Archive for the ‘Current Affairs’ Category

Parkland Hospital in Dallas, TX

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Parkland Hospital

Just One Hospital. Unbelievable.

Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas , Texas is a fairly famous institution and for a variety of reasons:

  1. John F. Kennedy died there in 1963
  2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after
  3. Jack Ruby-who killed Oswald, died there a few years later.

On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year. (That’s almost 44 per day—every day)!

A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants. That’s 11,200 anchor babies born every year just in Dallas !!!

According to the article, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8 million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5 million, Dallas County taxpayers kicked in $31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5 million.

The average patient in Parkland in maternity wards is 25 years old, married and giving birth to her second child. She is also an illegal immigrant. By law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care based on t heir immigration status or ability to pay.

OK, fine. That doesn’t mean they should receive better care than everyday, middle-class American citizens. But at Parkland Hospital , they do. ” Parkland Memorial Hospital has nine prenatal clinics. NINE!!!

The Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic woman who was a patient at one of the clinics and pregnant with her third child—her previous two were also born at Parkland . Her first two deliveries were free and the Mexican native was grateful because it would have cost$200 to have them in Mexico. This time, the hospital w ants her to pay $10 per visit and $100 for the delivery but she was unsure if she could come up with the money. Not that it matters, the hospital won’t turn her away. (I wonder why they even bother asking at this point.)

“How long has this been going on? What are the long-term effects?

Well, another subject of the article was born at Parkland in 1986 shortly after her mother entered the US illegally – now she is having her own child there as well. (That’s right; she’s technically a US citizen.)

These women receive free prenatal care including medication, nutrition, birthing classes and child care classes. They also get freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and formula.

Most of these things are available to American citizens as well, but only for low-income applicants, and ev en then, the red tape involved is almost insurmountable.

Because these women are illegal immigrants, they do not have to provide any sort of legitimate identification – no proof of income. An American citizen would have to provide a social security number which would reveal their annual income – an illegal immigrant need only claim to be poor and the hospital must take them at their word.

Parkland Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas County residents who earn less than $40,000 per year. (They also have to prove that they did not refuse health coverage at their current job.. Yeah, the ‘free’ care is not so easy for Americans.)

There are about 140 patients who received roughly $4 million dollars for un-reimbursed medical care. As it turns out, they did not qua lify for free treatment because they resided outside of Dallas County so the hospital is going to sue them! Illegal’s get it all free! But U. S citizens who live outside of Dallas County get sued! How stupid is this?

As if that isn’t annoying enough, the illegal immigrant patients are actually complaining about hospital staff not speaking Spanish. In this AP story, the author speaks with a woman who is upset that she had to translate comments from the hospital staff into Spanish for her husband. The doctor was trying to explain the situation to the family and the mother was forced to translate for her husband who only spoke Spanish. This was apparently a great injustice to her.

In an attempt to create a Spanish-sp eaking staff, Parkland Hospital is now providing incentives in the form of extra pay for applicants who speak Spanish.. Additionally, medical students at the University of Texas Southwestern for which Parkland Hospital is the training facility will now have a Spanish language requirement added to their already jammed-packed curriculum. No other school in the country boasts such a ridiculous multi-semester (multicultural) requirement.

(Sorry for the length, but this needs wide circulation particularly to our “employees” in Congress.) Remember that this is about only ONE hospital in Dallas , Texas . There are many more hospitals across our country that must also deal with this.

PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY U.S. CITIZEN YOU KNOW.
ONLY IN AMERICA!!!!!!!!

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Plastic Bags Banned in Ajman

Saturday, April 17th, 2010
tote bag

The emirate of Ajman, which is the first emirate in the United Arab Emirates, is doing its bit for the environment by imposing a ban on plastic bags within its borders. This is one of the seven emirates, and the first to take such action so far.

Chairman of the Ajman Department of Municipality and Planning, Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, was the man to issue this order, which will be enforced in July 2010. This will start from the beginning of the month, and continue for as long as the law is in place, assuming the ban works well. The order to impose this law was issued in January 2010, on the 18th of the month, which gives the emirate and its citizens almost seven months to prepare for the order to come into place. This means that when the time comes around, it should not be such a shock to the system, as measures should be put in place before then which will see the usage of plastic bags be cut down to minimum possible levels anyway by then. It just means that from July 1st, it will be illegal to use these bags, but this does not condone their use before then, in the months leading up to this final enforcement.

