Three Die in Capitol Hill gunfight

Bush administration officials operated Memorial Day weekend damage control to cover up the deaths of three foreign intelligence operatives—two British and one French—involved in a Friday morning shootout in the House of Representatives parking garage.

The altercation turned into an exchange of automatic weapons fire over a pouch containing evidence filesdocumenting an operation to bomb the rail system along the Northeast corridor on Thursday—with the full knowledge of Bush and Blair who was in Washington while the operation was being hatched.

Teams of U.S.-French alliance (AFA) operatives—including CIA, NSA and FBI agents committed to holding the Bush administration accountable for criminal activities—had been electronically monitoring a British agent who they determined to be the leader of a black ops bombing plot planned for the purpose of disrupting northeast rail traffic via a fake terrorist attack.

Federal agents revealed that a taxi cab left the Rayburn building parking garage with three body bags just after the shootout which was covered up by Capitol Hill police on instructions from Bush officials who were in contact with television executives and House/Senate leaders.
Hmmm, ...any way to find out if this is true?

Canadians healthier than Americans: study

Canadians healthier than Americans: study

Source: URL: http://english.pravda.ru/society/81364-health-0

You can add Canadians to the list of foreigners who are healthier than Americans. Americans are 42 percent more likely than Canadians to have diabetes, 32 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, and 12 percent more likely to have arthritis, Harvard Medical School researchers found. That is according to a survey in which American and Canadian adults were asked over the telephone about their health.

The study comes less than a month after other researchers reported that middle-aged, white Americans are much sicker than their counterparts in England.

"We're really falling behind other nations," said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a co-author of the Canadian study, reports Washingtonpost.

According to Forbes, Americans said they were more satisfied than Canadians with the quality of care they received at either a hospital or a community-based facility. Canadians were happier with their physicians, however.

As well, American health care did excel in some areas compared to the Canadian system. For example, American women were more likely to have had a Pap smear and a mammogram than their Canadian counterparts.

Nevertheless, the American health system appears weakest in relation to the Canadian approach when it comes to caring for the uninsured.

"These findings raise serious questions about what we're getting for the $2.1 trillion we're spending on health care this year," said Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard.

"We pay almost twice what Canada does for care, more than $6,000 for every American, yet Canadians are healthier, and live two to three years longer," Himmelstein added in a statement.
"Canadians had better access to most types of medical care (with the single exception of pap smears)," Himmelstein and colleagues wrote in the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health.

"Canadians were 7 percent more likely to have a regular doctor and 19 percent less likely to have an unmet health need. U.S. respondents were almost twice as likely to go without a needed medicine due to cost (9.9 percent of U.S. respondents couldn't afford medicine versus 5.1 percent in Canada)," they added, informs Reuters.



June 1, 2006Low Payments by U.S. Raise Medical Bills Billions a Year

By MILT FREUDENHEIM

Employers and consumers are paying billions of dollars more a year for medical care to compensate for imbalances in the nation's health care system resulting from tight Medicare and Medicaid budgets, according to Blue Cross officials and independent actuaries.

A new study commissioned by Premera Blue Cross, based in Seattle, has found a rapid acceleration in higher costs to private payers in Washington State, for example, as hospitals and doctors grapple with constraints in the federal health insurance programs.

The study found that in 2004, the most recent year for which full data are available, hospitals in Washington State charged an additional $738 million — or 14.3 percent of their revenue — to private payers to make up for Medicare and Medicaid underpayments. Similarly, doctors shifted $620 million, or 12 percent, said John Pickering, an actuary at Milliman Inc., a consulting and actuarial firm that conducted the study.

A similar Milliman study in California for 2004 said that health plans and consumers paid an additional $4.5 billion for hospital care in that state to compensate for Medicaid and Medicare constraints. Milliman's California study, commissioned by Blue Shield of California, did not include physicians' charges.

Will Fox, a Milliman actuary, said California hospitals had been hit particularly hard by Medicare payment policies in the last few years, "and there is no reason to think this has let up."

