Der Eintrag wurde am 07.06.08 um 7:03 am von admin geschrieben.
Constructed of Nitrolon, a nearly indestructible polymer composite that is non-conductive and corrosion-resistant, the 8NX Commander is a rechargeable flashlight that produces seven times the light of an ordinary two D-cell flashlight. The molded-in gridlock grip keeps the 8NX securely in your hand in wet weather or when wearing heavy gloves. The 8NX000 is the flashlight only (no charger) and comes with one B90 rechargeable battery, which gives 110 lumens of light for 50 minutes. The 8NX flashlight is also sold as part of a complete system: the 8NX415, which comes with two B90 batteries, a SmartCharger that uses microprocessor technology to protect the charging battery from the voltage spikes typical of automotive and marine electrical systems, and an AC transformer and DC auto adaptor. The 8NX Commander features unique switching originally developed for law enforcement- twist for constant on, or depress the tailcap button for momentary illumination or emergency signaling.
wgowerg86 -
Screening for Autism
I Screen, You Screen: The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that all children be screened for autism. They’ve only press-released their recommendations, however, so it’s difficult to assess them. Wouldn’t it be nice if professional organizations actually released their recommendations to their members before they did so to the public? It would make it so much easier for doctors to discuss the news stories with their patients. They’re releasing them today at their annual conference, and later in the November issue of their journal, which is not yet available online. (Though it may be in AAP member’s mailboxes.)
Part of any well child visit is screening for developmental delays, so one has to wonder what’s different about these recommendations. Are they setting lower limits for what’s abnormal so that those mild cases of autism (which some argue aren’t really autism or even disease) can be treated? If that’s the case, then don’t be surprised when a couple of years from now there’s a upward spike in the number of cases of autism. And don’t blame it on vaccines.
Universal Pander
The Universal Pander: There’s nothing like a presidential election to bring out the healthcare crisis. And, since the presidential primary process is stretching into a two year long spectacle, there’s been no shortage of proposals on how to fix our current system. Recently, Dennis Kucinich pointed out that his ideas are the closest thing to what the American people want:
In a CNN poll this spring, 64 percent of respondents said the government should “provide a national insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes,” and 73 percent approve of higher taxes to insure children under 18. Those results track New York Times and Gallup polls last year, in which about two-thirds of respondents said it is the federal government’s responsibility to guarantee health coverage to all Americans.
Such polls allow Kucinich to joke that, far from being in the loony left, “I’m in the center. Everyone else is to the right of me.”
Ask the American public a different question about the healthcare system, and you’ll get a different answer:
For the fifth time in six years, Harris Interactive has asked the insured public to rate their own insurance plans. Two thirds of them continue to give their plans an A or a B, with only 10% giving them a D or an F. Substantial but not overwhelming majorities continue to say that they would recommend their own health plans to family members who are basically healthy (76%) or who have a serious or chronic illness (68%).
Health insurance companies are like politicians. We dislike all but our own. We should be careful what we wish for, however, for it won’t just be our own politicians designing a nationalized health insurance plan; it will be all the others that we dislike, including politicians who believe hospital pork is a public service, that healthcare and personal autonomy are mutually exclusive, and that the right to earn a living takes second place to health insurance.
What are people really wishing for when they say they wish for a single nationalized health insurance program? Security. Our current employer-provided system means that most of us are just a pink slip away from losing our insurance coverage. It also means that, deprived of the bargaining power of large corporations and unions, the self-employed are left with fewer choices and higher premiums. Handing over the whole kit and kaboodle to the government is a seductively simple solution. But it would also be a very expensive solution.
The British are often held up as the standard to which we should aspire. But we don’t live under a British style of government. We live under a government that’s truly government of the people, by the people, for the people. And what the people want, the people get. Witness the influence of disease activism even now on disease specific government funding and treatment mandates. In England, the government only pays for colonoscopies to check for colon cancer if there are symptoms suggestive of cancer or a family history of colon cancer. In the United States, the Medicare pays for a colonoscopy every ten years for everyone over 50, regardless of symptoms or risk. So do many insurance companies., sometimes if not by choice, by mandate. In England, mammograms are only covered for women between the ages of 50 and 70, and then only every three years. In the United States, we pay for mammograms beginning at age 40, yearly, and with no upper age limit. We just don’t have the heart for rationing that they have in other countries.
