• Pinboard Links,  The Afternoon Flap

    The Afternoon Flap: November 25, 2011

    These are my links for November 23rd through November 25th:

    • An Electronic Eye on Hospital Hand-Washing – Beeps and blinking lights are the constant chatter of a hospital intensive care unit, but at the I.C.U.’s in North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., the conversation has some unusual contributors. Two L.E.D. displays adorn the wall across from each nurses’ station. They show the hand hygiene rate achieved: last Friday in the surgical I.C.U., the weekly rate was 85 percent and the current shift had a rate of 91 percent. “Great Shift!!” the sign said. At the medical I.C.U. next door, the weekly rate was 81 percent, and the current shift 82 percent.

      That’s too low for a “Great Shift!!” message. But by most standards, both I.C.U.’s are doing well. Those L.E.D. displays are very demanding — health care workers must clean their hands within 10 seconds of entering and exiting a patient’s room, or it doesn’t count. Three years ago, using the same criteria, the medical I.C.U.’s hand hygiene rate was appalling — it averaged 6.5 percent. But a video monitoring system that provides instant feedback on success has raised rates of hand-washing or use of alcohol rubs to over 80 percent, and kept them there.

    • First 5 LA chief to get sizable severance despite having quit – The board of First 5 LA will give its former chief executive officer an expensive severance package even after she resigned earlier this month following a critical audit of the agency.

      Evelyn V. Martinez submitted a letter on Nov. 10, saying the commissioners had required her to resign instead of being fired without cause from the independent Los Angeles County agency, which uses state cigarette taxes to fund health, safety and educational programs for children from birth to age 5.

      In her letter, Martinez said she was entitled to a lump sum payment equal to 12 months of salary and health benefits and her unused vacation. Martinez, who earned more than $240,000 annually, also said she should receive an additional month of pay and health benefit costs because she was not given a 30-day written notice.

    • Push against California’s redistricting maps moves forward – Republican activists trying to overturn some new voting districts cleared a significant hurdle toward putting the issue on the ballot by turning in petitions bearing hundreds of thousands of signatures.

      But the next step — verification of those names by county elections officials — could take long enough to stymie the proponents’ goal of getting new state Senate districts drawn by the state Supreme Court in time for next year’s elections.

      Secretary of State Debra Bowen has said that vetting all the signatures could take until mid-March, after the Feb. 23 deadline for some candidates to file for the June primary. The timing could mean that the maps drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission would be used until voters could weigh in on the November ballot.

      The referendum would allow voters the final word on the Senate maps. Dave Gilliard, a consultant who oversaw the $2.5-million signature drive for a group called Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting (FAIR), said the activists believe the state’s high court could act in time for the June elections. He said FAIR’s attorneys believe current redistricting law gives the court the authority to create new maps once signed petitions for the referendum have been filed.

    • NYT Claims Increasing Bipartisan Support for Plans that Could Raise the Cost of Medicare Policies by $34 Trillion – The NYT claims that plans that could raise the cost of Medicare equivalent policies for seniors by $34 trillion are gaining increasing support in Congress. These plans involve replacing Medicare with a voucher. This leads to higher costs both because the administrative costs of private plans are far higher than Medicare and they are likely to be less effective in controlling costs.

      The Congressional Budget Official projected that a Republican plan along these lines, that was approved by House earlier in this year, would raise the cost of Medicare equivalent polices by $34 trillion over the program’s 75-year planning horizon. While this plan would save the government money by reducing its payments for Medicare, it would mean that future generations of workers would pay far more for health care in their retirement. The cost of Medicare equivalent policies would far exceed the typical retiree’s income by 2050.

    • Support Builds for Premium Support Plan for Medicare – Though it reached no agreement, the special Congressional committee on deficit reduction built a case for major structural changes in Medicare that would limit the government’s open-ended financial commitment to the program, lawmakers and health policy experts say.

      Members of both parties told the panel that Medicare should offer a fixed amount of money to each beneficiary to buy coverage from competing private plans, whose costs and benefits would be tightly regulated by the government.

      Republicans have long been enamored of that idea. In the last few weeks, two of the Republican candidates for president, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, have endorsed variations of it.