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three bags

The punishment for using a plastic bag after this date will be a monetary fine. The maximum amount set in place currently is Dh50,000, or, 13,612 US dollars, but the value given to individuals may be anything up to this. It will be possible to use certain plastic bags, but these will be recycled ones which have to meet regulations. The regulations include stickers upon the bags, which specify exactly when bags should be recycled and where they came from. All shops within the vicinity of Ajman should take note of this as soon as possible, and contact suppliers who can help provide them with suitable bags to offer shoppers. There is a grace period of six months that has been granted for those with plastic bags in stock to be able to use them up and get rid of any they have left. This law will basically only have bad impact for shops and suppliers, as it is them who are responsible for serving the masses and dictating how people will take their shopping home. As long as they do not hand a shopper a plastic bag, that is not one of the recycled ones, then they are not breaking the law.

fancy tote

The majority of bags will be replaced by fabric counterparts, such as jute, as these are environmentally friendly and will not harm the environment, even if disposed, as plastic bags do. Plastic bags have been seen to be harmful to the environment for many years and often clog up oceans and can be ingested by local wildlife. The use of alternative measures for packaging goods will mean that these areas will vastly improve.

This law will come in in phases, which are to be discussed at the moment, and will mean Ajman is an environmentally forward province.


Author Bio: Be a part of the solution, not the problem – use tote bags to carry your shopping.

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Poland U-turn on Plastic Bag Tax

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
shopping bag

In December 2009 Poland announced that it would be looking to increase the tax on plastic bags in order to change the views of the consumer to start reusing bags. In January 2010, however, Poland has decided to back out of their promise of raising tax causing outrage within many green and pro-recycling activists. However, the real question to consider is, should we really depend on the government to force us to into changing our habits or should we decide for ourselves if we want to recycle and re-use plastic bags or not?

As you would expect the opinion on this matter is split, especially for those of us in the UK who believe that we are, in effect, in a nanny state.

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grocery shopping bag

On one side of the argument the greener people would say that the government should do its part, even if it is by forcing us to change our ways as it is their fault for creating this community. In a way we have to agree, as just like smoking, the government first said that it was okay, then they did a U-turn and then started to block the usage by age, amount even by taxing tobacco in order to forcibly stop those of us who are money conscious. If we were to do this with plastic bags then the next logical step to tale would be that of which Poland first promised in that we would increase the amount a plastic bag cost to an amount such as 10+p. By rising the prices to such an amount people will start to think twice about buying them and will be more inclined to take the small price jump to get reusable bags that are more durable (such as tote bags).

rainbow shopping bags

On the other side of the argument you can argue, as did the smokers at the time, that although it was first introduced by the government it is still their choice. The problem with their argument is that they were already addicted to the product and as such what they had to say was purely influenced by their need for the nicotine within the cigarettes. When we compare this to the use of plastic bags we are, in a way, addicted to the usage of plastic bags, we take them for granted, throw them away without thought and buy them again in the same way. We have done it for so long, so many times and watched so many other people do it that not only have we learnt the behaviour but we have also become addicted to it as a process of shopping.

When you ask a person what things they think of when they recall a shopping trip people will usually say the bag that their items come in last, if at all. What this shows is that we do not truly case about the packaging our good come in, but the thought of change is what makes us want to rebel. Adaptability to environment may have made us the dominant species, but our refusal to change ourselves socially will be the death of the environment.


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Author Bio:

Make a difference to the number of plastic bags going to waste, use reusable bags over plastic bags. There are many styles and varieties and sizes of tote bags available at Bag It Don’t Bin It.


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Why Did Bernie Go to Jail?

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Why did Bernie Madoff go to prison? To make it simple, he talked people into investing with him. Trouble was, he didn’t invest their money. As time rolled on he simply took the money from the new investors to pay off the old investors. Finally there were too many old investors and not enough money from new investors coming in to keep the payments going. Next thing you know Madoff is one of the most hated men in America and he is off to jail.

Some of you know this .. but not enough of you . Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to us for over 60 years with Social Security. There is no meaningful difference between the two schemes … except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail, and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions.

