Surviving gunshots in Tucson; medical cost woes call attention to problems in private health care

The Tucson shooter victims are now facing tough medical bills.

New York Times informs us, in key excerpts:

Still, some of those who are following Ms. Giffords’s treatment, including her speedy transfer from Tucson to a top rehabilitation facility in Houston, can only wish their health plans were as responsive.

Monique Pomerleau, a mother of three from Northern California, suffered a traumatic brain injury in a traffic accident last February but has not yet undergone rehabilitation because her insurer, Health Net of California, said it lacked such services within the network. Her family has hired a lawyer to press the matter and recently received word that a 30-day rehabilitation program had been approved.

“We watched the congresswoman’s care and we thought, How marvelous, but there are real people out there like Monique who don’t get the same possibilities,” said Lisa Kantor, a lawyer who specializes in challenging insurance companies and was hired by Ms. Pomerleau’s father, Tom.

A spokesman for the insurer said federal privacy laws prevented it from commenting on individual patients’ cases.

After a tragedy like the Tucson shooting, billing is a topic that appears almost unseemly to raise. But with health costs spiraling, it is one that was on the minds of some victims, not to mention their care providers.

“We have to recover our costs so that we can provide the service to others,” said Craig Yale, vice president of corporate development for the Colorado-based Air Methods Corporation, which operates LifeNet helicopter service in Tucson, one of three private helicopter operators that were called to the shooting scene.

At University Medical Center, where the most seriously injured victims were treated, Misty Hansen, the hospital’s chief financial officer, said she did not anticipate any problems recovering costs. “It is my expectation that the bills will be paid and the hospital will be appropriately compensated,” she said.

Declining to discuss the case of individual patients, Ms. Hansen said 5 percent of patients were “self pay,” which means they lack insurance and are billed personally.
. . . .
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s victim assistance fund cannot be used directly for medical care. But the money was used after the Tucson shooting to replace the eyeglasses of two injured victims and to fly relatives of victims to Tucson and the remains of one victim to her home state, said Kathryn Turman, director of the F.B.I.’s office for victim assistance.
. . . .
“My fund is too small to cover their medical bills,” said Carol Gaxiola, who is director of the survivors’ group. “But we’ll be able to pitch in to cover other costs.”

Besides the ambulance bill ($991.80 and $16.96 a mile for ground transport) and the hospital expenses, victims could face travel costs if they wish to follow the federal court proceedings against Mr. Loughner, especially if the trial is moved out of state.

There are also the costs of funeral expenses for the six people who died, as well as trauma counselors and loss of wages for the injured.

CNN: Cairo police arsenals raided, looted by thugs

Widely CNN-on-the-scene (Ben Wedeman) cited quote in recent hours, re Cairo, Egypt:
Washington Post, citing CNN:

There have been a number of accounts indicating that there is almost no police or military presence on the street; keeping order has apparently fallen to ordinary citizens. CNN reporter Ben Wedeman wrote on Twitter, "Almost all police stations ransacked, arsenals looted. Suddenly weapons in the streets wielded by thugs. Where is the army?"
Al Jazeera reports:
"Ayman Mohyeldin reports that eyewitnesses have said "party thugs" associated with the Egyptian regime's Central Security Services -- in plainclothes but bearing government-issued weapons -- have been looting in Cairo. Ayman says the reports started off as isolated accounts but are now growing in number."
Wael Abbas, an Egyptian journalist and online activist, said on Twitter that reports of looting are exaggerated by state-run media to convince protesters to go home.

Sifting through the Obama administration's posture towards Mubarak, the revolution

Critics in Egypt and in the United States have criticized the Barack Obama administration for holding back in criticized Hosni Mubarak, president of Egypt. While Obama was critical of Mubarak, they faulted Obama for positing a moral equivalence between the official forces of the Egyptian state and the protesters. After all, the former has tortured in the past. And the former is the entity that has committed the killings in the current unrest in Egypt. (Admittedly, protesters have injured police forces in the battles of the last few days, in addition to the of course far more numerous assaults by the police against peaceful protesters. Then again, we should note that the lion's share of the injuries in the hospitals are civilian victims of the police.)

OBAMA IN A DELICATE POSITION, ONE INTERESTING VIEW, SEEING OBAMA AS PLAYING A DEFT STRATAGEM (AN ENDGAME OPTION):
the Huffington Post, cited Marc Lynch in Foreign Policy argued,

What they do need, if they think about it, is for Obama to help broker an endgame from the top down --- to impose restraints on the Egyptian military's use of violence to repress protests, to force it to get the internet and mobile phones back online, to convince the military and others within the regime's inner circle to ease Mubarak out of power, and to try to ensure that whatever replaces Mubarak commits to a rapid and smooth transition to civilian, democratic rule. And that's what the administration is doing.
The administration's public statements and private actions have to be understood as not only offering moral and rhetorical support to the protestors, or as throwing bones to the Washington echo chamber, but as working pragmatically to deliver a positive ending to a still extremely tense and fluid situation.