      The idea faces opposition from many Democrats, who say it would shift costs to beneficiaries and eliminate the guarantee of affordable health insurance for older Americans. But some Democrats say that — if carefully designed, with enough protections for beneficiaries — it might work.

      The idea is sometimes known as premium support, because Medicare would subsidize premiums charged by private insurers that care for beneficiaries under contract with the government.

      “This is an idea that could easily resurface in the future as Congress seeks additional Medicare savings for deficit reduction,” said Patricia H. Neuman, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-25 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-25 #tcot #catcot
    • foursquare :: Gregory Flap @ Chez Bev Webb – Alice’s mom’s home for Thanksgiving – watching football (@ Chez Bev Webb)
    • foursquare :: Gregory Flap’s Badges :: Superstar – I just unlocked the “Superstar” badge on @foursquare!
    • U.S. ranks 28th in life expectancy while we pay the MOST for health care | Mail Online – U.S. ranks 25th in life expectancy — lower than Chile and Greece…
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-24 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-24 #tcot #catcot
    • News from The Associated Press – RT @AP: #Bachmann receives apology from NBC after off-color song was played during her appearance on ‘Late Night’:
    • NationalJournal.com
    • Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving: November 24, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving: November 24, 2011 #tcot #catcot
    • NationalJournal.com – Timeline of 2012 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses – Kenneth Chamberlain –
    • Medscape: Medscape Access – Medscape: Medscape Access
    • Timeline of 2012 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses – Kenneth Chamberlain – NationalJournal.com – RT @nationaljournal: TIMELINE: 2012 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses:
    • Medscape: Medscape Access – Coffee Linked to Lower Endometrial Cancer Risk
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 23, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Afternoon Flap: November 23, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Elton Gallegly

    Rep. Elton Gallegly and Friends Operation Toy Drop 2011 Edition

    Rep. Elton Gallegly lends a hand as the non-profit group For the Troops packs its 25,000th package for military men and women deployed overseas, October 2010.
    Photo Credit Elton Gallegly’s Facebook.

    From the press release:

    In a community thank you to military families at Naval Base Ventura County, the U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly and Friends Operation Toy Drop will once again present toys and food primarily to families who have a service member who has been deployed, is deployed or is scheduled to be deployed.Media will have three opportunities to cover the events:

    • Saturday, Nov. 26, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the home of Elton and Janice Gallegly in Simi Valley, when about 30 volunteers will package 3,500 toys and sporting goods into 750 age- and gender-appropriate gift bags.
    • Saturday, Dec. 3, Time TBD, Simi Valley to Navy Base Ventura County,  when Navy personnel will transport the bicycles, tricycles, battery-operated quads and gift bags to Navy Base Ventura County
    • Sunday, Dec. 4, 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., Naval Base Ventura County, when Santa will arrive from the North Pole on an Air Force C-130 bearing gifts for the children. (Interested media are requested to call Vance Vasquez, Naval Base Ventura County Public Affairs Office, at (805) 989-8095 by COB on Thursday Dec. 1.)

    And, why?

    To thank those families who also sacrifice when their loved one is deployed to protect all of us Americans.

    What a worthy charity.

    So what will be distributed?

    •  Approximately 500 bicycles, battery-operated quads, and tricycles
    • Approximately 750 age- and gender-appropriate gift bags with toys and/or sporting goods

    In addition, on Saturday, Dec. 3, food to be distributed will include:

    • 400 hams
    • 400 Marie Callender’s pies
    • 2,000 pounds of potatoes

    For more information, media can contact Tom Pfeifer, thomas.pfeifer@verizon.net

  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-25

    Powered by Twitter Tools

  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-24

    Powered by Twitter Tools

  • Thanksgiving

    Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving: November 24, 2011

    Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving


    I am THANKFUL for:

    My God for having Created me


    My Country for bestowing many blessings of liberty


    My Family for the LOVE they share


    My Health which allows me quality of life


    My Friends on and off line who share and bring much to my life


    Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
  • Pinboard Links,  The Afternoon Flap

    The Afternoon Flap: November 23, 2011

    These are my links for November 22nd through November 23rd:

    • The Gingrich Amnesty – By Mark Krikorian – Missed the debate because of wrestling practice, but it’s hardly surprising that Newt would support amnesty for illegal aliens. After the Pelosi global-warming ad and Dede Scozzafava and “right-wing social engineering,” is it any surprise he’d adopt the left’s line on immigration too? He earned a career grade of D from Numbers USA (they calculate back to 1989). Heck, even Barbara Boxer has a career grade of D+.

