National Review- by Andrew Stiles

Despite the myriad problems with Obamacare’s rollout, health-insurance companies are not tempering their support for the controversial law. The industry is even gearing up for an expensive “PR blitz” to enroll people in the exchanges, which should come as no surprise.

In the words of former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, insurance companies are “not necessarily unbiased. They have a lot of skin in the game.” Indeed, one of the more peculiar aspects of the Obamacare debate has been the mainstream media’s apparent bemusement at the insurance industry’s support for a law that not only forces people to buy its products (which are necessarily more expensive under the law) but also offers direct taxpayer subsidies to help cover the cost, to the tune of nearly $500 billion over the next ten years.   Continue reading “Obamacare and Its Cronies”

Bloomberg

U.S. food and beverage company Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) is following Microsoft Corp. selling bonds in Europe as borrowing costs fall.

The maker of Oreo cookies is marketing a total of 2.4 billion euros ($3.2 billion) of fixed- and floating-rate notes, according to a person familiar with the matter. The average yield investors demand to hold corporate bonds in euros instead of government debt dropped six basis points this week to 123 basis points, the lowest since June 12, Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data show.   Continue reading “Mondelez Follows Microsoft Selling Bonds in Europe as Costs Fall”

Citibank Bloomberg

Never before have America’s banks been so wary of risking their cash deposits on U.S. government debt.

After holdings of U.S. debt surged to a record $1.89 trillion in 2012, lenders from Citigroup Inc. to Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) are culling for the first time in six years and amassing dollars. Banks’ $1.8 trillion of the bonds now equal less than 70 percent of their cash, the least since the Federal Reserve began compiling the data in 1973.   Continue reading “Citigroup to BofA Spurn Treasuries for Cash on Taper Risk”

Timeline of Huawei in US Source: compiled by the Global TimesGraphics: GTGlobal Times – by Yang Jing

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has exited the US market in order not to affect Sino-US relations, Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei, said in an interview in Paris, news portal 163.com reported Sunday.

As a private enterprise, Huawei has no political stance and has done well after retreating from the US market, Ren said in the interview when he was asked about Huawei’s relationship with the Chinese government, according to the report.    Continue reading “Huawei exiting US market: CEO”

Bank of America Corp. Bank Branch in New York Bloomberg – by Hugh Son

Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $404 million to Freddie Mac in a deal that caps the lender’s efforts to resolve repurchase claims from government-sponsored enterprises on mortgages sold before the financial crisis.

The accord covers about 716,000 loans created by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2009, and sold to Freddie Mac, the firms said today in separate statements. The payment, minus credits of $13 million that the bank already paid Freddie Mac, is covered by current reserves, the lender said.   Continue reading “BofA Reaches $404 Million Mortgage Deal With Freddie Mac”

UnknownDr. Kevin R. Campbell, MD, FACC

During this last week of Thanksgiving, I began to reflect on the last year and the many good things that we have all been blessed with in healthcare.  I have the opportunity to serve patients and their families every single day.  I have the privilege of making a difference in the lives of others.  However, As I reflect, I am greatly troubled by what looms in the year ahead for physicians and their patients.   Continue reading “Unsustainability: Obamacare, Medicaid Expansion and the Destruction of the “Art” of Medicine”

Med Page Today – by David Pittman

Roughly half of the states are allowing health plans that do not conform to Affordable Care Act requirements to continue in 2014, following concerns that insurance companies were canceling policies for untold numbers of consumers.

At least 19 states intend to allow people with policies canceled as a result of ACA regulations to renew them, according to researchers at the Commonwealth Fund. However, 18 states and the District of Columbia have stated they will not implement the policy fix announced by President Obama last month.   Continue reading “Pay and Practice: ACA Policy Fix a Toss-Up Among States”

GOP USA – by Times Record (Fort Smith, AR)

Gun ammunition is in higher demand now than ever.

While the once-scarce .223 and 5.56 rounds have come back into readily available stock, the humble little .22 caliber bullet has become the most sought-after projectile.

The Walmart Supercenter locations in Fort Smith, as well as Academy Sports, Dicks Sporting Goods and the Tackle Box, all report high demand for .22 LR “longs” to the point they are bought up as soon as shipments arrive.   Continue reading “Ammo In High Demand”

AP Earns UnitedHealthUSA Today – by Susan Jaffe, Kaiser Health News

Dorathy Senay’s doctor had some bad news after her last checkup, but it wasn’t about her serious blood disorder called amyloidosis. Her Medicare Advantage managed care plan from UnitedHealthcare/AARP is terminating the doctor’s contract Feb. 1.

She is also losing her oncologist at the prestigious Yale Medical Group — the entire 1,200 physician practice was axed.   Continue reading “UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage cuts doctors”

complexAnd Still I Persist… – by BF Webster

Stephen Covey was fond of saying, “You teach what you are.” Regardless of what platitudes you speak, all you really teach is what you actually live and practice. It should not be surprising, then, that the same political and philosophical mindset that produced the Affordable Care Act and pushed it through Congress in spite of fierce opposition and public disapproval would then seek to implement it with a vast, complex IT system that reflects much of the same hubris and many of the same fundamental flaws.   Continue reading “Obamacare and Healthcare.gov: How We Got Here”

The logo of the Royal Bank of Scotland is seen at an office in London February 6, 2013. REUTERS-Neil HallReuters – by STEVE SLATER AND AASHIKA JAIN

(Reuters) – Royal Bank of Scotland has neglected its technology for decades, the state-backed bank’s boss admitted on Tuesday after a system crash left more than 1 million customers unable to withdraw cash or pay for goods.

The problem for three hours on Monday, one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, raised questions about the resilience of RBS’s technology, which analysts and banking industry sources regard as outdated and made up of a complex patchwork of systems after dozens of acquisitions.   Continue reading “RBS admits decades of IT neglect after systems crash”

Jang song-thaek, Chief of the Central Administrative Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, exits a car as he arrives at the Ziguangge building of Zhongnanhai, the central government compound, in Beijing, August 17, 2012. REUTERS/China DailyYahoo News – by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is believed to have dismissed a powerful uncle, a man key to his rise to power, from his posts, South Korean lawmakers said on Tuesday, a move that could help consolidate his power base with a younger guard of aides.

Jang Song Thaek was likely sacked as vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and as a department head of the ruling Workers’ Party, lawmaker Jung Cheong-rae said, citing a senior South Korean official with the National Intelligence Service (NIS).   Continue reading “North Korea’s Kim seen behind sacking of powerful uncle”

Gary LockeThe Weekly Standard – by MATT LABASH

Hollywood, Fla.  Standing here on the streets of Hollywood with two comely Obamacare cheerleaders by my side, I’m feeling fired up and ready to go. I’m feeling like the change I’ve been waiting for. I’m feeling like whatever Obama cliché you can think of. And all I want to say, like the late Todd Beamer before me, is, “Let’s roll.” Or more like, “Let’s enroll.” Because much as Beamer, God rest his soul, took on the terrorists who tried to take down America, we are now in a similar cataclysmic fight: the fight to guarantee that every American has the right to buy overpriced health insurance on a glitchy website, under threat of punitive tax penalties.    Continue reading “Hard Sell: Going door-to-door for Obamacare”

Fusion – by Elizabeth Murray

Yesterday, while the rest of the world was captivated by a twerking turkey, Ashton Kutcher faced off with Wal-Mart over the retail giant’s low wages. On Twitter. Because of course it was on Twitter.

The Twitter showdown started when Kutcher tweeted criticism of an Ohio Wal-Mart’s holiday drive for its own employees who are facing “unforeseen hardships.”   Continue reading “Ashton Kutcher Stands Up for Wal-Mart Workers Rights… What?”

Wall Street Journal – by RYAN KNUTSON

Amid all the privacy concerns about cellphone tracking, one important group is arguing that location data isn’t precise enough: emergency responders.

Police and others say 911 dispatchers are having trouble sending help to callers who use cellphones. The reason: unlike a landline, cellphones provide just a rough estimate—with a possible radius of a few hundred yards—of the caller’s location.   Continue reading “Cellphones Leave Gaps for Emergency Services”

Med Page – by David Pittman

WASHINGTON — With the release of its 2014 physician fee schedule, Medicare is one step closer to paying physicians for non-face-to-face care management for beneficiaries with two or more significant chronic conditions.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the finalized fee schedule late Wednesday and said it will begin paying for chronic care management services beginning in 2015.   Continue reading “2014 Medicare Fee Schedule Released”

consciousNatural News – by Jonathan Benson

Imagine being stuck in your bed, conscious but unable to speak or move, for a quarter of your life, while everyone around you thought you were just a comatose “vegetable.” This is what happened to 50-year-old Rom Houben of Belgium, who back in 2006, and later reported in 2009, was discovered to have actually been fully conscious, just paralyzed, for all these years, following a near-fatal car accident he suffered back in 1983.

It is one of the most nightmarish thoughts imaginable, being stuck in a lifeless body but unable to communicate with anyone for a full 23 straight years. But somehow, Houben was able to survive this unimaginable experience that shatters much of what the medical system thought it knew about brain damage and being unconscious. The entire coma diagnosis process as we currently know it, in fact, is now in question, as many more allegedly comatose individuals out there could actually be fully conscious and aware of their surroundings.    Continue reading “Man diagnosed as ‘comatose’ for 23 years was actually fully conscious, but paralyzed”

humanNatural News – by Mike Adams

The curse of being a critical thinker is that you can’t turn it off, I’ve discovered. So you become a critical thinker about everything you’ve been told or taught, and as it turns out, most of what we’ve all been taught about genetics is a lie.

But don’t take my word for it. Join me as we take an honest, critical look at genetics using the same kind of skepticism scientists demand we invoke when looking at medicinal herbs or acupuncture.   Continue reading “The big lie of genetics exposed: human DNA incapable of storing complete blueprint of the human form”

This is from 12/20/12-Can only imagine now?!

The Fiscal Times – by BLAIRE BRIODY

Nonprofits take your donations and give them to a good cause, right?

To be fair, most do, while paying their employees competitive but modest salaries. But a handful of nonprofits pay their top executives shockingly high salaries that could make their for-profit corporate counterparts jealous.   Continue reading “10 Insanely Overpaid Nonprofit Execs”