It is no surprise that Obama is being tentative, playing both sides. He is a state leader, we can't forget, gauging his relationship another state leader, yet demonstrating his interest in qualitative change by Mubarak.

Obama cut Egypt democracy funds, compared to Bush

I blogged earlier that the U.S. began destabilization or regime change efforts for Egypt in 2008. I cited Telegraph of UK reports for that post.

Today come reports that the Barack Obama administration cut back from more generous George W. Bush funding efforts for building democracy in Egypt,
see Marcus Baram in the Huffington Post today,
"Obama Administration Cut Funding To Promote Democracy In Egypt, Disappointing Human Rights Activists".

2011 will be the Muslim world's 1968

1968 was the year of rebellion in the industrialized nations.

2011, apparently, is becoming the year of rebellion, if not revolution, in the Muslim world.

We have seen it, this month, already in:
Tunisia, Jordan
and this week in Egypt, then Yemen,
and Al Arabiya English reports, in Albania and in Turkey.

US backed Egyptian regime change -Wikileaks

The United States, since 2008, before Barack Obama's presidency, just to remind you, backed individuals mobilizing for a regime change in Egypt, prior to its September, 2011 presidential election:

The Telegraph of the U.K. reported, "Egypt protests: America's secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising: The American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change” for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned."

And here is the U.S. cable, leaked by Wikileaks, reported, the same day, by The Telegraph.

This likely embarrasses the Obama administration, especially as it balances its inherent commitment to the Hosni Mubarak regime with its support for authentic democratic and economic reform. (The protesters want the entire Mubarak enterprise, his son, Gamal, included, gone.)

Glenn Beck assails Prof. Frances Fox Piven, fans issue death threats

Glenn Beck's new obsession has been City University of New York (CUNY) Professor Frances Fox Piven. (Piven has been best known for her 1970s book co-authored with her late husband, Richard Cloward, Poor People's Movements (Pantheon).)

Beck of the Fox News Network has been making hay out of a 1966 Piven and Cloward magazine article that called for straining the welfare system with applications. Beck said that this strategy was akin to "economic sabotage."
Click to today's "New York Times" article, "Spotlight From Glenn Beck Brings a CUNY Professor Threats."

In the wake of Beck's on-air campaign against Piven, and comments-posters' death threat language on website discussion pages, the professor has received e-mail death threats, the Times has reported.

In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (Dem.-Arizona), who was targeted with a crosshairs map by Sarah Palin, Beck is utterly irresponsible and without conscience.

Palin's rifle scope ("crosshairs") map of Congress targets still up on Facebook

As Zennie Abraham, blogger at San Francisco Chronicle points out: Sarah Palin's (SarahPAC) crosshairs map is still up, he posted a link to the crosshairs map at the SarahPAC Facebook page.

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander criticized a CNN anchor's (Candy Crowley) calling attention to the crosshairs map, at ThinkProgress, "Alexander Refuses To Condemn Palin’s Cross-Hairs Map, Urges Media Not To Talk About It."

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' blood is on Palin, Angle's hands

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona-Democrat) was shot in the head today at a public event in Tucson, Arizona. We must be frankly honest: right wing politicians have blood on their hands in the shooting. The shooting suspect, Jared Lee Loughner had posted statements on the Internet that echoed the vitriolic statements of Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle and the FOX Network.
Former Governor Sarah Palin (Alaska-Republican) issued a target list map of politicians for Tea Party partisans to defeat. The logo on the map for the cities in which the politicians dwell is sinister: it is the cross on circle symbol that is on the scope (view-finder) of rifles, As Anchorage Daily News reported, March 10, 2010. Note the threatening rhetoric that accompanies the target scope, "20 House Democrats from districts we carried in 2008 voted for the health care bill ... IT'S TIME TO TAKE A STAND."

Sharron Angle said that if events did not go the way of the Tea Party advocates people should resort to "Second Amendment remedies." As the Second Amendment deals with rights of gun ownership, Angle's statement should be read as a thinly veiled advocacy of gun violence for those frustrated with the direction of politics as practiced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ("the Harry Reid problems").
See the Huffington Post September 8, 2010, article, "Sharron Angle Addresses 'Second Amendment Remedies': Revolution Is 'Possible'."
When reporters asked for clarification of Angle's remarks, she did not use the question as an opportunity to back-pedal away from the statement. Instead, she further expressed her perspective that the current American government is seriously malevolent:

ANGLE: In context, we were talking about the policies of the government that have really caused problems for us in the past 18 months. We have seen policies come down that have really become the enemy of the people.

