Results 1 - 20 of 1699

1699 Search Results for "general"

  • IT'S OUT THERE!

    • From: chatterbug
    • Description:

      There is no going back now folks!  It's out there and my name is on it!

      The pebble has been shot.

      Now I just sit back and wait for Goliath to stumble and fall.

       

      Continued prayers please!

      All is well, we have been busy.

      Miss my blog buddies!  I hope to catch up with you all soon.

    • Blog post
    • 3 hours ago
    • Views: 32
  • ObamaJoker01.gif

    • From: justincase
    • Description:
    • 6 hours ago
    • Views: 3
    • Not yet rated
  • HEALTH CARE REFORM

    • From: pleasechooseanother
    • Description:

      Sen. Cornyn's Health Care Reform Alert

      Thursday, November 19, 2009 

      Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released his 2,074-page health care bill, which Senate Budget Committee analysis shows will cost American taxpayers $2.5 trillion when fully implemented over ten years. 

      Until we have had a chance to read the full 2,074 page Reid Bill, it’s impossible for Americans to fully grasp what the Majority Leader has cooked up behind closed doors. It is my hope that Sen. Reid will afford all Americans the same courtesy that he had: ample time to study the legislation and deliberate the best way to proceed. 

      What we do know so far, as reported by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), is that this bill will have a wide, negative impact on Americans across the board – from seniors on Medicare to small business owners to future generations of Americans who will be footing the bill. The bill will increase taxes on all Americans by nearly half a trillion dollars and breaks the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on working families earning less than $250,000—at a time that unemployment is at a 26-year high. 

      While CBO has not been given time to analyze the Reid bill’s impact on premiums, every other independent analysis to date has found that Reid’s new mandates and taxes will increase health care premiums on American families. The Reid bill increases taxpayer spending and liability for health care over the next ten years—instead of reforming our already insolvent entitlement programs. It will gut the already insolvent Medicare program by $464.6 billion, hurting access to care for seniors. It includes a government-run public option that will, according to CBO, have premiums higher than private plans and cause millions of Americans to lose the coverage they currently have. The largest expansion of Medicaid since it was created means the Medicaid program will be the only coverage option for 60 million Americans. It will also impose $28 billion in punitive taxes on employers who do not comply with Washington’s new job-killing mandates. 

      These initial findings are troubling, to say the least. My staff and I will be pouring over the 2,074 pages, assuming we are given the time to do so. You can access the full text of the Reid bill from my web site:http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/?p=HealthCareReformHQ.


      It is essential that Congress take the time get health care reform right. If the President and Majority Leader are more interested in getting health care reform right for all 300 million Americans than they are in putting a political feather in their cap for the midterm elections, this shouldn’t be an issue. 

      Senator John Cornyn wants to keep Texans informed and engaged as the debate on health care reform moves forward in Washington. Please visit www.cornyn.senate.gov and www.facebook.com/Sen.JohnCornyn to share your ideas for how best to reform our health care system and to recommend others who might want to join the dialogue by receiving these Health Care Reform Alerts. 

    • Blog post
    • 6 hours ago
    • Views: 28
  • Secret CCTV cameras fitted INS

    • From: Ellafrella
    • Description:

      Secret CCTV cameras fitted INSIDE people's homes to spy on neighbours outside

      By Daily Monitor Reporter
      Last updated at 9:22 AM on 19th November 2009

       

      CCTV cameras are being fitted inside family homes by council 'snoopers' to spy on neighbours in the street outside, it was revealed today.

      The £1,000 security cameras have been placed inside properties but are trained on the streets to gather evidence of anti-social behaviour.

      Each device is linked to a laptop computer and accessible online by police and council officials 24 hours a day.

      But the trial inside two homes by Croydon council in south London has sparked new fears about invasion of privacy and Britain's ‘surveillance society’.

      Alamy.jpg

       

      The high street in Addington, Croydon. The London borough has become the first to test out placing CCTV cameras inside homes

      And critics said the extra surveillance was only needed because police had failed to tackle the problem.

