News for today's 2018: 10/16/12

Obama Romney Town Hall Debate...Cheetos Eatin' Americans Probably Missed Their Points

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Last night, I didn't watch the Presidential Town Hall style debate live.  Well, not on TV anyway.  I never watch debates live on TV any longer.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_9mDs5vE0j34Qrvrux6nxDUeOaxo5x_RIcllfKij4BgCriRs5hoeE9Lhn_kO9Va6kt3xMPSqcAQ7CH5XAygMZ_DCcBNURdLndfZAQDEmI0kKOwsUBqm1iaSBai7as_eUDg9QXZm7loc/s1600/Romney+Obama+Town+Hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_9mDs5vE0j34Qrvrux6nxDUeOaxo5x_RIcllfKij4BgCriRs5hoeE9Lhn_kO9Va6kt3xMPSqcAQ7CH5XAygMZ_DCcBNURdLndfZAQDEmI0kKOwsUBqm1iaSBai7as_eUDg9QXZm7loc/s400/Romney+Obama+Town+Hall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Sure, I go back and watch the replay on TV, sometimes more than once, but the only way to most enjoyably and in real time, “watch” a Presidential debate, is on Twitter and Facebook.<br /><br />I tell ya, people.  It’s more exciting than it would be to watch a strap-on wearing Scarlett Johansson doing Eva Longoria doggie style in my living room.<br /><br />Okay, okay…that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but Lordy, Lordy…<br /><br />Folks on Twitter and Facebook, be they celebrity or average American, certainly know how to oscillate statements made by their candidate of choice and turn a boring diatribe of duality into an overly-frothed milkshake of cyber stupidity and uber-rollicking entertainment.<br /><br />I swear people.  Americans are some of the stupidest, most intellectually rigid, non-thinking for themselves motherfuckers in the world.<br /><br />Yeah I said, that, and I am even throwing Americans in with stupid, fanatical Muslims who blow people up because they might get laid because of it.<br /><br />I know, I know…You’re saying:<br /><br /><i>“Matt-Man, you really believe that overly excitable Americans who are blinded to a political party are just as bad as over-zealous, misinterpreting Muslims who bastardize the Quran?”</i><br /><br />Well, minus the killing and murderous tendencies that some of the aforementioned Muslims do, yes, as far as intellect and self-determination goes, yes I am saying just that.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKi4QfRH0xTp8J5gOlGjVRhYeLPfPZl1aZxdpen45n8KfAuZMV9qH1bRCYBPSz53wL9rVy1HElHJ9zibZ8-8C2dLFYI26qADkavStMLuBIpxY0RqVZ63yrxOjhx-9VxnZfvNwbOkHTakU/s1600/facebook-twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKi4QfRH0xTp8J5gOlGjVRhYeLPfPZl1aZxdpen45n8KfAuZMV9qH1bRCYBPSz53wL9rVy1HElHJ9zibZ8-8C2dLFYI26qADkavStMLuBIpxY0RqVZ63yrxOjhx-9VxnZfvNwbOkHTakU/s320/facebook-twitter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />After watching the past two Presidential debates through the virtual eyes of Twitter and Facebook I have but one thing to say…<br /><br />America?  As a people we in general, are fucking stupid, short-sighted, myopic, incurious, and most of all, intellectually lazy.<br /><br />I was avidly reading all the tweets and Facebook entries during the debate last night, and well…As I was laughing, I was also getting a dry mouth and sore throat due to me sitting here with mouth agape being stupefied by the comments from people over the debate performances.<br /><br />Sean Hannity was tweeting that this was the greatest debate performance ever by Romney…Ha, Romney got his ass kicked.<br /><br />Ed Schultz was excitedly jacking off over Obama’s performance during this debate, yet never acknowledged that during the first debate, Obama got his ass kicked by Romney.<br /><br />Both guys have their heads up their asses, and well, I wish their heads would stay there, so they’d shut the fuck up.<br /><br />Gregt Gutfeld was adoringly screaming like a schoolgirl on Twitter in hopes that Romney would notice his no-talent ass, and Michael Moore was cheering on Obama while being to the world of journalism what Bartolo Colon is to the world of professional athletes.<br /><br />And you?  The simple, every day voter, tweeter, and Facebook poster?<br /><br />Oy…<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEefBqK47OzMJWetzpJd4OsMfYWeVXzIIEta564fl9w8ytZhovjGoGmg1-WP42law7q7uOLXbx5zpAE90VqFHhyHRB5SnlJL57c2J_c5EYRkGtu5tWshkozwSeS-BAX5MSdHNB9doFxFg/s1600/Stupid+Voter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEefBqK47OzMJWetzpJd4OsMfYWeVXzIIEta564fl9w8ytZhovjGoGmg1-WP42law7q7uOLXbx5zpAE90VqFHhyHRB5SnlJL57c2J_c5EYRkGtu5tWshkozwSeS-BAX5MSdHNB9doFxFg/s320/Stupid+Voter.jpg" width="309" /></a>Forty to Fifty percent of you are no different than the vapid, talking heads that I mentioned.<br /><br />You, like them…You have preconceived notions, a head full of what others have told you, and no concept of personal thought, of personal reasoning as to who or what is best for this country.<br /><br />This election like all elections in recent memory, has become merely a sport…a game…a chance to be on the winning side.<br /><br />I think President Obama, summed this up well, and has caught hell for saying it, but he was right…<br /><br /><i>“You can’t change Washington from the inside.”</i><br /><br />No, no you can’t.  Not when the citizens of this country keep electing representatives based upon party rather than the ability to govern.<br /><br />It’s sad, and knowing how bad it has gotten, we should change the motto on our coins.<br /><br />We should change the motto from E Pulribus Unum to E Pluribus Stupid.<br /><br />And Jayman and I will discuss that, and many other things today LIVE at 11 AM ET on IWS Radio which you can catch by clicking<i><span style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/10/17/listen-or-not-were-number-one" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">HERE</span></a></span></i><span style="color: blue;">.</span><br /><br />Cheers!!<br />Matt-Man<br /><i><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a></i><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><i>@MattMan_IWS</i></span></a></div>