If you're having doubts about the statement, here is the original quote from conservative talk show host, Bill Manders, as reported at "Huffington Post, June 16, 2010:"

Angle: I feel that the Second Amendment is the right to keep and bear arms for our citizenry. This not for someone who's in the military. This not for law enforcement. This is for us. And in fact when you read that Constitution and the founding fathers, they intended this to stop tyranny. This is for us when our government becomes tyrannical...

Manders: If we needed it at any time in history, it might be right now.

Angle: Well it's to defend ourselves. And you know, I'm hoping that we're not getting to Second Amendment remedies. I hope the vote will be the cure for the Harry Reid problems.

Huffington Post added: "Manders cut to break after the statement. So there was no expansion on Angle's proclamation. Prior to that sound bite, however, Angle hinted that she was likely carrying a concealed .44 magnum model 29 during the interview."

Democrats and human Republicans need to be honest:
6 dead, 12 wounded: THIS IS POLITICAL TERRORISM.

Will Obamacare's Individual Health Coverage Mandate Survive Court Challenges? Holder Thinks So, but...

December 14, 2010, the day after a federal judge ruled against the individual mandate for coverage, Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius wrote an opinion piece arguing, "Health reform will survive its legal fight," in the Washington Post.

But polls show that the mandate for individuals to get health insurance or face stiff financial penalties is proving to be a major part of the 2010 healthcare reform or overhaul that is highly unpopular.
A CNN poll earlier this week reported, "CNN Poll: Controversial health care provision unpopular:"
"According to the poll, six in ten oppose the requirement that all Americans get health insurance, with 38 percent saying they favor the provision."

This opposition can only worsen in the wake of Federal Judge Henry E. Hudson's (Virginia) striking down the health insurance mandate as unconstitutional.

***FRAMING THE ARGUMENT ESSENTIAL
The key is to frame the argument properly. The point needs to be disseminated, stronger and more widely, that health insurance is essential. Someone might not think that they need health care. But someday that surgery or other medical procedure, or hospital stay comes. Then, they owe 50,000 to 100,000 dollars.
The key is also to get the Americans and policy makers for that matter out of the myopic bubble of only looking at America. Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and others should have emphasized how other countries that have model health care systems also have health insurance mandates. As wikipedia informs us, It is a common legal requirement in many countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, and from 2014, the United States of America.

***THE NEED FOR PROGRESSIVES TO CAPITALIZE ON POPULIST OUTRAGE
The public has reason to be angry at the powerful. The problem is that progressives have not been able to steer outrage at the proper targets: power-bloated abusive corporations and their lackey lobbyists and Demo-Republican politicians.
The failure for Democratic politicians to pursue a public option and instead, settle on the final form of the health care reform act, is the source of the problems with the discussion over Obamacare and problems with its fate.
There is no public entity (The public option) with which the private health corporations can compete, so as to hold back corporate chicanery in the form of price gouging of patients and prescription drug consumers. Advocates needed to have more vociferously pushed for the option, building coalitions, holding mass rallies. Instead, the health-care reform was an inside the Beltway affair. We can see this with the legislation's giveaway to the drug companies.
For a Huffington Post contribution on Obama's back-sliding away from the public option, see this Feb. 22 piece: "Obama Health Care Plan Drops Public Option."

(Obama first aired his support for the public option in September 2009, but some commentators, such as Ezra Klein in the Washington Post, have pointed to weaknesses in his push for the public option.)

Times news alert: Madoff son dead from hanging, apparent suicide

Mark Madoff, the elder of two sons of scandal-ridden financier Bernie Madoff, hanged himself in his SoHo, Manhattan home, using a dog leash. The 46 year-old son's own son was sleeping in an adjacent room.
Mark Madoff worked for his father's firm since graduating from college in 1987. He was the target of two lawsuits related to the Madoff investment scandal. He had invested monies from his oldest childhood friends; those relationships were ruined in the wake of the scandal.
The New York Times story, "Madoff’s Eldest Son Found Dead in Suicide", reported to New York City Police this morning, December 11, 2010.

Cell phones and wifi: Is Your Health on the Line? -Women's Health

Is Your Health on the Line?
-by Sascha de Gersdorff, Women's Health, Nov 10, 2010.