      But a couple more points are in order. First, there just aren’t very many illegal aliens who have been here 25 years, the duration Gingrich specified as warranting amnesty. The old INS estimated that there were about 5 million illegal aliens in 1996, and the growth rate had been about 300,000 a year, which means that 10 years earlier (i.e., 25 years ago), there would have been about 2 million illegal aliens. Of those, I would guess the majority have in the intervening quarter-century either gone home, died, or finagled a green card (at least one-quarter of each year’s green-card recipients — new “legal” immigrants — are illegal aliens using the federal immigration program to launder their status). So that’s fewer than 1 million people out of the current 11 million illegals who would be covered by the Gingrich Amnesty, and probably fewer than half a million.

      But wait — 25 years ago. Hmmmmm. That rings a bell. Did something happen back in 1986 with regard to immigration? Oh, yeah, I remember — Congress passed the one and only amnesty for illegal immigrants, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), that legalized close to 3 million illegals (there had been about 5 million, so about 2 million remained after the amnesty, because they didn’t meet the law’s requirements). That was supposed to be followed by tough enforcement to prevent future illegal immigration and to throw out the resident illegals who didn’t qualify for the amnesty (or who failed to lie their way to a green card, since a large share of those successfully claiming amnesty, perhaps as many as one-quarter, did so fraudulently — among the liars was Mahmud “The Red” Abouhalima, a leader of the first World Trade Center attack).

      So the Gingrich Amnesty would cover illegal immigrants here when Congress passed IRCA. That is to say, it would pick up where the previous amnesty left off, legalizing precisely those people who didn’t qualify for IRCA. This just underlines what a chump you have to be to support any deal offered you by amnesty supporters.

    • GOP Smackdown: Gingrich v. Romney – Whether the matchup between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney is the final bout on the GOP primary card is impossible to know. The whole season has been more like professional wrestling than boxing, with weird characters sporting implausible hair appearing out of nowhere to talk smack and explain why they are the greatest in the world. (I’m looking at you in particular, Mr. Trump.)

      Still, let’s assume for the moment that it’s a Gingrich-Romney contest.

      It’s quite a matchup. Romney has been brutalized for having too little personality, Gingrich for having way, way too much. Romney looks like the picture that comes with the frame. Gingrich looks like he should be ensconced in royal velvet as he gestures at you with a half-eaten turkey leg in one hand and a sloshing goblet of wine in the other. Romney seems terrified of fully committing to any idea. Gingrich speaks as if he just text-messaged with God.

    • Coffee Linked to Lower Endometrial Cancer Risk – Drinking at least 4 cups of coffee per day is associated with a lower risk for endometrial cancer, according to new data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

      Youjin Je, a doctoral candidate in the lab of Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD, from the Department of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues published their findings online November 22 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

      “Coffee consumption may be related to endometrial cancer development due to the potential role of caffeine,” Dr. Giovannucci and colleagues write. “Several epidemiologic studies have reported an inverse association between coffee intake and endometrial cancer risk, but data from prospective studies are limited.”

      Therefore, the researchers prospectively examined the link between drinking coffee and endometrial cancer risk, using prospective data from the Nurses’ Health Study.

      The analysis included data from 67,470 women aged 34 to 59 years in 1980. Cumulative average coffee intake was determined by questionnaire. During 26 years of follow-up, researchers documented 672 cases of endometrial cancer.

    • Acetaminophen: Repeated Use of Slightly Too Much Can Be Fatal – Repeated doses of slightly too much acetaminophen (known as paracetamol in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe) can be fatal, according to the results of a large, single-center cohort study published online November 22 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

      “On admission, these staggered overdose patients were more likely to have liver and brain problems, require kidney dialysis or help with breathing and were at a greater risk of dying than people who had taken single overdoses,” senior author Kenneth J. Simpson, MBChB (Hons), MD, FRCP (Edin), from the University of Edinburgh and Scottish Liver Transplant Unit in the United Kingdom, said in a news release.