      A council spokesman said the cameras would allow the authorities to respond quickly to anti-social behaviour and gather evidence for criminal prosecutions.

      He denied they would be used to spy on neighbours and said more cameras could be installed if the pilot proves a success.

      But critics say the scheme has echoes of the East German Stasi secret police, which recruited members of the public as spies.

      Charles Farrier, of No-CTV, said that the move was ‘a step further in our Big Brother society’.

      He said: ‘There is no evidence they act as a deterrent and we should be concentrating on the root problem anyway and working to gel our communities.

      Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch, warned the cameras would create a 'culture of fear and mistrust'.

      Spy Camera.jpg

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      The cameras are used to look for anti-social behaviour

       

      He said: 'People accept these cameras into their homes because they are afraid.

      'The council might be installing them with the best intentions, but the end result is a culture of fear and mistrust driven by a failure on the part of the borough and the police to have proper law enforcement in this area.

      'Better to have real action from the failing authorities than to extend once more our surveillance society.'

       

      A Croydon spokeswoman confirmed that the cameras cannot be seen from the street and refused to say in which areas they had been installed.

      Residents taking part did not want their families or locations identified for fear of reprisals.

      Images can be viewed on a computer and accessed remotely and the evidence used to take people to court.

      The trials have been running for the past week.

      But some local residents have backed the idea. Kirenna Chin, 30, said: ‘Louts use my hedge as a bouncy castle and urinate in my front garden. It's very intimidating.

      ‘It's a fantastic idea to fit hidden CCTV. If they offered me one I would definitely take it.’

      Gavin Barwell, Croydon's cabinet member for community safety, said: ‘This is good news for residents.

      ‘These CCTV kits give us another weapon to fight anti-social behaviour quickly. We'll be working together with the police to put them to best use.’

      Croydon has one of London's most advanced CCTV networks.

      The control room is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and there are 77 fixed cameras, a rapid-response mobile unit, and three wireless units.


      Read more: http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/realityzone/UFNukcctvinhomes.html#ixzz0XR8vxMJv

       

      My reason for posting this is due to, if it's happening over there, well, it might try to make it's way over here.

      Just a heads-up.

       

      Thoughts?


    • Blog post
    • 7 hours ago
    • Views: 50
  • Obama Fires Inspector General

    • From: madmax77
    • Description:

      Obama fires Gerald Walpin for "no" reason. He was just doing his job investigating AmeriCorps money that went to a community group called St. HOPE Academy, which was founded by Kevin Johnson, former point guard of the Phoenix Suns, who was elected Mayor of Sacramento last November, and who just happens to be a buddy of Obama's. Does it not seem strange that Obama would fire someone who was investigating a friend of his?

      Click_Here_Red2-10.gif picture by bugsbunny42



      Anyone who paid attention to the election last year knows what is happening; it's called Chicago politics at its finest. And it seems that Obama is a pro at it. Does Obama think that he can get away with something like this? The answer is yes. The fact of the matter is that any President can get away with anything up to and including murder, if the news media does not cover it, or they bury it in the back pages.

      But all is not lost, I do see hope for the future. I feel that the stucco façade that surrounds Obama is beginning to crack, and that soon chunks of it will begin to fall off, which will expose Obama for what he truly is, which is an imposter, a fake, a charlatan. It will be at this time that the news media will begin to smell blood, and they will rush to investigate the imposter so as to look as if they were on the job from the beginning; they will not want to be left holding the bag.

      Now here's part of a hack piece by ABC News. The comments are better than the article.
      jbranstetter04


      Political Punch

      Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper

      President Obama Fires Controversial Inspector General

      With little public notice, President Obama Thursday fired the Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Gerald Walpin.
      Saying he was exercising my power as president, Mr. Obama suspended Walpin with pay, saying his termination would be effective 30 days from now.
      http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpun...

      Obama fires Inspector General - Politically motivated and illegal?

