Free Republic

Thanks for voting!

The above children story is one of many entries in an online contest for publication. If you like the story, as I did, please click on the above link and vote for it. I do not personally know the author, she's a friend of a friend of a friend, who has written this wonderful children story about adoption. She was inspired to write the story after her own experiences in adopting her son earlier this year. Her message was so moving and endearing that I felt compelled to share it with everyone and to help her win so that her story may be published, as well as win a whole library of children books for her sponsored school, Knight Elementary in Lilburn, GA. Voting is super easy and takes only a few seconds. Thanks in advance!

The pricing for Asians is wrong! Asians would have to pay the most because UC Berkeley have lowered SAT standards to allow more admissions from other ethnic groups.

The Chinese Politburo threatened to mount a sizable retaliation. The Red Chinese Army troops were seen pitching tents and saluting their flags at the South African border.

I’m sure they will “rise” to the competition!

I foresee a war coming between the Chinese and the South Africans! And the Chinese promises "stiff" retaliation!

I wonder who will "limp" away as the loser?

Ancient Chinese proverb: Size does not matter if one prematurely peters out.

With a population of 1.3 billions, what do those little pricks know about condom anyway?!

Knowing the Chinese, they'll just keep "pecking" away at the competition with more cheap products!

anyone else bothered by the defacing of OUR FLAG with that islamic sickled moon and star? Click on the link and look at that article again.

Many of us in the real world are too busy taking care of patients to give a flying rat’s arse about publishing. I have no desire to submit anything for publication because it is a laborious process that detracts from the valuable time I can spend with my patients and more importantly, my family. If you think that the record for the youngest surviving fetus is at 21 - 22 weeks you are mistaken. Ask any neonatologist about their personal experience and they will confirm to you that they have successfully saved a few 20 weekers in their career and some grow up to have normal lives. 20 wks. is actually the cut off that many centers use to decide whether or not to resuscitate. I have personally seen an 18w+ premie survive, but not without significant developmental problems necessitating numerous surgeries. Just because you don’t read about it nor see it on TV doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. Not everyone care to publish, nor does every parent of a premie want public notoriety.

The size of the government, this is perfect! Thank you, sir/ma’am! Good night.

What’s “punked?” I thought that punk was a bad word. I’m not a punk. I’ve been doing lots of research on the internet on how to answer this question. The word “handiwork” is exactly from the workbook question that we have to answer. That’s why I put it in quotes. The book our class use is Imagine It. We go online at www.sraimagineit.com to log in and read from the chapter and the use the workbook for our homework. My mom and dad are doctors and they make us read a lot. Mom takes me and my sisters to the library all the time. I know what erosion mean, like erosion from wind and water. We learned about civil rights last year. I’ve known about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King since second grade. It’s late and I finished my homework already. Thank you everyone for helping me.

Yes, ma’am. I logged on using my dad’s account. My homework is due tomorrow. I’m almost done. Thank you for all your help.

thank you, sir or ma’am.

A slide out QWERTY pad to type on like the Droid would be nice. I find the touch screen pad on the current iPhone to be very quirky and difficult to use at time, esp. with my pudgy fingers.

My experience with HP has been quite satisfactory, although I’ve only had to deal with them once. I bought an HP desk top recently for my children from Sam’s Club, my first HP computer. Good deal on it, bright 24” monitor with HDMI connection, BluRay drive, 1 TB hard drive. 5 months later, the wireless keyboard went haywire. I called up HP support around 3PM my time, spoke to a guy who was obviously Indian by his accent, but his English was clear and fluent. The very following morning, a FedEx truck came to my front door and delivered a spanking new replacement wireless keyboard and mouse, as mine were still under warranty. I didn’t have to pay a dime, not even for the rushed overnight shipping! Thus far, I’ve been very impressed with HP’s customer service. But as I’ve said, I’ve only had a single encounter with them.

Under a security pact signed in 1960, U.S. armed forces are allowed broad use of Japanese land and facilities, and currently some 47,000 American troops are stationed in Japan. The U.S. is obliged to respond to attacks on Japan and protects the country under its nuclear umbrella.

