Confessions of a Road Warrior: Handling “The Runs”

McCain: Works Harder Than A Brain Dead Guy

McCain missed another vote that two of his booty buddies that were on the same plane managed to make.

Jake Tapper (ABC) said, “In fact, in the 110th Congress, out of 450 votes, McCain missed 56.7% of them. The only one who missed more was a senator who had a brain hemmorhage.”

I’d say that McCain quit long before Mittens did.

Flip Flop is Out

The boys must have been pissed at losing so much of the inheritence… or maybe they all decided to go to Iraq.

 Naw… doubtful.

Good to see you go, Mittens, you lying, shift-changing freak.

Baby Found Alive in Tennesse Field After Tornado

(Video Added 2/8) 

Baby found alive in field as US tornado death toll rises to 55

Elizabeth Stewart, Richard Luscombe in Miami, and agencies
Thursday February 7, 2008
Guardian Unlimited

A baby carried away by one of southern US tornadoes that killed at least 55 people has been found unscathed in a nearby field.

A passer-by found the infant crying in Castalian Springs, Tennessee.

“He had debris all over him, but there were no obvious signs of trauma,” said Ken Weidner, head of emergency management in Sumner county. He said he did not know the fate of the parents.

(Miraculous: read the rest here)

Low Price Health Care Leader

Just when you thought Wal-Mart couldn’t possibly take over any more of our world…

Wal-Mart Expands In-Store Health Clinics

By MARCUS KABEL – 2 hours ago

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will open its first in-store medical clinics under its own brand name after leasing space in dozens of stores to outside companies that operate the quick-service health stops.

The world’s largest retailer said Thursday it will open “The Clinic at Wal-Mart” as a joint venture with local hospital systems in Atlanta, Dallas and Little Rock, Ark., starting in April.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart is among several U.S. supermarket and drug store chains that in the past couple of years have begun opening store-based health clinics, which are staffed mostly by nurse practitioners or physician assistants and offer quick service for routine conditions from colds and bladder infections to sunburn.

About 7 percent of Americans have tried a clinic at least once, according to an estimate by the Convenient Care Association, an industry trade group formed in 2006.

That number is expected to increase dramatically, as chains like Wal-Mart, CVS Corp., Target Corp. and Walgreen Co. partner with mini-clinic providers like RediClinic and MinuteClinic to expand operations. The trade group estimates there will be more than 1,500 by year-end, up from about 800 in November.

Wal-Mart has clinics in 77 stores, including nine in Wisconsin and Florida operated by local hospitals. Clinics in 23 locations in Florida and three other Southern states have been in limbo since last month when New York-based CheckUps shut down.

Now Wal-Mart has signed a letter of intent to work with local hospital systems and RediClinic to open cobranded walk-in clinics in 200 Wal-Mart Supercenters.

Wal-Mart has also signed a letter of intent to partner directly with St. Vincent Health System, a part of the Catholic Healthcare Initiatives system, to open four cobranded clinics in Little Rock.

Co-branding means the clinics will jointly bear the names of Wal-Mart and its partners and have an identical look and record keeping system, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth said.

Having the local hospital system involved will also increase the level of trust among shoppers, Galberth said.

Wal-Mart said this is the first step toward opening 400 cobranded clinics by 2010.

Retail analyst Patricia Edwards of San Francisco-based Wentworth Hauser and Violich said the move benefits Wal-Mart by giving the clinics added credibility.

“Especially among middle- and upper-income shoppers, it becomes more like stopping in at any location of their group health care provider. It doesn’t have that connotation of going cheap,” Edwards said.

Edwards said putting Wal-Mart’s name on the clinics also fits with the retailer’s drive for a public role in health care to counter union-led criticism that it skimps on employee health insurance.

Wal-Mart has introduced the clinics as well as $4 prescriptions for some generic medicines, and Chief Executive Lee Scott pledged last month to find other ways to help cut health care costs, including promoting the use of electronic health records instead of paper files.

Simply put, profit must be taken OUTof healthcare. These mini-clinics simply drive down care quality and my instinct tells me that mis-diagnosis will happen and wrong treatments applied. Thus, instead of addressing the real issue, we low-cost the issue, which will be even more devastating to southern rednecks who are more and more dependent upon these Big Money chains, especially Wal-Mart.

Folks, wake up!

A Little Post Tornado Loving is Needed

Monkeyfister has a post up asking for a little help down this way for the folks hurting. Follow the link if you can help.

Linked from C&L, here is an interactive map that the NY Times put out showing where the tornadoes touched down and pictures.

There is one around Savannah showing a demolished Sharon Baptist church, where the old lady who lived next door is still missing. This tornado missed my parents-in-law by less than a mile.

Jen’s Glowing Update

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 06, 2008 10:34 PM, EST Greetings Team Jen! Entry By T.R. from Ohio Greetings Team Jen! I’m told my sister had a good day and is resting in the hotel with Matthew tonight. We won’t know until an MRI in a couple weeks how effective the injection was — no immediate benefits or side effects. My Mom relays she feels fine, and the UAB team has been most accommodating. We’re reminded of the intensity of the radio-venom — apparently a team came into her hospital room with a Geiger Counter last night, and when the radiation was detected too high, they actually surrounded her room with lead panels. Even tonight she’s under instructions to not touch anything. So as much as we rejoice in good news, she’s still fighting mightily, and I just wish I could hug her … That will come soon enough for all of us! As it is, my Dad claims she’s effectively the first with her profile to go thru this treatment, so she’s paving the way to help many who come after her. Thank you for your prayers — ours are always with you! – TRH

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