Other research has come to similar conclusions across the country. Unpaid hospital bills, largely for the uninsured, are costing about $45 billion nationally a year and adding about 8.5 percent to the cost of health insurance for those who do pay, said Kenneth E. Thorpe, a health care economist at Emory University.

Employers said the rising cost trends were, in turn, adding to the growing numbers of people without insurance. And when those people check into hospitals, they generate even higher costs for those employers and consumers who pay insurance premiums.
"This is a serious national problem, and it is only going to get much worse," said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a research and trade group for large employers. "There are more uninsured, the hospitals are inefficient, and every year, Medicare and Medicaid hold down on increases to cover rising medical costs," she said.

Rich Maturi, a senior vice president of Premera, said the report would show "employers and policy makers that they needed to address an unsustainable trend in the growth of cost-shifting." Business leaders, health plans and groups representing hospitals and doctors plan to meet in July to review the report and make policy recommendations.

Although many state budgets are overwhelmed by rising Medicaid costs, health care reforms intended to reduce the ranks of the uninsured that were recently enacted in Massachusetts and Vermont include more state money for Medicaid. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Partners Healthcare, the largest hospital group in Boston, jointly supported the Medicaid increases.

"That was a real-world example of hospitals and insurers seeing that the had common interests," said Paul Ginsberg, a health economist who is president of the Center for Studying Health Systems Change, a nonprofit research group in Washington.

Hospitals across the country lost money on Medicare patients in 2003 after at least six years of declining profit margins, according to the latest report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress and federal officials.

Dixie Chicks New Album, Taking The Long Way, Debuts At #1 On Billboard Top 200

Dixie Chicks Become First Female Group Ever To Have Three Albums Debut In Top Slot On
Sales Dates For Dixie Chicks "Accidents & Accusations Tour" Announced

NEW YORK, May 31 /PRNewswire/ --

As Taking The Long Way debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart this week, with first week's sales of 525,829, the Dixie Chicks have become the first female group in chart history to have three albums debut at #1, breaking the record the Chicks established in 2002 when the group's last studio album, Home, debuted at #1 and made them the first female group ever to have two albums debut at #1.

With the #1 debut of Taking The Long Way, the Dixie Chicks have also become the first female group in chart history to have three studio albums occupy the #1 slot on the Top 200.

Taking The Long Way has achieved one of the year's Top 5 first week's sales tallies and has the best first week's sales for any female act on the Top 200 in 2006.

In addition to its chart-topping success in America, Taking The Long Way has just debuted at #2 in Australia.

Taking The Long Way arrives in the midst of an incredible media blitz surrounding the Dixie Chicks, who were honored with a profile on CBS's "60 Minutes" and appeared on the cover of Time magazine an unprecedented two times in May. The group was featured in a five-part series of interviews, culminating with an SRO live concert at New York's Bryant Park on Friday, May 26, on ABC's "Good Morning America." The Dixie Chicks will sit down for an in-depth interview on "Larry King Live" tonight, Wednesday, May 31.

The popular success of Taking The Long Way is echoed in the praise the album is receiving from the press, which has been heralding the record in a flurry of four-star reviews. "Taking The Long Way embraces the depth and fury of classic rock while remaining true to the trio's Texas roots," raved Rolling Stone while USA Today called the album "Incredibly impressive."
Entertainment Weekly gave the new Dixie Chicks album an "A" grade saying, "Fightin' words and the music doesn't back down either, on an album that finds the Dixie Chicks bolder than ever. With (Natalie) Maines projecting more passionately than ever, Taking The Long Way remains intimate and personal."

"This is an album that has something for everyone," said The New York Times, "old fans who thought the Dixie Chicks were at their finest in their fancy-free early days as well as recent admirers who are eager to see the band push beyond the confines of country."

Rolling Stone closed its review of the album with a nod to the new Dixie Chicks single, "If you've dismissed the Chicks or need a new reason to love them, the epic, howling longing of 'Voice Inside My Head' will blow away your expectations."

