WSJ – Foreign Accents, Alien Hands and Other Medical Oddities

By Melinda Beck. F. Scott Fitzgerald invented the reverse-aging phenomenon at the heart of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which opened at movie theaters this week. But there are plenty of unusual ailments that are quite real. Here are just a few of them:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123058075741640277.html

Biotechology Healthcare – Help for under-insured: copayment foundations

With focus often placed on the uninsured, many patients who are underinsured fall through the cracks . . .

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/medimedia/bh_20081112/index.php?startid=41#/44

Biotech Healthcare – Employers to Unions: See if YOU can do better

Faced with staggering healthcare costs, some large companies have transferred those liabilities to a voluntary employee beneficiary association (VEBA). Eager to control employee and retiree benefits, unions gladly have taken on the challenge of running a VEBA.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/medimedia/bh_20081112/index.php?startid=16

Managed Care – Massachusetts model Seen as healthcare reform guide

Insurance lobbying organizations push for guaranteed issue so long as mandatory coverage is part of mix.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/medimedia/managedcare_200812/index.php?startid=5#/10

The Hill – Burris: I can overcome Blago taint

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/burris-i-can-overcome-blago-taint-2008-12-30.html

The Hill – Senate Dems refuse to seat Blagojevich’s pick

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senate-dems-refuse-to-seat-blagojevichs-pick-2008-12-30.html

WSJ – Predicts End of U.S.

As if Things Weren’t Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S. In Moscow, Igor Panarin’s Forecasts Are All the Rage; America ‘Disintegrates’ in 2010.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html

Top Causes of Death Among African-Americans in Clark County, Nevada

Stroke, Diabetes, HIV, Homocide-Legal Intervention.

Top Causes of Death for All Clark County Residents

Accidents, Smoking, Diabetes, Suicide, Homocides-Legal Interventions.

Top Causes of Death for Whites & Hispanics Living in Clark County, Nevada

Heart, Cancer, Respiratory, Alzheimer’s.

Sidenote #1: Clark County Deaths Higher Than U.S. Average

Sidenote #2: Mortality Rate for Hispanics in Clark County Higher Than National Average

WSJ – Murders of Black Teens Are Up 39%

Study Finds Killings Rose More Than Five Times Overall Rate; Cuts in Law Enforcement, Youth Programs Are Cited as Factors.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123050124581438021.html

Why Do We Believe in Santa?

ScienceDaily (Dec. 24, 2008) — Having kids believe there’s a jolly man in a red suit who visits on Christmas Eve isn’t detrimental, although some parents can feel they’re outright lying to their children, according to a new analysis by Serge Larivée.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081208180345.htm

Life On Earth Got Bigger In 2-million-fold Leaps

Evolution – ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2008) — Extremes are exciting. Does anyone really think dinosaurs would capture our imagination the way they do if they hadn’t been so huge? You don’t see natural history museums vying for fossil skeletons of prehistoric rodents. It’s the Tyrannosaurus rex fossils they salivate and squabble over. And would the Hollywood glitterati cart around those little teacup pups if they weren’t so dang tiny and cute? Not likely.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081222221537.htm

Racial Tension In A ‘Split Second’

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2008) — Interracial and interethnic interactions can often be awkward and stressful for members of both majority and minority groups.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217124146.htm

Snails and humans related . . . .sort of

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2008) — Biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081221210157.htm

Selflessness Has Neuropsychological Connection

Selflessness — Core Of All Major World Religions — Has Neuropsychological Connection

ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2008) — All spiritual experiences are based in the brain. That statement is truer than ever before, according to a University of Missouri neuropsychologist. An MU study has data to support a neuropsychological model that proposes spiritual experiences associated with selflessness are related to decreased activity in the right parietal lobe of the brain.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217124156.htm

Earliest Evidence Of Our Cave-dwelling Human Ancestors

ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2008) — A research team led by Professor Michael Chazan, director of the University of Toronto’s Archaeology Centre, has discovered the earliest evidence of our cave-dwelling human ancestors at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081219172137.htm