      “They haven’t taken the sort of single-moment, one-off massive overdoses taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up, and the effect can be fatal,” he adds.

      In the United Kingdom, acetaminophen hepatotoxicity is the leading cause of acute liver failure (ALF). However, the effect of a staggered overdose pattern or delayed hospital presentation on mortality or need for emergency liver transplantation was previously unknown.

    • Romney’s Mormon Faith Likely a Factor in Primaries, Not in a General Election – Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life – Many Americans continue to see the Mormon faith as unfamiliar and different. Half say they know little or nothing about Mormonism, half say it is a Christian religion while a third say it is not, and roughly two-thirds believe Mormonism is “very different” from their own beliefs. There has been virtually no change in these impressions over the past four years.

      About half of all voters, and 60% of evangelical Republicans, know that Mitt Romney is a Mormon. The former Massachusetts governor’s religion has implications for his nomination run but not for the general election, should he be nominated as his party’s standard bearer.

      White evangelical Protestants – a key element of the GOP electoral base – are more inclined than the public as a whole to view Mormonism as a non-Christian faith. And this view is linked to opinions about Romney: Republicans who say Mormonism is not a Christian religion are less likely to support Romney for the GOP nomination and offer a less favorable assessment of him generally. But they seem prepared to overwhelmingly back him in a run against Obama in the general election.

    • President 2012: Senator Thune Endorses Mitt Romney – Senator John Thune of South Dakota endorsed Mitt Romney’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday, making him the second conservative United States senator to declare support for Mr. Romney’s candidacy this week.

      Mr. Thune, who in February decided against running for president himself, made the announcement during a morning campaign stop in downtown Des Moines with Mr. Romney. The endorsement comes as Mr. Romney is intensifying his effort to compete in the Iowa caucuses, now less than six weeks away.

      “I’m so lucky he didn’t run,” Mr. Romney said, noting that more than a year ago his advisers warned that Mr. Thune could be one of the toughest potential Republican rivals. Mr. Thune was among the first in a long line of Republicans who decided against jumping into the 2012 presidential race.

    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-23 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-23 #tcot #catcot
    • Log In – The New York Times – Log In – The New York Times
    • Log In – The New York Times – Log In – The New York Times
    • Log In – The New York Times – RT @HotlineReid: RT @NYTObits: George Gallup Jr., of Polling Family, Dies at 81
    • Map of Flap’s Twitter followers – 62% of my followers are from #United States,11% from #California & 3% from #New York. . Where are yours?
    • RealClearPolitics – Gingrich May Have Inside Track on Palin’s Endorsement – Gingrich May Have Inside Track on Palin’s Endorsement
    • Fallon apologizes to Bachmann – CNN Political Ticker – CNN.com Blogs – TV show host Jimmy Fallon apologized to GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann via Twitter Tuesday
    • Video: President 2012 GOP Debate: Newt Gingrich on Immigration | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Video: President 2012 GOP Debate: Newt Gingrich on Immigration #tcot #catcot
    • Breitbart.tv » Bachmann: Newt Soft On Immigration – RT @allahpundit: Breitbart TV has Newt answer on immigration
    • Writers strike out not choosing Matt Kemp as MVP – latimes.com – Baseball Writers strike out not choosing Matt Kemp as MVP
    • New Major League Baseball Contract Limits Smokeless Tobacco Use | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – New Major League Baseball Contract Limits Smokeless Tobacco Use
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 22, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Afternoon Flap: November 22, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Day By Day,  Dmitry Medvedev

    Day By Day November 23, 2011 – Glorious

    Day By Day by Chris

    Yes, Chris, going all LOVEY DOVEY and anti-gun is really going to help America, particularly on the world stage. Look at the latest.

    Russia will deploy new missiles aimed at U.S. missile defense sites in Europe if Washington goes ahead with the planned shield despite Russia’s concerns, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday.

    Russia will station missiles in its westernmost Kaliningrad region and other areas if Russia and NATO fail to reach a deal on the U.S.-led missile defense plans, he said in a tough statement that seemed to be aimed at rallying domestic support.

    Weakness in an American President (like Obama is) has NEVER been a good thing for world peace.

