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Northeast Liberals
Doctors start new clinic with $3600 annual feeTwo popular Boston internists are closing their busy practices, leaving most of their 7,500 patients to find new doctors, as the physicians open a small concierge practice that will charge individuals a $3,600 yearly fee to join. Dr. Jeffrey Bass, 50, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Dr. Ronald Katz, 51, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, are the latest physicians to give up large traditional medical practices, in which doctors see a patient every 15 to 30 minutes, in favor of a slower pace and potentially higher income. A third highly sought-after doctor who practices with Bass, Dr. Martin Solomon, 58, has decided to stay with the Brigham but to scale back to a smaller practice. He recently mailed a letter to most of his 5,000 patients asking them to voluntarily switch to another doctor in the practice. "Unfortunately, for many, many years I've had trouble saying no to new patients," said Solomon, who added that the administrative burden in his practice has become overwhelming. "I just felt I couldn't physically do it anymore."
The "president" made a speech at the Naval War College yesterday. (today??) He came all the way to New England just to find a friendly audience. How about he speaks at Providence College, that would liven things up.
Anyway, I happened to notice on the teevee this morning the footage of him climbing the stairs to big, ol' Air Force One.
That's right, he took a 747-400 three hundred miles up the coast to Newport, then went even further to make the hop to Pease AFB in Portsmouth, NH so he could go visit his momma.
That's ridiculous. Couldn't he ride a smaller jet? I recall seeing that it costs $1900/hour just in fuel costs alone, never mind the personnel and support.
But, who am I to argue. I haven't been president, I suppose GW gets nervous if he's too far away from the symbols of power.
A couple of days ago, an American Airlines B-767 went past my window in a glorious blue sky. It got me pensive a bit. I edited a well-known passage from a Spielberg movie to reflect a story I hope I never have to tell my young son Javier.
Probably never a really good moment to share it, but nevertheless, here it is.
Javier: You used to fly on airplanes? What happened?
TriSec: Islamic Terrorists slammed two planes into the World Trade Center, Javi.
It was on a beautiful fall morning. Just an ordinary day. A Tuesday. Three thousand people went to meet their maker. Both buildings collapsed in an hour.
Didn't see the first changes to the law for about three weeks. The Patriot Act. Well, what we didn't know was that the destruction of the Constitution had been so secret: No media coverage was written. Huh-huh. They didn't even realize the constitution was gone for a couple of years. Within a couple of days of the attack Javi, the President come cruisin' for a photo op. So we formed ourselves into tight opposition groups. You know it's...kinda like 'ol squares in a battle like a, you see on a calendar, like the Battle of Waterloo. And the idea was, the President would go for nearest group and then we'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the President would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that President, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes.
You know the thing about a politician, he's got...lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he has you sent to Gitmo. And those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin' and your family is screaming in terror and in spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' the Secret Service comes in and rips you to pieces.
It got to be 2006, Javi, an election gave us hope. The House and Senate swung to the Democrats. Anyway we voted and just took control. And two months later, Nancy Pelosi became the speaker, and starts to pick up the pieces of this shattered country. You know that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin' for the tide to turn back. I'll never get on a commercial airliner again. So, Three thousand men and women were killed, The constitution was destroyed, and America became a police state, September the 11th, 2001. Anyway, we took back the Congress.
Well, here we are. September 11, 2006. Five years later.
On December 18, 2001, President Bush signed into law a measure calling for an annual day of remembrance and prayer, to be called "Patriot Day".
But what is a patriot? Dictionary.com defines it as such: a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.
Sounds pretty benign, hmm?
But here in the Commonwealth of Massachussets, and the State of Maine, we already have a Patriot's Day, and we're pretty pissed that the name has been hijacked by the Bush 'administration' in the name of propaganda and demagoguerey. Here in the Commonwealth, we know the truth of Patriot's Day.
On April 18, 1775...Paul Revere made his ride from Charlestown to Lexington, followed the next morning by a column of British Regulars, intent on capturing Sam Adams, John Hancock, and the small patriot arsenal at Concord. At dawn on April 19, this column was met on Lexington Green by Captain Parker and a small band of Minutemen, and the rest is history.