The record-breaking chart-topping success of Taking The Long Way is the latest in a long line of achievements for the Dixie Chicks. With 39 RIAA gold, platinum and multi-platinum certifications to their credit, the Dixie Chicks are the only female group to hold two RIAA Diamond Awards (each for sales of more than 10 million units).

The Dixie Chicks have won eight Grammy Awards including:
Best Country Album (Wide Open Spaces, 1998; Fly, 1999; Home, 2002)
Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal ("There's Your Trouble," 1998; "Ready To Run," 1999; "Long Time Gone," 2002; "Top of the World," 2004)
Best Country Instrumental Performance ("Lil' Jack Slade," 2002) and
Best Recording Package (Home, 2002).

Taking The Long Way is produced by Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Run-DMC) and features fourteen new songs co-written by the Dixie Chicks.
"Everything felt more personal this time," says the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines. "I go back to songs we've done in the past and there's just more maturity, depth, intelligence on these. They just feel more grown-up."

Having sold more than $100 million worth of concert tickets during their career, the Dixie Chicks are one of the most popular live acts in history. The Dixie Chicks will embark on the "Accidents & Accusations Tour" in support of Taking The Long Way beginning July 21 in Detroit, Michigan and ending November 11 in Tacoma, Washington (full itinerary follows). For additional tour information and links to purchase tickets for the "Accidents & Accusations" tour, please log on to: www.dixiechicks.com

DIXIE CHICKS ACCIDENTS & ACCUSATIONS TOUR

Date City Venue On sale

21-Jul Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena Saturday, June 3
22-Jul Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena Saturday, June 3
23-Jul Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center Saturday, June 10
25-Jul Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center Saturday, June 3
28-Jul Albany, NY Pepsi Arena Saturday, June 3
29-Jul Boston, MA Banknorth Garden Saturday, June 3
1-Aug New York, NY Madison Square Garden Monday, June 5
4-Aug Washington, DC Verizon Center Saturday, June 3
13-Aug Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center Saturday, June 10
15-Aug Chicago, IL The United Center Saturday, June 3
18-Aug Minneapolis, MN Target Center Saturday, June 3
20-Aug Kansas City, MO Kemper Arena Saturday, June 10
22-Aug St. Louis, MO Savvis Center Saturday, June 10
23-Aug Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday, June 10
24-Aug Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena Saturday, June 3
26-Aug Fargo, ND Fargodome Saturday, June 3
3-Sep Phoenix, AZ Glendale Arena Saturday, June 3
6-Sep Fresno, CA SaveMart Center Saturday, June 10
8-Sep Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena Saturday, June 10
9-Sep Oakland, CA Oakland Arena Sunday, June 11
14-Sep Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center Saturday, June 10
16-Sep Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Saturday, June 10
23-Sep Omaha, NE Qwest Center Saturday, June 3
24-Sep Denver, CO Pepsi Center Saturday, June 10
26-Sep Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center Saturday, June 10
27-Sep Memphis, TN FedEx Forum Saturday, June 10
29-Sep Dallas, TX American Airlines Center Saturday, June 3
30-Sep Houston, TX Toyota Center Saturday, June 10
1-Oct Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center Saturday, June 10
3-Oct Nashville, TN Gaylord Entertainment
Ctr. Saturday, June 3
5-Oct Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum Saturday, June 3
6-Oct Jacksonville, FL Veterans Memorial Arena Saturday, June 10
7-Oct Ft. Lauderdale, FL BankAtlantic Center Saturday, June 3
17-Oct Atlanta, GA Philips Arena Saturday, June 3
20-Oct Knoxville, TN Thompson-Boling Arena Saturday, June 3
22-Oct Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Saturday, June 10
27-Oct Ottawa, Ontario Scotiabank Place Saturday, June 3
28-Oct Toronto, Ontario Air Canada Centre Saturday, June 3
4-Nov Edmonton, Alberta Rexall Place Saturday, June 10
5-Nov Calgary, Alberta Saddledome Saturday, June 3
8-Nov Vancouver, BC GM Place Saturday, June 3
9-Nov Portland, OR Rose Garden Saturday, June 3
11-Nov Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome Saturday, June 3

Military Expert: Why the WTC Fell


Destruction of the towers by explosions is clear. In the picture below, a range of cutting chargeshave just exploded in the down left sector and a typical white cloud is formed outwards from the wall.
















