Open Thread: What We Now Know

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 05 May 2012 09:46:24 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Now We Know: Sen. Brown's daughter benefits from insurance extensionUp host Chris Hayes summarizes the week of news after Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown was called out for including his 23-year-old daughter on his health insurance - a provision made[...]

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Free Medical Care, Making a Profit Go
Hand-in-Hand at Indian Hospital

post from Crooks and Liars on 05 May 2012 09:30:01 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Can you imagine a more difficult challenge than to find a way to provide free health-care in a nation with the second-largest population in the world, where over 40 percent of the people live below the poverty level and there is no government-funded welfare system or safety net?

At India's Narayana Hrudayalaya, meaning "Temple of the Heart," one of the world's top cardiac surgeons, Dr. Devi Shetty, determined to make a difference, making a profit and offering free medical care go hand-in-hand.

"The essence of life is helping people," Shetty says. "We are in a profession where people come, [and] they are not coming to buy a car or a house or a new suit. They are coming here to save their life. And when they come and tell us that they have no money we know if we refuse they are going to die. So if a hospital is not able to help people who come to its doorstep, we believe they should not be doing that job."

How does he do it?

Al Jazeera:

"We decided to adopt all the business principles of Walmart or Henry Ford - the one thing in common is the economy of scale," Shetty explains.
At the Narayana, approximately 40 per cent of patients pay a reasonable price for their treatment, a small percentage - those who "want the frills of executive rooms" - pay a premium, a majority pays less than the market rate and 10 to 20 per cent pay virtually nothing. For the latter category, the hospital's charitable wing raises money to help compensate for the material costs of their treatment.
In any other hospital, those who could not afford to pay their medical bills would simply be sent away until they came up with the cash, but at the Narayana the hospital's charity wing helps them to find the money.
While the charismatic Shetty and his ideals are a draw card, it is the fact that he can offer the surgery cheaper than anyone else that is the main attraction.
In the first episode of Indian Hospital, we follow the story of Akbar and Qurr - a couple who have gone from one state hospital to another trying to save the life of their nine-month-old first-born child, Hatersham.

There will be five more episodes of "Indian Hospital" on Al Jazeera, see the schedule with dates and show times listed here.

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Bank of Americas Protection Detail

post from Firedoglake on 05 May 2012 09:00:49 PM. © Firedoglake

To protect Bank of America from inconvenience, Charlotte, North Carolina has directed its police officers to harass and arrest protesters.[...]

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This week in the War on Workers: Underemployment
is real, and affected by education level

post from Daily Kos on 05 May 2012 08:55:05 PM. © Daily Kos

Here's one of the reasons so many people think it's worth taking on piles of student debt to get a college degree:

Chart of underemployment by education level: more education, less underemployment

(Economic Policy Institute)

This chart shows undermployment?defined as "Unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force"?for different education levels. And while college graduates aren't doing fabulously well, there's no question people who haven't attended college are doing worse.

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Fired up and ready to go: Photos from the Obama
2012 kickoff rally in Columbus, Ohio

post from Daily Kos on 05 May 2012 08:16:52 PM. © Daily Kos

Earlier today, I joined thousands of others at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio to hear first lady Michelle Obama and President Obama kick off the 2012 general election. You can read the transcript of their remarks here, but I was able to take some photos at the event and thought you might enjoy them?starting with the lovely and amazing first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama:

The crowd loves the first lady and her introduction of the president:
First Lady Michelle Obama introduces President Obama

Here's the scene a few minutes earlier when Michelle Obama took the stage:
First Lady Michelle Obama arrives

And President Obama is in the house!
President Obama addresses the crowd

Zooming in on the president:
Closeup of Obama speaking

Continue reading to see the rest of the photos.

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-go-Photos-from-the-Obama-2012-kickoff-rally-in-Columbus-Ohio

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Obama Revs Crowds in Ohio and VA

post from Talking Points Memo on 05 May 2012 08:01:22 PM. © Talking Points Memo

President Obama kicked off his reelection campaign today with rousing speeches in Ohio and Virginia. Check out our report from on the ground in Virginia. [...]

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Polar Opposites

post from Talking Points Memo on 05 May 2012 08:01:21 PM. © Talking Points Memo

More examples of how very different the Obama and Romney campaigns are shaping up to be -- the sociological of the parts of America they represent writ small in the structure of the campaigns themselves. [...]

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Video - Tonight is a super (full) moon

There's no chance of seeing here in Paris due to the clouds and rain which is a pity because this sounds cool.

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Enough is Enough, Why Some Ad Campaigns Go Too
Far

I can count on one hand the number of times I?ve been speechless. As a professional communicator, that?s probably a good thing. However, when the following headline: Heartland Institute compares belief in global warming to mass murder, reached my inbox[...]

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