"Patriot's Day" is meant to commemorate the birth of our nation, the start of the revolution, and to honor the true patriots that fought and died to be free.
While the victims of the attacks on September 11 may have been patriots in name (and in the case of Flight 93, in deed) the name is already being used for a nobler day, and in my opinion, the taking of the name to play on the base emotions of the country is wrong, and dishonors all those who died today.
So, while the 'president' and his loyalists fly from photo op to photo op, I'll not be doing anything different or unusual today. Instead, I'll go to work and do what I always do, and pause for just a minute to ponder what my friends in the North Tower must have been thinking as this all happened. (Fortunately, they survived...but are different men today than they were on September 10, 2001)
And I'll leave you a research project, if you're so inclined. Before September 11, the worst attack on American soil came at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. What was the United States doing on December 7, 1946?
I just received the following message from Proxymed, an electronic claim clearinghouse. So, apparently the Administration is resorting to Klingon Math in order to "reduce deficits"? It appears to me that they are "floating a check" by the way I read this. So is it official? The United States can't cover a Medicare payment?
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 - 9-Day Payment Hold
This message is a reminder for all providers and physicians who bill Medicare contractors for their services.
A brief hold will be placed on Medicare payments for all claims during the last 9 days of the Federal fiscal year (September 22 through September 30, 2006). These payment delays are mandated by section 5203 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Under the Healthcare Integrated General Ledger
Accounting System (HIGLAS), Medicare contractors will continue to receive and process all claims during this timeframe, however payments due and remittances for these payments will be temporarily held.
No interest will be accrued and no late penalties will be paid to an entity or individual by reason of this one-time hold on payments. All claims held during this time will be paid on October 2, 2006.
The part of the tunnel that collapsed was among the earliest areas that were built...back when every time you turned around, somebody dumped a bucket of money on you. Driving through, you can tell. It's better lit, the tiles and ceilings are nicer, and it just looks aesthetically better.
If this is the quality of workmanship we got in those days, what about the 'mainline' tunnel, that was built years later, when the money was much tighter? How many shortcuts and cheap tricks are there in that part of the roadway?
I live in Waltham...my family is in Saugus. I said when the tunnel opened, I'm not driving 'home' any other way. I'm back on Storrow Drive and the Tobin Bridge now.
And where is our esteemed Governor Empty Suit?
I posted this on my own blog back in September 2005, days after the Katrina debacle. At the time, I saw it as the beginning of the end, and an event that marked our departure from the world stage as a "Superpower". Since I'm new to DU....here it is again. 07 September 2005 I'm no longer flying my flagThere. I've done it. With a heavy heart, I have taken down Old Glory, made the neatest, tightest triangle fold I ever have, and placed my flag reverently downstairs among my collection of other flags. This is no longer the United States, and I am no longer flying the symbol of such a flawed, debased society. I had a really nice setup, suspended horizontally and nicely backlit, my flag used to fly 24/7 except in bad weather. Strange, what true patriotic symbolism means to me. I'm deeply, bitterly, angry at the incompetent, lying, bastard that has driven me to such dire actions. But all hope is not lost. Rather than fly no flag at all, I've commandeered the nearby branch of a tree and hoisted an ancient symbol of rebellion, the flag of the Culpeper Minutemen, which itself is a variation of the Gadsden Flag. You know it better as the "Don't Tread on Me" flag. Since colonial days, the rattlesnake has been used to portray the spirit of Americans. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin published a political essay describing the 13 American colonies as a snake divided reminding us of the danger of disunity.
In 1774, Colonel Gadsden of the Revolutionary Army emphasized this by printing the legend "DONT TREAD ON ME" on his flag.
The words swept the nation. The Culpeper Minutemen chose the coiled snake ready to strike and the words from Gadsden's flag, but then raised another defiant fist at the enemy by adding "LIBERTY OR DEATH"
The coiled snake might seem a strange symbol today, but it is effective. NO PERSON WHO EVER SEES IT FORGETS - AND THAT'S JUST THE KIND OF MESSAGE THE REVOLUTIONARIES WANTED TO SEND.... 