Why are there explosions below the burning floors?


















More explosions below the burning floors.

























I've been asking for proof you could put in one's hand - is this it? That last picture - what could that be but pre-set explosives?

He says brown is the color of a small nuke going off.He also says the official story is that the melted steel turned into dust.I think I would bet that that can't happen - would I lose my money?

Maybe you amateur sleuths could verify that these photos are undoctored.If these pictures aren't faked, I may have to get fitted for a tinfoil hat becausethis looks like clear-cut proof that the planes didn't bring down the towers..

Bush 'planted fake news stories on American TV

'By Andrew Buncombe in Washington

Published: 29 May 2006

Federal authorities are actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq, or promoted the companies' products.

Investigators from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are seeking information about stations across the country after a report produced by a campaign group detailed the extraordinary extent of the use of such items.

The report, by the non-profit group Centre for Media and Democracy, found that over a 10-month period at least 77 television stations were making use of the faux news broadcasts, known as Video News Releases (VNRs). Not one told viewers who had produced the items.
"We know we only had partial access to these VNRs and yet we found 77 stations using them," said Diana Farsetta, one of the group's researchers. "I would say it's pretty extraordinary. The picture we found was much worse than we expected going into the investigation in terms of just how widely these get played and how frequently these pre-packaged segments are put on the air."

Ms Farsetta said the public relations companies commissioned to produce these segments by corporations had become increasingly sophisticated in their techniques in order to get the VNRs broadcast. "They have got very good at mimicking what a real, independently produced television report would look like," she said.

The FCC has declined to comment on the investigation but investigators from the commission's enforcement unit recently approached Ms Farsetta for a copy of her group's report.

The range of VNR is wide. Among items provided by the Bush administration to news stations was one in which an Iraqi-American in Kansas City was seen saying "Thank you Bush. Thank you USA" in response to the 2003 fall of Baghdad. The footage was actually produced by the State Department, one of 20 federal agencies that have produced and distributed such items.
Many of the corporate reports, produced by drugs manufacturers such as Pfizer, focus on health issues and promote the manufacturer's product. One example cited by the report was a Hallowe'en segment produced by the confectionery giant Mars, which featured Snickers, M&Ms and other company brands. While the original VNR disclosed that it was produced by Mars, such information was removed when it was broadcast by the television channel - in this case a Fox-owned station in St Louis, Missouri.

Bloomberg news service said that other companies that sponsored the promotions included General Motors, the world's largest car maker, and Intel, the biggest maker of semi-conductors. All of the companies said they included full disclosure of their involvement in the VNRs. "We in no way attempt to hide that we are providing the video," said Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel. "In fact, we bend over backward to make this disclosure."

The FCC was urged to act by a lobbying campaign organised by Free Press, another non-profit group that focuses on media policy. Spokesman Craig Aaron said more than 25,000 people had written to the FCC about the VNRs. "Essentially it's corporate advertising or propaganda masquerading as news," he said. "The public obviously expects their news reports are going to be based on real reporting and real information. If they are watching an advertisement for a company or a government policy, they need to be told."

The controversy over the use of VNRs by television stations first erupted last spring. At the time the FCC issued a public notice warning broadcasters that they were obliged to inform viewers if items were sponsored. The maximum fine for each violation is $32,500 (£17,500).
Federal authorities are actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq, or promoted the companies' products.

Investigators from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are seeking information about stations across the country after a report produced by a campaign group detailed the extraordinary extent of the use of such items.

The report, by the non-profit group Centre for Media and Democracy, found that over a 10-month period at least 77 television stations were making use of the faux news broadcasts, known as Video News Releases (VNRs). Not one told viewers who had produced the items.
"We know we only had partial access to these VNRs and yet we found 77 stations using them," said Diana Farsetta, one of the group's researchers. "I would say it's pretty extraordinary. The picture we found was much worse than we expected going into the investigation in terms of just how widely these get played and how frequently these pre-packaged segments are put on the air."