  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-23

    • RT @Kelly_Evans: RT @ModeledBehavior: Intrade suggests Huntsman and Gingrich gaining in this debate, somewhat at Romney's expense #tcot #
    • Good answer by Romney regarding Israel and Ron Paul is fuming…. #
    • Good response by Professor Gingrich – he rises above Huntsman v. Romney and looks tough on Pakistan #
    • In the meantime, Romney is looking cool, calm and collected in the Huntsman exchange….. #
    • Huntsman reminds me at the blathering rich guy at the Country Club that everyone avoids ….and for good reason #
    • Ah Yeah…..RT @fivethirtyeight: Not a good sign when you get pwned on national security by Michele Bachmann. #
    • Bachmann sgowed up Perry on the Pakistan blank check comment…. CW of Perry not being particularly deep in intellect is telling #
    • Bachmann calls Perry naive and is getting the better of the Texas governor #
    • Rick Perry is developing the sweating upper Nixonian lip. He needs to do well here and well, he is not. #tcot #
    • OK, here we go Tweeps the President 2012 GOP CNN Foreign Policy debate…… #tcot #cnndebate #
    • New Major League Baseball Contract Limits Smokeless Tobacco Use | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenen… http://t.co/G0uJAJU8 #
    • New Major League Baseball Contract Limits Smokeless Tobacco Use http://t.co/DhE58BQB #
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 22, 2011 | Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog http://t.co/elcGxHel #
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 22, 2011 http://t.co/AxkLAEPB #tcot #catcot #
    • 10,000 Expected To Line Up For Free Turkey Dinners In South Los Angeles http://t.co/um8gi5ej #
    • Blago ally Tony Rezko gets 10 1/2 years, minus time served http://t.co/FpIdAe3M #
    • Obama heckled by protesters at New Hampshire speech – The Hill's Blog Briefing Room http://t.co/qrh3VMsu #
    • California Dental Association Sues the California Department of Healthcare Services Over Medicaid Payments to Dentists http://t.co/FDGFPZyK #
    • The Morning Drill: November 22, 2011 http://t.co/aSvr6mc9 #
    • Who’s More Likely to Beat Obama? http://t.co/GemZ6xQn #
    • Dropbox
      – You're invited to join Dropbox!
      – Simplify your life http://t.co/YqukIosm #
    • President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Gingrich 26% Vs. Romney 22% Vs. Cain 14% Vs. Paul 6% Vs. Perry 6% | Flap's Blog -… http://t.co/rrYraytl #
    • President 2012 Poll Watch: Newt Gingrich Now Leading in Positive Intensity http://t.co/jhyAF0C8 #tcot #catcot #
    • Money for nothing…..RT @CapitolAlert: Rick Perry to raise money at private fundraiser in Sacramento http://t.co/kuBnYxl9 #
    • Love it! Always have your stuff when you need it with @Dropbox. 2GB account is free! http://t.co/wG9pyzMQ #
    • Always have your stuff when you need it with @Dropbox. 2GB account is free! http://t.co/wG9pyzMQ #
    • President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Gingrich 26% Vs. Romney 22% Vs. Cain 14% Vs. Paul 6% Vs. Perry 6% http://t.co/d4D8zB8k #tcot #catcot #
    • Doctors amputate frostbitten feet of Alaska runner http://t.co/kkf1amUU #
    • Occupy L.A. receives offer to decamp http://t.co/lmfYDgMH #
    • Mitt Romney Is First GOP Presidential Hopeful to Book Hollywood Fundraiser http://t.co/JM83rPc1 #
    • RT @LAObserved: Romney coming after L.A. money. http://t.co/f2pyaqnD #
    • Should Dentists Be Vaccinated Against Influenza and Pertussis? http://t.co/blAAx9sU #
    • Michele Bachmann’s Entrance Music On Jimmy Fallon Was Fishbone’s ‘Lyin’ Ass Bitch’ | Mediaite http://t.co/QrxwX825 #
    • The Morning Flap: November 22, 2011 http://t.co/RPNY7Uqj #tcot #catcot #
    • MF Global Trustee Says Shortfall Could Exceed $1.2 Billion http://t.co/4KhCfFGX #
    • Gingrich seeks to show staying power http://t.co/ZiM9iFB1 #
    • Mike Huckabee says conservatives may have to get behind Romney http://t.co/OOJSyQn2 #
    • Flap’s California Morning Collection: November 22, 2011 http://t.co/GA26U0kt #
    • Hey Occupy UCLA – USC is going to OWN you in the LA Coliseum this Saturday. So, why Occupy? #OWS #
    • Have a great run, Jeff! RT @JeffGalloway: Greetings from the "original" marathon in Athens, Greece! http://t.co/aoOq9YNn #
    • Ventura County Fire Chief Bob Roper Announces for Ventura County Supervisor http://t.co/7odOUPTT #
    • Video: President 2012: Mitt Romney Up with His First Ad Attacking President Obama on the Economy http://t.co/LO3kdsjq #tcot #catcot #
    • Day By Day November 22, 2011 – Stand http://t.co/QKSLRNqe #tcot #catcot #
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-22 | Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog http://t.co/a2SAcxSs #
    • @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-22 http://t.co/glfjHqRp #tcot #catcot #
    • Flap's Dentistry Blog: Fewer Americans Dying from Oral and Throat Cancer? http://t.co/8i6ogePN #
    • Photo of the Day: Democrat California Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi’s Booking Photo » Flap's California Blog http://t.co/qc0bBD4g #

