in treatment of breast and endometrial cancer and endometriosis.Pfizer issued a public notification in 2005 stating that two clinical trial results showed that the drug may cause users to experience a reduction in bone mineral density especially in menopausal women.Any Canadian women who took the drug and believes they have suffered bone density loss are eligible to join in the class action suit aga... PharmaGazette blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1480735 Fri, 30 May 2008 19:00:51 +0100 1480735 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1450463&cid=t_120472_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F18%2Fengines-of-inequality-class-race-and-family-structure-abstract%2F This article reviews the data on these trends, explores their significance, and assesses social scientists’ recent attempts to explain them. The article concludes that society-wide changes in economic conditions or social expectations cannot account for these patterns. Rather, for reasons that are poorly understood, cultural disparities have emerged by class and race in attitudes and behaviors surrounding family, sexuality, and reproduction. These disparities will likely fuel social and economic inequality and contribute to disparities in children’s life prospects for decades to come. (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1450463 Sun, 18 May 2008 15:00:49 +0100 1450463 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1277824&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fis-whiskey-middle-class-drink.html Just over a week to go to the Australian Grand Prix and the start of this year’s Formula One season. After all the spats of last year, Mclaren has been relegated to the far flung end of the pit lane, and one of the smallest garages. 22 year old Lewis Hamilton will be partnered by 23 year old Heikki Kovalainen. Is Heikki going to get equal treatment to Lewis? That is what Ron Dennis will say, just as he said that Lewis and Fernando Alonso received equal treatment last year and, for those with longer memories, just as he said that he treated David Coulthard equally to Mika Hakkinen. If you want to discuss that with David Coulthard, I would stand out of arms' reach. This year, the boys will be advertising Johnnie Walker whisky from those nice people at Diageo. Better than cigarettes, I sup... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1277824 Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0100 1277824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2879577&cid=t_120472_123_f&fid=39035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.liddlekidzblog.com%2F2008%2F02%2Ffree-infant-massage-classes-for.html For Parents/Caregivers and their Babies!Parents/caregivers with their babies, age 3 weeks to crawling, are invited to learn infant massage for free during our Infant Massage Teacher Certification courses.* Space is very limited *To Register – RSVP RequiredFind a class & date below – send an email to the email address for the classRSVP: Send an email with your name, infant’s name and age, days attending (you may attend one day or all days, all days is preferred) and phone number.SUPPLIES: You will need to bring a blanket & a pillow and your baby’s usual supplies.In this class only You will be touching your baby. Demonstrations will be done using dolls.Please allow a few extra minutes to find parking and arrive in the training space on time.East Rutherford, NJMarch 25 & 2... Liddle Kidz Infant and Pediatric Massage Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2879577 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:04:00 +0100 2879577 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1198052&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F02%2F03%2Frise-up-little-blogger%2F I remember last year, when the A-listers de-linked all the smaller blogs from their rolls, in what double-talking Atrios christened Blogroll Amnesty Day. The small blogs responded in true opposition by filling their own blogrolls with the links of those who had been kicked off the big blogs, in a classy demonstration of support [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1198052 Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:20:18 +0100 1198052 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1179714&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F01%2F26%2Fwelp-its-that-time-again%2F I just worked 17 hours, am revving up, seeing double, voter suppression is back on the agenda, fireworks under the oink dome all day. I’m going to spend the weekend researching the researchers, but will post a music video in the meantime to bless your eyes. Anyone who’s a political junkie would have loved this [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1179714 Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:24:20 +0100 1179714 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1162868&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F01%2F19%2Fhousing-first%2F Apologies to regular readers about the light posting, I spent the week running down opportunities for real life volunteer work and I have to learn about homelessness, so am back to the Internet for the goal-direction and learning tools. I remember when getting off the streets meant you can walk into a 24 hour drop in [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1162868 Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:22:04 +0100 1162868 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1126283&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F01%2F02%2Flink-love%2F I think I’ll start doing more of this sort of round up, beginning with a new blog, Eliminate the Stigma, “an open project for those passionate about mental health.” My first comment (in moderation) is a response to this wrong-headed post, which maintains that explanations of mental illness contribute to social stigma, so helpful [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1126283 Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:34:18 +0100 1126283 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1121296&cid=t_120472_134_f&fid=36049&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FDiabetesNotes%2F%7E3%2F207847098%2F