Random charts...

Charts showing the percentage of U.S. hospitals with negative margins, and the median annual change in hospital labor and non-labor expenses. Both show improvements (fewer hospitals with negative margins; decreases in labor expense). Source: Thompson Reuters' Hospitals Continue Financial Recovery. Results from the second quarter of 2009 show hospitals bouncing back!

Tweets for Today (Nov 9th)

SyFy show on 2012, what an absolute load of bunkum. On a side note, how far has Lester Holt fallen! #

Is there a slight whiff of "Wonderland" in the air? tinyurl.com/yhvxvpb #

linkbun.ch/gdks Three (excellent) Health Affairs entries analyzing H.R. 3962 (without the "managers amendment" that is... #

RT @arenda International victims' relatives group aims to curb terrorism www.globalsn.net/ (via @SusanneUre) #

Get me a rope before Mandelson wipes us all out tinyurl.com/ya56gew Hilarious!! #

MIDEAST: The 'Unknown' Fight the Illegal bit.ly/m1CWr ¤ Re 7-story building, "I simply didn't notice it." Yeah, right #

Nicolas Sarkozy était-il vraiment à Berlin dès le 9 novembre 1989 ? bit.ly/4i0KWW Some doubts re a 'convenient' memory... #

twitpic.com/ovjlh - Pin purch in Berlin the year after the wall came down (M = Mauer). 20th anniversary today #

RT @inteldaily US to sell $100M worth of weapons to Georgia: url4.eu /ifDy #

ABC Special Report: Are Doctors What Ails U.S. Healthcare? bit.ly/157X1y #

1/2 RT @QifaNabki Leb Cabinet! bit.ly/3LVl0m So, Hariri agreed OK min had not won elect; Aoun agreed another Telecom Min, still "his" #

2/2 So, son-in-law taken care of, all is well, the country can finally have a government... #

Q&A with Seattle Children's Hospital Director of Environmental Services on Green Initiatives bit.ly/4hpH6K #

Hyperbolic trend?

The blog entry 'No surprise' discussed the situation in Honduras, while the 'UNSC Resolution 1887' entry covered the United Nations Security Council resolution on nuclear proliferation and nuclear disarmament... In both cases the Obama administration brought together parties with widely differing and/or contradictory perspectives, and then achieved 'success' in getting them to "agree" on a declaration, that was subsequently hailed as "historic," game-changing, etc., etc. However, in each of these cases a close reading of the text showed that a sufficient degree of ambiguity was included which allowed the various parties to 'agree' to the formulations, without actually having to change their positions to come to a commonality of understanding and purpose!

In the case of the "Teucigalpa / San Jose Agreement," subsequent events have demonstrated the true worth of the agreement (note, Honduras is not a case where one side violated the written agreement, it is a case of where the agreement turned out to be more aspirational than real), while with UNSC 1887 we have not yet come to a time when facts on the ground will show the strength or hollowness of the agreement...

OK, so two events do not a trend make... yet. However, in conjunction with other events such as the 'also hailed as historic' agreement with Iran over its enriched uranium (which is still up in the air), and the "unprecedented" Israeli settlement concessions (that turned out to be anything but, prompting SecState Clinton to spend the next several days 'walking back' her comment), there seems to be a slight whiff of "Wonderland" in the air...

The White Queen from Alice in Wonderland - Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Tweets for Today (Nov 8th)

Closing debate on health care bill, Waxman gives time (5 mins) to Dingell (D-MI)... 1 min of applause, wonder if that comes out of his time? #

Stupak amendment passes on a 240 to 194 vote. 240 was all Repubs except Shadegg (voted present) plus 64 Dems. #

I hate when representatives legislate by anecdote, justify their position based on some constituent sob story (Ds/Rs equal opp offenders) #

Watching House of Reps debating health care reform: one word, grotesque! They should *all* be ashamed re all their puerile behavior! #

Time still on clock for vote changes, but right now at 218 to 213 with 4 votes to go #

Will go down in books (? at least will be claimed ?) as historic "win" for Pelosi, but bill just got 2 votes over the minimum reqd (220-215) #