I read the History Channel just about every day at lunch. Today's lead story rather stuck out. But of course, since the chimp doesn't even read the newspaper, never mind history books...it's only going to make the reality-based community go hmmmm..... Anyway...here's the story, with some judicious snipping. PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DECLARED: June 12, 1898 ...In April 1898, the Spanish-American War broke out over Spain's brutal suppression of a rebellion in Cuba. The first in a series of decisive U.S. victories occurred on May 1, 1898, when the U.S. Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey annihilated the Spanish Pacific fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines. From his exile, Aguinaldo made arrangements with U.S. authorities to return to the Philippines and assist the United States in the war against Spain. He landed on May 19, rallied his revolutionaries, and began liberating towns south of Manila. On June 12, he proclaimed Philippine independence and established a provincial government, of which he subsequently became head. His rebels, meanwhile, had encircled the Spanish in Manila and, with the support of Dewey's squadron in Manila Bay, would surely have conquered the Spanish. Dewey, however, was waiting for U.S. ground troops, which began landing in July and took over the Filipino positions surrounding Manila.... ...While the Americans occupied Manila and planned peace negotiations with Spain, Aguinaldo convened a revolutionary assembly, the Malolos, in September. They drew up a democratic constitution, the first ever in Asia, and a government was formed with Aguinaldo as president in January 1899. On February 4, what became known as the Philippine Insurrection began when Filipino rebels and U.S. troops skirmished inside American lines in Manila.... ...In response, Aguinaldo formally launched a new revolt--this time against the United States. The rebels, consistently defeated in the open field, turned to guerrilla warfare, and the U.S. Congress authorized the deployment of 60,000 troops to subdue them. By the end of 1899, there were 65,000 U.S. troops in the Philippines, but the war dragged on. Many anti-imperialists in the United States, such as Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, opposed U.S. annexation of the Philippines, but in November 1900 Republican incumbent William McKinley was reelected, and the war continued. On March 23, 1901, in a daring operation, U.S. General Frederick Funston and a group of officers, pretending to be prisoners, surprised Aguinaldo in his stronghold in the Luzon village of Palanan and captured the rebel leader. Aguinaldo took an oath of allegiance to the United States and called for an end to the rebellion, but many of his followers fought on. During the next year, U.S. forces gradually pacified the Philippines. In an infamous episode, U.S. forces on the island of Samar retaliated against the massacre of a U.S. garrison by killing all men on the island above the age of 10. Many women and young children were also butchered. General Jacob Smith, who directed the atrocities, was court-martialed and forced to retire for turning Samar, in his words, into a "howling wilderness." In 1902, an American civil government took over administration of the Philippines, and the three-year Philippine insurrection was declared to be at an end. Scattered resistance, however, persisted for several years.... And the article in it's entirety can be found here. If you're checking on a day other than June 12, just plug that date into their calendar and select "General Interest."
Good Morning, DU! I usually post my missive over at Air America Place, which I did do this morning...but I thought I'd give a try cross-posting over here. Let me know what you think... Good Morning! If it's Saturday, it must be raining! Another gray and dreary day greets the Northeast corner of the blog. Let's get right to it, shall we? Since Al Gore's film, "An Incovenient Truth" is being labelled a 'liberal' movie by the right, I wonder what they would make of a libertarian film? "From Freedom to Fascism" is being called 'the scariest film you'll see this year'... Aaron Russo's sizzling new documentary "America: Freedom to Fascism" received this rave review from CBS's Todd David Schwartz:
"FOUR STARS (Highest Rating): The scariest goddamn film you'll see this year. It will leave you staggering out of the theatre, slack-jawed and trembling. Makes 'Fahrenheit 9/11' look like 'Bambi.' After watching this movie, your comfy, secure notions about America -- and about what it means to be an American -- will be forever shattered.