      When President Bush fired a handful of U.S. Attorneys in 2006, all of which were appointed by him and "serve at the pleasure of the President," the cries of "political corruption" from the newly Democrat-controlled Senate could be heard across America.
      Today, President Obama has terminated a government inspector general, possibly in violation of laws established to prevent the same kind of political influence Bush was accused of using.
      Gerald Walpin, whose job it was to review grants awarded by AmeriCorps and its parent agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service, had discovered improprioties involving a charity headed up by the Mayor of Sacramento, Kevin Johnson. According to his investigation, Mr. Johnson's "St. HOPE Academy" had misappropriated nearly $1 million by using money to pay volunteers for political activities, run personal errands and even wash his car.
      Mayor Johnson is a huge supporter of Barack Obama's, and this link between the two of them gives every appearence of political payback, not to mention the possibility of serious illegalities by the President.

      Why did the White House act so quickly to fire Gerald Walpin and attempt to discredit him with allegations of senility?  Until now, it appeared that the Obama administration got angry with Walpin for publicly opposing a settlement with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson on allegations of fraud in handling federal funds that would have allowed Johnson to continue to receive such funds.  Now, however, the Washington Examiner reports that a Congressional inquiry has discovered that Johnson may have used that money to pay off women accusing him of sexual harassment — and that Walpin had gotten too close to the truth:

      In the spring of 2008, Walpin’s office received a tip that Johnson had misused AmeriCorps money. Walpin sent two investigators to Sacramento to check the story out. They discovered that money had in fact been misused, and also learned of the allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct by Johnson.

      In August 2008, at the time Walpin referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney, he also presented the evidence of misuse of federal money to officials at the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps. In September 2008, those officials barred Johnson from receiving any more federal money.

      All this was happening as Johnson was running for mayor of Sacramento, a race he won in November 2008. Johnson’s suspension from receiving federal money became a hot issue in early 2009 after Congress passed the $787 billion stimulus bill. Many people in Sacramento worried that the city would not be able to get its share of that money if the mayor was banned from receiving federal dollars. …

      The new report strongly suggests that Walpin was in fact fired because of the dispute over St. Hope and concludes that the White House “orchestrated an after-the-fact smear campaign to justify” Walpin’s dismissal.

      The report says the allegations of sexual misconduct and a cover-up “provide important context for Walpin’s insistence that the St. Hope matter should not have been settled without further inquiry.” In light of those allegations, the report says, complaints that Walpin was being too aggressive seem unfounded. “The content of the referral tends to undermine any notion that the [inspector general's] investigation was driven by inappropriate motives on the part of Walpin,” the report says. “Rather, it appears to have been driven by non-political, career investigators simply following the facts.”

      Who allegedly arranged for the transfer of hush money? In one of the stranger twists in an already strange story, Johnson’s fiancee Michelle Rhee — better known now as the head of the Washington DC school district:

      At the time, Rhee was on the board of St. Hope. A former St. Hope employee who reported one of the allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct by Johnson told Walpin’s investigators that Rhee “learned of the allegations and played the role of a fixer, doing ‘damage control,’” the congressional report says.

      The employee told investigators that Rhee told her that “she was making this her number one priority, and she would take care of the situation.” A short time later, the employee learned that the girl who had complained about Johnson had received a visit from Johnson’s personal attorney.

      The congressional report quotes the girl as saying the attorney “basically asked me to keep quiet,” and Johnson offered her $1,000 a month for the duration of her time with St. Hope. Once investigators learned about that, the report says, they had “reasonable suspicions about potential hush

    • Blog post
    • 11 hours ago
    • Views: 137
  • Why did the chicken really cro

    • From: tiredofusernames
    • Description:

      Shrek: Urrrrrp - What chicken?
      George Bush: To face a kinder, gentler thousand points of headlights
      Darwin: It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees
      Bob Dylan: How many roads must one chicken cross?
      Robert Frost: To cross the road less traveled by
      Gilligan: The traffic started getting rough; the chicken had to cross. If not for the plumage of its peerless tail the chicken would be lost, the chicken would be lost!
      Martin Luther King : It had a dream
      James T. Kirk: To boldly go where no chicken has gone before
      Sir Isaac Newton: Chickens at rest tend to stay at rest. Chickens in motion tend to cross the road
      Mr. Scott: 'Cos ma wee transporter beam was na functioning properly. Ah canna work miracles, Captain!
      Mae West: I invited it to come up and see me sometime
      George Washington: Actually it crossed the Delaware with me back in 1776
      Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed
      the chicken depends upon your frame of reference
      Darth Vader: Because it could not resist the power of the Dark Side
      Lord Baden-Powell: To earn a Road Crossing merit badge
      Colonel Sanders: I missed one?