More than half those troops are stationed in the southern island of Okinawa, where many residents complain about noise, pollution and crime linked to the bases.

U.S.-Japan ties have become strained since Hatoyama took office in September over the relocation of Futenma U.S. Marine airfield on Okinawa, as part of a broader reorganization agreed in 2006. The plan calls for 8,000 Marines to be transferred to the U.S. territory of Guam and for Futenma's facilities to be moved to a northern part of Okinawa.

But residents oppose the move and simply want Futenma shut down. Hatoyama has delayed making a final decision and said he's willing to consider other options for the base. The leader of a junior coalition partner has said she wants the base moved off Japanese territory altogether.

In Monday's speech, the prime minister said the Japan-U.S. partnership also needs to tackle broader issues such as global warming.

"It doesn't even need to be said that the core of the Japan-U.S. alliance is military security. But it is important to show that at various levels, Japan and America are in a crucial relationship," he said.

Domestically, Hatoyama said his main priority was passing a new budget and fiscal measures to keep Japan's nascent economic recovery on track.

He said it was too soon to elaborate on his party's strategy for elections for the less powerful upper house of parliament coming up this summer. Recent polls have shown his popularity has fallen sharply since his party swept to power last year.

It has been my experience that the majority of times if you show up to court to contest a traffic violation, the officer writing the ticket will not show up as he’s got better things to do, like writing more tickets, and you will get off. I have also found that the judge presiding over these cases are quite reasonable as well. I’ve gone to court 5 times, and 4 out of 5, the cops didn’t show up. And the one time that the cop did show up, I got off with the judge reprimanding the cop for writing such a ridiculous ticket (driving on the parking lane to make a right turn at a traffic light. there never had been a designated parking lane on that street as there were no marked lanes and there were no parking meters nor any parking signs.)

Mac ping for later. thanks a bunch and Merry Christmas!

Mac ping for later. thanks a bunch and Merry Christmas!

video from Yahoo

Bryant Gumbel, This Is Your Sorry Life!

When questioning Dr. Richard Corlin of the American Medical Association during a Today Show interview, Gumbel said, "In the greedy excesses of the Reagan years, the mean income of the average physician nearly doubled, from $88,000 to $170,000. Was that warranted?"

Yet during the Reagan year of 1982, Gumbel signed a contract with the Today Show paying him $750,000 a year. In 1985 -- still a Reagan year -- his salary was raised to $1.5 million a year. Now that is economic disparity. I know that being the host of a morning "news" show is more important (sarc.) than being a physician, but tell me Bryant, was that pay raise warranted?

Now that his health is failing from lung cancer, I wonder if this putz still feels that physicians are overpaid? I wish Gumbel well, but he's still a putz in my book."

Tamiflu is not a cure. It has no virucidal activity. Taking Tamiflu early within 3 days of onset of symptoms may shorten the duration of the disease but it is NOT a cure. Tamiflu (generic name Oseltamivir phosphate) is an ethyl ester prodrug requiring ester hydrolysis to the active form oseltamivir carboxylate. Oseltamivir carboxylate is an inhibitor or influenza virus neuraminidase affecting release of viral particles. It does not “kill” the virus.

Cao took a gamble, proving that he’s just another spineless, invertebrate politician looking out for himself. We shall see come election day whether or not he will have longevity.

No doubt that Cao is spineless. He’s proven himself to be just another invertebrate politician. I’m disappointed, but I can see his reasons.

correction: 64% minority. would it still be considered a minority when it’s 64% though? ain’t this what you call an oxymoron?