    Powered by Twitter Tools

  • Michele Bachmann,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  President 2012

    Video: President 2012 GOP Debate: Newt Gingrich on Immigration

    Bachmann: Newt Soft On Immigration

    Newt Gingrich lost me on this issue. He sounds too much like Senator John McCain and President George W. Bush and their illegal immigrant “Amensty” Plan.

    Also, Gingrich has sold out to the high tech companies who want offshore Graduate Students in science and math to arrange easy immigration visas and Big Agriculture who wants a million guest workers to more cheaply harvest their crops.

    Gingrich’s performance tonight will hurt him in Iowa and look for Michele Bachmann to exploit the issue there.

    Advantage tonight goes to Mitt Romney as Newt Gingrich falters.

  • Pinboard Links,  The Afternoon Flap

    The Afternoon Flap: November 22, 2011

    These are my links for November 22nd from 08:26 to 15:01:

    • 10,000 Expected To Line Up For Free Turkey Dinners In South Los Angeles – Low-income residents and seniors are lining up for free turkey dinners from a local car company.As many as 10,000 people are expected to show up for the “23rd Annual Jackson Limousine Service Turkey Dinner Give-Away”, which started at 8 a.m. Tuesday.Sky2 was overhead Monday night as a line wrapped around the company’s service fleet yard at 3669 West Slauson Ave.Yvette Freeman, one of the first people to pick up a meal Tuesday morning, waited in line for two days with a group of family and friends.

      “It feels good. It feels really good,” says Freeman, who realized she couldn’t afford her own Thanksgiving dinner when she went to the grocery store last weekend.

      “It’s a lot of people, a lot of families from all walks of life,” EJ Jackson, founder and president of Jackson Limousine, told CBS2. “You’ll see them. We love them, but that’s what we are here for; to help one another.”

      Turkey and all the dinner fixings, including cornbread, yams and cranberry sauce, are being given out on a first-come, first-served basis.