    • Blog post
    • 14 hours ago
    • Views: 55
  • A LETTER FROM CANADA

    • From: pleasechooseanother
    • Description:

       

       

       

       

      This is an old e-mail someone sent it around again today, but in view of the events of late, a reminder.

      Thought you might like to read this letter to the editor ~ ever notice how some people just seem to know how to write a letter?.

      This one sure does!

       

      This was written by a Canadian woman, but oh how it also applies to the

      U.S., U.K. and Australia

       

       

       

      THIS ONE PACKS A FIRM PUNCH

       


      Here is a woman who should run for Prime Minister!

       


      Written by a housewife in New Brunswick , to her local newspaper. This is one ticked off lady.

       


      'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by radical Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001 and have continually threatened to do so since?

       


      Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from the nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania ?

       


      Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

       


      And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting against in a brutal insurgency.

       


      I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

       


      I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable by beheading in Afghanistan

       

      ?

      I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

       


      I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques and behind women and children.

       

      ?

      I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of

      nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

       


      I'll care when the Canadian media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens.

       


      In the meantime, when I hear a story about a CANADIAN soldier roughing up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:

       


      I don't care.

       


      When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank:

       


      I don't care.

       


      When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and 'fed special food' that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled, ' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts:

       


      I don't care.

       


      And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn you guessed it,

       


      I don't care!!

       


      If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends.? Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

       


      If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country!? And may I add:

       


      'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Soldiers don't have that problem.'

       


      I have another quote that I would like to add, AND.......I hope you forward all this.

       


      One last thought for the day:

       


      Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

       


      1. Jesus Christ

       


      2. The BritishSoldier.

       


      3. The Canadian Soldier.

       


      4. The US Soldier, and

       


      5. The Australian Soldier

       


      One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom.


       


      YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET ALL OF THEM.

       


      AMEN!

       

      Here Here! Give this lady a standing ovation, she has indeed, ticked all the boxes

    • Blog post
    • 1 day ago
    • Views: 63
  • CashVideo012006.gif

    • From: loneranger
    • Description:
    • 1 day ago
    • Views: 9
    • Not yet rated
  • riot.gif

    • From: madmax77
    • Description:
    • 1 day ago
    • Views: 10
    • Not yet rated
  • TiedJeans-1.gif

    • From: justincase
    • Description:
    • 1 day ago
    • Views: 5
    • Not yet rated
  • Three engineers in a car.

    • From: tiredofusernames
    • Description:

      tas_stonetrek03.gifThere are three engineers in a car; an electrical engineer, a chemical engineer, and a Microsoft engineer. Suddenly the car just stops by the side of the road, and the three engineers look at each other wondering what could be wrong.

      The electrical engineer suggests stripping down the electronics of the car and trying to trace where a fault might have occurred.

      The chemical engineer, not knowing much about cars suggests that maybe the fuel is becoming emulsified and getting blocked somewhere.

      Then, the Microsoft engineer, not knowing much about anything, comes up with a suggestion. "Why don't we close all the windows, get out, get back in, open the windows again and maybe it'll work!?"

    • Blog post
    • 1 day ago
    • Views: 70
  • Ojos.gif

    • From: theworldtoday
    • Description:
    • 2 days ago
    • Views: 7
    • Not yet rated
  • palin.gif

    • From: theworldtoday
    • Description:
    • 3 days ago
    • Views: 14
    • Not yet rated
  • winkinpalinmu1-1.gif

    • From: theworldtoday
    • Description:
    • 3 days ago
    • Views: 16
    • Not yet rated
  • Barack Obama Called: He Wants

    • From: Zcat
    • Description:

      Remember those $400.00 and $800.00 tax credits Barack Obama gave you in his stimulus plan? And remember that $250.00 gift he gave social security recipients?