Obama Romney Town Hall Debate...Cheetos Eatin' Americans Probably Missed Their Points

Last night, I didn't watch the Presidential Town Hall style debate live. Well, not on TV anyway. I never watch debates live on TV any longer.Sure, I go back and watch the replay on TV, sometimes more than once, but the only way to most enjoyably an…

The Doctor Can See You Now. Really, Right Now. - NYTimes.com

6:50 PM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Often the worst part of a visit to the doctor isn't the awkward hospital gown, needle sticks or embarrassing physical exams — it's the drawn-out wait, camped out in the reception room in the company of sick patients and old magazines.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">During a particularly long wait to see his dermatologist, Parker Oks, 18, thought there had to be a better way.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"They know approximately how long an appointment will take," said Mr. Oks, a freshman at Boston University. "But the problem is that they don't know how long it will actually take."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">That realization led Mr. Oks to create <a title="Web site" href="https://www.appointmentstatus.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: underline; ">Appointment Status</a>, a Web site devoted to improving appointment efficiency and providing patients with information to avoid long waits. Working with three teenagers from Staten Island Technical High School, where he had gone, Mr. Oks aims to make it easier for patients to schedule appointments — and to find out how far behind the doctor may be before settling into a waiting room chair.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">It's one of several innovations meant to help patients. While many digital developments — electronic medical records and mobile medical encyclopedias — have streamlined doctors' work, new tools for patients are starting to hit cellphones and the Internet offering help in keeping track of medications, recording <a title="In-depth reference and news articles about Pulse." href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/pulse/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: underline; ">heart rate</a> and glucose levels and managing personal and family medical history, among other tasks.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Appointment Status is designed to assist patients before they even take a seat in a waiting room — a sore point for many patients, as doctors well know. In a survey conducted by the doctor-review Web site <a href="http://www.vitals.com/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: underline; ">Vitals</a>, patients reported an average wait time of 21 minutes to see a doctor. Mississippi had the longest reported wait time, at just over 25 minutes.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Some patients say that's about as long a wait as they will tolerate.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"I'm willing to wait to see a doctor for about 20 minutes before I go talk to the receptionist, and after a 45-minute wait, I always leave and reschedule," said Maureen Green, a journalist from Syracuse. "Everybody's time is valuable, not just the doctor's time."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Developers and entrepreneurs are starting to tap into this frustration, as well as other rifts in doctor-patient relations. Mr. Oks said his next step is a mobile app to inform patients about delays.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Another service, <a title="Web site" href="http://www.zocdoc.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: underline; ">ZocDoc</a>, is also meant to help patients save time with doctor visits. Created by Cyrus Massoumi, Dr. Oliver Kharraz and Nick Ganju, ZocDoc allows patients to peer into a doctor's appointment book and schedule a visit through the Web.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">ZocDoc has already been expanded with a new tool, ZocDoc Check-In, made available last month to help eliminate another cause of waiting room tedium: filling out a clipboard of forms.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"You're always handed a stack of forms to fill out when you enter a doctor's office," said Mr. Massoumi, the chief executive of ZocDoc. "And all the information is 80 percent the same as the last time you filled it out."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">ZocDoc Check-In also enters patient's personal information in other doctors' forms, so there is no need to fill out a name and date of birth multiple times.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">While these kinds of tools are becoming more common — ZocDoc is now being used in more than a thousand cities by doctors in more than 40 specialties — Mr. Oks is facing some resistance to his Appointment Status app.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"A lot of the doctors I've approached are set in their ways and skeptical," Mr. Oks said. "We've found some offices don't even have an Internet connection for their receptionists."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">ZocDoc may have caught on because it helps doctors as well as patients.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"It's a win-win," Mr. Massoumi said. "Patients need convenience in scheduling a doctor's appointment, and from a doctor's standpoint, ZocDoc brings them patients and helps office staff manage their time."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Nevertheless, Mr. Massoumi said it took him a while to reach the point that doctors contact him about obtaining the technology.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Dr. Kamal Ramani, a general practitioner in Manhattan, said he adopted ZocDoc three years ago, when he moved his office and was looking for a way to save time and money.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"My staff doesn't have to be on the phone with patients suggesting time slots," Dr. Ramani said. "It streamlines the appointment-making process on both ends."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">At the same time, some new technology that was developed for more efficient medical care delivery has some benefits for patients as well. For instance, despite widespread concerns about security and the potential for errors, electronic medical records can save patients time and improve communication.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Dr. Steven K. Magid, a rheumatologist whose office is at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, said that initially he was worried about the time commitment needed to enter all of a patient's information digitally, but now he sees the benefits.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"It's faster for me to write a list of medications on a piece of paper than to do it on the computer," Dr. Magid said. "But on the back end I save time because everything is legible and everyone is working off the same list."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Patients' treatment instructions are clearly typed out, generating fewer calls to his office — and to him. And when patients still are confused or a new matter arises, his staff can address the problem without him by looking up the information in the digital record.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Eventually, say some, patients will expect their doctors to adopt these kinds of timesaving tools.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">"There's a tipping point," Dr. Magid said. "There is going to be a shift."</p></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLG6Sni5MjsbC7KYvOrP4n59p2LKU0WXr1WD41iiPXIjZEcD6QQS7pfv8kiO6SDcRjVNY6SlZMwoOMGc7iTtcGhg9R3LR_mcdDfjA9m47lsZehWQ4ZEqy7MENAZCgKABE_89I1mlPRqw/s1600/16APPO-articleInline-745596.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5800089821569849378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLG6Sni5MjsbC7KYvOrP4n59p2LKU0WXr1WD41iiPXIjZEcD6QQS7pfv8kiO6SDcRjVNY6SlZMwoOMGc7iTtcGhg9R3LR_mcdDfjA9m47lsZehWQ4ZEqy7MENAZCgKABE_89I1mlPRqw/s320/16APPO-articleInline-745596.jpg" /></a></font></div></div><div><br></div><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/the-doctor-can-see-you-now-really-right-now/?">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/the-doctor-can-see-you-now-really-right-now/?</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

The Doctor Can See You Now. Really, Right Now. - NYTimes.com

Often the worst part of a visit to the doctor isn't the awkward hospital gown, needle sticks or embarrassing physical exams — it's the drawn-out wait, camped out in the reception room in the company of sick patients and old magazines.During a particu…

