• Dentistry,  Socialized Dentistry

    NHS Dentistry Watch: More Dentists Now, More Dentists Later

    Medical News today has More Dentists Now, More Dentists Later Key Targets Hit In Drive To Increase NHS Dentistry Access, UK.

    There are more NHS dentists now and will be in the future thanks to a successful recruitment campaign bringing dentists to the NHS to improve access, and an increase in the number of students able to train as dentists, said Health Minister Rosie Winterton today.

    Speaking at the Institute of Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London, as she met new dental students, Rosie Winterton confirmed that the Government has far exceeded its target to recruit the whole time equivalent of 1000 more dentists and has also seen the largest increase in the number of dental training places in nearly 20 years.

    It is apparent the Labour government of Tony Blair has spared no expense to sustain the socialized National Health Service Dentistry.

    The government is lowering standards for licensure and has recruited over 500 foreign dentists, including 216 from Poland. Interesting that private dentists are taxed to pay the government to recruit and license competition to treat their own countrymen. If Flap were a taxpaying dentist and the government exacted my hard earned money to set up a competitor across the street because I would not accept low government fees for their socialized national scheme it would precipitate political outrage and probably emigration.

    The terms of the future contract for dentists (to appear in April 2006) gurantees an income, 5%work reduction and a government pension among other advantages like NHS paid continuing education. Uusally, when something sounds too good to be true then it is not true.

    What Flap asks is at what cost?

    Wonder what the British Dental Association has to say?

    Stay tuned…..

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  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  California Republican Party,  Politics,  Proposition 73,  Proposition 74,  Proposition 75,  Proposition 76,  Proposition 77,  Proposition 78,  Proposition 79,  Proposition 80,  Special Election 2005

    California Special Election 2005: Republican Strongholds Abandon Schwarzenegger

    The San Francisco Chronicle has Republican strongholds left Schwarzenegger in the cold Past allies were no-shows at polls — or opponents

    Voters in some of California’s most reliably Republican counties deserted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in droves Tuesday, either sitting out the special election or working actively against the governor’s political agenda.

    While Schwarzenegger’s supporters argue that the landslide defeat was a one-time reaction to an unpopular special election, it’s a result that threatens the chances of Schwarzenegger — and other Republican candidates — in next November’s statewide elections.

    Absolutely correct.

    That is why Flap suggests Schwarzenegger call his agent and book some movie deals.

    Schwarzenegger hasn’t necessarily lost all the people who voted against his package of initiatives Tuesday, but he’s made it easier for them to look at the Democratic alternatives in next year’s re-election campaign. The governor seems to recognize the need for changes, pledging Thursday to work more closely with the Democrat-led Legislature and agreeing Friday to end a legal battle over hospital staffing with the California Nurses Association, one of his most vocal critics.

    “Just because the people here voted against Schwarzenegger doesn’t mean that they’re not mad at the rest of the government as well,” said Giventer of Cal State Stanislaus. “But the governor has to show he’s going to pay attention to what’s important.”

    But, if Schwarzenegger moves to the LEFT he will further alienate or demotivate his Republican base. The Governator has trouble on the LEFT and RIGHT.

    He is really in a NO-WIN bind.

    Flap predicts that Schwarzenegger will withdraw from re-election if he cannot quickly rehabilitiate his poll numbers.

    Isn’t this what his movie pal, Jesse Ventura did?

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  • Blogosphere,  Media

    American Newspaper Watch: A Future of Empty Doorsteps?

    The ASSociated Press has A future of empty doorsteps? Dark days for US newspapers

    Dark days are ahead for American newspapers, as sales tumble, a warp-speed news culture leaves lumbering dailies behind and scandals over flawed reporting taint heavyweight titles.

    US papers are battling an explosion in online information, a news agenda powered by bloggers and 24-hour cable news, and they can’t seem to connect with young readers.

    And look for the Pajamas Media (of which this blog is a member) BIG Launch this Wednesday, November 16th in New York City.

    The future for the blosophere is bright.

    Newspapers……well dimmer……….

  • California,  Politics

    California Infrastructure Watch: 91 Freeway Tunnel

    Early morning commuters stack up along the 91 freeway headed in to Orange County Nov. 1, 2005, in Anaheim, Calif. Traffic has gotten so bad along the eastern rim of Los Angeles’ ever-expanding suburban ring that regional planners are seriously considering the once unthinkable _ an 11-mile tunnel under a mountain range in earthquake country.

    The ASSociated Press has Calif. May Build Tunnel in Quake Region

    Traffic is so bad along the eastern rim of Los Angeles’ suburban ring that regional planners are considering the once unthinkable – an 11-mile tunnel through a mountain range in earthquake country.

    Critics question the logic of building a multibillion-dollar project in a region so prone to earthquakes that an alternate proposal for a double-decker highway was deemed too dangerous. The tunnel would begin barely a mile from a fault that produced a 6.0-magnitude earthquake about a century ago.

