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Stuart G
Stuart G's Journal
Stuart G's Journal
August 30, 2013
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: August 25, 2013
It is one of the most common components of emergency medicine: an intravenous bag of sterile saltwater. Luckily for anyone who has ever needed an IV bag to replenish lost fluids or to receive medication, it is also one of the least expensive. The average manufacturer’s price, according to government data, has fluctuated in recent years from 44 cents to $1.
Yet there is nothing either cheap or simple about its ultimate cost, as I learned when I tried to trace the commercial path of IV bags from the factory to the veins of more than 100 patients struck by a May 2012 outbreak of food poisoning in upstate New York.
Yet there is nothing either cheap or simple about its ultimate cost, as I learned when I tried to trace the commercial path of IV bags from the factory to the veins of more than 100 patients struck by a May 2012 outbreak of food poisoning in upstate New York.
Some of the patients’ bills would later include markups of 100 to 200 times the manufacturer’s price, not counting separate charges for “IV administration.” And on other bills, a bundled charge for “IV therapy” was almost 1,000 times the official cost of the solution.
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This is incredible read, and in two pages, we are shown exactly why we need single payer health insurance in the United States right now...(well worth the time)
How To Charge 546 Dollars for Six Liters of Salt Water.:.New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-secret-costs.html?_r=0By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: August 25, 2013
It is one of the most common components of emergency medicine: an intravenous bag of sterile saltwater. Luckily for anyone who has ever needed an IV bag to replenish lost fluids or to receive medication, it is also one of the least expensive. The average manufacturer’s price, according to government data, has fluctuated in recent years from 44 cents to $1.
Yet there is nothing either cheap or simple about its ultimate cost, as I learned when I tried to trace the commercial path of IV bags from the factory to the veins of more than 100 patients struck by a May 2012 outbreak of food poisoning in upstate New York.
Yet there is nothing either cheap or simple about its ultimate cost, as I learned when I tried to trace the commercial path of IV bags from the factory to the veins of more than 100 patients struck by a May 2012 outbreak of food poisoning in upstate New York.
Some of the patients’ bills would later include markups of 100 to 200 times the manufacturer’s price, not counting separate charges for “IV administration.” And on other bills, a bundled charge for “IV therapy” was almost 1,000 times the official cost of the solution.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is incredible read, and in two pages, we are shown exactly why we need single payer health insurance in the United States right now...(well worth the time)
August 29, 2013
If Gas goes to just 5.50 a gallon, who wins?
Just a couple bucks more per gallon.. Not the 8 to 10 in Europe or Asia. They just raised it a quarter a gallon in my area. Sure, the oil companies. Anyone else wins? Lets hope not.
August 27, 2013
By Scott Keyes on August 27, 2013 at 2:08 pm
Nobody sticks up a bank for a single dollar unless he has a particularly compelling reason. Tim Alsip had one: the only way he could afford health care was to get it in jail.
On Friday morning, 50-year-old Alsip walked into a Portland-area Bank of America and calmly handed the teller a note: “This is a hold up. Give me a dollar.” Alsip then took his single dollar bill and sat quietly in the lobby, waiting for police to arrive. According to The Oregonian, he has a history of mental illness, addiction, and dental problems that seem to have gone untreated. Sacrificing his freedom was the price Alsip felt he had to pay to receive medical care.
Alsip is currently homeless and has no past criminal record in the state. He was arrested without incident and charged with second-degree robbery and bail set at $250,000.
Sick Oregon Man Robs Bank for One Dollar to Get Health Care in Jail : Think Progress
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/08/27/2535201/sick-oregon-man-robs-bank-dollar-health-care-jail/By Scott Keyes on August 27, 2013 at 2:08 pm
Nobody sticks up a bank for a single dollar unless he has a particularly compelling reason. Tim Alsip had one: the only way he could afford health care was to get it in jail.
On Friday morning, 50-year-old Alsip walked into a Portland-area Bank of America and calmly handed the teller a note: “This is a hold up. Give me a dollar.” Alsip then took his single dollar bill and sat quietly in the lobby, waiting for police to arrive. According to The Oregonian, he has a history of mental illness, addiction, and dental problems that seem to have gone untreated. Sacrificing his freedom was the price Alsip felt he had to pay to receive medical care.
Alsip is currently homeless and has no past criminal record in the state. He was arrested without incident and charged with second-degree robbery and bail set at $250,000.
August 27, 2013
Entergy to Close Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Source: Google Finance, Wall Street Journal
By Ryan Tracy, Saabira Chaudhuri,
Entergy Corp. said Tuesday it will close its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant late next year, the latest U.S. plant to close amid difficult economic times for the nuclear power industry.
Entergy said “a number of financial factors” were behind what Chief Executive Leo Denault called “an agonizing decision and an extremely tough call.”
The company said those factors included low natural-gas prices, the high costs of running a nuclear station with a single power-generating reactor, and “flaws” in the design of the region’s electricity marketplace that “do not provide adequate compensation to merchant nuclear plants for the fuel diversity benefits they provide.”
Read more: http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-310012/
August 27, 2013
So What? They Used Chemical Weapons. It is War. Why Is It Our Business?
War is ...well ..War.
Countries and leaders do unmentionable things during war.
So do soldiers. It is what it is. It is not new.
Why should anyone be surprised?
If the U.S attacks Syria, it is an act of war.