Do you need a side-by-side comparison?  Well here’s a nifty little chart.

BERNIE MADOFF SOCIAL SECURITY
Takes money from investors with the promise that the money will be invested and made available to them later Takes money from wage earners with the promise that the money will be invested in a “Trust Fund” and made available later.
Instead of investing the money Madoff spends it on nice homes in the Hamptons and yachts. Instead of depositing money in a Trust Fund the politicians use it for general spending and vote buying.
When the time comes to pay the investors back Madoff simply uses some of the new funds from newer investors to pay back the older investors. When benefits for older investors become due the politicians pay them with money taken from younger and newer wage earners to pay the geezers.
When Madoff’s scheme is discovered all hell breaks loose. New investors won’t give him any more cash. When Social Security runs out of money they simply force the taxpayers to send them some more.
Bernie Madoff is in jail. Politicians remain inWashington.


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Wisdom from Maxine

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
maxine

Let me get this straight……

  • we’ve  passed a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it
  • passed by a Congress that hasn’t read it but exempts themselves from it
  • to be signed by a president that also hasn’t read it and who smokes
  • with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes
  • all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese
  • and financed by a country that’s broke

What could possibly go wrong????

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Three Useful Charities You Could Donate To

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Many individuals think about donating to charity, especially around the holiday season, but many people are unsure as to which charities are legit. There are so many different charities to choose from but the sad case about donating is that in many cases you do now know for sure how much of your money those in need even get. There have been numerous scams in the past that have gotten people to donate to either non-existent charities or charities that keep much of the money for themselves so it is understandable why people would want to be cautious. But just because people have been burned in the past does not mean that there are not useful charities out there that desperately need donations. There are plenty of charities that will actually use your money to make the life of someone else better. And you only have to donate as much as you feel comfortable donating so you never have to feel pressured if you are donating to a worthy charity. Here is a list of three useful charities that always need money that you could donate too and what kind of charities they are. For more information on how to set up a donation account you should research the specific charity further online.

One of the most worthy charities that you could donate to in my opinion is the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude’s is dedicated to researching and finding cures for life threatening diseases in children, particularly the various forms of cancer. Children who are sent to the hospital are sent regardless of whether or not the parents can pay for them to be there. This is a trustworthy charity that puts a good portion of the money they receive directly into research and care and helps those that are the most helpless and innocent in this world.

Save the Children is another very worthy charity that is always in need of more funding. This particular charity organization seeks funds to be used to help children all over the world have opportunities that they otherwise would not and also uses funds to aid children and their families in disaster situations. Donors also have the opportunity to sponsor a specific child which they can keep in contact with and follow them through their journeys. Innocent children throughout the world need the help of those more fortunate and they are the surely the most deserving of such help.

Finally, a charity that is always researching new ways to protect and repair our planet and one that needs all the funding that it can get is the Environmental Defense Fund. Research conducted with funds from this charity organization will help find ways to slow down the process of global warming and discover innovative ideas regarding how we can live more environmentally friendly lives.

With so many charity organizations vying for your money it can be hard to choose which on you think deserves it most. These are just a few that seem to do constant good with the money they raise and are a few great choice for donating to.

Author Bio: Mitch Gleason has been a business writer for the past 15 years contributing to many business periodicals. Read some of his articles about corporate gift basket. For more article and resource, visit condolences gift baskets site.

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7 Environmental Problems We Are Facing Today

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

The environmental problems that we are currently facing are all man-made; we may not be aware of it but it is a fact that we have ignored because we are too busy with our daily routine that sometimes our lack of awareness have affected the environment. First among the environmental problems that we have to consider is the global warming. This is caused by the green house gases that are emitted by our cars, factories and chemicals that trap the heat from the sun making our surroundings hotter. We should be aware that global warming is also one of the reasons why we have cyclones and tropical storms that are stronger than what we have previously experienced. Global warming is also gradually increasing the sea level by melting the ice caps. People who are not aware of this will not be alarmed but we can already feel the consequence of this Phenomenon.

Second is the ozone layer degradation, chemicals that are present in various household or cosmetic products such as spray net for hair grooming have contributed to the degradation of the ozone layer; exposing us to direct heat of the sun in a level higher than we experienced.

