Free Republic

In February, a group of cardiologists in Gainesville, Ga., announced they were building a diagnostic heart center in an $18 million joint venture with the local hospital. Last month, they said the project was dead. The reason? Federal Medicare officials want to crack down on arrangements like the one that was planned in Gainesville, where doctors refer patients to businesses in which they have a financial stake. In recent years, many physicians have become wealthy by investing in magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, facilities, surgery centers and diagnostic sites -- and then sending their patients to them. A recent McKinsey...

CHICAGO - Attorney Judson Miner called Harvard to offer a job to a graduating student named Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and didn't expect to be showered with gratitude. Still, he wasn't expecting the reception he got. "You can leave your name and take a number," the woman who answered the phone at the Harvard Law Review said breezily. "You're No. 647." That was 1991 and even then Obama — the Illinois senator now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination — was a hot commodity. As the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama had his pick of...

Chicago Workers Practice Emergency Drill Friday September 8, 2006 3:46 AM By MICHAEL TARM Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) - Thousands of people working in downtown high-rise buildings left their jobs early Thursday to test the city's response to a terrorist attack or other emergency. Participants, many with tennis shoes on their feet and water bottles in hand, left their offices and, under the direction of emergency teams, walked about five blocks to an assessment area. Once checked in, they were free to go. Officials said more than 3,000 people took part in the voluntary drill, which involved four properties...

The Coast Guard wants to do target practice, with live ammunition, on all five of the Great Lakes. Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier, of the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District, said the proposed target ranges would allow Coast Guard units to perform homeland defense exercises by firing at floating targets from cutters and small boats. Lanier said the Coast Guard has to be ready for anything. There would be specific times announced for the practice and boaters would be kept out of those areas. The proposal has many people concerned. Hugh McDiarmid Junior from the Michigan Environmental Council says so...

Good politics is usually defined as anything that gets votes for a candidate. Honest politics means telling the voters what you will really do if elected. The jury is still out on which sort of politics are practiced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. For sure, he frequently uses sleight of hand and illusion to position himself in ways more compatible to most Californians than what he's really done. One example came when Schwarzenegger went before a bank of 16 television cameras to propose a "low-cost prescription drug plan" he said would lower the cost of needed medicines for millions of Californians....

8/18/2006 - MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke training camp Thursday and in an unprecedented move for the team, held its day-before-game walk-through at MacDill AFB, Fla. The Buccaneers, who play their second pre-season game against the Miami Dolphins Saturday, have a long-standing relationship and community partnership with the military here. "You guys have no idea what a great morale booster it is for you to come out and do this," said Col. Maggie Woodward, 6th Air Mobility Wing commander. "It means a lot that you think enough of us to do this." Friday's...

5/10/2006 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Deployed Airmen, distributing humanitarian supplies, are taken hostage by enemy forces while visiting an Afghan village. It’s now up to the accompanying squad of security forces to rescue the Airmen and eliminate the bad guys. This is the scenario members of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron were exercising here May 9 in the Army’s Military Operations in Urban Terrain, or MOUT, facility. The facility is custom-made for training and is designed to resemble a typical Afghan village, complete with buildings made of mud. Inside are a collection of high-tech cameras, video...

UDAIRI RANGE, Kuwait, May 3, 2006 – Training never stops in the push to ensure American soldiers and Marines are ready for duty in Iraq. As part of a training scenario at Udairi Range, Kuwait, actors playing an Iraqi policeman and drivers argue at a traffic accident while an American convoy waits to enter the village. The scenario gives a realistic look at what challenges lie ahead for the soldiers when they move north into Iraq. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Servicemembers polish their skills here just prior to deployment "up north." Earlier this...

A growing number of schools and community colleges in California are refinancing voter-approved bonds to raise extra cash, a practice many financial experts say puts an additional burden on taxpayers and may violate state law. The process, known as cash-out refunding, is similar to refinancing a home mortgage to lower monthly payments and take out equity in cash. It's popular because the school districts get extra money - frequently millions of dollars - without going back to the voters. Most use the money to cover construction cost overruns, but critics say California law limits the use of refunded bonds for...