Producer/director Aaron Russo and the folks at Cinema Libre Studio deserve to be heralded as heroes of a post-modern New American Revolution. This is shocking stuff. You'll be angry, you'll be disgusted, but you may actually break out in a cold sweat and feel a sickness deep in your gut; I would advise movie theatre managers to hand out vomit bags. You may end up needing one." Ah, and speaking of fascism, let's see how our "Anschluss" with Iraq is going...there's a really big base there...and it doesn't appear that we'll be leaving anytime soon. "In an annual security conference on Saturday (June 3), Donald Rumsfeld assured the audience, 'We don't intend to occupy for any period of time. Our troops would like to go home and they will go home.'
Why, then, would the United States be building an enormous embassy in Baghdad and a base so large it eclipses Kosovo's Camp Bondsteel, which had been the largest foreign U.S. military base built since Vietnam? The new embassy, which occupies a space two-thirds the area of the national mall in Washington DC, comprises 21 buildings that will house over 8,000 government officials.
It has a huge pool, gym, theater, beauty salon, school, and six apartment buildings. The gargantuan military base, Camp Anaconda, occupies 15 square miles of Iraqi soil near Balad. The base is home to 20,000 soldiers and thousands of 'contractors'.
The aircraft runway at Anaconda is the second-busiest in the world, behind only Chicago's O'Hare airport. And, depending on which report you read, between six and fourteen more U.S. military bases are under construction in Iraq. It doesn't appear we'll be leaving anytime soon -- or anytime, really." --
Marjorie Cohn, Truthout. Lastly, in our "Why aren't YOU a Libertarian?" segment...let's take a look at the issue of job-loss overseas, and how things might be different in a Libertarian society...thanks as always to "Ask Dr. Ruwart". QUESTION:
"In an economy without any 'trade barriers,' where the market can be flooded by less expensive imported goods at a price our domestic manufacturers cannot hope to compete with, what is going to stop domestic jobs from rapidly going overseas to cheap-labor countries?"
MY SHORT ANSWER:
"Some jobs will indeed go overseas, but here we'll experience a net *gain* in the number of jobs and the wages we're paid. Everyone wins. Here's how it works.
"Let's assume that cheap-labor countries can manufacture and ship clothes to us more economically than our domestic industry. Our clothing bill goes down, leaving us more money to buy something else, say, computers. More high-tech, high-paying jobs are created here to meet the increased demand. We'll experience a net gain in jobs, because our human capital is more efficiently allocated. Uneducated cheap labor is manufacturing, and skilled technical labor is innovating.
"Of course, the domestic clothing workers will experience some trauma as they scramble to find new positions. Most will end up in jobs that are more interesting and demanding as our work force as a whole shifts to become more technical. Like the rest of the country, they will benefit from the lower clothing prices and the higher standard of living made possible by the
more efficient division of labor.
"Countries that 'protect' inefficient industries with trade barriers keep consumer prices high and prosperity lower than it otherwise would be. In the U.S., for example, we pay more for automobiles than we would if tariffs on imports were abolished. Every extra dollar we spend on automobiles is one less for the computer and other domestic industries that compete well in the international markets. Tariffs put our market leaders at risk to preserve inefficiency. Ultimately, everyone -- even the automobile workers -- lose by higher prices and the lower standard of living." So, there we go....and since I'll be indoors all day bouncing off the walls with a 5 year old...please come and keep me company.
I drive by a multitude of gas stations on my brief, 4-mile commute.
This past 10 days or so, I've noticed something curious...the price of self-serve regular has dropped by almost a dime, from $2.99 to $2.91 in recent days.
But the price of the mid-grade gas has remained flat, at $3.05 for about the past 3 weeks.
I wonder why that is?
I do ride my bike in the good weather, I've got a bike trail that goes virtually door-to-door. But I am in Boston, and it's rained most of the past 5 weeks or so. yeesh.
Do you know any contractors? Specifically, the 'grunt' that moils about in the dirt, digging for sewer lines and septic tanks? I bet they do driveways and road repair too. In addition to having to 'cough up' at the pump to keep their machinery running, there's another new wrinkle in their income. The cost of asphalt is rising. Get ready for some bumpy roads ahead.