    “It’s absolutely absurd to have a tunnel 700 feet below ground in earthquake country,” said Cathryn DeYoung, mayor of Laguna Niguel and a vocal opponent. “I mean, would you want to be in that tunnel?”

    Planners are due to make a decision in mid November on whether to pursue the project.

    Flap would NOT reject this project out of hand.

    Traffic is horrid in southern California, particularly along the 91 Freeway corridor between Orange and Riverside counties. What would happen to all of those folks if they are stuck on the freeway with NO free evacuation path if an earthquake or fire hits in an adjacent area?

    California voters need to hold their elected official accountable for the many many years of infrastructure neglect.

    Californians must vote THEIR interests and NOT the interests of the California trial lawyers and public employee unions who control Sacramento.

    Let’s hear what the planners have to say………

    Update #1

    Jubal over at the OC Blog, a fellow Bear Flag League member has AP Tunnel Story Provides Glimpse of Irvine Co.’s Hidden Hand

    I join El Pistolero in seeing the hidden hand of California Strategies acting on behalf of the Irvine Company — which actively opposes the tunnel — in this story. The AP suddenly runs a story on the Santa Ana Mountains tunnel on the national wire, conveniently timed to run just a few days before the MIS committee makes a decision on it’s version of the tunnel project, and which introduces the “earthquake fear factor” angle to the media mix. I wonder who put that suggestion into the reporter’s ear?

    It reminds me of the odd column this September by Hoover Institution fellow Bill Whalen attacking the tunnel idea. I say “odd” because it came from a Northern Californian slamming a SoCal infrastructure project in the pages of a national conservative opinion magazine, The American Spectator — well outside the topic parameters of the columns Whalen writes for national publications.

    However, it’s not so odd when you consider Bill Whalen was director of public affairs for Gov. Pete Wilson from 1994 to 1999, where he worked with California Strategies principals Bob White (then Wilson’s long-time chief of staff) and Gary Hunt (then second-in-command of the Irvine Co. and long-time Wilson fund-raiser and advisor).

    As for Cassie DeYoung, the ‘earthquake fear factor” wasn’t previously an arrow in her anti-tunnel quiver, although its unsurprising she is enthusiastically embracing this new bloody shirt. After all, her consultants, Forde and Mollrich, also work for tunnel opponent The Irvine Co. Cassie DeYoung previously based her campaign on fixing the county pension crisis, but has chucked that theme in favor of staking her candidacy on opposition to any Santa Ana Mountain tunnel. No doubt the suits at the Irvine Company are pleased to have their PR company directing Cassie DeYoung’s personal fortune in the service of their public policy objectives.

    Now, a question and a point regarding Cassie DeYoung’s hysterical quote in the AP story:

    1) Why is it “absolutely absurd to build a tunnel 700 feet below ground in earthquake country.”? After all, what major Southern California infrastructure project is NOT built in earthquake country? Citing the possibility of destructive seismic events as a reason not to build is an argument for not building anything at all.

    2) “I mean, would you want to be in that tunnel?” No — but neither would I want to be on a freeway overpass or underpass, nor living near a dam, in the vicinity of a gas line, or underneath a powerline. Does DeYoung think we should stop building all of those because we might be near one during an earthquake?

    It’s becoming increasingly difficult to think of DeYoung as a serious, thoughtful candidate.

    Finally, I noticed a glaring omission in Ms. Flaccus’ story. Given that it was written about the potential dangers of building a tunnel in “earthquake country,” why didn’t she include quotes from a seismologist? She found the column inches for a quote from the Green Party Mayor of Aliso Viejo, Karl Warkomski — the man who voted to outlaw water — but apparently there no room room for the observations of a scientist who studies earthquakes for a living.

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  • Jeb Bush,  Politics,  President 2008

    President 2008 Watch: Jeb Bush Leaves Door Open for White House Bid

    File photo of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as he speaks at the inaugural session of the Organization of American States 35th General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida June 5, 2005. The brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, ruled out running for president in 2008 but left open the possibility of a subsequent bid in an interview with a German magazine published on Sunday.

    Jeb Bush has Jeb Bush leaves open White House bid.

    Florida Gov.Jeb Bush, the brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, ruled out running for president in 2008 but left open the possibility of a subsequent bid in an interview with a German magazine published on Sunday.

    Jeb Bush, who is scheduled to visit Germany this week, told Focus weekly he had not thought much about running for the office held by his father and older brother except to rule out the next election at the end of George W. Bush’s second term.

    “You should never say never. But for the 2008 election, my answer is definitely no,” he said, in comments translated into German by the magazine.

    Asked whether his answer meant a later challenge was possible, he said: “Let’s say there’s a vague chance.”

    And why not?

    Jeb has been a great Governor of a populous state, Florida and a national political player fo some time.

    Flap has had the opportunity to meet Jeb and is impressed……more so than with his brother the President.

    Flap could foresee a possible vice presidential nomination on a Giuliani ticket. He has more standing and persona than Romney or Allen. Should Jeb decline then there is Kay Bailey Hutchison.

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