    • Blago ally Tony Rezko gets 10 1/2 years, minus time served – A former top fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich was sentenced Tuesday to 10 1/2 years in prison for pressuring businesses for millions in kickbacks, an unusually stiff penalty that could portend a tough day for the former governor when he is sentenced for his own corruption convictions.Antoin “Tony” Rezko spent 3 1/2 years in custody awaiting sentencing on his 2008 convictions for fraud, money laundering and plotting to squeeze $7 million in kickbacks from companies that wanted to do business with the state during Blagojevich’s tenure. He will get credit for time served and will serve 85 percent of his total sentence.Attorneys for the former Chicago real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur had asked that he be set free, saying he had served more time than others convicted as part of the federal investigation of Blagojevich.But U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve told Rezko his “selfish and corrupt actions” had damaged the trust people have in their government and cited his repeated lies about his role in the schemes.
    • Obama heckled by protesters at New Hampshire speech – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room – President Obama was heckled on Tuesday during an appearance at a New Hampshire high school.Obama had traveled north to the Granite State, which holds the nation’s first presidential primary, to discuss the economy and his proposal to extend a current payroll tax cut.Just as the president started his speech, protesters, apparently from the Occupy Wall Street protest movement, used the “human mic” technique to amplify their voices. It was unclear what the protesters were saying, or what point they were attempting to make.The president smiled through the disruption, saying: “No, it’s OK,” as other parts of the crowd sought to hush the protesters by chanting his name and old campaign slogan, “Yes We Can.”
    • More hacked climate emails surface ahead of UN conference – What’s a United Nations climate conference without an email controversy?A second trove of hacked emails among climate scientists has surfaced, marking the second time in three years that internal emails from a prominent U.K. research institute have been made public ahead of international global warming talks.A file with 5,000 emails that was anonymously posted on the Internet earlier Tuesday appears to have been hacked from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia.
      The documents include emails from Michael Mann, a prominent climatologist that currently works at Pennsylvania State University, and other scientists that were at the center of the 2009 email release, the BBC reported Tuesday.A link to the emails went dead Tuesday afternoon.
    • My Radio Assessment of Gingrich’s Chances Against Obama – Last week on my “Hillyer Time” radio show, my opening monologue explained why I think it’s ludicrous to think Newt Gingrich could possible win a general-election battle against Barack Obama – analysis that stands regardless of whether one personally likes the idea of Gingrich in the Oval Office if he should pull off the miracle and win anyway. Some people wanted to be able to read what I said.
      So, slightly adapted from radio notes for reading ease, here’s what I said:  Welcome to Hillyer Time….

      For now, I really need to vent. I am absolutely flabbergasted at what I see in the latest Republican polls for president. What I see looks like a mass political suicide attempt — so determined to commit suicide that it uses too many pills, plus a slit wrist, plus a gun, on the ledge of a 1,000-foot building, just to make sure that at least one of the methods succeeds.

      What I’m talking about is the rise of Newt Gingrich to the front of the Republican pack. If this isn’t mass suicide, is mass amnesia of a particularly dangerous variety. And, politically speaking, if it continues it will be an absolute guarantee of Barack Obama’s re-election next Fall.

      Why? Well, for months I’ve said… … that Mitt Romney was the only legitimate contender the Republicans could choose who could NOT make a case against Obama’s biggest area of weakness, which is Obamacare, because Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health plan was almost the exact model for Obamacare. It doesn’t matter how he spins it, Romney can’t make a cogent case against it.

      But the reason I said Romney was the only one was because I didn’t consider Gingrich a legitimate contender. Well, if he is a serious contender, he becomes the second person who can’t make a case against Obamacare, especially against its individual mandate. Gingrich has supported an individual mandate for almost 18 years, has written in favor of it as recently as 2008, and even several times this year has defended it in concept.

      So Gingrich can’t make a case against Obamacare.