Representative Cao may have voted like a cow, and while I agree that he is a weak opportunist trying to save his political career, I think that he may have gotten the green light by the GOP to do so. They let him vote last, right after the 218th vote (needed to pass the bill). His constituents are 64% minority and the district overwhelmingly Democrats at 75%. To take him out in the next election, the Dimrats will have to spend a whole lot more money now. It’s all politics, nothing new. Not a bad move, if you think about it, to preserve a Republican seat in an otherwise overwhelmingly Democrat district. Pelosi already had enough votes in the House to ram this bill through. What would it have accomplished if Cao voted against it? Principle and conviction, certainly, though arguably lofty. But preservation of a Republican seat in the next election is more important, no? Cao was staunchly against Cap and Trade, wasn’t he? We shall see if Cao’s gamble will pay out come election day.

Representative Cao may have voted like a cow, and while I agree that he is a weak opportunist trying to save his political career, I think that he got the green light by the GOP to do so. They let him vote last, right after the 218th vote (needed to pass the bill). His constituents are 80% minority and the district overwhelmingly Democrats. To take him out in the next election, the Dimrats will have to spend a lot of money. It’s all politics, nothing new. Not a bad move, if you think about it, to preserve a Republican seat in an overwhelmingly Democrat district. Pelosi already had enough votes in the House to ram this bill through. What would it have accomplished if Cao voted against it? Preservation of a Republican seat in the next election is more important, no?

as a doctor who emergently delivered a 20 wks. old breech baby, who went on to survive without any neurologic or developmental deficit a few years back, I would argue that we must give all newborn life a fighting chance. I didn’t think that this kid would survive but I was proven wrong. I just threw the kitchen sink at him and God took care of the rest.

ping

received this email joke from a friend not too long ago:

Barak Obama meets with the Queen of England. He asks her, "Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give to me?"

"Well," says the Queen, "the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people."

Obama frowns "But how do I know the people around me are really intelligent?"

The Queen takes a sip of tea. "Oh, that's easy. You just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle." The Queen pushes a button on her intercom. "Please send Tony Blair in here, would you?"

Tony Blair walks into the room. "Yes, my Queen?" The Queen smiles. "Answer me this, please, Tony. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"

Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answers, "That would be me."

"Yes! Very good," says the Queen.

Obama goes back home to ask Joe Biden, his vice presidential choice the same question. "Joe. Answer this for me. Your mother and your father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"

"I'm not sure," says Biden. "Let me get back to you on that one." He goes to his advisors and asks every one, but none can give him an answer. Finally, he ends up in the men's room and recognizes Colin Powell's shoes in the next stall. Biden asks Powell, "Colin! Can you answer this for me? Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"

Colin Powell yells back, "That's easy. It's me!"

Biden smiles, and says, "Thanks!" Then, he goes back to speak with Obama. "Say, I did some research and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Colin Powell."

Obama gets up, stomps over to Biden, and angrily yells into his face, "No, you idiot! It's Tony Blair!"

Say it ain’t so, Joe. Joe’s done sold his soul.

stolt to post elsewhere. thanks for the post

stolt for later

true medical tort reform will never happen as the folks in charge, the majority of people in Congress, are themselves lawyers, skilled in the art of self-preservation and back room dealings. it ain’t gonna happen. even Howard Dean had publicly admitted that they’re too afraid of the trial lawyers to pursue tort reforms.

capping nonpunitive damages does help, but it does not deter defensive CYA medicine practiced by ALL doctors. i say this from personal experience. hmm... $240 for an xray, $1200 for a CT.... to prevent a $250,000 lawsuit that will cost at least $50k in attorney fees to defend.... It's a no-brainer, we'll go for the xrays/CT.

what we really need is a medical court, where physicians and medical providers are judged by a jury of our TRUE peers, instead of a sympathetic jury.

depends on how severe the spanking is, I suppose. A generation or 2 ago, folks probably don’t have a problem with any adult disciplining rotten kids.

Are you kidding?? No one is touching this, Birther stuff is poison.

Apparently, Sarah Palin feels the same way you do. Birthers who go on her Facebook page to post and question the constitutional validity of Obama to be POTUS were immediately banned. I went on there and posted, "The emperor has no birth certificate"... was ZOTTED immediately.