Syria could attack the U.S. That is what war is.
I believe war should always be avoided, if possible.
Always, if possible..
August 26, 2013
A new baby cub at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington is bright pink, very tiny and healthy, the zoo announced on Sunday as they released the first photos of the little bundle of joy. (hit link to view Photo)
The mama panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth at 5:32 p.m. on Friday, and according to zoo officials, after spending the past two weeks practicing for the moment by “spending extended amounts of time body licking and cradling her toys.”
Mei Xiang picked up her new cub immediately after giving birth and started nurturing it and cuddling with it, said zoo officials.
On Sunday, the zoo reported that their panda team was able to give Mei Xiang’s newborn its first neonatal examination. The team concluded that “the cub is robust, fully formed, and is a bright, healthy shade of pink,” adding that the newborn is “active” and “vibrant.”
New Born Panda Cub Healthy and Vibrant says National Zoo
http://www.today.com/pets/newborn-panda-cub-vibrant-healthy-says-national-zoo-8C10996227A new baby cub at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington is bright pink, very tiny and healthy, the zoo announced on Sunday as they released the first photos of the little bundle of joy. (hit link to view Photo)
The mama panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth at 5:32 p.m. on Friday, and according to zoo officials, after spending the past two weeks practicing for the moment by “spending extended amounts of time body licking and cradling her toys.”
Mei Xiang picked up her new cub immediately after giving birth and started nurturing it and cuddling with it, said zoo officials.
On Sunday, the zoo reported that their panda team was able to give Mei Xiang’s newborn its first neonatal examination. The team concluded that “the cub is robust, fully formed, and is a bright, healthy shade of pink,” adding that the newborn is “active” and “vibrant.”
August 22, 2013
Yes, there is such a movie....Idiocracy...................
Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes 500 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.
....have fun with the movie...this poll is almost unreal...
Movie based upon the breeding of stupid and ignorant people...Idocracy...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/Yes, there is such a movie....Idiocracy...................
Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes 500 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.
....have fun with the movie...this poll is almost unreal...
August 21, 2013
from the middle of the story...
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Authorities believe Hill must have walked in behind someone authorized to be there, Alexander said. He never got past the front office, where he held one or two employees captive for a time. School bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff says she was one of the hostages.
In an interview on ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer,” Tuff said she worked to convince the gunman to put down his weapons and ammunition.
“He told me he was sorry for what he was doing. He was willing to die,” Tuff told ABC.
Speaking Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Tuff said the suspect told her he hadn’t taken his medication.
She told him her life story, about how her marriage fell apart after 33 years and the “roller coaster” of opening her own business.
“I told him, `OK, we all have situations in our lives,” she said. “It was going to be OK. If I could recover, he could, too.”
Then Tuff said she asked the suspect to put his weapons down, empty his pockets and backpack on the floor.
Antoinette Tuff: Meet The Bookkeeper Who Stopped Ga. School Shooter :News One , AP News:
http://newsone.com/2689375/antoinette-tuff-michael-brandon-hill/from the middle of the story...
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Authorities believe Hill must have walked in behind someone authorized to be there, Alexander said. He never got past the front office, where he held one or two employees captive for a time. School bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff says she was one of the hostages.
In an interview on ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer,” Tuff said she worked to convince the gunman to put down his weapons and ammunition.
“He told me he was sorry for what he was doing. He was willing to die,” Tuff told ABC.
Speaking Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Tuff said the suspect told her he hadn’t taken his medication.
She told him her life story, about how her marriage fell apart after 33 years and the “roller coaster” of opening her own business.
“I told him, `OK, we all have situations in our lives,” she said. “It was going to be OK. If I could recover, he could, too.”
Then Tuff said she asked the suspect to put his weapons down, empty his pockets and backpack on the floor.
August 21, 2013
As crash-test boasts go, Tesla is claiming a good one: The roof of its Model S electric sedan is apparently so strong that it broke a testing machine during independent validation of its government crash-test scores.
Roof-crush strength was just one of the reasons that Tesla says its electric car just came up with a five-star rating in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing.
Five stars is NHTSA's top rating. While other plug-in electric models have overall five-star ratings, a perfect five for each of the three test scores is relatively rare. The 2014 Ford Focus electric also is rated five stars overall and in side-crash testing, but four in rollover and frontal-crash testing. The 2014 Chevrolet Volt is rated five stars overall but has a four in frontal-crash testing. Nissan Leaf is rated four stars overall
Tesla roof so strong it broke crush-test machine: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/08/20/tesla-model-s-crash-test/2678557/As crash-test boasts go, Tesla is claiming a good one: The roof of its Model S electric sedan is apparently so strong that it broke a testing machine during independent validation of its government crash-test scores.
Roof-crush strength was just one of the reasons that Tesla says its electric car just came up with a five-star rating in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing.
Five stars is NHTSA's top rating. While other plug-in electric models have overall five-star ratings, a perfect five for each of the three test scores is relatively rare. The 2014 Ford Focus electric also is rated five stars overall and in side-crash testing, but four in rollover and frontal-crash testing. The 2014 Chevrolet Volt is rated five stars overall but has a four in frontal-crash testing. Nissan Leaf is rated four stars overall
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Skokie, Illinois
Current location: Skokie, Illinois
Member since: Tue Dec 18, 2007, 12:07 PM
Number of posts: 38,416