Children should expect some of their lessons to be boring because life is not a "Disney ride", teachers said yesterday.Too often pupils and parents expected lessons to be "all singing, all dancing" when the reality was that some learning could be tedious and hard work. Zoe Fail, a mathematics teacher. thinks that children are not bored enough because their lives are over-stimulated. "Being bored encourages thinking skills and imaginative play," she said. "I remember being bored but I am not bored now because I know how to deal with it." Miss Fail, from Kent, told delegates at the Association of...

WILMINGTON, N.Y. - Swedish snowboarder Jonatan Johansson died Sunday after falling during a snowboardcross run down Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. The 26-year-old Turin Olympics competitor lost control on one of his jumps during training for an International Ski Federation World Cup competition, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboarding Association spokesman Tom Kelly. A state police report said Johansson tried to correct himself but landed hard. An autopsy found the cause of death to be multiple internal injuries. Officials said Johansson landed within the course boundaries and was wearing a helmet. Olympic Regional Development Authority spokesman Sandy Caligiore said he...

Welcome Newcomers! This Sandbox is devoted to giving you a place to practice basic HTML, and to get some coaching. So, first things first: Go to michigander's [ HTML Bootcamp (Cyber patriot training)] and learn there how to change font color, font size, font face, and the like. THERE'S A WEALTH OF INFORMATION THERE NOT COVERED HERE (so as to avoid duplication). Learn there also how to post a link and an image, then come back here to practice. If you're having problems, folks will drop by occasionally to give you pointers and help you troubleshoot. So practice here...

12/28/2005 - PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Ore. (AFPN) -- More than 50 years after it entered the Air Force, aircrews are still finding ways to increase the capabilities of the KC-135 Stratotanker. Ten reservists from the 939th Air Refueling Wing here and four the 349th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., demonstrated the airplane has valuable medical-evacuation capabilities. The team practiced transporting patients with battlefield injuries during a three-day mission to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay. The base is home to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force. The medevac mission is just a few years old for the...

When I was a boy, my parents used to enjoy a comedian named Ronnie Graham. One of his jokes was, "The other day a cat came up to me and said, 'How do I get to Carnegie Hall?' and I said 'Practice, man, practice.' This other cat came up to me and said, 'Meow.' He was a real cat." We talk a lot in our movement about spiritual practices. I am a Religious Science Practitioner; the root word of Practitioner is practice. But why do we practice? Ernest Holmes said that a central concept of our movement is "Perfect God,...

On June 8, 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited President Bush in the White House. Among the topics the two discussed were freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Speaking from the Oval Office, Bush declared Turkey's democracy to be "an important example for the people of the broader Middle East."Turkey remains an important ally of the United States despite recent bilateral tensions over the Iraq war and its aftermath. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have valued Turkey not only as a strategic military partner in the Cold War but also, in recent decades, as a democratic outpost...

HOUSTON SPACE CENTER, Texas - Two spacewalking astronauts armed with caulking guns, putty knives and foam brushes practiced fixing deliberately damaged shuttle heat shields Saturday, a job they hope they won't have to do for real. Although Discovery suffered some scrapes and chips during liftoff, none of the damage appears to warrant orbital repairs, space agency officials said. As the two astronauts completed the mission's first spacewalk, NASA was on the verge of extending Discovery's visit at the international space station. With future shuttle flights grounded because of Discovery's fuel-tank foam loss during liftoff, the space agency would like to...

When I was a boy, my parents used to enjoy a comedian named Ronnie Graham. One of his jokes was, "The other day a cat came up to me and said, 'How do I get to Carnegie Hall?' and I said 'Practice, man, practice.' This other cat came up to me and said, 'Meow.' He was a real cat." We talk a lot in our movement about spiritual practices. I am a Religious Science Practitioner; the root word of Practitioner is practice. But why do we practice? Ernest Holmes said that a central concept of our movement is "Perfect God,...

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT QUICKVOTE Should doctors who graduate from foreign medical schools be licensed to practice in the United States?