I know for a fact that she wouldn't call him out on the birth certificate issue. I went on her Facebook page and posted "Political Obamanation without birth certification is tyrrany. The emperor does not have a birth certificate!"... and got banned immediately. Many people who have posted similar comments on there regarding this issue have likewise been banned. Palin's peeps do not have much tolerance for birthers questioning the constitutional validity of Obama's presidency. I suppose she's taking the political high road and is distancing herself from this topic. But when dealing with thugs and bullies, there comes a point when you just gotta roll up your sleeves and slug it out with them.

Many physicians, including myself, will go to a cash only practice and not have to be bothered with insurance, medicare/medicaid billings, and the associated overhead costs. In fact, many such practices, and concierge medicine, already exist everywhere, and probably will become the norm. We will give up our hospital privileges and perform our exams and procedures at our clinics or at the outpatient surgical centers for cash. It’s already happening. Many opthalmologists, ENT’s, plastic surgeons, OMFS, orthopedic surgeons, urologists, dermatologists, and general surgeons no longer come to the hospital at all. If a case is too complex or the patient too critical, they get sent to the ER for the on call folks to take care of. EMTALA is already an unfunded mandate and it’s about to get worse.

As someone from the "asian persuasion" I can confidently state that most asians don't like blacks. That said, Williams was way out of line

You, too, are WAY out of line and ought to be ashame of yourself for making such an ignorant statement! Who the hell gave you the authority to speak for all asians?

Palin's peeps do not have much tolerance for birthers questioning the constitutional validity of Obama's presidency. Try going on her Facebook page and post "The emperor has no birth certificate". You will be banned, as I was, for doing it. I suppose she's taking the political high road and is distancing herself from this issue. But when dealing with thugs, there comes a point when you just gotta bite the bullet and slug it out with them.

During 3rd year of medical school while rotating through the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit rotation (only my 2nd clinical rotation up until that point), I participated in the birth of a pair of twins. One of the twins had severe malformations including microcephaly, meningomyelocele, cleft lip cleft palate, and a club foot. The couple chose to carry the pregnancy to full term in order to save the normal twin. Right after the delivery I was instructed by the chief resident to take the deformed twin into another room so as to not allow the parents to see him. As I held this beautiful child in my arms and gently rocked him, like I had my youngest sister and all of my nieces and nephew, I sang him a lullaby that mother used to sing. I then baptized him with the tap water from the faucet in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, knowing that his Muslim parents would not. With the stethescope hanging from my ears, I held this child until his last breath and heart beat faded. It saddened me that this baby died in the arms of a stranger and not his parents. His body was taken to the morgue without his parents ever seeing him. From then on, I vowed never again to let another newborn infant die on my watch without intervening.

Fast forward 20 yrs. later...Few months ago, my ER nurses and I successfully resuscitated a 21 weeker crack baby who was gray, ashen, pulseless and apneic when we delivered him. He's doing well, alive and growing without any deficits. Truly a miracle. We are a culture of life, and rationing of care is not why I went into medicine. We went all out to save this kid and our prayers were answered. What's a $2 million dollars hospital bill anyway in the grand scheme of things? Chump change compare to our federal deficits.

thanks for the list

ping

ping!

Exactamundo!

Also in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan PAID the inn keeper WITH HIS OWN MONEY, not anyone else's.

Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

The Good Samaritan PAID the inn keeper WITH HIS OWN MONEY! Jesus teaches us to perform acts of charity, not espouse socialism. Jesus did not mention any gubmint in this parable but the reference to the establishment is clear when He described the uncaring attitude of the priest and the Levite who saw the injured man and walked on by.

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." --- Margaret Thatcher

Consider this, once a teenage girl is pregnant and comes into the ER of a hospital seeking care, the law in every state considers her an emancipated minor who can make decisions and grant consents for medical treatment. This is also true for many teenage runaways as well. When they show up to the hospital for care, they are considered emancipated minor. How is this 17 years old young lady who ran away not considered an emancipated minor?

You do bring up a good point. A good lawyer and some crafty legal maneuvering can drag this case out until she turns 18, at which point she would be considered a legal adult and won't have to return home to face her oppressive parents.