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Tell me about IT!!
Running on "fumes" here....
How can I be in if I don't know what the contest is???
Nyquil...
The "wonder" drug... lol
Yeah!! What contest??!!?!?
OMG! You're just NOW getting an allergy to CPH?!?!
Geeze... I'm TRYING!!!!
How did you GUESS!?!?!?
I were scardddddd!!!! lol
I sure try! =)
As good as can be...
And you?? Missed you, sweetie!
Nitey nite Rain! =)
Yeppers...
"Down on the boardwalk".... lol
Oh yesssssss! Cuervo 1800!!
Hey dave!! =)
Anytime! =)
You betcha!!! The icon for "scaredy cat"!!
Keep shoveling... ROFL!
How is that DITCH?!?!?! lol
It's getting better... had up to 70 MPH winds in some areas!!
Did you do dat?? Rain said it was YOUR fault!!! :p
Uh, yeah... SURE!! lol
It was SCARY! My oldest kitty was hiding unner da bed!!
Unfortunately... VERY common!
Okey dokey, sweet dreams! =)
OK... now! biggie T-storms today...
AGAIN! =(
Too late! Been zapped a couple times already... =(
Ouchie! That WAS a big tumble!
Have fun A1(Ron)... been fighting T-storms (again) today!
Rain.. Sue... Jammy! T-storms here today... power probs, etc...
Hey chickies! What have I missed?? T-Storms (again) today... =(
Hey girly...
Aren't they ALL!! lol
Just lurking mostly... =)
U.S. healthcare expensive, inefficient: report
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
Tue May 15, 1:25 AM ET
Americans get the poorest health care and yet pay the most compared to five other rich countries, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Germany, Britain, Australia and Canada all provide better care for less money, the Commonwealth Fund report found.
"The U.S. health care system ranks last compared with five other nations on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes," the non-profit group which studies health care issues said in a statement.
Canada rates second worst out of the five overall. Germany scored highest, followed by Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
"The United States is not getting value for the money that is spent on health care," Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis said in a telephone interview.
The group has consistently found that the United States, the only one of the six nations that does not provide universal health care, scores more poorly than the others on many measures of health care.
Congress, President George W. Bush, many employers and insurers have all agreed in recent months to overhaul the U.S. health care system -- an uncoordinated conglomeration of employer-funded care, private health insurance and government programs.
The current system leaves about 45 million people with no insurance at all, according to U.S. government estimates from 2005, and many studies have shown most of these people do not receive preventive services that not only keep them healthier, but reduce long-term costs.
Davis said the fund's researchers looked at hard data for the report.
"It is pretty indisputable that we spend twice what other countries spend on average," she said.
Per capita health spending in the United States in 2004 was $6,102, twice that of Germany, which spent $3,005. Canada spent $3,165, New Zealand $2,083 and Australia $2,876, while Britain spent $2,546 per person.
KEY MEASURES
"We focus primarily on measures that are sensitive to medical care making a difference -- infant mortality and healthy lives at age 60," Davis said. "Those are pretty key measures, like how long you live and whether you are going to die before age 75."
Measures of other aspects of care such as cataract surgery or hip replacements is harder to come by, she said.
They also looked at convenience and again found the United States lacking -- with a few exceptions.
"We include measures such as waiting more than four months for elective, non-emergency surgery. The United States doesn't do as well as Germany but it does a lot better than the other countries on waiting time for surgery," Davis said.
"We looked at the time it takes to get in to see your own doctor ... (or) once you go to the emergency room do you sit there for more than two hours, and truthfully, we don't do well on those measures," Davis said.
According to the report, 61 percent of U.S. patients said it was somewhat or very difficult to get care on nights or weekends, compared with 25 percent to 59 percent in other countries.
"The area where the U.S. health care system performs best is preventive care, an area that has been monitored closely for over a decade by managed care plans," the report reads.
The United States had the fewest patients -- 84 percent -- reporting that they have a regular doctor.
And U.S. doctors are the least wired, with the lowest percentage using electronic medical records or receiving electronic updates on recommended treatments.
Department of Defense locks down internet traffic
By Steve Ragan
May 15, 2007, 17:20 GMT
For thousands of soldiers overseas, the few minutes spent online sending an email or posting to a blog are about all the contact they have with friends and loved ones. Time spent for communications is both limited and monitored to prevent data leaks. Yesterday, the Department of Defense (DoD) locked down much of the personal internet traffic in order to limit negative impact on the bandwidth used by the fighting forces.
The fact is blogs, journals, and video chats help morale and sooth worries from those left behind. Friends and families watch the seemingly never-ending stream of deaths and attacks on the nightly news around the country and the internet has always been a source of communication. To that end, there is no valid reason to wonder why so many families and troops are upset over the recent ban. The new ban blocks several networks worldwide including YouTube, MySpace, and eleven other social networking sites. According to Army officials, the ban was declared official at 24:00GMT. Some reports list the time as being earlier or later depending on the official cited, so families may still have the chance to send one last message.
The DoD said the reason for the blocks was to spare the overuse of bandwidth on the operational network. The military is worried that personal use of computers drain resources and pose a serious risk for operational security (OpSec). In a memo to soldiers the DoD said, “This recreational traffic impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge.”
There has been a long-standing ban on OpSec information sharing. Almost all forms were covered including letters, phone calls, email, and pictures. The reason is a valid one; it is to prevent needless security violations that could jeopardize the mission or lives of the company. Anyone who is a soldier or was a soldier knows this. At the same time, most if not all take precautions, in order to avoid OpSec risks and to keep the privileges that allow communications with family and friends.
The new policy now includes a blanket ban on several of the most popular and common forms of communications. Pictures, messages, audio, and video are all included. The exact sites cited by the Associated Press include; Video-sharing sites YouTube, Metacafe, IFilm, StupidVideos, and FileCabi. Social networking sites MySpace, BlackPlanet, and Hi5. Music sites Pandora, MTV, 1.fm and live365, and Photo-sharing site Photobucket.
Another point, several in the press corps for the Army report that while the ban will stop personal communications from the soldiers, it also stops the collection of intelligence gathering. US Forces monitor and view blogs, photos, and videos uploaded by insurgents and factions all over the globe. This new ban will hamper those efforts. Another complaint is that it appears that this is information blackout, meaning the DoD is attempting to save face and stem the flow of bad news from the front lines.
If that is the case, the ban is even worse because while the bad news is stopped so is the god news, unless it is approved and posted to the new YouTube channel. According to Noah Shachtman from Wired Magazine, “This is as much an information war as it is bombs and bullets, and they are muzzling their best voices.”
The critical concern is morale. As stated, loved ones and friends use the internet to keep track of and to talk to those who are overseas, this ban poses the risk to strip it all away.
Weeeelllllll,
Just don't EVER let it happen again!! ROFL
Maybe you need these:
I already answered it A1!!!
In my first post to you this a.m.... lol
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19643773
I don't have any of that one...
I thot about picking up some ONT yest. in mid 2's...
Sure wish I had quit "thinking" and done it!! lol
What do you mean "slowly" drying up....
Someone sucked the life out of it!!!! =(
Good morning Stock =)
Good morning Bull!!
Would you please kick these MMs in the backside and tell
them to WAKE UP - it's time to move some of these stinkie pinkies outta da gutter!!!
Spent some time with my mommy this weekend... =)
pretty good here, it is a BEEEEAUTIFUL day -
but we have T-storms moving in later =(