http://vimeo.com/24821365
This movie is about an extraordinary medical breakthrough. It's also about a brilliant, very brave scientist and physician. But the truly eye opening story here is the shameful behavior of the FDA, giant pharmaceutical companies and large non-profit foundations supposedly dedicated to healing. The movie shows how these powerful, wealthy groups have systematically suppressed Dr Burzynsky's work and defended their own narrow interests - even where these are directly at odds with the interests of the public. This is a full length movie, still available for free as a public service. In your own best interest - and in honor of those who've died and continue to die - we encourage you to watch it to the end.
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What ? There's a new punctuation ? Did something happen and I missed it ?
Got your attention ! Well, this is actually very humble, but I really felt it needed to be done. I've been using The New Punctuation for awhile now, and at this point it would be hard to go back. The problem I noticed was that certain parts of our punctuation were getting squashed - so crowded and compressed they were getting hidden in the surrounding verbal landscape, and could even be missed. They were being deprived of their natural beauty and dignity - even prevented from doing their job. It felt like intimidation to me. It felt like discrimination and harassment. I had to do something, and I did. Here are the problems I noticed - and the changes I've made : - An exclamation point crushed into the word it follows. I saw this! - and I've changed it to this ! - A question mark pressed into the last word of the question it follows. I saw this? - and I've turned it into this ? - A semicolon pressed tightly against the last word of the phrase it follows. Such a lovely and important part of our punctuation - but you could miss it entirely. Instead of this; - I do this ; - A colon oppressed in the same way as the semicolon and the rest. It's always been this: - but I'm doing this : Just a single space between the word and the punctuation - but do you see the difference ? It's just a little more gracious. It lets the punctuation breathe. There it is, my small flag I'm planting in the ground of our language. What do you think ? Will you be an early adapter ? If you want to join the movement, help me out by passing this further - Tweet it, Facebook it, email it to a friend. Free the Punctuation 4 ! Viva The New Punctuation ! Viva la Revolucion ! Hey Folks,
Over the years I've found a couple of very cool ways to save money, and I'd like to share them with you. The first is a great free service to help you locate supplemental medical insurance coverage for seniors - also sometimes called "Medigap" coverage. Simply put, supplemental insurances for seniors pay the difference between what Medicare pays for medical care, and what better quality care actually costs. This may save seniors on their out of pocket costs, and give them access to providers and services they otherwise couldn't afford. The service is called Senior Educators, and I learned about it in the course of helping my elderly aunt with her finances and medical needs. Senior Educators maintains an overview of supplemental insurance plans all around the country. You provide them your zip code, and they help you find plans in your state that meet your needs. You make the eventual choice, but they provide the information you need to make good comparisons of the available plans. I was able to find my aunt incredibly cheap plans with great service for both her medical and dental needs. We're very pleased. When making your own comparisons, you'll of course consider the price of the monthly premium ; but you also may want to compare options, copays and coverage limits for : - Doctor visits - Prescription drugs - Eyeglasses and eye exams - Dental exams and procedures - A hospital stay - A skilled nursing facility stay - Skilled nursing care at home - Care at home by a home health aide - Living in a nursing home The Senior Educators website is http://www.senioreducators.com , and their toll free number is 1 (800) 505 8575. It's a great way to prepare to make an informed choice, whether you're investigating for your parents or some other senior - or for yourself. Another different, but also great way to save money in the realm of health care, is by using a Flexible Savings Account, if your employer offers one. You fund your FSA with your own pre-tax dollars, deducted from your paycheck each pay period. You save money because you don't pay pay federal, social security or state taxes on what you put aside. Your FSA can be used to pay for : - Your medical, prescription drug, dental or vision insurance copays - Your out of pocket costs for any of these kinds of care, beyond what the insurance pays - In some cases, holistic care and treatments. The FSA program can provide detailed information on this - Dependent care expenses, including copays and other out of pocket costs for your spouse and children - even such things as licensed daycare. Again, consult your FSA program for rules and details. To fund your FSA, you first estimate your out of pocket expenses for medical, prescription drug, dental and vision care, daycare etc, for the coming year. This total will be deducted from your paycheck in equal increments during the year. Caveat : it's important to estimate your out of pocket costs for the year accurately - because FSA's have a "use it or lose it " feature. If you don't spend everything you put aside, you don't get it back ! Beyond this important caution, FSA's are excellent, and we've saved thousands of dollars this way over the years. One particularly beautiful feature : once you've started your payroll deductions for the year, you can use your FSA at any time. For instance, if you have a have a big medical or dental expense at the very beginning of the year, you have access to the whole yearly FSA amount immediately. Another great feature is that in some cases, employers match a portion of your contribution. This is an overview, based on my own experience with FSA's - it's meant only to introduce the concept. For the actual rules and allowances of your employer's FSA, you'll need to consult that program. But an FSA can be a great thing, and very much worth your while ! - |
AuthorJeff Smith RN, born 1950. A registered nurse since 1984 - but holistic in my outlook to health since probably around 1968. Living Waters Wellness considers not just the health of the physical body, but our soul and spirit, our social forms, our environment - and as a matter of fact, our whole earth. It's a new website, and a work in progress - but by all means, have a look around ! Archives
December 2024
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