I have shared in the past that one of my guilty pleasures in life is perusing the website Perez Hilton for all the important news in and around Hollywood, hahaha. I was joking on the important part… Well, one of my other very embarrassing, as my husband calls it, lil’ pleasures in life is my good ol’ People magazine! I love the dirt, the accusations and the occasional really good, informative story, which is what this would fall under. Some of you might have already seen the article and read through it but for those that didn’t, I’m going to share. The story is about a Chicago first grader Lilly Jaffe who has been diabetic since she was one month old and her trials, complications and use of an insulin pump. At this point in her very young and full life Lilly d... Diabetes Notes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1121296 Sat, 29 Dec 2007 03:12:22 +0100 1121296 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1091413&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F12%2F13%2Fone-of-these-psychiatrists-is-not-like-the-other%2F These two posts caught my eye today, different starting points but seem related somehow: Philip at Furious Seasons responds to a reader who asks if bipolar is a dangerous gift, and the breadth and scope of his response deserves a standing ovation. Not only does he describe the Icarus Project clearly and with enviable economy, he [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1091413 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:57:25 +0100 1091413 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1041575&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F11%2F21%2Fbugs-animals-and-literally-like-rats%2F Excerpted, via CBS4: A controversial practice regarding the treatment of the mentally ill in Florida’s maximum security prisons has some attorneys and mental health experts raising concerns over its use. “Here they are just gassing him. You can see they are just spraying him in the face,” said Miami attorney Leon Fresco. “I would describe it as [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1041575 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:27:59 +0100 1041575 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1034345&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F11%2F17%2Ftwo-uk-studies-claim-compulsory-community-treatment-doesnt-work%2F An editorial in the November 2007 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry highlights 2 recent studies from Australia - as well as a systematic review of existing research - which have found that compulsory community treatment for people with mental disorders is unlikely to reduce revolving door care. This finding illustrates how health policy remains [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1034345 Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:45:33 +0100 1034345 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1032912&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Fquestions-about-board-of-new-reagan.html On PharmaLot, Ed Silverman noted questions raised about the leadership of the new Reagan-Udall Foundation, which is supposed to help the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) streamline drug and device development. The foundation's financing through the pharmaceutical industry had already raised one obvious set of questions. New questions were raised by the just announced membership of the Foundation's board. Silverman focused on the presence of Dr Tadataka Yamada, billed as President, Global Health Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr Yamada, however, was previously a GlaxoSmithKline executive, and had been accused of trying to intimidate one of the early critics of Avandia (rosiglitazone). (See our post here.) I should also point out that another member of the board is Dr Wil... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1032912 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:30:00 +0100 1032912 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1032913&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Fpurdue-oxycontin-and-perils-of-our-new.html The Pharma Giles blog is best known for its satirical take on the pharmaceutical industry. So when its anonymous blogger chooses to drop the tongue in cheek approach and get serious, you know something is up.This week, the subject was whether the punishment of those responsible for the deceptive marketing of OxyContin fit the crime. We noted here that this case was unusual in that some of the corporate leaders involved actually had to face some negative consequences, in addition to the usual fines levied against the company. However, there is an argument that even paying millions of dollars in fines is not that much punishment for extremely well-paid health care corporate executives.ED Silverman, on PharmaLot, has chronicled the campaign by , an intrepid lady whose daughter died after taki... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1032913 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:55:00 +0100 1032913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1019422&cid=t_120472_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2F183235663%2F The maker of Vioxx has agreed to pay $4.85bn to settle legal claims that the controversial drug caused many users to suffer strokes and heart failure. Holy Potatoes is what I have to say. But I guess it could have been far worse when you really stop and think about it. In order to qualify for compensation you must prove that you suffered serious illness at the most 2 weeks after you purchased the drug. The above amount of money will be able to settle over 90% of Vioxx lawsuits with the exception of class action suits. Like I said, it could have been worse for Merck. via Science Daily Share This (Source: A Hearty Life) A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1019422 Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:36:39 +0100 1019422 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1002547&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F11%2F04%2Fmy-weblog-picks%2F