A common theme in politician crafted health care schemes is that by paying for prevention we will save money, and thus be able to offer limitless healthcare services without bankrupting the country. Both Hillary Clinton and John Edwards have explicitly emphasized the importance of preventive healthcare in their plans- even to the point of patient-directed mandates in the case of Edwards. But if preventive services save money and lives, then why is the United Kingdom, which offers less expansive preventive services than the United States, both healthier and cheaper? (Hint: Dead people neither spend health insurance dollars nor complain about their health.)
Don’t be fooled by the promises of health and wealth to be found in government-provided, or even mandated, health insurance coverage. It may bring you health, but it will be at a very steep price - both in money and liberty.
(Note: Next installment, a look at the Republican candidates approach to “universal coverage.”)
Power of the Gods
The Power of the Gods: Medical infallibility.
Re: Adding some .22s to the collection
I have NAA mini revolver as well as a MK II Ruger, Ruger Bearcat (inherited) and a Taurus PT22 I bought off a fellow fireman. he had bought it for his ex wife. I like 22;s cheap to shoot, and plinking is something I gew up doing. I have taken some small game with a .22. and use them when I camp and fish.
Trusty Dentist
Trusty Dentist: Not so trusty with music and a drill.
Mell pushes gun registration amnesty to help self, others
Ald. Richard Mell got a City Council committee to approve a change to a Chicago law on his behalf Wednesday, but argued it would benefit thousands of other city residents who, like him, simply failed to renew their gun licenses. Perhaps Mell and the City Council should take the right step and eliminate Chicago’s draconian gun laws that treat law-abiding people like criminals while having no impact on actual criminals.
Eliminating Cold Medicine
Take Some Tylenol and Call Me in the Morning: What will we do without cough and cold medicine? I can hear it now, that familiar refrain - “Tylenol doesn’t do anything.” And it doesn’t, at least not for runny noses, sneezes, and coughs, despite what the expert says:
Children’s Tylenol and Children’s Motrin, when sold by themselves, were excluded from the discussions because the medicines in those products, acetaminophen and ibuprofen, respectively, are safe and effective in treating fevers and aches even in young infants.
Tylenol and Motrin are sold in syrupy concoctions that help coughs because the syrup coats the back of the throat and calms cough receptors, said Dr. Ian Paul, a pediatrician at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey, Pa., who consults for industry.
The committee skipped any lengthy discussion of antihistamines like Benadryl, because there is little debate that such medicines are effective for allergies. Benadryl, also known as diphenhydramine, also puts some children to sleep. But nearly all the experts said deliberate sedation should be discouraged.
The medicines that earned the most scorn were those commonly sold to treat coughs, runny noses and congestion, including dextromethorphan and phenylephrine.
None of them have any proven effect on children’s cold symptoms. All have risks.
The advisory panel is right, however, about the effectiveness of the medications. They are effective mostly in that they give a parent something to do so they don’t feel as if they’re standing by while their child suffers. The number of children injured by the drugs, however, has been exceedingly small:
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that at least 1,519 children younger than 2 had serious health problems from 2004 to 2005 after having been treated with common cold medicines. Three children died, the disease control agency found.
But the argument is, that if they don’t do any good in the first place, then why tolerate any risk? But, according to this story, the pharmaceutical companies say the issue is accidental overdosage, not inherent risk in properly dosed drugs:
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), which represents manufacturers and distributors of over-the-counter medicines, said in a statement: “The data clearly show that these medicines are very safe when used as directed and that harm to this age group, while very rare, is attributable in most cases to accidental ingestion an issue of safekeeping that is best addressed through education.”
So what to do? My recommendation would be not to use them. Runny noses and coughs aren’t in the category of intolerable suffering, and these products aren’t likely to be much benefit anyway.
Veteran’s Day Remembrance
In Remembrance: 
Winged Victory
Veteran’s Day movie recommendation - Wooden Crosses.
Veteran’s Day medical reading - the influence of World War I on heart surgery.
Inspiring Lives
Inspiring Lives: Speaking of the supreme champion of eugenics, here’s an inspiring story from the days of his reign.
Lincoln`s Rule: Organization Matters
Politics has become hi-tech with sophisticated databases, the Internet, TV ads, focus groups and polls. But a lanky Sangamon County, Ill., lawyer described the essential task of politics in 1840 in a letter to his Whig campaign committee. Make a list of the voters, he wrote, ascertain for whom they will vote, have undecided voters talked to by someone they hold in confidence, and, on Election Day, get all Whig voters to the polls.