Third is deforestation, the development of nations and cities requires land and constant conversion of real estate. Although efforts are being taken to improve on this condition like the establishment of forest reserves, the rate of recovery from deforestation is slower than the ongoing occurrence of deforestation.

Fourth among the environmental problems that we have to consider is species extinction. Our constant development requires that particular areas where there are rare animals with a short survival rate have to be suited with our requirement to expand and develop and most of the times we ignore the importance of these rare species.

Fifth among the environmental problems that we have to consider is water degradation. The more forest we lose the faster rate we will experience water degradation. Someday water will be more expensive than petrol. We should remember that water is one of our life support, we used to drink water for free. But now if you will notice, bottled water is becoming a necessity and the cost is gradually increasing.

Sixth among the environmental problems that we have to consider is global poisoning, factories do not just emit gasses that warm mother earth they also produce solid and liquid wastes or toxins as part of their operational processes and a lot of these factories do not have monitoring or environmental precautionary measures.

Seventh among the environmental problems that we have to consider is human and cultural degradation, indigenous people or natives to certain places are maintaining their culture and are reminding us of our origins and our ways are being invaded by our modern culture. The reason why we have so much disaster in our environment is that we have forgotten the essence of our existence. The environmental problems that we are facing are actually interconnected and only we can do something about it, because we were the ones who created it in the first place.

Author Bio: Christine Crotts just moved into a new house and is now looking to brighten it up. When not shopping at the local home improvement store, Christine is working on our site reviewing the latest contemporary ceiling fan models, as well as a review of a Monte Carlo ceiling fan.

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Landform Destruction is Worse Than Global Warming

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Many of you have read or seen in the news how a lot of the global warming gurus have been skewing climate records to make global warming seem like it is real. People have fallen for it for over 30 years while people have made billions off the lies. The mainstream media still does not like to talk about this as a possible fraud case. It also seems the governments do not know what to believe. No matter what side of the issues you are on about global warming you do not know what the facts are or what really to believe.

One more serious issue that needs to be talked about that actually effects the world is how people are changing landforms. It can be studied a lot easier than global warming. The real facts are also actually out there when compared to the questionable facts on global warming. Changing landforms is more alarming. It is actually astonishing more people have not picked up on this alarming cause. It has been going on for centuries.

New Orleans is a classic example of landforms changing for the worse. Many parts of New Orleans use to be a swampy area. Hurricanes could blow into land with no worries of harming humans. The land then changed to benefit people and give them a place to stay. For the people to stay in the city of New Orleans they had to be protected from hurricanes with levees. The land itself should have told the people designing this area should have never been changed in the first place. They ruined natural habitat to stay there. They also put themselves in danger in the landform they lived in. Changing this landform had a negative impact on the people that chose to live there.

Changing landforms can benefit and have negative impacts on people. The example of New Orleans was a negative impact. Changing landforms can have a far more negative impact on the environment. It has been factually proven, unlike the so called man made global warming or the newer term, climate change. Take a look at people who have changed the flows of rivers. This has caused the destruction of fish and animals. It even has caused the extinction of some animals.

Cutting down forests is another example of changing landforms that have had a negative impact on our world. This has also caused the death and even extinction of some animals. We hear about owls, leopards and other types of animals that are in the endangered species list because their homes are being destroyed. We also have fewer trees to clean up the carbon dioxide in air that creates more pollution. Changing forests can have a very negative impact on our world.

Changing landforms can also have a negative impact on the weather. Flattening out lands can create more winds and change weather patterns. This can cause more rain in an area or even draught. Changing weather is natural but changing landforms can cause unnatural change. Something, we as people, need to think about.

To live and survive, we do need to change landforms. However, we need to really study the effects of changing landforms can have on our environment and world. There are real facts that changing landforms can have negative effects on animals, weather and the environment. We do not really know if global warming is real or not. More people need to focus on helping landforms survive than global warming. Only change what actually needs to changed.

Author Bio: The studying of Landforms is a major need in the entire world. The author believes in helping landforms survive to protect the world for future generations. Landforms protection.

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Recycling Tips – Using World War Two to Inspire You

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Most people consider recycling to be a recent phenomenon of the green revolution, however, there is evidence of recycling taking place from as long ago as 400BC. It was around the mid 1900s though that recycling was first given real attention. During the Second World War, resources were hard to come by and Governments ran massive recycling campaigns to ensure nothing was wasted.