Ms Farsetta said the public relations companies commissioned to produce these segments by corporations had become increasingly sophisticated in their techniques in order to get the VNRs broadcast. "They have got very good at mimicking what a real, independently produced television report would look like," she said.

The FCC has declined to comment on the investigation but investigators from the commission's enforcement unit recently approached Ms Farsetta for a copy of her group's report.
The range of VNR is wide. Among items provided by the Bush administration to news stations was one in which an Iraqi-American in Kansas City was seen saying "Thank you Bush. Thank you USA" in response to the 2003 fall of Baghdad. The footage was actually produced by the State Department, one of 20 federal agencies that have produced and distributed such items.
Many of the corporate reports, produced by drugs manufacturers such as Pfizer, focus on health issues and promote the manufacturer's product. One example cited by the report was a Hallowe'en segment produced by the confectionery giant Mars, which featured Snickers, M&Ms and other company brands. While the original VNR disclosed that it was produced by Mars, such information was removed when it was broadcast by the television channel - in this case a Fox-owned station in St Louis, Missouri.

Bloomberg news service said that other companies that sponsored the promotions included General Motors, the world's largest car maker, and Intel, the biggest maker of semi-conductors. All of the companies said they included full disclosure of their involvement in the VNRs. "We in no way attempt to hide that we are providing the video," said Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel. "In fact, we bend over backward to make this disclosure."

The FCC was urged to act by a lobbying campaign organised by Free Press, another non-profit group that focuses on media policy. Spokesman Craig Aaron said more than 25,000 people had written to the FCC about the VNRs. "Essentially it's corporate advertising or propaganda masquerading as news," he said. "The public obviously expects their news reports are going to be based on real reporting and real information. If they are watching an advertisement for a company or a government policy, they need to be told."

The controversy over the use of VNRs by television stations first erupted last spring. At the time the FCC issued a public notice warning broadcasters that they were obliged to inform viewers if items were sponsored. The maximum fine for each violation is $32,500 (£17,500).

Requiem for a Nightmare
by DarkSydeSun

Tomorrow is the day we honor the fallen American heroes of so many wars. To avoid staining our national day of mourning, I felt it more appropriate to dedicate this post at this time to a very different kind of American. They may be clueless neocons, erroneous White House talking heads, or smear artists and their self-appointed town criers. But what they all have in common is that each one bravely ducked when called and later took part directly or indirectly in assaulting the reputation of those who stood in harm's way. They are known, affectionately, as Chicken-hawks:

* President George W. Bush - served four years of a six years Nat'l Guard commitment, some say after daddy's friends pulled some strings to keep him out of Vietnam. The circumstances of his early separation from state-side service are still controversial

* Karl Rove, occasional Deputy Chief of Staff and alleged full time smear artist, escaped the draft and did not serve

* VP Dick Cheney - several deferments, by marriage and timely fatherhood

* Former VP Chief of Staff I. Lewis Scooter Libby - did not serve

* Secretary of State and former NSA Condaleeza Rice - did not serve

* Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve.

* Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - did not serve.

* Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay - did not serve

* House Majority Whip Roy Blunt - did not serve

* Majority Whip Mitch McConnell - did not serve

* Rick Santorum, third ranking Republican in the Senate - did not serve.

* Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott - did not serve

Recently while stammering out a convoluted apology for avoiding service, one budding Yellow Elephant mentioned in part that he 'can support the Yankees without wearing their uniform.' Not too far off: Your average Chicken-hawk does not play for the Yankees because they lack the physical skill required to walk out on that field and compete; likewise, maybe they do not serve in Iraq because they lack the simple courage required to walk into a recruiting office and sign up. But how about his role models?

