Being For Rather Than Against.

Being for a cause is a stronger position than being against one.

Our country's administration fights violence with violence. We proport to be against tyranny, claiming to be concerned with bringing freedom to other peoples by bombing their citizens. All this does is spread the hate and promote more violence; violence begets violence.


I think the world would be a much more peaceful and happy place if we were to promote peace rather than fight tyranny. If we worried about our own affairs and were not historically and consistently at conflict with other countries we would not be "in a giant hole," financially speaking.


We could take better care of our own citizens and be a power of example. If other countries saw us transformed, taking care of our disadvantaged, promoting peace through policies that were not designed to force others to comply with our values, furthering our own interests while being reasonably available to help others, then perhaps others would follow suit.


If we were truly a peaceful people we would be happier, wealthier and healthier. It may sound like pie in the sky but I think that if we were for peace, rather than against supposed tyranny, I believe others might see what we had and want that for themselves.

(Source: Otto Ladensack)

Get Money Out of Politics

From my husband's site...

I have been saying what Dylan Ratigan is saying all along. Congress people spend more time raising "campaign" funds than they do pretending to work for us. The excuse is that they can't compete with other campaigns without the funding but this is nonsense. If they enacted an amendment that banned special interest, PAC and lobbyist "contributions" and allotted an equal amount of subsidized money to each candidate then the playing field would be level and fair, and our law makers' only motivation would be to please the majority of the population.





PLEASE pass this along to everyone you know. We cannot turn the tide toward our own best interests unless enough people care.


Sign the petition:

http://www.getmoneyout.com/?recruiter_id=149469

It's quick and vital to our country's wellbeing.

Duke Hospital's Billing Practices are Shameful and Deceitful!

A Piece Anyone in the Raleigh-Durham Should Read

Today we needed to find a new doctor for my daughter. Having dealt with Duke's Hospital practices before, I called ahead to inquire about the cost and coverage of her upcoming appointment.

She needed to go to a doctor's office to determine whether she needed physical therapy. We were recommended to a clinic Duke runs offsite from the main hospital by a physician at Durham Pediatrics. People like us go to these appointments, which are just the same as visiting any doctor's office, pay our co-pay, and think we are done with the matter. Not so!

We found that a visit to their offsite clinics, like the one's inside the hospital, are billed like an outpatient hospital procedure. Furthermore, nobody tells you this up front. We've had the experience where you go there, pay the co-pay and think you're done--only to be billed for hundreds of dollars later on. This practice is rotten. they offer services that are the same as any doctor's office and then surprise you with a bill, later, for non-existent hospital care.

In my husband's case he was once recommended for an MRI by a Dr. Jellesoff (another Duke clinic doctor). We paid for the MRI with our insurance plus the copay and later (years later) found out we still owed $400+ dollars to another doctor that looked at the image for a minute and said his adrenal glands had no visible tumors--we were never told this uncovered fee would be forthcoming, the diagnosis not "visible" was tentative at best, and his personal physician, a great guy, later informed him that an MRI is practically useless for what it was indicated for.

Is Duke Hospital in financial trouble or are they just that greedy and underhanded? If all you need is a doctor's office visit I would stay away from that place and their associated facilities.

Thanks,
Patricia Ladensack