| Rush Gives Up?
His vision of a universal health care system is one that will be sufficiently generous that even families in, say, the 89th percentile of the income distribution never feel inclined to make private expenditures for additional services on top of what the government provides and that won't involve any potentially innovation-starving price controls. That, I'm inclined to agree, really would be very expensive. "And if you could really pay for such a system by severely means-testing Social Security benefits I wouldn't have a particular objection to that." I'm declaring Fallows-style victory (which is not necessarily the same thing as having won). ... 10:51 P.M Maybe Jeff Jarvis is Right: I've resisted kicking Dell when it's down--I've been a relatively happy Dell customer for several years.
Fix the Flu Shot
The flu shot protects against only 40 percent of this year's viruses, the Centers for Disease Control said last week. On Thursday, the FDA decided to replace all three of the vaccine's influenza strains for next winter. Wait, why can't the scientists put every strain there is into the vaccine? It wouldn't be worth the effort, even if it were feasible. There are thousands of influenza subtypes infecting people around the world, but very few are likely to make someone in the United States sick. Vaccinating people against a disease they're never going to get is a risky proposition: We don't know how the body would respond to a barrage of flu vaccinations. The patient might also develop a strong immune response to an insignificant strain, while skimping on antibodies for a nastier virus.
Red tide advisory lifted for beaches in Martin County
The Martin County Health Department has lifted the red tide health advisory for Martin County beaches. For the past two weeks, the microorganism that causes red tide has not been detected in water samples collected by the health department and no respiratory complaints associated with red tide have been reported. The public may obtain more information on ongoing red tide events from the Florida Marine Research Institute by going to http://research.mvfwc.com/. The public may also call the Aquatic Toxins toll free hotline at (888) 232-8635. From staff reports .
February 2008
As you have more people living in more places, extreme weather will cause more property damage. The report concludes that "Even Hurricane Katrina is not outside the range of normalized estimates for past storms." And that's a consensus conclusion. Posted by Michael Goldfarb at 09:59 AM | Permalink | E-mail the author | E-mail article .
Putting on Pedometer Helps Walkers Shed Pounds
THURSDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Just by strapping on a step-counting pedometer, overweight or obese "couch potatoes" who start a daily walking regimen can expect to lose at least a modest amount of weight -- even in the absence of any special diet, new research reveals. The review of data from nine studies found that patients who used a pedometer to track and motivate their walking achieved a loss of about a pound every 10 weeks. "The main point is that pedometer-based walking programs are effective at getting people to walk more, and they do result in a modest amount of weight loss," said study lead author Dr. Caroline R. Richardson, an assistant professor in the department of family medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. "It's not a huge response, but it's not no response -- it's a modest response," added Richardson, who also serves as a research scientist in the Health Services Research and Development Center at Ann Arbor Veterans' Affairs Medical Center.
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