* Rush Limbaugh - did not serve

* Sean Hannity - did not serve

* Pat Buchanan - did not serve

* Ann Coulter - did not serve

* Ralph Reed - did not serve

* Bill O'Reilly - did not serve

* Michael Savage - did not serve

* Bill Kristol - did not serve

The 101st Fighting Chicken-shit Keyboardists and assorted neocon shills may be conspicuously absent when their country is in need, but they're always at the ready to order other people's sons and daughters into the meat grinder. They sure seem to pop up on the Quad when the battle is over and the band is a'playin. And they're always on duty, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to smear any survivors with vicious accusations of cowardice or worse when Neoconia calls. Just a couple of examples of their bipartisan handiwork include smearing Democrat Max Cleland, triple amputee, awarded both the Silver and Bronze Stars for valorous action in combat. The same treatment was shown to Republican John McCain who won the Silver & Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross and spent over five years being tortured in the Hanoi Hilton.


In another time and place, some of today's not-so-brave might have elbowed little old ladies and children out of the way to secure a berth on the last lifeboat on the Titanic, or maybe they''d have ratted out resistance fighters to the Gestapo in WW2 France. But today is the eve of Memorial Day and this is America, 2006. Ergo, present day Chicken-hawks will pay their respects by milking the courage of war heroes. They will then churn it into buttery lubrication to help coat their lies and incompetence, so as to slip more easily down the collective gullet and penetrate deep into our national psyche.


To a Chicken-hawk on Memorial Day, a bronze plaque inscribed with the names of the fallen is more than an earnest reminder of ultimate sacrifice. It is a convenient shield to protect the latest revelation of bloody negligence or deadly deceit. It matters not if the entombed accept the wisdom of a specific conflict or respect those that dispatched them: After all, dead men tell no tales and thus cannot voice dissent, or refuse to enable neocon affectations.


The current crop of chicken-shits are by no means the first to brandish ideological armor made of hastily fashioned flesh and bone taken from their needless war victims. They did not invent the vicarious pose, wreath in one hand and flag in the other, or write the first poetic speech spoken in the safety provided by such profound tragedy. They're not the first to conflate questions over a massive cluster-fuck with attacks upon those who's shattered remains lay beneath the brass and marble props making up the background of each shameless photo-op. Today's Republican Chicken-hawks are not the pioneers of bloody combat blunder.


"Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew, Someone had blunder'd: Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. --Charge of the Light Brigade


But in my opinion, what makes this latest craven breed of prestige parasites particularly loathsome is that once off stage and out of frame, they will insidiously cut VA benefits in favor of corporate welfare and tax cuts for billionaires. The case for contempt rests on the undeniable fact that they spooked us into war against the wrong country. In plush ideological laboratories, senior slime artists will sink their fangs into the broken bodies of war dead, drain the unwitting corpses of the last drops of dignity, and then parade around glowing with the stolen glory. The final exhibit in this disgusting series is that with distended yellow-bellies now camouflaged red, white, and blue by that theft, they will commence to discredit and destroy any veteran, living or dead, who won't expedite the revolting neocon-authored actions hurting the very soldiers the Chicken-hawks honor in pretense. It's enough to make one vomit.


I reserve tomorrow for those who served with honor. But today, I recognize the puppet masters and their fleshy mannequins, who will shortly swagger over sacred graves, bravely intercept the standing ovation intended for the dead, and unflinchingly bask in the goodwill directed at the lost. They have all but sworn under oath to stay their deadly course, brook no change, and justify every new body bag as giving meaning to the coffin that came before it; an endless procession cleverly contrived to evade responsibility, to forever postpone their day of accountability, the future fallen be damned.


I fear the Chicken-hawks will continue to enlist the dead and maimed in their grotesque media pageants, to cover their blunders and attack any opponent, every week, every month, and yes, even every Memorial Day, ad infinitum. Until We the People finally put an end to this gruesome nightmare.