The soaring cost of petroleum -- a primary ingredient of asphalt -- has forced many communities to shoulder a 50 percent increase in costs as crews head out to repave roads this summer. Asphalt sticker shock is creating heartburn for legions of highway chiefs, prompting many to significantly curtail the number of roads they intend to repair this season.
And the going may get even tougher. Two major asphalt suppliers for the region are warning of another 50 percent increase by Thanksgiving -- in addition to potential shortages. The news comes as public works crews in some areas hard hit by last month's record flooding are still patching sinkholes and replacing washed-out roadway shoulders. Communities are hoping federal emergency funds will cover most of those repairs.
``When we were building our budget a year ago, my paving program received a significant reduction because of needs in other places," said Bob Gravino, Ipswich's director of public works. ``Now, not only is the cost of materials going up, but the money I have is going down."
Ipswich's new asphalt contract, signed in April, jumped 44 percent in cost from a year ago. That, Gravino said, means Ipswich will repave only four of the nine roads it planned to tackle this summer, and then perhaps seal cracks in the other five until the town can afford to complete those projects.
``If you let a road degrade, it's just like when you let your house go until it's ready to fall down," Gravino said. ``It's going to cost you more to rebuild it." So think about that this summer if you hire someone to do some work around your place, or if you see the public works crew out fixing the roads. Yet another benefit of the Bush "economy"!
I work in the Healthcare industry. (disclaimer: www.athenahealth.com First cousin Jonathan Bush, founder and CEO.) This news has just come out about how the Bush "administration" is taking care of our health and insurance information. Of course, this should really come as no surprise, since the original author of the bill was Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), way back in 1996. The industry managed to have the onset of the law delayed numerous times. (From 1999 to 2000, to 2002, then finally October 16, 2003). Medical Privacy law nets no FinesIn the three years since Americans gained federal protection for their private medical information, the Bush administration has received thousands of complaints alleging violations but has not imposed a single civil fine and has prosecuted just two criminal cases.
Of the 19,420 grievances lodged so far, the most common allegations have been that personal medical details were wrongly revealed, information was poorly protected, more details were disclosed than necessary, proper authorization was not obtained or patients were frustrated getting their own records.
The government has "closed" more than 73 percent of the cases -- more than 14,000 -- either ruling that there was no violation, or allowing health plans, hospitals, doctors' offices or other entities simply to promise to fix whatever they had done wrong, escaping any penalty.
"Our first approach to dealing with any complaint is to work for voluntary compliance. So far it's worked out pretty well," said Winston Wilkinson, who heads the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights, which is in charge of enforcing the law.
While praised by hospitals, insurance plans and doctors, the approach has drawn strong criticism from privacy advocates and some health industry analysts. They say the administration's decision not to enforce the law more aggressively has not safeguarded sensitive medical records and has made providers and insurers complacent about complying.
"The law was put in place to give people some confidence that when they talk to their doctor or file a claim with their insurance company, that information isn't going to be used against them," said Janlori Goldman, a health-care privacy expert at Columbia University. "They have done almost nothing to enforce the law or make sure people are taking it seriously. I think we're dangerously close to having a law that is essentially meaningless." And for everything you could possibly want to know about HIPAA... go here.