Woo-hoo! One Republican vote, thus "bipartisan" (cough, cough) #

Voting to suspend rules and agree to remember Fort Hood shooting victims, not expecting many (any?) 'Nay' votes here! #

Dem House leaders all congratulating each other and the President. Tomorrow they'll be in pain from all the self- and other-backslapping! #

Report: 237 millionaires in Congress (44%) bit.ly/4badnQ #

Estrosi prend une leçon de Twitter et de français au Sénat bit.ly/tEWGU #

Après Jean, un coup de pouce de l'Elysée pour Pierre Sarkozy tinyurl.com/yezwhld ¶ Vraiment rigolo #

RT @HermanoGeoff Marketing 101: "5 Tactics Apple Uses to Lock You In" bit.ly/3Ie311 ¤ Which is why I don't use, no matter how shiny! #

European Council of Foreign Relations: "Towards a Post-American Europe: a power audit of EU-US Relations" bit.ly/2Ooypu 43-pg PDF #

Bought clothes at Macy's, alarm at exit Ladies at desk apologized, removed elec tag. Didn't ask to see receipt, loss prevention system fail #

Quick update...

The July 15th, 2008 blog entry, 'La nouvelle union,' commented on the inaugural meeting of the new UPM (Union Pour la Mediterranée), or Mediterranean Union. At the time this blogger wondered why the French felt that they would be able to 'run' the 43-member organization, and if the bizarre hand-shake between Sarkozy and Mubarak (see above) would end up being more of a 'bras de fer' between the two...

Fast forward approximately sixteen months and all is not so well... Egypt has caused the cancellation of next month's meeting in Istanbul of the Foreign Ministers from the 43 members, and an European Union diplomat has said, "We are risking the death of the Mediterranean Union just after being born. The Union is in complete shambles and no progress has been made since its launch, both on the structure of the organisation and its seat." Quelle surprise (not)!

Sarkozy Seething - Mediterranean Union Barely Breathing

Mental health break

No surprise

On October 30th the Honduran de facto (Micheletti) government and ousted President Manual Zelaya ostensibly came to an agreement regarding how to resolve the stand-off that had been in place since Zelaya was arrested by the Honduran military and exiled from the country (June 28th.) The U.S. which had been involved in the negotiations swiftly claimed a "breakthrough in negotiations in Honduras," and a "historic agreement." Zelaya also claimed victory and vindication, saying "This signifies my return to power in the coming days, and peace for Honduras." Even Hugo Chavez chimed in ehthisiastically...

However, reading the headlines and the myriad of articles hailing the agreement, even this Twitterer could see that things didn't seem to add up! Yes, there was an article that covered the formation of a national unity government, and it even provided a deadline (November 5th) for this to happen ; however, Zelaya was only to be reinstated upon approval by the country's parliament, and no deadline was provided for that article of the agreement. Given that a large majority of the Honduran Congress had supported his removal and that the de facto government leaders continued to insist that he would never return (for example, Marcia Facusse de Villeda, an aide to Micheletti said, "Zelaya won’t be restored.”), it did not seem likely that Zelaya would be reinstated. Given the 180-degree difference between the expectations of the two sides of who had signed this "historic agreement," it seemed that nothing good would be forthcoming...

Fast forward a week and, sure enough, it all seems to be falling apart - the Honduran Congress has not been called out of recess to reinstate Zelaya, and the de facto government has named the unity government, claiming that Zelaya's side had not set forth its members. For his part, Zelaya today issued a statement withdrawing from the “Tegucigalpa/San Jose Agreement,” and pre-declaring the November 29th election as a fraud - "... announce that we will completely ignore this electoral process and the results of the aforementioned evils, elections under a dictatorship are a fraud for the people..."

So, back to the status quo ante - the de facto government intends to go along with the new elections, and Zelaya's side rejects them. It remains to be seen what position will be taken by the United States, although it seems at present that the answer may be 'yes.'

What has been appalling is the shoddy press coverage (anyone reading just the headlines would be dumbfounded by the subsequent events), and the incomprehensible actions of this administration...

Pact to restore ousted Honduran leader in Congress (Oct 30th)
Breakthrough in Honduras (Oct 30th)
Honduran Congress Leader Says Accord Won’t Restore Zelaya (Oct 30th)
Honduras deal a boost for US influence in Latin America (Oct 30th)
Fin de crisis apoya política multilateral de EUA (Oct 30th)
Credit where credit is due (Oct 31st)
Troubles for a Deal — and for Obama — in Honduras (Nov 6th)
Pres. Zelaya: Elections Under a Dictatorship are a Fraud, Micheletti’s Failure to Comply (Nov 7th)

Tweets for Today (Nov 7th)

Midtown NYC to Get Own Antiterror "Ring of Steel" (modeled on London) tinyurl.com/y8j4xks #

Will @dipnote say this: tinyurl.com/yh2u7p2 for this incident too? tinyurl.com/ycof2hd Hmm, somehow doubt it. #

Manga brings Best European Act prize home for 2nd year tinyurl.com/y9wlrqw Video: Bitti ruya tinyurl.com/2xbc5b #

"This is political theater" (re Abbas) tinyurl.com/y8ny2vz #

Honduras: Unilateral "Unity Government" Announced; Zelaya Says Deal "Dead" bit.ly/a9FQ6 ¤ Hmm, it never was "alive" #

Celebrating the fall of the Berlin wall: a new "wall", checkpoints... Oh, just a U2 concert bit.ly/309Rcw #

All the administration's "historic breakthroughs" bit.ly/2x0BlP #

Fusillades en série aux Etats-Unis bit.ly/1PkeNS ¤ A particularly American phenomenon? #

Lebanese Transparency Association: Corruption has embedded itself in every level of Lebanese society bit.ly/4ExbJI #

JP rape games 'invade' Indian computers bit.ly/2c3cq8 ¤ Rapelay storyline: rape a woman, 2 teenage daughters in train, park, restroom #

Nicolas Cage financial problems: 12+ houses, 2 Bahamian islands, Shah of Iran's Lamborghini, & so much more tinyurl.com/y9cowy5 #

"could happen in America" bit.ly/4v7D8K ¤ Baloney. If these dire threats so "easy" guess should be grateful enemies singularly inept! #

Palestine,Peres,Pledges And Poppycock tinyurl.com/ygxpnsn #

The Brain Behind Ahmadinejad tinyurl.com/yedeu66 Suggests intellectual source of Ahmedinajad's anti-semitism #

RT @disruptivewomen Democrats to resolve abortion impasse on House floor tinyurl.com/ycouxnq ¶ How does this work for amendment losers? #

Steny Hoyer going on about 1st AA President last Oct, that historical event apparently connected to upcoming vote on health care #

RT @jranck Study: 1/3rd Americans die in hosps bit.ly/1eHoI6 ¤ Is there big imp to *where* people die, vs. why? #

Hmm, didn't realize that Herod's "massacre of the innocents" appears in Matthew but in no other gospel & has no other evidence #

RT @jranck: Staturday: Buying Influence in the Obama Administration bit.ly/4meBHO #

RT @avinunu Racism? Every Muslim made to feel responsible for 13 deaths at Ft.Hood while white Americans feel none for 1 million Iraqis #

twitpic.com/ood2f - Bhel puri & vegetable pakora appetizers #

Random chart...

Graph showing U.S. unemployment in this economic downturn versus previous downturns., specifically job losses from the start of the employment recession (in percentage terms). Source: Calculated Risk - Employment Report: 190K Jobs Lost, 10.2% Unemployment Rate

Mental health break

Tweets for Today (Nov 6th)

Une "fatwa" lancée mardi par org islamique indienne à l'encontre de ce chant national populaire fait polémique tinyurl.com/y8bk3kl #

Sarkozy se confie à six journalistes : chut, c'est du « off » tinyurl.com/yzs4p26 #

Levis' "go forth" commercials... suck. #

Is this a surprise? Wasn't this in the cards when both sides claimed a diff outcome from the same documents/process? bit.ly/AR0LN #

Nonsense bit.ly/1J3rO #

Chirac publishes memoirs as court case looms bit.ly/yjO1U #

RT @1D4TW: "Pentagon's rapidly expanding media empire, now bigger in size, money & power than many media companies" bit.ly/1PnTUS #