      Well, Obama decided he wants them back. Yep. According to the IRS, Obama has never asked for an adjustment of the tax tables, so millions of Americans are going to get taxed for having received the tax credits back in February — typically through adjustments the federal government demanded businesses make in employees’ withholdings.

      “While implementing a credit through reduced withholding is an effective way to provide economic stimulus evenly throughout the year, it is difficult to account for everyone’s circumstances,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. “More than 10 percent of all taxpayers who file individual tax returns for 2009 could owe additional taxes.”

      The tax credit is also available for 2010. Russell said the problems will continue in 2010 if they are not resolved

       

      WASHINGTON — More than 15 million taxpayers could unexpectedly owe taxes when they file their federal returns next spring because the government was too generous with their new Making Work Pay tax credit.

      Taxpayers are at risk if they have more than one job, are married and both spouses work, or receive Social Security benefits while also earning taxable wages, according to a report Monday by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.

      The tax credit, which is supposed to pay individuals up to $400 and couples up to $800, was President Barack Obama's signature tax break in the massive stimulus package enacted in February.

      Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in April. The tax credit was made available through new withholding tables issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

      The withholding tables, however do not take into account taxpayers with multiple jobs or married couples in which both people work. They also don't take into account Social Security recipients with jobs that provided taxable income.

      The Social Security Administration sent out $250 payments to more than 50 million retirees in the spring as part of the economic stimulus package. The payments were meant to provide a boost for people who didn't' qualify for the tax credit.

      However, they went to many retirees who also received the credit. Those retirees will have the $250 payment deducted from their tax credit — but not until they file their tax returns next year, long after the money may have been spent.

      "While implementing a credit through reduced withholding is an effective way to provide economic stimulus evenly throughout the year, it is difficult to account for everyone's circumstances," said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. "More than 10 percent of all taxpayers who file individual tax returns for 2009 could owe additional taxes."

      The tax credit is also available for 2010. Russell said the problems will continue in 2010 if they are not resolved.

      The credit pays workers 6.2 percent of their earned income, up to a maximum of $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples who file jointly. Individuals making more than $95,000 and couples making more than $190,000 are ineligible.

      "Making Work Pay was designed to deliver much needed boosts to the paychecks of 95 percent of all working Americans," said Nayyera Haq, a Treasury Department spokeswoman. "Since enactment, more than 110 million families have benefited from as much as $60 in additional take home pay each month to put toward their family budgets, serving as a steady boost to spending and consumption."

      For many, the new tax tables will simply mean smaller-than-expected tax refunds next year. The average tax refund this year was about $2,800.

      The IRS, in a response to the audit, advised taxpayers to check their withholding throughout the year to make sure they don't get hit with an unexpected tax bill.

      "The withholding system must approximate the tax liability of tens of millions of Americans, and therefore, cannot be tailored precisely to fit every individual situation," Richard Byrd Jr., commissioner of the IRS' wage and investments division, wrote in the agency's response to the report.

      (This version CORRECTS Corrects average refund amount to $2,800 sted $3,000; UPDATES with administration response. Moving on general news and financial services.)

      http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gkep0UU55rYxFXyIKMRy9Zv0Oo-wD9C0NVV81

    • Blog post
    • 3 days ago
    • Views: 131
  • about new breast cancer screen

    • From: trista7510
    • Description:

      I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36.  While I know that these guidelines are supposed to be for the general puplic, I think I would be considered the general public.  This kind of information that comes out concernes me as I found a lump in my breast through self exam.  I found it early and am now a survivor of 11 years.  There was not history of breast cancer in my family, in fact no strong history of cancer at all.  I was not even predisposed to cancer, it just happened hormonally.  If had waited till the doctor found it or God forbid till a mamogram at 40 or later I might be dead.  I know I am only one story, but I beg to differ.  I would rather get these things checked out.  It's better to get these things early rather than later.  What really worries me is that if the government starts imposing these guidlines that the insurance companies will follow suit, and do these people have the medical background and expertise to really make these decisions.