Here are a few examples of what was recycled and for what reason…

- Metal and tine were recycled for use weapons, tanks and aircraft.

- Rubber was collected to make new tires.

- Boiled bones were recycled to make glue for aircraft, ground up to make fertilizer or turned into glycerin for explosives.

- Left over food provided feed for chickens, pigs and goats and people would bring their scraps to communal bins.

People were also encouraged to mend belongings, such as clothes, rather than buy new. Campaigns such as ‘Make Do And Mend’ and ‘Sew And Save’ advised people on how to recycle textiles and make clothes last longer. Knitting also became very popular around this time.

Families had to plan meals carefully to ensure that food did not go to waste. With no fridges or freezers, perishable food had to be bought in small quantities and substitutes had to be found for foods that were no longer available. Meat fat was commonly saved to make pastry, and even the cream from milk was stored in a jar and shaken to make butter and buttermilk.

Everyone did what they could and came together to achieve a common goal. At first the Government’s had to tell people what to do and regularly remind them of it, but it did not take long for people to become accustomed to it, and not only recycle themselves, but also remind their friends and neighbors to do it too.

It is sad that it took people such a long time to recognize the importance of recycling, and also that it took such unfortunate circumstances to draw it to our attention. These days, we realize the importance of recycling to preserve the Earth’s resources and to reduce pollution.

Even so, we are still failing to recycle a lot of items that are recyclable. Though we know what we should be doing, and though it is not difficult for us to do it, there is still a very relaxed attitude to recycling. Too many of us simply cannot be bothered to recycle, and that is undoing the good work being done by those who do take the little time and effort required to recycle.

The uses of recyclable materials may be different now from what they were during the War, but we can still look to our grandparents and the older generations for tips and inspiration. If they could do it, then why can’t we do it too? We should all be doing what we can now, and not be waiting around for a major crisis to kick-start us into mass recycling again.

Author Bio: Ware 4 Recycling Bins Ltd have been promoting cost effective recycling bins, trolleys and waste containers for over 5 years.

Category: Society
Keywords: recycling tips, recycling, recycle, green living, green, environment, environmental, society

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From Candy to Coffee

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

There was a trend started long ago by the candy companies. The candy companies had some fixed price points that they need to hit. When the costs of doing business began to rise they needed to keep their expenses in line with their costs, but they couldn’t really charge six cents for a nickel candy bar. They chose to make the candy bar a little smaller so that they could maintain their profit margin at their fixed price point.

There currently a trend for many manufacturers to try the same trick. These more recent examples are not trying to maintain a fixed price structure. The first of these that I noticed was the coffee makers. The one pound coffee can now comes with 12 or 13 ounces of coffee. I recently picked up a three pound size can at the supermarket. The three pound size now has two pounds and one ounce of coffee.

I have watched the traditional half gallon of Ice Cream go to one and three quarters quarts and now down to one and a half quarts. My most recent shock was to buy a five pound bag of sugar. I thought that the bag looked a little smaller than it should so I checked. My five pounds of sugar had eroded to four pounds. I am sure that there are many other examples of this trend. While the philosophy is probably the same as with the candy manufacturers, the situation is completely different.

This trend is probably designed to prevent sticker shock. When costs increase the expense must be passed down the line. But I think that this trend is the wrong approach. I am not fooled by paying the same amount for a lesser quantity. That is still a price increase.

In these days with thought given to resource usage and depletion, and with landfills that are full beyond capacity, is this a waste that we can afford? Each of these units of manufacture require nearly the same expense for packaging. Therefore, the smaller the quantity of product the higher percentage we are paying for packaging and handling. We not only get a bit less of the product that we purchase, but a greater percentage of the purchase price must pay for the container and the handling.

I would much prefer to pay a bit more for a good measure than to have the prices remain the same but get less of a product. If the manufacturers want to provide an extra sku for a smaller quantity so that people do not have to purchase the larger quantities they should be allowed to do that, but not at the expense of giving a good measure of their product for those that would use it. It is proportionally less expensive and less wasteful to package larger quantities of a product.

I think that this is a trend that needs to come to a halt! Have you noticed this trend? How do you feel when you notice that your traditional buying quantities for a product have been cut?

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