Mr. President, I want to thank you for the things you and your administration have done for me. I no longer enjoy aviation. This has been a lifelong interest of mine, since my very first word. (“Airpane!", according to my father.) Years of travel, hanging around the airfield, going to airshows, listening to the tower…have all been ruined thanks to you. Now, when I see an airplane or a helicopter flying around….I wonder if it’s spying on me, or particularly if it’s a military bird, I run inside to get the TV on to see what happened. What once brought me endless hours of excitement and happiness has now turned into fear and worry. Thank you, Mr. President. I no longer travel great distances anymore. Thanks to the TSA, and the assumption that everyone traveling via air is a terrorist, and the loss of my fourth amendment rights, and the surly treatment by your minions, and the subsequent loss of human dignity in the airport…the joy of visiting unknown places has turned into tedium and hassle. I only go places I can drive now. Thank you, Mr. President. I can no longer have civil discussions with my in-laws. We’re on opposite sides of the fence…I live in the reality-based community…they’re part of the 29%. The last couple of attempts at conversation have devolved into shouting matches which resulted in upset family members for days afterwards. Thank you, Mr. President. I have even yelled at my own mother…she has unfortunately started watching Fox News. She once voted for President Kennedy, and has voted for his younger brother Edward in every election she has been able to. She doesn’t see the irony in trotting out the right-wing talking points, and I have violently argued with her over this. Thank you, Mr. President. Yes sir, I’d have to categorize your administration as a catalyst for change, alright. You’ve made a huge difference in my life, and in the relationships I have with my family and friends. Thank you, Mr. President! 
GOP fields fewer candidates in 2004; most races unchallengedBOSTON --Republicans are fielding far fewer candidates for the Massachusetts House and Senate than two years ago, and are challenging none of the incumbent Democratic district attorneys.
About 81 Republicans are running for seats in the Legislature, 61 in the House and 20 in the Senate, according to information provided by the state secretary's office. That's less than half of the total number of seats in the Legislature. There are a total of 160 seats in the House and 40 in the Senate.
Two years ago, Gov. Mitt Romney unveiled a team of 128 Republican legislative candidates at a pomp-laden party event at Boston Park Plaza complete with confetti cannons, strobe lights and blaring music. He vowed to chip away at the Democratic Party's overwhelming majorities in both legislative chambers.
Romney's efforts fell flat. Instead of gaining seats, the Republicans found themselves with three fewer seats after the votes were tallied.
This year, the GOP's top priority is holding onto the governor's office. Romney has announced he won't seek re-election, and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for the state's highest political office.
Mark Rowe, acting executive director of the state Republican Party, said the party is focusing more on the quality of their legislative candidates than their quantity. He also acknowledged that retaining the governor's office is the party's top job.
"We certainly feel very good about our prospects for November," he said.
"What's going to help us is having Kerry Healey and Reed Hillman at the top of the ticket," Rowe said, referring to the former state representative from Sturbridge who is Healey's running mate and the GOP's lone candidate for lieutenant governor.
Rowe said the 2004 elections were dominated by the presidential election which included hometown U.S. Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat, running for president. That made it especially tough going for Republican legislative candidates, he said.
Cyndi Roy, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said Republicans seem to be expending nearly all their energy on the governor's race this time around.
"I would imagine that the GOP is still licking their wounds after an unsuccessful battle for the Legislature in 2004," she said. "They are focused on the governor's office."
In the Senate, all five incumbent Republicans are running unopposed. There are 14 contested races in the Senate, 12 of which include Republican candidates.
In the House, 16 Republican incumbents are facing no challenge from Democrats or other Republicans. Of the 57 contested races in the House, 38 include Republicans.
We've got this tidbit breaking from overseas. :yawn: So, guess what the MSM is bound to be covering all day? Fresh evidence in Diana crash probe?LONDON - The detective leading a British investigation into the death of Princess Diana said he has found new witnesses and fresh forensic evidence about the fatal car crash in a Paris road tunnel in 1997. Sir John Stevens, a former chief of London's Metropolitan police who is heading a crash inquiry, refused to give details. He was speaking during an interview at a literary festival in southern England where he is launching a book. His comments were reported by British media Wednesday. A spokeswoman at London's Scotland Yard police headquarters confirmed fresh evidence had emerged. "As would be expected, new witnesses have been spoken to and new forensics have been considered as part of the continuing investigations," she said. Diana, her companion Dodi al Fayed and their chauffeur Henri Paul were killed on Aug. 31, 1997, when their Mercedes crashed after it sped away from the Ritz hotel in the French capital with paparazzi photographers in hot pursuit on motorbikes. An inquiry by French authorities in 1999 ruled that the crash was caused by Paul’s being drunk and driving too fast. Continued...
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