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Thursday, August 25, 2011

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"There's Justice In The Universe"
"In the United States, it's private insurance companies, which make hefty profits managing half of America's medical expenditures for the non-Medicare population, that in ways often hidden and arbitrary have the authority to deny coverage—and therefore, in all too many instances, care.... insurance contracts by law grant companies the legal right to manage a patient's care, including denying it, sight unseen, and give them the final say, if challenged.

"Many denials are iffy calls and can appear distinctly arbitrary, with one insurer saying no to a particular therapy or procedure while others reimburse for it.
The problem is bound to grow as insurers make use of sophisticated data tools dubbed "denial engines," which are touted to reduce reimbursements by 3 to 10 percent.

"And know that though every insurance company is mandated to have an internal appeals process, there is little openness to help those seeking reconsideration.... nor do insurers provide much detail about the professionals making decisions. Who are they??? Many large insurers are now outsourcing claims adjudication to India.

"The lack of transparency in the face of such mighty discretionary authority is drawing the attention of state attorneys general. Andrew Cuomo of New York
has launched a nationwide investigation into schemes that low-ball reimbursement and stick patients with bills insurance companies should have paid."


http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/2008/08/25/how-crafty-health-insurers-are-denying-care.html

[I don't support Universal Health Care.  It'd be run into the ground just as any other government sponsored program is.  I don't like our inflated AMA corporate style system either.  It's called 'being between a rock and a hard place'.  Romney would've been our best bet for dealing with this issue.]
"Tobacco-caused diseases are the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing almost 400,000 deaths each year. Each day, more than 1,100 kids become regular smokers - and one-third of them will ultimately die from their habit. The tobacco companies spend more than $13 billion a year marketing their deadly products."
Nicotine Is Up In Cigarettes
Take Action:
http://lungaction.org/campaign/vote_bigtobacco
"A 3-year study has found that 'cigarette health warning labels' actually make smokers want to smoke more, not less.  Research shows how the brain reacts to various types of marketing stimuli.  Researchers studied 2,000 people from five different countries using sophisticated brain-testing technology, like electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to gain a better understanding of consumer behavior.  A surprising finding involved the health warning labels placed on cigarette packs. Researchers asked subjects if the warning labels worked to help them reduce smoking, and most said "yes."  But when they repeated the same question while flashing images of the labels to the subjects while they underwent an MRI, they found that the images activated "craving spots" in the brain, indicating that the health warnings actually encourage smokers to smoke more."

http://www.prwatch.org/node/7861

"Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette-
Smoke, smoke, smoke yourself to death.
Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate
you just hate to make him wait,
but your just gotta have another cigarette."

Listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhVzp_4bUmw
I was reviewing some of my earlier blogs and came across one from March, 2007 that I'd entitled "The Perfect Storm: Economics For US".  With the economic events that have followed since that date, it seems like a good idea to review it here and now.  I suggest you especially note the quote from the alcoholic -- it applies to materialistic addiction as well.

Note: The real crisis is yet to come way down the road.  We've only been given a wake up call.  A 'shot across the bow', so to speak.  Each individual needs to be realistic in planning & preparing for the future.

To read previous blog:
http://www.statesman.com/sitelife/content/sitelife/persona.html?newspaperUserId=5790037&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a5790037Post%3a06c95a32-a4b7-4f09-9ec8-21feade08003&sid=sitelife.statesman.com
During the current 'awakening' (an evolutionary process) of American consciousness, it might help to remember that we as individuals (and as groups / even as a national group) are "part of the whole".  Though this can be both reassuring and intimidating, we need to recognize it as a fact. 

A person I know that exemplifies what it means to be able to 'adapt to change' is one of my friends, Walter.  Without waxing philosophical, let me just provide you with a link to his music that might help you take the National Election, etcetera in stride:

Walter Tore's Spontobeat:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=71994638
Rebels Vandalize & Retain Control of Rumangabo; Rangers Trapped In Forest With No Food or Water
http://gorilla.cd/blog/

Take Action / send e-mail to Congress via:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issuesaction/letters/
Simply make a short statement using the above as a reference in asking that your Congressional representatives ask the State Department to take an active interest & include the website page address:
http://gorilla.cd/blog/

Note:
The Mountain Gorilla is one of the most endangered species in the world.  Only some 600 of these magnificent creatures survive today, with about half in the Virunga reserve and half some 25 miles to the north in Uganda.  They are gentle creatures, who inhabit the mountain cloud forest.  They eat the roots, leaves, stems, and pith of herbs, vines, shrubs, and bamboo.

They are severely threatened by poaching (hunted as bush meat and trophies in some parts of Africa), loss of habitat (especially due to illegal charcoal making), human disease, and war.