    • Obama’s Economic Quackery – Sometimes the wrong medicine can make a struggling patient far sicker than he would have been had he been allowed to recover naturally. Western medicine began with the premise that the physician either must know how to cure the patient or simply leave him alone — but above all not make him worse through harmful treatment.As 2011 ends, we have discovered how to turn a natural recovery from a near-record recession into a serial slowdown. Almost every haphazard, ad hoc attempt by Barack Obama to jumpstart the economy has only further stalled it. The president has never articulated a diagnosis of why the economy was stalled, never outlined a coherent treatment plan, and so cannot offer a prognosis. If we have a sick budget, a Byzantine tax code, bankrupting entitlements and long-term debt burden, and a costly imported-oil bill, one would never know all that from the president, who has never offered any sort of plan for addressing these crises.
    • Marines Over Medicaid – To the great surprise of nobody, another blue-ribbon panel of Washington’s A-list nabobs has failed at its task: In this case, it is the so-called supercommittee charged with nudging the federal government away from the edge of the debt abyss. Investors despaired at the news, and there was talk of a second downgrade of U.S. Treasury debt.The failure of the supercommittee is a testament to Democrats’ tax obsession. With the supercommittee having fizzled, the next step is the automatic sequestration process, which imposes 50 percent of the cuts on a program that accounts for only 20 percent of spending (national defense) while leaving the entitlements largely untouched. But the country needs the Marines more than it needs Medicaid.
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: California Dental Association Sues the California Department of Healthcare Services Over Medicaid Payments to Dentists – California Dental Association Sues the California Department of Healthcare Services Over Medicaid Payments to Dentists
    • Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: November 22, 2011 – The Morning Drill: November 22, 2011
    • President 2012 Poll Watch: Newt Gingrich Now Leading in Positive Intensity | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 Poll Watch: Newt Gingrich Now Leading in Positive Intensity #tcot #catcot
    • Capitol Alert: Rick Perry to raise money at private fundraiser in Sacramento – Money for nothing…..RT @CapitolAlert: Rick Perry to raise money at private fundraiser in Sacramento
    • Who’s More Likely to Beat Obama? – t’s becoming increasingly hard to say whether Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney, the two leading Republican presidential candidates, would fare better against Barack Obama. The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows Gingrich trailing Obama by just 6 percentage points — 46 to 40 percent. Less than a month and a half ago, Gingrich trailed Obama by 15 points (49 to 34 percent). Meanwhile, Romney trails Obama by just 1 point — 43 to 42 percent.Taking the longer view, Romney has been remarkably consistent in his matchups with Obama. Across 11 Rasmussen surveys of likely voters over the past six months, Romney has always been within a 6-point range versus Obama — between 38 and 44 percent. Likewise, Obama has always been within a 6-point range versus Romney — between 40 and 46 percent. However, with his slightly higher levels of support, Obama has gone 7-4 versus Romney in these matchups.  Moreover, while Romney and Obama split the first six matchups, Obama has won four of the past five.
    • Dropbox
      – You’re invited to join Dropbox!
      – Simplify your life
      – Always have your stuff when you need it with @Dropbox. 2GB account is free!
    • President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Gingrich 26% Vs. Romney 22% Vs. Cain 14% Vs. Paul 6% Vs. Perry 6% | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Gingrich 26% Vs. Romney 22% Vs. Cain 14% Vs. Paul 6% Vs. Perry 6% #tcot #catcot
    • Doctors amputate frostbitten feet of Alaska runner – An All-American distance runner who spent more than two days in freezing winter temperatures without winter gear has had his legs amputated just above the ankles.Marko Cheseto, 28, is one of several Kenyan runners who competed for the University of Alaska Anchorage in cross-country and track. The amputations were reported Monday on the UAA Athletic Department website.Cheseto was seen at about 7 p.m. in a UAA building on Nov. 6, a Sunday night, as two snow storms started to blanket the city. His roommates reported him missing the next morning. The disappearance prompted a citywide search.
    • Occupy L.A. receives offer to decamp – Los Angeles officials have offered Occupy L.A. protesters a package of incentives that includes downtown office space and farmland in an attempt to persuade them to abandon their camp outside of City Hall, according to several demonstrators who have been in negotiations with the city.The details of the proposal were revealed Monday during the demonstration’s nightly general assembly meeting by Jim Lafferty, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild who has been advocating on behalf of the protest since it began seven weeks ago.Lafferty said city officials have offered protesters a $1-a-year lease on a 10,000-square-foot office space near City Hall. He said officials also promised land elsewhere for protesters who wish to farm, as well as additional housing for the contingent of homeless people who joined the camp.
    • Mitt Romney Is First GOP Presidential Hopeful to Book Hollywood Fundraiser – Polls show that Mitt Romney is first in the hearts of California Republicans, and he’ll be the first of the party’s presidential hopefuls to visit Los Angeles for a fundraiser Dec. 6 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.Hedge fund manager Josh Friedman and his wife, Beth, are the hosts, along with Eva and Marc Stein and Tracy and Gene Sykes of Goldman Sachs.
    • Romney coming after L.A. money – LA Observed – RT @LAObserved: Romney coming after L.A. money.
    • Should Dentists Be Vaccinated Against Influenza and Pertussis? | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – Should Dentists Be Vaccinated Against Influenza and Pertussis?
    • Rising to top of GOP polls, Gingrich beefs up campaign staff – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room – RT @briefingroom: Rising to top of GOP polls, Gingrich beefs up campaign staff
    • The Morning Flap: November 22, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: November 22, 2011 #tcot #catcot