Columbia House Launches Subscription Meds Program

May 26, 2006

TERRE HAUTE, IN—Operators at music and DVD mail-order giant Columbia House are offering a "fast, easy solution," for the estimated 10 million senior citizens who have lost Medicare benefits with a new direct-mail subscription drug program.Columbia House
A Celebrex fan looks over paperwork for her membership in the new Columbia House program.
"This is the best way to enjoy all the top medications by today's pharmaceutical superstars at a low, low price," said Columbia House representative Sandra Farrell. "There's no more waiting in line for the latest releases at the pharmacy, and because Columbia House sells directly to the consumer, you can kiss Dr. Middleman goodbye."
The Columbia House program, which was launched in January, offers a wide array of AARP chart-toppers and many popular prescriptions from the past through its supplementary color catalogue conveniently found in more than 400 Sunday newspapers nationwide. Qualified seniors may choose either 12 generic drugs for one cent, or five brand-name medications for 49 cents each, plus shipping and handling. Members are then obligated to buy five more brand-name medications over two years at their regular price, ranging from $12.99 to $549.99.
Responding to early criticism that some seniors preferred the old Medicare system, Columbia House explained that, after fulfilling their obligation, members are free to cancel and go off their medication at any time.
New members may order by phone or note their drug choices by applying the red "YES!" stickers to the provided order form and return it in the mail using the included postage-paid envelope. The first prescriptions arrive in six to 12 weeks.
"I'm in a lot of pain, so I chose the generic painkillers," said Art Gallagher, 69, of Colorado Springs, CO, a recent enrollee who has been on pain relievers since his stomach surgery three months ago. "I'm not always thrilled with the limited selection—they don't have Vicodin, and I already have plenty of Percocet. But they do have a pretty good selection, as long as you're not too picky about some of the fancy extras, like extended side-effects or warning liner notes."
Although Gallagher is generally satisfied with his coverage under Columbia House, he expressed some frustration with the inconsistent offerings. "They base their selections on what's hot at the moment, so they stopped carrying Fentanyl, my favorite, right when I was getting hooked on it," Gallagher said. "I tried a different one that was really popular with all my friends, but I couldn't get into it."
"It made me spit up liver bile," he added.
Sadie Wilcox of Bethesda, MD enrolled in the Columbia House program to try something different besides "the same old insulin."
"Last month I took a chance on something I'd never heard of that was really popular on college campuses," the 77-year-old grandmother said. "I have to say, I really enjoyed it! Their 'recommended list' said that if I liked Pfizer, I'd absolutely love GlaxoSmithKline—and they were right."
But critics, including Eldercare advocate Melissa Rocklin, say Columbia House is taking advantage of less medication-savvy members unaware of their responsibility to inform Columbia House if they do not wish to receive the featured drug of the month.
"Elderly citizens who fail to understand this obligation can wind up with any number of unwanted and expensive prescription drugs, and everyone knows the fine print is practically unreadable for a senior," Rocklin said. "Plus, it sometimes takes months for them to offer the newest releases."
Esther Goettner of Missoula, MT experienced this confusion last week, when she was sent a bottle of phenobarbital. "I take Tenormin for my blood pressure, and I get my Celebrex for my arthritis," said Goettner, 67, who said phenobarbital, an anti-convulsant medication, did not fit into her collevtion of drugs. "Maybe I can pass it off to [friend] Ginny [McFee] for her birthday."
Because a broken hip kept him from walking to the mailbox for six months, Donald Haskell, 80, of Jefferson City, MO took the last three medications shipped to him, which included Levitra, OxyContin, and Premarin, a hormone replacement therapy generally prescribed for post-menopausal women.
"I know I don't need Premarin," Haskell said. "That was one Virginia used to take before she passed. But I didn't get the card in on time, so they billed me for it—damn near $300. If I don't try it, I'm just wasting my money."
While the benefits and ease of the new program are largely viewed as an improvement over government-run programs, some members remain leery of say the exorbitant shipping fees and long waiting period.
"I could barely wait for my Vioxx to get here," said 72-year-old Edgar Shebesta of Milwaukee. "It took so long, I thought I was going to die."
Columbia House also plans to offer a free compilation of rare imports to customers in good standing.