An important feature of Mountain Gorilla conservation is the fact that none have ever survived in captivity. If this species is to continue, a viable home must be protected in the Virungas and Bwindi.
http://www.informatics.org/gorilla/gorilla.html

Previous & more detailed blog on subject:
http://tinyurl.com/4v8jn4

Take Action By Joining:
http://gorilla.cd/blog/
In recent years, I've noticed that fewer kids are 'Trick-or-treating' in my neighborhood.  I suppose the neighborhood's shopping centers' handing out treats and different organizations hosting Halloween parties may mostly be responsible ---  but there's another factor in play, too.  Evangelistic Protestants are increasingly viewing Halloween as "Satan's Holiday" & as a Catholic endorsed pagan celebration.  Fundamentalists [the letters f-u-n- really should be taken out of the word] actually believe that peoples' souls still reside in their graves with them -- awaiting the Resurrection.  Dang! I'd be scared of Halloween, too, if I believed that!  That's a lot or "earthbound souls" aka "ghosts".  I could go on, but it's better for you if you read it for yourself:::
http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/cgi-bin/tw/tw-mag.cgi?category=Magazine9&item=1103909093
http://godkind.org/soul.html
Read more:
http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/
During the final Presidential debate, both Senator Obama and Senator McCain once again proclaimed their support for "clean coal".  Unfortunately, "Clean Coal" is a myth -- funded by the electric utilities.  Utilities claim they can develop coal plants at some point in the distant future that will capture and sequester carbon pollution.  But carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is unproven and exorbitantly expensive.
http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=29258

We need real solutions, not coal industry myths.  Please use the form below to send a message to both Presidential campaigns: We need clean, green energy now! 

Take Action:
http://action.healthygulf.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26068

p.s.- Our biggest nightmare is nuclear energy paired with liquid coal as mega-corporate sponsors want (with government backed loans and immunity).
[I've added a bit to yesterday's blog.]

Extinction of life on Earth has occurred before due to global climatic temperatures rising too high.  Previously, it had been due to long periods of volcanism dumping so much CO2 into the atmosphere warming caused oceanic methane hydrate (like frozen natural gas) to be gasified (released) in such quantities that runaway global warming ensued and caused almost all of the plant and animal species on land and in the oceans to die off.  Nowadays, the massive amounts of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere are mankind's doing.  And, earlier that predicted, we're seeing methane hydrate being released in the Arctic Ocean as parts of the Arctic have recorded temperatures 15 degrees above the seasonal norm.
Read:
http://www.celsias.com/article/methane-begins-erupt-arctic-permafrost/
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/hundreds-of-methane-plumes-discovered-941456.html

My Previous Related Blogs:
http://www.statesman.com/sitelife/content/sitelife/persona.html?newspaperUserId=5790037&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=5790037&plckPostId=Blog%3a5790037Post%3aad4c56b7-2bbe-4beb-97ef-d88a7cda85a1&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest
http://www.statesman.com/sitelife/content/sitelife/persona.html?newspaperUserId=5790037&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=5790037&plckPostId=Blog%3a5790037Post%3a0308964c-3961-4968-8e13-d509af7b0b91&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest
http://www.statesman.com/sitelife/content/sitelife/persona.html?newspaperUserId=5790037&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=5790037&plckPostId=Blog%3a5790037Post%3ac09ddcf1-6864-4aab-828a-1970f9e892d9&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest

Note: As the human population increases and the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms decrease, it's only a matter of time before the 'Universal Law of Cause and Effect' triggers the "Reset Button".  Christians may refer to it as the Apocalypse (the world burns up) & scientists as Anthropogenic Extinction -- I call it 'poetic justice' (ye shall reap as you have sown; Galatians 6:7) that our own pigheaded unwillingness to change our ways will force us (actually our offspring) to take more extreme adaptive measures in order to survive.
[I just hope God doesn't hit 'Replay'.]
Extinction of life on Earth has occurred before due to global climatic temperatures rising too high.  Previously, it had been due to long periods of volcanism dumping so much CO2 into the atmosphere that ensuing warming caused oceanic methane hydrate (like frozen natural gas) to be gasified (released) in such quantities that runaway global warming ensued and caused almost all of the plant and animal species on land and in the oceans to die off.  Nowadays, the massive amounts of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere are mankind's doing.  And, earlier that predicted, we're seeing methane hydrate being released in the Arctic Ocean as parts of the Arctic have recorded temperatures 15 degrees above the seasonal norm.
Read:
http://www.celsias.com/article/methane-begins-erupt-arctic-permafrost/
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-time-bomb-938932.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/hundreds-of-methane-plumes-discovered-941456.html

My Previous Related Blogs:
http://www.statesman.com/sitelife/content/sitelife/persona.html?newspaperUserId=5790037&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=5790037&plckPostId=Blog%3a5790037Post%3aad4c56b7-2bbe-4beb-97ef-d88a7cda85a1&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest
http://www.statesman.com/sitelife/content/sitelife/persona.html?newspaperUserId=5790037&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=5790037&plckPostId=Blog%3a5790037Post%3a0308964c-3961-4968-8e13-d509af7b0b91&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest
http://www.statesman.com/sitelife/content/sitelife/persona.html?newspaperUserId=5790037&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=5790037&plckPostId=Blog%3a5790037Post%3ac09ddcf1-6864-4aab-828a-1970f9e892d9&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest