Surviving the Circus

Browsing throught the Wall Street Journal Health Blog today I came across a comment posted by a doctor and thought it definitely worthy of posting here. It's time we got a glimpse into the thoughts of our doctors concerning the deterioration of affordable health care in the US. PBS found some interesting data that would change many minds if more people would see it. The following was posted in response to... Life Expectancy Falls In Pockets of U.S. April 22, 2008, 9:30 am ~Begin Quote~ “Frontline”, a PBS documentary, did a comparison of health care system in 4 countries. By interviewing patients, doctors, government officials and health insurance executives in Switzerland, the UK, Japan and Taiwan. They came away with the following impressions: 1. Patients were generally satisfied with universal health care, although some had to wait for 2-3 weeks for elective procedures. Emergencies were handled immediately. 2. Physicians had incentives to provide good care and they were satisfie...

A Proverb a day keep foolishness at bay! Whether you are a Christian or not, the book of Proverbs is a wonderful read. There are 31 chapters, so you can read a chapter every day of the month, and then continue month after month to let these seeds of wisdom penetrate your life and help you gain wisdom and insight. My daughter and I read a chapter a day. This is our daily devotional. She is 17 and is enjoying this time we spend together. We also stop and discuss interesting and sometimes witty parts of this marvelous book of Proverbs. I prefer the New International Version because it is simpler to read while remaining accurate in its translation. Here are the links for every day which will open in a new browser window. PROVERBS Keep foolishness at bay... Read a chapter a day! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 > 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 > 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 > 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 > 29 30 31 Outline Guide Technorati tags: proverbs | devotional Be sure to bookmark this page so you can read your daily ...

Free Speech Attacked in 1954 Interesting bit of history that I wouldn't remember because I was born in 1954. Lyndon Johnson was rumored to have won his senate seat by fraudulent votes in 1948. This earned him the nickname of "Landslide Lyndon." Some things never change I guess. Who knew they were fighting over votes in 1948? During his run for re-election in 1954, he ran into some problems with anti-communist groups who resented his liberal agenda. This is what gave rise to forbidding politics in churches, although his main target was actually to stop nonprofit groups. Johnson had to stop these people from destroying his political future. Johnson inserted language into the IRS code that prohibited non-profits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office. Many people felt and still feel that this is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Personally, I do not believe that political iss...

I've been wondering who exactly is the largest supplier of oil for the US lately because I heard Limbaugh state one day that Canada, Mexico and Venezuela were our largest importers of oil. Not so, at least not in February, which is the latest month of available statistics. Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico were the top 3 importers of oil to the US in the month of February. PROOF: I found the website of the official US government organization that keeps up with such data. It's the Energy Information Administration, which provides "official energy information from the US government." The url is http://www.eia.doe.gov , just in case you might be wondering about the validity of the site. Notice it ends in .gov, which proves it is an official government site. The link to the actual data is available here. Technorati tag: oil imports

I don't know how I missed this, but back in 2001 before the 9-11 event, the Taliban showed their ugly fangs by destroying the oldest statues of Buddha which stood symbolically guarding a maze of caves. This destruction of antiquity is abominable and it is sad that the UN was not able to halt the destruction. The statues were the largest in the world (one was 170 feet high) and were believed to have been carved into the sandstone mountain in the third and fifth century A.D. Apparently, no religion is safe from the terrorist tactics of Taliban Islamic extremists. References: National Geographic The Taleban has controlled most of Afghanistan since 1996, though few countries recognize it as the rightful Afghan government. The fundamentalist Muslim sect has imposed a strict Islamic code within its territory, but many disagree with its stern application of Islamic law. Cnn.com

Science in the Bible Unique Stars Although I provide links to study the Bible and hopefully help people understand that it is not infalllible nor is it inerrant in its current form, I believe it still has many truths hidden in its words and is useful for learning about God and the history of the earliest people. Some truths of the Bible are unquestionable. Scientific evidence confirms certain statements in the Bible. For instance, Jeremiah, the prophet who lived and wrote down his prophecy from God around 605 BC, stated that the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured (see Jeremiah 33.22). Paul also wrote... 1 Corinthians 15:41 - There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. How could Paul know that no two stars are alike? Even today, stars appear to be the same when viewed from the average telescope. Only further examination (analysis of their light spec...

Will your pet be with you in heaven? The Bible does not teach against this belief, but it also does not state it as a fact. So how can you know for sure? You can't. However, there is no doubt that God will provide whatever He wants for us and common sense would imply that a beloved pet would be welcomed by his Creator. Not only that, but consider this passage in I Corinthians 2:10 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Certainly a God who is preparing the best for His children would also consider providing them their beloved pet to accompany them through eternity. Why wouldn't He? Let's consider what the Bible does tell us about animals... * The lion will lay down with the lamb * Animals are cared for by God just as humans are (Matthew 6:26 and Psalm 104—verses 14 and 27-30 in particular) * The fourth commandment as recorded in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 includes a Sabbath rest for anima...

Addresing healthcare for our ever growing geriatric population... A friend of mine was stressed this past week as her elderly Father had several complications from heart surgery, then gallbladder surgery. I could relate well, having lost my own Mother to a series of events following one heart related trauma. She passed away after 6 weeks of fighting for life. The plain truth is that our hospitals do not know how to properly care for the elderly patients. Many mistakes are made, I can testify to that first hand. Possible side effects of treatment options must be examined more thoroughly for our senior citizens. Doctors and nurses need to be more prepared immediately because 6,000 people in America are turning 65 years old every day. In just 12 years, 20% of America's population will be aged 65 and older. We are not prepared. We are in a crisis situation. Why can't there be an elderly wing (at the very least) of our hospitals where the staff is appropriately educated in treating...