BATTERED

5:56 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today, I was at one of our Neon City hospitals attempting to visit a hospitalized deacon. I failed. She had already been discharged. But there may yet have been a reason for me to be there.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As I left through the ER doors, a woman outside the ER called me. “Sir, are you a priest? Could you help me? The hospital says the police should take me home but the police said the hospital would do it and left me here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a jumbled way, she told me her story. She had been raped, beaten, and robbed by her ex-husband in a parking lot. Now here she was. The word “battered” is so apt for battered women. Bruises, swollen face, scrapes on her face, arms, and knee. She needed a ride. She stood as if her back was in spasm. She needed help just stepping down from the sidewalk to the asphalt. Yes, “battered” was a good word. “Broken” would have worked as well. Her mind seemed dazed. She couldn’t focus. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I took her to the pharmacy to get her muscle relaxants and anxiety medication, then helped her find her car. The doors had been kicked in on both sides, the side view mirrors were smashed and dangled like broken wings, one window was broken out. But she drove it away.</span> <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She had no family in Nevada other than her 7-year-old daughter. Most of her income from working as a cosmetologist was gone. No she did not ask me for money. She just wanted a ride. I wondered whether, if she had been more of a princess, the police would have had time to take her back to her home or her car at least. But she wasn’t. So she was stranded.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am glad I was there. It didn’t cost me much to do her a little good after others had done her so much harm. But what if I hadn’t been there by the providential grace of God? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the level of care we provide to battered women while the Violence Against Women Act is still in force. But its survival beyond the current fiscal year is a tough battle in Washington, See, <a href="http://www.peoplesworld.org/gop-stalls-violence-against-women-act-renewal/">http://www.peoplesworld.org/gop-stalls-violence-against-women-act-renewal/</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nevada leads the nation in per capital cases of women killed in domestic violence. How that issue has failed to make headlines in the current political season is a wonder and an amazement to me. Protecting women from brutal assaults, prosecuting the perpetrators, and providing some modicum of support to the victims – at least a ride home from the hospital – strikes me as the bottom line for civil society.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

BATTERED

0 0 1 370 2111 Episcopal Diocese of Nevada 17 4 2477 14.0 96 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE …

Hospitals Ditch Formula Samples to Promote Breast-Feeding - NYTimes.com

7:43 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For years, virtually every new mother has been sent home from the hospital with a gift bag full of free product samples, including infant formula.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Now health authorities and <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/breast-feeding-mothers-self-care/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Breast-feeding mothers - self-care." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">breast-feeding</a> advocates are leading a nationwide effort to ban formula samples, which often come in stylish bags with formula company logos. Health experts say they can sway women away from breast-feeding.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">As of 2011, nearly half of about 2,600 hospitals in a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had stopped giving formula samples to breast-feeding mothers, up from a quarter in 2007. The survey did not ask about distributing samples to non-nursing mothers.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Recently, 24 hospitals in Oklahoma agreed to a ban, and Massachusetts became the second state, after Rhode Island, in which all hospitals halted free samples. In New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg started the "<a title="Web site" href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/ms/latchonnyc.shtml" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Latch On NYC</a>" campaign, urging hospitals to stop giveaways and monitor formula like other medical supplies, stored in locked cabinets and accounted for when mothers have medical needs or request it; 28 of 40 hospitals have agreed.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The debate over formula samples isn't about whether breast-feeding is healthier. Even formula companies acknowledge that "<a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/breast-milk/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Breast milk." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">breast milk</a> is the gold standard; it's the best for babies," said Christopher Perille, a spokesman for Mead Johnson, which makes Enfamil formula.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Breast-feeding decreases babies' risk of ear infections, <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/diarrhea/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Diarrhea." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">diarrhea</a>, <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/asthma/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Asthma." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">asthma</a> and other diseases, and may reduce risk of <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/morbid-obesity/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Obesity." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">obesity</a> and slightly improve I.Q., experts say. The question is whether samples tempt mothers who could breast-feed exclusively for the recommended six months to use formula when they're exhausted or discouraged if nursing proves difficult. The C.D.C., the World Health Organization and breast-feeding advocates say samples turn hospitals into formula sales agents and imply that hospitals think formula is as healthy as breast-feeding. Health experts warn that even small amounts of formula dilute breast-feeding's benefits by altering intestinal micro-organisms and decreasing breast milk supply, since women produce less when babies nurse less. They say that while some women face serious breast-feeding challenges, more could nurse longer with greater support, and that formula samples can weaken that support system.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"We're not anti-formula," said Dr. Melissa Bartick, a founder of <a title="Web site" href="http://banthebags.org/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Ban the Bags</a>, a breast-feeding advocacy group, which reports that one-fifth of the country's nearly 3,300 birthing programs have taken more comprehensive steps of banning samples and logo-emblazoned bags for all mothers. "If a woman makes an informed choice to formula-feed, the hospital should provide that formula. But hospitals shouldn't be marketing it."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The industry and some mothers say samples provide a healthy alternative and offer relief if nursing causes pain, fatigue or frustration. They disagree that samples can shake the resolve to breast-feed exclusively.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"Babies grow fine on it," said Mardi Mountford, executive vice president of the <a title="Web site" href="http://www.infantformula.org/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">International Formula Council</a>, who breast-fed her baby exclusively. "And moms tell us they like getting the samples."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Ann Roberts, 32, a book buyer in Atlanta, said she had wanted to breast-feed exclusively, but found it painful and her daughter was underweight. The sample "gave me peace of mind," she said. "It would have added stress to have to send my husband to the grocery store to buy formula." She continued supplementing with formula, and like many women who formula-feed, bought the brand the hospital gave out. "We are using that brand because we got the sample," she said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Do samples sway women to use formula in the first place? Some studies have found that women who receive samples do not breast-feed as long as those who don't; others found no significant connection. People on either side of the sample issue agree that hospitals should support breast-feeding in many ways.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The campaign to ban samples stirs strong feelings among mothers, including those who are health care providers.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Megan Caron, 27, a nurse in Massachusetts, felt a sample coaxed her to capitulate when breast-feeding her daughter became challenging. "If it wasn't there, I think I would have tried a little bit more to get breast-feeding down," she said. "And once they get formula, it's hard to get them back."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Rachel Freedman, 34, an oncologist, had a different experience after giving birth this year at her hospital, Brigham and Women's in Boston. It long ago banned formula samples. But Dr. Freedman, who said she intended to breast-feed but had difficulty, concluded that samples could be "nice when you're a mother and you get into a pinch in the middle of the night and you're exhausted." When her milk did not come in, nurses encouraged her not to give up. But after hours of trying, "we broke down" and gave formula, she said. Her milk came in two weeks later, but not enough to nurse exclusively. "Maybe I wasn't patient enough, but at the time I thought he was starving," Dr. Freedman said of her son.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Nicole Leopardi, 30, a pediatrician, said the sample she got after giving birth at Virtua Hospital in Voorhees, N.J., in 2006, helped influence her to supplement with formula when she became worried she wasn't producing enough milk. "Since it was available, I think I probably kept doing it those early days," she said. "I was under the misconception that that would help the baby be more satisfied." This year, Dr. Leopardi gave birth at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she is affiliated. Cooper recently banned formula samples, and she said its unequivocal breast-feeding support helped her keep nursing.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">At Cooper, where 70 percent of mothers were formula-feeding, the ban improved breast-feeding rates significantly. In a study, Dr. Lori Winter, a <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/pediatrics/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about pediatrics." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">pediatrics</a> professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, introduced hospital bags without formula logos or samples. At first, she was stunned to find that mothers were receiving formula samples anyway. Nurses were slipping them in, she said, because "they didn't believe these babies weren't going to starve. Cooper began storing formula in locked cabinets and having nurses document when mothers had medical needs or requested it. Now, 70 percent breast-feed in the hospital.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Other hospitals say they do not believe samples discourage breast-feeding. At Virtua, which runs two maternity hospitals in suburban New Jersey, Dr. Alka Kohli, vice president of medical affairs, said officials would re-evaluate formula giveaways. But she said that because of Virtua's breast-feeding programs, "despite the fact that formula sits around, our breast-feeding rates climb every year."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"Ban the Bags" campaigns have seeped into politics. Mayor Bloomberg's critics call "Latch On NYC" another nanny-state initiative. Breast-feeding advocates are criticizing Mitt Romney's 2006 decisions as Massachusetts governor to pressure the state's Public Health Council to reverse a ban on formula giveaways, and replace three council members who objected.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">When UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester eliminated samples in 2005, people complained, said Dr. Ellen Delpapa, chief of maternal-fetal medicine. UMass partly retrenched, giving coupons for free formula to women not exclusively breast-feeding. Only when more Massachusetts hospitals stopped samples did UMass reimpose its ban.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Some hospitals say manufacturers make banning giveaways harder. Dr. Winter called it "a big production to disengage companies from flooding us with these bags," adding, "I was reported to the chief of neonatology because the companies said I refused to meet with them."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">At Beverly Hospital, the last Massachusetts hospital to ban samples, companies "were very infiltrated," said Rebecca Gadon, director of maternal, newborn and <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/cancer/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Cancer." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">cancer</a> care. She arrived in 2008 to find formula companies giving the staff gifts and paying for continuing education classes.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Hospitals often also receive all formula supplies free from manufacturers, providing incentives to cooperate. Many hospitals continue to accept supplies after banning samples, although the C.D.C. and other agencies discourage this. UMass Memorial still accepts Similac and Enfamil, and while it is considering buying formula, "when they tell us how much we're getting for free, that's worth a lot," Dr. Delpapa said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">The chief of the C.D.C.'s <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/food-guide-pyramid/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Diet and Nutrition." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">nutrition</a> branch, Laurence Grummer-Strawn, said he was concerned enough that he had "spoken to people at formula companies suggesting they change their marketing practices."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">He also tells hospitals to buy formula, with competitive bidding like for other supplies. "We shouldn't be receiving free giveaways from pharmaceutical companies, we shouldn't be receiving free giveaways from formula companies," Dr. Grummer-Strawn said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Neither the Formula Council nor Mead Johnson would discuss marketing specifically. Abbott Nutrition, which makes Similac, deferred questions to the Formula Council. Mr. Perille of Mead Johnson said factors like birthrate and efficiency were more important to business success than sending samples to hospitals or pediatricians' offices.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Still, hospitals are "the ideal setting for new mothers to get information about feeding options," Mr. Perille said. And "if they're going to formula-feed, we would like them to choose our brand."</p><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/health/hospitals-ditch-formula-samples-to-promote-breast-feeding.html?src=recg&pagewanted=all">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/health/hospitals-ditch-formula-samples-to-promote-breast-feeding.html?src=recg&pagewanted=all</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Hospitals Ditch Formula Samples to Promote Breast-Feeding - NYTimes.com

For years, virtually every new mother has been sent home from the hospital with a gift bag full of free product samples, including infant formula.Now health authorities and breast-feeding advocates are leading a nationwide effort to ban formula sampl…

Bookkeeper - New Britain Public Library

7:31 AM Anonymous 0

Bookkeeper - New Britain Public Library

Bookkeeper - New Britain Public Library. Part-time position – morning hours. Coordinates accounts payable and receivable, including internal accounts, material budget, monthly reports, etc. Requires accuracy, dependability, and good communicat…

ADFF NY 2012

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

Thursday is the opening night of the 2012 New York <a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/ny2012"><b>Architecture and Design Film Festival</b></a> at Tribeca Cinemas Theater, with a special screening at Time Warner Center.<br /><br /><img alt="archtober2012-adff.jpg" border="0" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/archtober2012-adff.jpg" title="Architecture and Design Film Festival" /><br /><br />For a schedule of films being screened in the four-day festival, <a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/view_by_title">visit the ADFF website</a>. Some of the highlights include <a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/index.php?mid=films_ny2012&document_srl=347"><i>16 Acres</i></a> (opening night at Time Warner), <a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/index.php?mid=films_ny2012&document_srl=594"><i>Coast Modern</i></a>, <a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/index.php?mid=films_ny2012&document_srl=267"><i>Design Is One: Lella and Massimo Vignelli</i></a> (opening night at Tribeca Cinemas), <i><a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/index.php?mid=films_ny2012&document_srl=283">Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line</a></i>, <i><a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/index.php?mid=films_ny2012&document_srl=426">Mendelsohn’s Incessant Visions</a></i>, and <i><a href="http://adfilmfest.com/portal/index.php?mid=films_ny2012&document_srl=314">Modern Tide: Midcentury Architecture on Long Island</a></i>.

ADFF NY 2012

Thursday is the opening night of the 2012 New York Architecture and Design Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas Theater, with a special screening at Time Warner Center.For a schedule of films being screened in the four-day festival, visit the ADFF websit…