Ross Perot Jr. Wounds Rhino in South African Trophy Hunt, Sues for Second Shot? bit.ly/14B0OS #

A. Bloody. Mazing! bit.ly/1JyDRw Who built Berlin Wall? Most Russians don't know (58%) #

Senate blocks census US-citizenship question bit.ly/3TXoDh "hugely expensive"? Huh? #

What happens when good robots go 'bad'? bit.ly/3io2FP #

1/2 Pregnant/caring for inf below 6 mos & work on Wall Street? Get to the back of the line (H1N1 vaccines) tinyurl.com/yzg2xzt #

2/2 The previous i.e. tinyurl.com/y9zb3mk per Senator Dodd and some SEIU puke... tinyurl.com/yzg2xzt #

Illegal immigration biggest threat to health vote? tinyurl.com/yge5 bt8 Trying to reduce overall costs to "the system" = inclusion #

Police inc patrols by mosques in case of violent backlash. Should include Sikh gurudwaras, the folks who reacts thus not particularly smart #

. @deremilitari Well they are just wrapping up Immediate Response 2010! Re RU mil intel believes GE might attack S.Ossetia #

Much of initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out wrong tinyurl.com/ybwnhxx ¶ As usual, "Mosey along now, nothing to see here" #

RT @maplight Dems Voting to Exempt Auto Dealers from Financial Oversight Receive More Money bit.ly/1Gd7qn #

RT @abuaardvark Daniel Levy assessment of Obama ME diplomacy, & why he said "amateur hour" to the Post bit.ly/1VNeZ4 #

Great quotes...

"Vaccines should go to people who need them most, not people who happen to work on Wall Street" - Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT).

"Wall Street banks have already taken so much from us. They've taken trillions of our tax dollars. They've taken away people's homes who are struggling to pay the bills. But they should not be allowed to take away our health and well-being." - SEIU official John VanDeventer.

Both commenting on the fact that when New York received additional shipments of H1N1 vaccine, the state distributed doses to "some of New York's biggest companies, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup... for at-risk employees." Apparently pregnant women, those with infants under six months, older employees with health conditions such as asthma and diabetes, etc. need to go to the back of the queue if they happen to work on Wall Street!

Tweets for Today (Nov 5th)

The Trial of German-Iranian Trader Mohsen Vanaki: German Intel Svc Assesses IR Likely Has Nuc Prog tinyurl.com/y8sxdzg (8-pg PDF) #

A Smuggler's Use of the U.S. Financial System to Receive Illegal Payments from Iran tinyurl.com/ya49g84 (7-pg PDF) #

AARP: "We have no conflicts of interest." / Over $200 million of their revenue from insurance cos for flogging policies... #

U2's Free Berlin Concert to Take Place Behind a Wall tinyurl.com/ylyxphj #

Nice line from Kucinich (D-OH): "Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt" tinyurl.com/ybfm7yr On HR 867 #

Your Bailout Update (Nov. 2009): $400 Billion Outstanding tinyurl.com/y977pkf #

1/2 "We've all come to understand is that space is a contested domain. It used to be looked at like a sanctuary" tinyurl.com/y9bjcq6 #

2/2 "Sanctuary"? Change more accurately characterized as from "uncontested" (i.e. U.S. bailiwick) to "contested" tinyurl.com/y9bjcq6 #

RT @DrJennyK: MBA in pharmaceutical management tinyurl.com/yh8s6uq ¤ Seems rather "narrow" and over-focused?!? #

Twitter begins testing new tweet notifications bit.ly/2wcOKo #

Palestinian women continue to suffer abuse & denial of basic human rights in Occupied Palestinian Territories bit.ly/4vvfZx #

Un manuel de terrorisme en librairie bit.ly/1vbBXO ¤ But 'sanitized' #

Honduras: Ousted Leader Questions U.S. Policy bit.ly/45 pSdG #

Karadzic: Looking For A Monster, And Finding Only A Man bit.ly/2dOki1 ¤ Of course one can be both... #

Heard on NPR radio during discussion of racism, one participant concludes "Racism is rooted in the DNA of western culture. WTF? #

Free "out" expires eventually. Re: One year on, Obama cites struggle with Bush legacy tinyurl.com/yd6xord #

Israel has expropriated some 35% of E Jerusalem's territory, over 24,000 dunums of land tinyurl.com/yeuohyt #

"Israel" bans entrance of medical devices to Gaza tinyurl.com/yg79v5f Notice that Hizb uses quotes (around Israel) #

Another update...