The new communication devices (cell phones, SmartPhones, iPhones, Blackberries, Androids) are pretty hard to resist.

But the safety of these devices is not yet assured. De Gersdorff offers practical advice on reducing electromagnetic exposure or radiation exposure for those of us who have a hard time abandoning the devices altogether.

The post I wrote, in reference to an article by Dr. Hyla Cass, cites two recent books on the subject. De Gersdorff in this article draws our attention to another book, by Kerry Crofton, Wireless Radiation Rescue: Safeguarding Your Family from the Risks of Electro-Pollution, 2010.

Holiday TV Specials, for 2010 season

Holiday TV specials' broadcast times for 2010; times are Eastern and Pacific time zones.

Dec 7, Tues, A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965, ABC, 8 to 9
Dec 9, Thurs, Shrek the Halls, 2007, ABC, 8-9
Dec 11, Sat, Frosty the Snowman, 1969, CBS, 8 to 830. Frosty Returns, 1992, 830 – 9.

Dec 14, Tues, I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, 2003, ABC, 8 to 9
Dec 16, Thurs, A Charlie Brown Christmas, repeated, ABC, 8 to 9
Dec 17, Fri, Yes, Virginia (Tim Burton, 2009), CBS, 8 to 9; Frosty the Snowman, 1969, CBS, 9 to 930. Frosty Returns, 1992, 930 – 10.

Dec 30, Thurs, Happy New Year Charlie Brown, 1986, ABC, 8 to 830; She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown, 1980, 830 to 9.

(Rudolph (1964), the Grinch (1966), and Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970) have passed. You'll have to buy or rent those.)

Dr. Hyla Cass on recent studies on cell phone radiation and related medical risks

Both Cell phones and electromagnetic fields are more dangerous than widely assumed, as growing numbers of news reports and academic studies are pointing out.
Hyla Cass, M.D., "Are Cell Phones and Wi-Fi Hazardous to Your Health?," Huffington Post, October 13, 2010.
She cites two recent books, Ann Louise Gittleman's "Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn't Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution." and
Devra Davis' "Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family."
Key excerpts in Dr. Cass' Huffington Post article:

The UK's BioInitiative Report of July 2007 (updated in 2009) describes hundreds of studies that link EMF exposure to Alzheimer's disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), brain fog, cardiovascular disease, miscarriage, infertility, insomnia, learning impairment, as well as anxiety and depression. Wireless technologies -- like cell and cordless phones -- produce microwaves that increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, leading to changes in brain chemistry. Even low-level EMFs can cause brain cells to leak.

That's not all: Although actual tissue heating does not occur, EMFs also cause breaks in DNA, speed up cell division, disrupting the orderly process of chromosome matching and detaching, and activate stress protein or heat shock proteins. And as Anne Louise Gittleman writes in Zapped:

"Most disturbing of all, the Swedish National Institute for Working Life found that people using cell phones for 2,000 hours -- a total most of us could easily rack up over the years -- had a 240 percent increased risk for malignant brain tumors on the side of the head where they usually held their phone."

A related study from the Mercury News:
Chris O'Brien, "Why cell phones may be more dangerous than we think": updated, October 10, 2010:
An excerpt from this article reads,

Several players at the heart of this debate converged on San Francisco last week. CTIA-The Wireless Association had
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its annual trade show, which it promised would be the last in the city because of the new disclosure law. Marks organized several protests outside the event. And noted epidemiologist Devra Davis, a visiting professor at Harvard University, arrived for several speaking engagements about her recently published book, "Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How To Protect Your Family."

"When I first heard that there could be problems with cell phones, I didn't believe it," Davis said. "I wrote the book because I was stunned to find out I was wrong to assume that these things had to be safe."

For many years it was believed the low levels of radiation generated by cell phones and towers had no effect on human biology. Now a small but growing number of scientists and health activists are challenging those findings.

Interpol Arrest Warrant for Dick Cheney? Nigeria to Charge Former VP in Bribery Scandal | AlterNet

Interpol Arrest Warrant for Dick Cheney? Nigeria to Charge Former VP in Bribery Scandal | AlterNet
If his Iraq War chicanery would not get him, perhaps his business dealings will do so.

Android, BlackBerry and other smart phones -highest bearing radation

Youch!! Just when you noticed that the Android or Droid phone is full of features and is significantly cheaper than other techie cell phones, such as the iPhone or other smart phones, news comes out that the Android is one of the highest emitters of radiation.
Check for yourself at the Environmental Working Group site:
http://www.ewg.org/cellphoneradiation/Get-a-Safer-Phone?allavailable=1