Tax Cuts Brighten still-dim economic outlook

This week I read an article on tax cuts in relation to the economic outlook. The main points of the article are:

• Retailers are reporting a better than expected shopping holiday season. Manufacturers are seeing a pickup in production. And private sector job growth — though still very sluggish — has picked up from the first half of the year
• the outlook also brightened on the news earlier this month that Congress and the White House agreed to keep federal income taxes constant and cut payroll taxes.
• it all adds up to another year of relatively modest growth, not nearly enough to make much of a dent in the painfully high 9.8 percent unemployment rate.
• "The consensus of msnbc.com's Economic Roundtable calls for the gross domestic product to grow just 2.6 percent next year, even a bit slower than the estimated 2.8 percent growth seen in 2010. The unemployment rate is expected to drop only slightly to 9.2 percent by the end of next year, with the most optimistic of our dozen panelists calling for a drop to 8.5 percent."
• "A huge hangover from the housing bust is one of the major factors holding back the economy, with millions of homes still facing likely foreclosure. And high unemployment is holding down consumer spending and creating a cascade of unpleasant consequences, including huge budget shortfalls at every level of government."
• Inflation is also expected to remain low; the consensus estimate sees consumer prices, excluding food and energy, rising just 1 percent next year, about the same as 2010.
• "Despite a pickup in growth next year and in 2012, our forecasters expect the unemployment rate to remain stubbornly high for years to come. The consensus pegs the jobless rate at 9.2 percent by the end of next year and not falling back to pre-recession levels of 5 percent for five to seven years — or longer."

The economy is coming back from the biggest recession since WWII.Our economy is growing modestly. It is not growing enough to notice a major change. Forecasters predict that it will take several years, possibly over seven, before the jobless rate to fall back to pre-recession levels.

We are still facing hardships with our economy continuing to be in rough shape. It is unfortunate that it is not growing at a rate where people can appreciate it, and it make take several years to improve a significant amount. The good news is, it is improving. We are slowly but surely taking steps in the right direction.

NASA halts monkey radiation experiment for now

This week I read an article on NASA's halt on radiation experimenting on squirrel monkeys.
The main points of the article are:

• irradiate squirrel monkeys to better understand the risks of long-duration spaceflight on humans
• called for exposing 27 squirrel monkeys to high-energy gamma-ray radiation so researchers could observe its effects on the monkeys health and task performance
• Animal-rights activists called the project cruel and poorly designed
• NASA has said that studies involving other primates are essential to predicting the neurobehavioral effects of space radiation on humans
• The radiation study would reportedly expose the monkeys to radiation similar to what astronauts would experience on a three-year voyage.

NASA has, for now, stopeed its experiment on squirrel monkeys. They wanted to do this experiment to see the effects that radiation would have on their behavior and health, because astronauts traveling on a three-year voyage would be exposed to similar radiation. Many people feel that this is cruel treatment of animals, and are not at all okay with NASA's research techniques.

China’s army of graduates is struggling

This week I read an article on how despite a booming economy the graduates of China are still struggling. The main points of the article are:

• Often the first from their families to finish even high school, ambitious graduates  are part of an unprecedented wave of young people all around China who were supposed to move the country’s labor-dependent economy toward a white-collar future.
•  "In 1998, when Jiang Zemin, then the president, announced plans to bolster higher education, Chinese universities and colleges produced 830,000 graduates a year. Last May, that number was more than six million and rising."
  It is a remarkable achievement, yet for a government fixated on stability such figures are also a cause for concern.
• "The economy, despite its robust growth, does not generate enough good professional jobs to absorb the influx of highly educated young adults. And many of them bear the inflated expectations of their parents, who emptied their bank accounts to buy them the good life that a higher education is presumed to guarantee."
• “For many young graduates, it’s all about survival. If there was ever an economic crisis, they could be a source of instability.”

China's economy is booming and continually growing. Many graduates of chinese families are the first in their family to do so. Just last May, chinese colleges and universities produced over 6 million graduates which is unbelievably impressive. These numbers also cause concern. Their country does not generate good professional jobs to absorb the influx of highly educated adults. For many young graduates its about survival, because even in their booming economy they could be a source of instability.

I am extremely impressed by the number of graduates China has in a given year. I can only imagine how scary and stressful it would be for the graduates. They empty their parents bank accounts with the hope that they are going to become very successful. Then they are in a very unstable situation where they might not find a job at all. That is so much pressure and stress to be put on a young person.

Authorities: Armed Student Holding Hostages

This week I chose to read an article about a student who was holding hostages in a highschool. The main points of the article are:

• An armed student burst into a high school classroom in eastern Wisconsin on Monday, taking more than 20 students and a teacher hostage
• A Marinette High School administrator called authorities after 3 p.m. to say a student had taken over a classroom
• authorities had been able to communicate with the teacher inside the classroom. No injuries had been reported as of Monday evening and Skorik said no shots had been fired.
• police know the identity of the suspect and have contacted that student's family.

This story is fresh, so these are the most updated details they have at this time. Basically, this student came armed into a classroom, and is continuing to hold the teacher and 20 students hostage.

The thing that frightens me the  most about this story is that the student, at this time, appears to have no motive. That can be the most dangerous kind of armed student. On the positive side, at least the authorities have communication with the teacher in the classroom, and they know who the student is. I can't imagine how scary it would be to be in a hostage situation. I feel for all the students and the teacher that are in that position right now, and I hope that everything turns out alright.

When Disaster Becomes the Backdrop For Childhood

This week I chose to read an article about a 4 year old boy facing numerous hardships in Haiti.
The main points of the article are:

• "Amid a growing cholera epidemic, two weeks after a hurricane threat and 10 months after losing his left leg in an earthquake, 4-year-old Schneily Similien was turned away from school."
• His family owes the school tuition money: about $875 U.S. dollars.
• boy's left leg and foot where crushed by concrete, and he has a prosthetic leg
• family lost their make-shift home when hurricane Tomas barely bypassed Haiti- the winds destroyed their house.
• their famly has avoided the cholera epidemic by treating their water with chlorine and being very careful
• Schneily's artificial leg is cracked and causes him to be unable to walk straight.
• family tries to make money by running  a roadside "grocery store"
• cannot afford Schneily's education

My thoughts and prayers go out to this little boy who has suffered so much in his 4 years of life. He lost a leg, can't go to school because his family can't afford it, lost homes in hurricanes, and his prosthetic leg is even breaking. It is a blessing that they have been able to avoid the cholera epidemic thus far, and I hope their luck stays with them. They could use some good fortune. I feel for everyone in Haiti who has been through so much. They continue to get bombarded with disaster, and they keep pushing through. They are extremely strong people, and I admire them for that.

ISSUE #1 -Comprehensive vs. Incremental Health Care Reform

In 2007 the censuses showed that people wanted some form of healthcare reform to take place. Experts characterized the vast range of proposals in two different ways: comprrehensive health reform and incremental health care reform. Comprehensive changes focus primarily on universal healthcare. The other uses incremental to expand existing programs to reduce the number of uninsured people. Comprehensive health care reform supportives argue that universal health care argue that overhauling the nation's health care system is the best way to make sure that equal access to medical care takes place. They believe that Medicare and Medicade have increased medical costs, and create a wasteful bureaucracy. They also think there is no safety net for the uninsured. Advocates of universal health care say the governement could become a single purchaser and act on the behalf of all patients. Another comprehensive health care proposal involves relying on government subsidies where the poor receive credits to get insurance with. There is also the hybrid system of universal health care vouchers where the government funds basic health care, and also elements of competition and choice. Care would be universal and there would be no eligibilty test. Patients could choose from plans for additional coverage if they choose. People in favor of incremental health care reform are not against health care for all, they are just against how comprehensive health care chooses to reach that goal. They think that government sponsered health care would produce poor care, and less competition for providers. In Canada and the United Kingdom they have universal health care. They also have long waiting places for surgeries. They believe universal health care would add to bureaucracy, inefficiency, and soaring costs instead of working to get rid of these issues. They also argue that health care is a huge industry, and state-sponsered health care would leave tons of insurance and medical industry workers unemployed. They believe in enhancing tax-free health savings accounts. They also believe in giving tax deductions for people who purchase their own health insurance. Overall they believe in empowering consumers with greater knowledge on medical costs and quality. If consumers pay the majority or at least greater quantities of health care insurance and medical expenses they believe that the market will start to rein in the medical costs.

I support the Incrremental Health Care Reform view on things. Universal health care would result in less competition for insurance companies as well as the medical industry, and that isn't fair to them. Universal health care would also result in poor health care. As stated above, there are places around the world that have universal health care. They have really long waiting lists for surgeries which is not something I want our country to deal with. Tons of insurance and medical industry workers would lose their jobs. It is important for consumers to have a knowledge and understanding about our medical costs and quality. The incremental route seeks to provide consumers with that information. Also, some people choose not to purchase health care because they don't want it. Universal health care would in some cases be forcing health care on people who do not wish to have it. The Republican Party Platform is very against the universal health care reform plan. They said "We reject any notion of government-run universal health care because we have seen evidence from around the world that government-run health care leads to inefficiencies, long waiting periods, and often substandard health care."

http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/06/co-ops-socialized-medicine-and-deregulation/

For More information on similar issues:
ISSUE #2 -  Ensuring Quality Care for Medicare Patients.
http://the-brack-blog.blogspot.com/2010/10/health-care-reform.html
ISSUE #3 -  Safe to Eat?
http://kristaschoolblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-3-safe-to-eat.html

Surgery error leads doc to public mea culpa

This week I read an article on how a doctor from Massachusetts performed an incorrect surgery on an elderly lady, and how he openly talks about it to provent future mistakes. The main points of the article are:

• Dr. David C. Ring, a hand and arm surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital operated incorrectly on the hand of a 65-year-old woman with a painful “trigger finger.”
• "In 2008, the most recent year with complete records, 116 wrong-site surgeries, up from 93 in 2007, were recorded by the Joint Commission, a national hospital accrediting agency. Preliminary reports logged 137 wrong-site surgeries from March 2009 through June 2010"
• the patient whose ring finger on her left hand was stiff, painful and sometimes got stuck in a flexed position,has a condition known as "trigger finger.
• Ring performed a carpal-tunnel-release operation, instead of a trigger-finger-release procedure.
• "Although he apologized to the patient, waived her fees and successfully performed the correct surgery, Ring said nothing could undo the mistake. But by writing and talking about it publicly, he hoped to break the silence that still surrounds doctors’ errors — and prevent them in the future"

Dr. David Ring is a hand and arm surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital. Through a series of mishaps he accidently performed carpal-tunnel surgery instead of trigger-finger release surgery on a 65 year old patient. He chose to talk about it openly to prevent future mistakes like his own.

I think it is very brave of Dr. Ring to talk about his mistake to the public. It would be very hard because he got a lot of grief from the patient and her family about the ordeal. However, he is choosing to look at the positive things he can accomplish by speaking out about his mistakes. He can prevent other doctors from making the same mistake, or similar mistakes to the one he made.