    • Blog post
    • 3 days ago
    • Views: 37
  • Who Turned Off The Heat!

    • From: cking
    • Description:

      I spotted these two squirrels in our courtyard at my work location in Richardson yesterday. They had found a place out of the wind and were snuggling to keep warm.

    • 3 days ago
    • Views: 21
    • Not yet rated
  • New Breast Cancer Screening Gu

    • From: Krystle
    • Description:

       

      Mammogram.jpg

      WHAT DO YOU THINK??

      A government panel now says women don't need to get a mammogram until they are 50-years-old. Instead of yearly exams, the panel reccommends getting a mammogram every other year. It also says there is no benefit to self breast exams.. and says the benefit of a doctor's breast exam is unknown.

      This is quite different from the guidelines set by the American Cancer Society. For the past two decades, women have been urged to get yearly mammograms starting at age 40. They've also been encouraged to conduct self breast exams every month.. and to have a doctor perform a breast exam every 3 years.

      The reasoning behind delaying routine mammogram testing, the panel says, is to reduce the unnecessary biopsies and added stress that result when a mammogram detects something that turns out to be no threat at all.

      Critics worry the new guidelines will confuse women and lead to more breast cancer deaths. Some also wonder if the new guidelines will influence insurance coverage for screenings.

      The panel claims it has medical research to back up the guidelines. It also says the guidelines are for the general population, not those at high risk of breast cancer because of family history or gene mutations known to be common in breast cancer.

      A disclaimer on the report also says it is an independent report and should not be considered the official position of the federal government.

      On the Net:

    • Blog post
    • 3 days ago
    • Views: 108
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  • RATION HEALTH CARE .....NEVER

    • From: pleasechooseanother
    • Description:

       

      By Julie Steenhuysen

      CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cancer experts fear new U.S. breast imaging guidelines that recommend against routine screening mammograms for women in their 40s may have their roots in the current drive in Washington to reform healthcare.

      Critics of the guidelines, issued on Monday by the U.S. Services Task Force, an independent panel sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Quality, say the new guidelines are a step backward and will lead to more cancer deaths.

      Here are some of their concerns.

      * Dr Carol Lee, chairwoman of the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Commission, said she fears insurers -- both private and public -- will use them to pare back health costs.

      "These new recommendations seem to reflect a conscious decision to ration care," Lee said in a statement.

      She said since the onset of regular mammogram screening in 1990, the death rate from breast cancer, which had been unchanged for the preceding 50 years, has decreased by 30 percent.

      * Dr Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said the influential group will not change recommendations for routine mammograms for women starting at age 40.

      But he is worried that women will become so confused by the conflicting recommendations they will stop getting mammograms altogether. "Frankly, from our point of view that would be the worst possible outcome," Lichtenfeld said in a telephone interview.

      * Lichtenfeld and other doctors are worried that insurance companies and government insurers will seize on the recommendations as a way to control rising health costs.

      "What is going to happen is insurers are going to say, 'The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force doesn't support screening. We're not going to pay for it,'" said Dr Daniel Kopans, professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School and a senior radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

      "There were no new data to assess. One has to wonder why these new guidelines are being promulgated at a time when healthcare is under discussion and I am afraid their decision is related to saving money rather than saving lives," Kopans said.

      * "The USPSTF recommendations are a step backward and represent a significant harm to women's health," Dr W. Phil Evans, president of the Society of Breast Imaging, said in a statement.

      "At least 40 percent of the lives saved by mammographic screening are of women aged 40-49. These recommendations are inconsistent with current science and apparently have been developed in an attempt to reduce costs. Unfortunately, many women may pay for this unsound approach with their lives."

    • Blog post
    • 4 days ago
    • Views: 72
  • spaceandplanetgif-1.gif

    • From: theworldtoday
    • Description:
    • 4 days ago
    • Views: 5
    • Not yet rated
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