Unconscious Competence: What is it? How can we train for it? Martin D. Topper, Ph.D., Jack M. Feldman, Ph.D. What Is Unconscious Competence? The term "Unconscious Competence," is used by members of the American Tactical Shooting Association and others in the training community to describe a rapid, seamless and successful response to a situation involving deadly force or the potential for deadly force. It is a term many believe they inherently understand, but which is, in reality, very hard to define. For example, what does the word "unconscious" imply? Obviously, it doesn't mean unconsciousness as in a boxer who's...

    by Fr. Andrew Sullivan M.J. Other Articles by Fr. Andrew Sullivan M.J. Reviving the Practice of Reverence 12/30/04 Here we are at the end of the year. It is a good time for reflection and assessing what we need to do to end the year with a better understanding of how we can love God more. Let’s consider the need for reverence in our lives. There is a need for great reverence in our relationships with Jesus Christ. Lord have mercy that there is so little reverence these days. It has become like scarce water in a desert. It...

Welcome Newcomers! This Sandbox is devoted to giving you a place to practice basic HTML, and to get some coaching. So, first things first: Go to michigander's [ HTML Bootcamp (Cyber patriot training)] and learn there how to change font color, font size, font face, and the like. THERE'S A WEALTH OF INFORMATION THERE NOT COVERED HERE (so as to avoid duplication). Learn there also how to post a link and an image, then come back here to practice. If you're having problems, folks will drop by occasionally to give you pointers and help you troubleshoot. Boring posts are...

Debate practice...  "He's [Kerry] a sweater," chortles a G.O.P. official, "and women don't like sweaters."   This is an email-able, copyright-ready cartoon you can use in emails, on blogs, in flyers, on posters... anything that's noncommercial.

In this IBD posted this graphic:

Welcome Newcomers! This Sandbox is devoted to giving you a place to practice basic HTML without getting flamed when you make a mistake, and to get some coaching. So, first things first: Go to michigander's [ HTML Bootcamp (Cyber patriot training)] and learn there how to change font color, font size, font face, and the like. THERE'S A WEALTH OF INFORMATION THERE NOT COVERED HERE (so as to avoid duplication). Learn there also how to post a link and an image, then come back here to practice. If you're having problems, folks will drop by occasionally to give you...

A row has broken out in Australia's Queensland state following reports that police there used photographs of real-life people, including Aborigines, during target practice. The police minister in the northeastern state, Tony McGrady, has ordered an inquiry after the Channel Seven television report. The broadcaster said Queensland's counter-terrorism squad used 28 pictures or mug shots, including those of two Aborigines, in training exercises. Civil rights activists reacted with outrage but police maintained they had done nothing wrong. "It's absolutely disgraceful in that it reinforces prejudices," said Cameron Murphy, secretary of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties. "We've got a serious...

Welcome Newcomers! This Sandbox is devoted to giving you a place to practice basic HTML, and to get some coaching. So, first things first: Go to michigander's [ HTML Bootcamp (Cyber patriot training)] and learn there how to change font color, font size, font face, and the like. THERE'S A WEALTH OF INFORMATION THERE NOT COVERED HERE (so as to avoid duplication). Learn there also how to post a link and an image, then come back here to practice. If you're having problems, folks will drop by occasionally to give you pointers and help you troubleshoot. Boring posts are...

The cases presented in the True Stella Awards are typically selected to illustrate various aspects of the runaway problems in our civil legal system. The aim, over the long run, is to clearly show that there is no one aspect of the problem that needs change to "fix" the entire system;the problems are indeed systemic. It's definitely not just bad lawyers,or too many of them (though that's part of it). It's not just that the medical profession isn't weeding out bad doctors (though that's part ofit). It's not just that insurance companies encourage frivolous claimsand suits by making "nuisance" payments...

The term "HAM" is a nickname for those who participate in the hobby called amateur radio. The origin of that term is not known to us. The term "amateur" these days means "one who is not professional." Doen't know much about the subject.That was not the original meaning....(snip) Every year in June, HAMs generate disaster....(snip)Click HERE for entire article.