Abstaining from Sex Education Politics

Abstaining from Sex Education

Earlier this month the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) held a conference on sexually transmitted diseases. The conference was slated to include a panel discussion entitled “Are Abstinence-Only Until Marriage Programs a Threat to Public Health?” However, Indiana’s Republican Congressman Mark Souder complained to the Health and Human Services Department about “the controversial nature of this session and its obvious anti-abstinence objective.” Consequently, the title was changed to “Public Health Strategies of Abstinence Programs for Youth,” and advocates of abstinence-only sex education replaced two members of the panel. It’s troubling that a conservative Republican was able to wield so much influence over a federal agency at the expense of science.


A spokesman for Rep. Souder said he was concerned that the panel would promote nothing positive about abstinence-only education. Apparently, that was because one of the panelists was scheduled to address the evidence linking abstinence-only education and rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases. This panelist and another individual were removed from the panel and replaced by Dr. Patricia Sulak and another physician, both of whom are proponents of abstinence-only programs. Although the other panelists went through a peer-review screening process, neither of these individuals did. And while the other panelists had to pay their own way to attend, the CDC used taxpayer dollars to pay for both abstinence proponents.
Dr. Sulak is the director and author of a pseudo sex education program entitled “Worth the Wait.” This program is used in grades six through high school in 31 school districts in Texas. According to a review of the program by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, Worth the Wait relies on messages of fear, discourages contraception, and attempts to make students feel guilty rather than educating them.


The Worth the Wait program discourages any meaningful discussion of contraception. An entire lesson is entitled “Why Contraceptives are not the Answer for Teens.” Dr. Sulak apparently believes that if contraception is presented as improper, teens will simply choose not to have sex. Yet studies suggest that almost half of all teenagers are sexually active. By refusing to discuss contraception, this program leaves teenagers more likely to engage in sex without contraceptives, making them susceptible to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
And the program provides misleading information by encouraging students to take so-called virginity pledges. Students are asked to sign a pledge that they will not have sex until marriage. And it advises students, “Research has shown that teenagers who sign abstinence pledges are much less likely to have intercourse.” This has been proven false many times over. Studies have shown that at best, abstinence pledges simply delay the onset of sex. And studies have demonstrated that teenagers who take such pledges are less likely to use contraceptives when they become sexually active.


A 2005 study of abstinence-only sex education programs in Texas, where Worth the Wait is used, found that they had “little impact” on teenagers’ behavior. The study by the Texas Department of Health determined that girls in the ninth-grade were five percent more likely to engage in sex after taking abstinence-only programs. And boys in the tenth grade were 15 percent more likely to engage in sex after participating in abstinence-only classes. The study’s lead researcher concluded, “We didn’t find strong evidence of program effect.”


Ironically, the day before the CDC panel on abstinence-only programs was held, Harvard University released the results of a comprehensive study on abstinence pledges. The National Institute of Child Health and Development conducted the government-sponsored study. Over 14,000 teenagers were interviewed between 1995 and 2001. The study found that 52 percent who took the pledge had sex within one year of doing so.


Conservative Republicans have aggressively funded abstinence-only education programs since President Bush took office. Over 100 such programs have been funded in recent years. Congress allocated $168 million for abstinence programs in last year’s budget. This year, $182 million was funded for abstinence-only education, and $204 million has been allocated for 2007. But it isn’t benefiting our nation’s teenagers.


In 2004 the House of Representative’s Government Reform Committee issued a report on federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs. The report determined that out of the 13 most popular programs, 11 contained “unproved claims outright falsehoods.” Some of the false statements included assertions that a man can get a woman pregnant by merely touching her, that women who have abortions are prone to suicide, that AIDS can be spread through sweat, and that condoms cannot prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Clearly, these programs supplanted science with political ideology.


It was inappropriate for Congressman Souder to exert so much influence over a federal agency. And it’s offensive that the Bush administration allowed him to do so. Science should remain free from political persuasion and ideology. The health and welfare of the country’s teenagers depend on abstaining from sex education politics.