Voting is open til the 8th and you can vote once a day, if so inclined. Best Blog: Post Secret (vote here). Funniest Blog: Sadly, No! (vote here). Best Liberal Blog: Hullabaloo. (vote here). Best Medical/Health Blog: Respectful Insolence (vote here). Best LGBT Blog: Pams House Blend (vote here). Best Music Blog: I guess I’m Floating (vote here). Best Literature: McSweeneys [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1002547 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:33:10 +0100 1002547 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=965274&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F10%2F20%2Fsofter-times-will-be-had-by-all%2F I went to 2 policy meetings today, which usually leads to the cussing, not-safe-for-work diatribe you’ve come to expect following these forays into the lions den. But institutional mental health is being re-organized in Texas, on the local, state and federal levels, and some demonstrable, incremental changes have happened since just last [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=965274 Sat, 20 Oct 2007 11:33:21 +0100 965274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=957347&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F10%2F17%2Fbecause-enduring-ennobles-we-wont-be-discussing-that%2F I’m still having a hard time recovering from mental illness awareness week, migraines, can’t sleep and nightmares when I can, plus waking up crying. I woke up and hollered “Molly!” a few hours ago, and I’ve been drinking a bit to take the edge off, which is nothing to me but a clue. Molly Ivins [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=957347 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:59:50 +0100 957347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=944645&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F10%2F11%2Fdear-god-your-sockpuppets-are-calling%2F That would be the self-named Chosen who speak as icons of lucidity, praying to the Flying Spaghetti Monster on behalf of the crazy folk. Included in this week’s devotion to exploiting the children they deny they drove insane, NAMI held their National Day of Prayer for Those with Mental Illness on Tuesday. Though [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=944645 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:39:21 +0100 944645 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=906160&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F09%2F26%2F374%2F Someone asked me if I believe in the biopsychosocial model of illness and recovery. This is the wrong direction to take regarding the previous post. It’s not important what I believe. I don’t need you to believe what I do. What’s important is what policy makers and mental health providers believe. I personally work to [...] (Source: Writhe Safely) Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=906160 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:27:54 +0100 906160 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=858444&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F09%2F10%2Fnote-to-compassion-trolls-not-here%2F If you knew me in real life you’d wonder when I’m going to get myself killed. All my friends do. Funny no one ever asks me that online, I wonder why. I’m not in hiding, it’s all out there, right, yes. So let’s not pretend. My life is made up of constant and vituperative battles with institutionalized authority, I’ve always been this way and always will. It’s part non-volitional upset and part performance, but it’s all real. The non-volitional upset is what control freaks tell me to analyze, and that they even make such a suggestion is endemic to the sense of entitlement I refuse to recognize and that got us into this fight in the first place. My refusal to knuckle under leads to even more outrageous demands for submission and I want that to... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=858444 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:16:56 +0100 858444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=838928&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F09%2F03%2Fthe-key-to-your-heart%2F I wonder if any other negative creeps were outraged to see columnist Marc Fisher calling for our heads on a platter today. Read the WaPo column here. To recap, Cho’s high school got his parents involved which led to therapy and accommodations that appear to have helped him out. Under law those records are kept sealed, so his college administrators had no data about his previous psychiatric treatment. Evidently Fisher wants you to believe that had his records been available the massacre wouldn’t have happened. Because reading psych records is known to melt the hearts of authorities who then reward eccentric characters with the warm therapeutic attention we just don’t realize we crave. And if I kill you or whatnot, your hands are clean, because you were only acting on the s... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=838928 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:13:42 +0100 838928 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=835528&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F08%2F31%2Fchoosey-moms-choose-pepper-spray%2F At the Capitol Wednesday lawmakers held a meeting with the officials of the Texas Youth Commission, to hear how they’re coming with the sweeping reforms outlined in last session. I’m in such a pissy funk it’s taking 2 days and hard liquor to absorb the testimony. The only M.D. who spoke said what they need to do is take behavioral control of the population, and that he would diagnose “100 percent of the inmates with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.” He then praised the cutting edge research of Harvard’s bi-polar child mafia, citing Biederman by name, as mark of credibility. There was no criticism or suggestion of internal controversy, and there won’t be, ever. A specialized medical practice is by definition out of reach from general discourse, the s... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=835528 Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:03:09 +0100 835528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=823058&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F08%2F26%2Fpolitical-reasons-still-rare%2F I got the “false dichotomy” stink eye reading this month’s Newsweek: Mental Breakdown, which predicts good old fashioned gallows humor just might have to make a comeback in Russia, ha ha ha, since over the past year at least 10 journalists, political activists or critics of local authorities have been wrongfully hospitalized in mental hospitals. And though forcible psychiatric treatment for political reasons is still rare, the Independent Psychiatric Association, a Moscow watchdog, says Russia’s mental hospitals are routinely used by unscrupulous relatives and criminals to remove inconvenient family members… Shame on those commies! That could never happen here. Oh but it does, but it’s not the same thing. This is America, we don’t do shit for pol... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=823058 Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:53:37 +0100 823058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=817679&cid=t_120472_140_f&fid=35438&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwrithesafely.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F08%2F22%2Foh-well-never-mind-then%2F Legislative Panel Begins Hearings into Troubled Mental Hospital: DOVER, Del. (AP)- Tales of patient abuse and poorly trained employees highlighted a legislative hearing Tuesday into problems at the state-run Delaware Psychiatric Center. Relatives of patients at the New Castle hospital told lawmakers of loved ones being sexually assaulted and beaten by staffers, and of difficulties trying to get information from state officials about their welfare. Pleading with lawmakers for help, Janice Ambrose tearfully told of her 21-year-old daughter, who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, being sexually assaulted at least twice and put in restraints for long periods of time. Ambrose recounted one visit in which she saw drugged patients sitting in chairs in a common room while sta... Writhe Safely blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=817679 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:04:15 +0100 817679 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=809590&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=34865&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecancerblog.com%2F2007%2F08%2F20%2Fback-to-school-back-to-physical-education%2F Filed under: ExerciseToday, my oldest child begins first grade. I can't tell you how sad and happy this makes me. I'm sad because I realize my first baby boy is truly on his way to growing up. School has him now; I don't. I can't help but predict he will need me less and less as he takes on the world in his own independent way. This makes me happy too. I am eager to see how he fares on his own, how he develops, grows, and soars. And I must admit, I am pretty thrilled about having five mornings per week all to myself -- my youngest little boy begins school today too.On Friday, we went to six-year-old Joey's elementary school for a meet-the-teacher event. Joey was right at home. He sat at his assigned desk, did a little drawing, and snuggled up in a pile of pillows in the reading corner. I f... The Cancer Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=809590 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 809590 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=682755&cid=t_120472_87_f&fid=34867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thediabetesblog.com%2F2007%2F06%2F18%2Fprescribers-letter-offers-practitioners-unbiased-avandia-advice%2F Filed under: Type 2, Adult Onset, Drugs, ResearchAvandia is out of the top headlines lately, but I am sure the controversial drug remains top-of-mind for type 2 diabetics carrying a prescription. I fumbled upon Prescriber's Letter recently, an independent service providing information about meds to paid subscribers. They claim their research reports are unbiased, the website does not accept advertising (a plus) and overviews are written by editors advised by experts, government agencies and national organizations. The June edition of Prescriber's Letter offers a synopsis on Avandia. It might be worth a read. In a nutshell, Prescriber's acknowledges Dr. Nissen's meta-analysis which points to higher heart attack risk for Avandia versus different meds or placebos. They also acknowledge expe... The Diabetes Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=682755 Mon, 18 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 682755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=874669&cid=t_120472_160_f&fid=36190&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skincareblog.org Scorpio_teddy: If you are wealthy, this piece is for you. A recent study has revealed that wealthier people are more than twice vulnerable to the deadliest form of skin cancer, than those financially lesser lucky. The study conducted by Queen’s University Belfast and Royal Victoria Hospital on 23,000 cancer patients in Northern Ireland revealed that those lucky in terms of finances are unlucky when it comes to health. Those who live in affluent areas are two- and-a-half times more likely to develop malignant melanoma compared to the less well offs. The study places middle classes in the greater risk category next to the higher classes. Rate of the risk of basal cell carcinoma, a more common but easily treatable type of skin cancer, caused by prolonged exposure to sunlight, was ... Skin Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=874669 Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:01:07 +0100 874669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=629305&cid=t_120472_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F118245557%2F The Special Needs Network was founded by Areva Martin and Donna Ross, who are both mothers of autistic children; the group teaches parents how to advocate for their special needs children. As a May 19th Los Angeles Times article notes: Poor and minority kids with parents who don’t know how or whom to pressure get fewer services — and get them later — than middle-class and wealthy kids with assertive parents. African American and Latino children with autism are one to two years older than white children before they’re diagnosed. In Los Angeles, it took white kids an average of four visits to specialists over four months to be diagnosed with autism; black children required 13 such visits over 10 months, according to 2005 legislative testimony of Robert Hendren, executive dire... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=629305 Sun, 20 May 2007 21:00:34 +0100 629305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=603685&cid=t_120472_107_f&fid=35041&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fdigitalbio%2Fupload%2F2007%2F04%2F465310490_8c1b5b5c72.jpg tags: moose, bioinformatics class, willows, plant genes PZ's morning post about a bear killing a moose in someone's yard (they do live in Alaska, after all), reminded me that it's time to make an announcement about our upcoming course. No, no, no! We're not going to kill any moose on the premises. We're going to learn about the moose and its food, not the moose as its food. But, if you take the course that precedes ours, you might get to see some moose, and you might get to see some bears eating salmon. The class before ours is entitled "Ecology of South Central Alaska " and they have field trips! Participants visit Turnagain Pass and the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage to study boreal forest succession, fire ecology, moose, bears, and salmon, and on the return trip, visit a coast... Discovering Biology in a Digital World blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=603685 Thu, 10 May 2007 22:34:48 +0100 603685 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=611260&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F05%2Fdr_markert_on_biostats.php A 2.5 hr review of biostats (Source: The Haversian Canal) The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=611260 Thu, 10 May 2007 19:08:59 +0100 611260 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=566132&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F04%2Fintroduction_to_inherited_meta_1.php AGA: Average for Gestational Age Acute weight loss (something like >10% of weight) tends to be fluid loss (kids have much more intracellular water) ER trained to assume sepsis unless shown otherwise ⇒ antibiotics, fluids, direct to PICU Maple Syrup Urine Disease (branch-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, valine): unusual odor (Source: The Haversian Canal) The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=566132 Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:40:06 +0100 566132 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=564042&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F04%2Fintroduction_to_inherited_meta.php · Failure to thrive · metabolic acidosis · neurologic impairment · vomitting PKU Lysosomal Storage Disorders · Gaucher (Source: The Haversian Canal) The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=564042 Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:48:48 +0100 564042 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=556657&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F04%2Flegal_and_ethical_issues_in_hu.php Gene therapy Cloning Informed consent etc (Source: The Haversian Canal) The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=556657 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:12:59 +0100 556657 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=556658&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F04%2Fepigenetics.php Inheritance from cell to cell or organism to organism by changes in chromatin &/or DNA but not in the DNA sequence. The features that commit a cell to a certain lineage, among other things. 5'-m5CpG-3' Methylation in qh region of chromosomes associated with degree of recomibination In vitro fertilization 5-azadeoxycitidine for cancer (Source: The Haversian Canal) The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=556658 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:45:50 +0100 556658 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=556659&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F04%2Foverview_of_molecular_genetic.php Deletion · Southern Blot · PCR (Source: The Haversian Canal) The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=556659 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:46:29 +0100 556659 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=554264&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F04%2Fdiagnosing_dysmorphologies.php Cornelia DeLange syndrome Biomechanical deformation of structurally normal anatomy: Disruption: amniotic bands Sequence: potter's sequence · very little amniotic fluid Field defect: defect that affects other regions. Midline cleft lip with midline brain defect → holoprosencephaly, omphalocele Mucopolysaccharide syndromes · Hunter's syndrome · develops worsening problems over time Syndromes · TAR syndrome · Thrombocytopenia; Absent Radius Consider appearance in context of parental background (Henson's nodes, epicanthal folds, small ears, ethnicity, etc) · helical pit (ear) · coloboma · trisomy 22 · Search for rare anomalies · cleft lip: 300 diagnoses · bilateral nuchal hemangiomas with hypoplastic dermis: 1 diagnosis · photographs, photographs of relatives (Source: The Ha... The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=554264 Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:18:02 +0100 554264 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=554265&cid=t_120472_93_f&fid=34700&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnielsolson.us%2FHaversian%2F2007%2F04%2Fperinatal_infection_teratology.php TORCH metronidosol Fetal alcohol syndrome Nicotine · cocaine · heroin · marijuana Aminopterin · Coumarin · Diethylstilbestrol · Androgens · Phenytoin · Valproic acid · carbamazepine Epstein's anomaly (lithium) radiation Maternal Diabetes Maternal PKU (Source: The Haversian Canal) The Haversian Canal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=554265 Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:01:19 +0100 554265