Carolina Healthcare Live

Verizon Iphone is reality

Apple Inc. plans to begin
producing this year a new iPhone that could allow U.S. phone carriers
other than AT&T Inc. to sell the
iconic gadget, said people briefed by the company.

The new iPhone would work
on a type of wireless network called CDMA, these people said. CDMA is
used by Verizon Wireless, AT&T's main competitor, as well as Sprint
Nextel Corp. and a handful of cellular operators in countries including
South Korea and Japan. The vast majority of carriers world-wide,
including AT&T, use another technology called GSM

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/panos/rich_media/1155415.html

Get the big picture - see this panorama in full screen modeTo navigate: Click and drag to move around. Shift-click to zoom in, control click to zoom out. 768 feet above the corner of Stonewall and Tryon Streets, the "handle" that tops the Duke Energy Center stands in stark relief against a brilliant Carolina sky. A crane is permanently installed to allow workers to be lowered onto the sloped glass faces of the upper stories beneath the handle. Panoramic photo composite by GARY O'BRIEN - gobrien@charlotteobserver.com HOW IT'S DONE: A guide to panoramics on charlotte.com Navigating VR panoramics: Click and drag to move around. Shift-click to zoom in, control click to zoom out.© 2009 Gary O'Brien | | The Charlotte Observer

via www.charlotteobserver.com

BCS bowl projections

Brad Edwards' BCS Bowl Projections

Bowl	Matchup
BCS Title	Alabama versus Texas
Rose Bowl	Ohio St. versus Oregon
Fiesta Bowl	TCU versus Boise State
Orange Bowl	Ga. Tech versus Iowa
Sugar Bowl	Florida versus Cincinnati

via sports.espn.go.com

Swine Flu Becomes Less Widespread - WSJ.com

Swine-flu infections continue to wane, just as vaccine is becoming plentiful enough that some communities are allowing everyone to get it, not just those in priority groups.

Swine flu was widespread in only 25 states last week -- mostly in the Northeast and Southwest, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

In late October, 48 states were reporting widespread cases of swine flu. But since then, there has been a decline across the country, and it appears that a fall wave of swine flu infections has peaked.

Meanwhile, a shortage of swine-flu vaccine is easing, with 73 million doses now available, roughly twice as much as there was a month ago. And another 10 million doses are expected in the next week, said Thomas Frieden, the CDC's director.

via online.wsj.com

still a good idea to vaccinate everyone

Larry David Blasted for 'Curb' Episode Where He Urinates on Jesus Painting

FOXNews.com

 - October 28, 2009

Larry David Blasted for 'Curb' Episode Where He Urinates on Jesus Painting

Comedian Larry David is under attack from critics who say he pushed the mocking of religion over the edge.

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Comedian Larry David is under attack from critics who say he pushed the mocking of religion and Christian belief in miracles over the edge in the latest episode of his HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm." 

On the show’s most recent installment, which aired Sunday night, David's character urinates on a painting of Jesus Chris, causing a woman to believe the painting shows Jesus crying.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, responded to the episode, saying David should "quit while he's ahead," and that the show is proof that the comedian's best years are behind him.

"Was Larry David always this crude? Would he think it's comedic if someone urinated on a picture of his mother?" Donohue said in a statement. "This might be fun to watch, but since HBO only likes to dump on Catholics (it was just a couple of weeks ago that Sarah Silverman insulted Catholics on "Real Time with Bill Maher") and David is Jewish, we'll never know."

During Sunday's episode, David, who created, wrote and produced "Seinfeld," visits a bathroom in a stranger's home and splatters urine on a picture of Jesus. Instead of wiping it off, David leaves the restroom. Minutes later, a woman enters the bathroom and concludes that Jesus is crying. She then summons her mother to the bathroom, where both women kneel in prayer.

"When David and Jerry Seinfeld (playing himself) are asked if they ever experienced a miracle, David answers, ‘every erection is a miracle,’ Donohue's statement continued. "That’s what passes for creativity these days."

Calls to HBO seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The episode, "The Bare Midriff," primarily revolves around David's assistant and her belly-revealing attire. According to the show's Web site, a "new pill" increased David's urine flow, leading to the "misunderstanding about a miraculously weeping Jesus."

HBO promoted the controversial scene on the show's site, complete with a "squirm-o-meter"that ranked the urine incident, ahead of David's confronting his assistant about her exposed midriff.

Seniors squeezed as doctors shun Medicare

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/27/news/economy/healthcare_medicare_doctors/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Medicare has become a scary word to the
doctors at the largest private group practice in Kansas City, Mo.

It's
so scary that most physicians at Kansas City Internal Medicine, with
65% of its nearly 70,000 active patients age 65 or older, have stopped
accepting walk-in Medicare enrollees, said Dr. David Wilt, an internist
at the group.

Wilt and his colleagues say they are shunning the
area's growing senior population because they believe Medicare doesn't
reimburse physicians enough to cover the cost of care.

"And if Medicare further cuts its reimbursement rates, then we'll be functioning at a loss," said Wilt.

Wilt

Recognize this?

IMG_0417, originally uploaded by carolina healthcare.

Billions of dollars are being stolen from Medicare each year. Steve Kroft spoke to one man who got caught and explained how he managed to bilk the system

Billions of dollars are being stolen from Medicare each year. Steve Kroft spoke to one man who got caught and explained how he managed to bilk the system

 

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/?pid=zQWjHneYLi_Cpub7vN2IRf_CZaOi9tm5

Fat liver, not belly, may be best indicator of health problems

Fat liver, not belly, may be best indicator of health problems

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — For years, scientists have warned people that having an apple-shaped figure or a beer belly is a health risk.

They
said people with wide girths are more likely to have visceral or
intra-abdominal fat, which increases their risk of diabetes, heart
disease, stroke and some types of cancer.

But
new research presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the Obesity
Society shows that belly fat may not be the biggest bad guy behind some
of the medical issues. "Fat in the liver is a more important indicator
of health problems," says Samuel Klein, director of the Center for
Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Klein
and colleagues recruited 31 obese men and women and looked at their
visceral fat, which surrounds the organs in the belly, and their liver
fat. Some people had high amounts of liver fat; others had normal
amounts. A normal liver contains 5% fat or less, but a severe fatty
liver may contain up to 50%, Klein says. The latter is referred to as
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Using several different medical tests, the researchers found that people with fatty livers:

•Make more triglycerides, which are released from the liver into their bloodstream and can increase the risk of heart disease.

•Are
more likely to be resistant to the action of their own insulin, meaning
their bodies don't regulate blood sugar properly, which can lead to
type 2 diabetes, Klein says. Over time, high sugar levels damage large
and small blood vessels, leading to heart disease, stroke, nerve
damage, amputations, blindness and kidney disease.

"We
do not yet know whether the liver fat is causing these health problems
or is simply a very good indicator of health risk," he says. "Even
though it looks like visceral fat itself might not cause harm, it is
often high in people with increased liver fat."

About
30% of adults and a third of overweight children and adolescents have
too much liver fat, he says. If you are obese, 30 or more pounds over a
healthy weight, you are at a higher risk of having non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease.

The bottom line: If you're too
heavy, it's a good idea to trim down, he says. A weight loss of as
little as 2% to 5% can cause a marked reduction in liver fat.

In
a related study, Elisa Fabbrini of Washington University School of
Medicine found that severely obese people who lost weight after gastric
bypass surgery significantly lowered the fat in the liver.

Swine Flu Live Map

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950