Photo credit: spiegel.de

The October 20th, 2008 blog entry, ' The earth in all its splendor,' highlighted a couple of articles that talked about geologic changes in the Afar region of the Horn of Africa that possibly presaged the eventual formation of a new ocean... Subsequent scientific study seems to confirm this theory, see African Desert Rift Confirmed As New Ocean In The Making.

Follow the link to an amazing (17-picture) slide show by Scientific American ...

Tweets for Today (Nov 4th)

Doctors resign from Am Academy of Family Physicians over Coca-Cola alliance bit.ly/13wM4M Should physician group hook up w/soda co? #

CBO: House Health Bill Would Lower Some Middle Class Premiums, Raise Costs For Others bit.ly/4v1a8s #

Obama's Outreach to Muslim World Teetering bit.ly/41XUEj #

Ma'an News: Israeli officials posture on new war in Gaza bit.ly/28SOfQ #

Les talibans rejettent la main tendue de Karzaï bit.ly/4tJIt4 #

Spanish Intellectual Francisco Ayala Dies at 103 bit.ly/1NNTvX #

Qian Xuesen, Father of China's Space Program, Is Dead at 98 bit.ly/18Bfc9 #

El Koshary Today, an Egyptian 'Onion'? bit.ly/1k93XO #

RT @MXML @trixl Wallace & Gromit's 20th birthday celebrated with a Google doodle j.mp/4fnAad via @philosophybites ¤ Cheese, Gromit! #

'This Calm Will Not Last' -Interview with Leila Khaled bit.ly /4kWteq #

Abdullah Abdullah drops out of 2nd round, Karzai declared winner, Abdullah claims this illegal... Huh? bit.ly/1ykqkR #

Phone texting reveals sensitive new "metrotextual" bit.ly/2ZQePI ¤ Heh #

Trying to catch up with their TV commercials? bit.ly/2rFzI7 #

Scared of flying? There's an app for that bit.ly/3sXpKd ¤ Huh? You're also not allowed to use electronic devices during takeoff #

RT @ MXML: RT @observers First images of Tehran clashes bit.ly/1tnFDo #

RT @rallaf Fascinating piece on sad state of Turkmenistan: mad regime & isolation of Turkmen people bit.ly/4mouWH #

High rates of premature birth are main reason U.S. has higher infant mortality than many other countries tinyurl.com/yj63t2o #

US DOJ Confirms Corp-Owned Hosps Involved in Illegal Schemes in McAllen TX, & NOT Physician-Owned Hospital tinyurl.com/ylgpebs #

Can Quality Concepts and Tools Fix the U. S. Election Process? (reg reqd) tinyurl.com/yf7fonv ¶ Uh, no... #

Unions win 75% of representation elections held in healthcare in the first 6 months of 2009 tinyurl.com/yfpuo2j #

RT @lucidnitram RT @iRevolt "Wiped Off The Map" - The Rumor of the Century tinyurl.com/ytx8uu #

Have they consulted Bruce "I predict the future" Bueno de Mesquita? Re JASON Cautions on Predicting Terror Events tinyurl.com/y8ngymd #

Previous tweet very 'tongue in cheek' tinyurl.com/y9nqn6s Sorry, couldn't help myself! #

In process, "Immediate Response 2010" tinyurl.com/ylczz59 Because the prev one was so successful... #

twitpic.com/oahy0 - Sweet lassi, yum... #

1/2 'U.S.reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force, inc nuc weapons, to use of WMD against the U.S.' tinyurl.com/yduxcj9 #

2/2 One wonders what definition of WMD used for this "right" tinyurl.com/yeknnq9 given this: tinyurl.com/yd9punf #