Category Archives: News

Technology Trends: Dish Network Founder To Create “Low Cost” Wireless Carrier Out Of T-Mobile / Sprint Merger

From a Wall Street Journal article by Drew FitzGerald:

T-Mobile Sprint Dish Wireless NetworksMr. Ergen also argues wireless pricing is broken. He says U.S. carriers have many customers paying for unlimited data plans they don’t need, much as cable companies long forced subscribers to pay for big bundles of TV channels.

“This is deja vu all over again for us,” said Mr. Ergen. In wireless, he sees an opportunity for Dish to woo customers that use less data with lower monthly prices and those that are heavy data users with plans that don’t slow their connections.

Charlie Ergen has long tried to muscle his way into the U.S. wireless business. When his rivals had no other choice, the billionaire behind Dish Network Corp. finally got his way.
John Legere, the chief executive of T-Mobile US Inc., called Mr. Ergen in late May after it became clear T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint Corp. was in trouble.

Top Political Podcasts: Shields & Brooks Discuss The Latest News In Washington (July 26, 2019)

From PBS Newshour:

Shields & Brooks PBS Newshour July 26 2019Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including the aftermath of Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony, the current legislative landscape around election security, changing dynamics within the 2020 presidential race and the fiscal significance of the bipartisan budget deal.

Boomers Health Tips: Kaiser Health News And NPR Team Up To Explain Confusing Medical Bills

From a Kaiser Health News article:

In 2018 Kaiser Health News and NPR teamed up to create “Bill of the Month,” a crowdsourced investigative series in which we dissect and explain medical bills you send us. We have received nearly 2,000 submissions of outrageous and confusing medical bills from across the country.

Bill of the Month Video
Click link below to watch video

https://khn.org/news/your-go-to-guide-to-decode-medical-bills/

Each month we select one bill to thoroughly investigate, often resulting in the bill being resolved soon after the story is published. But what about the large number of Americans who receive surprise medical bills that reporters can’t examine?

NPR Kaiser Sample Hospital Bill 2019

Boomers Health Care: “Population Health” Looks Beyond The Clinic For Better Outcomes

From a Scientific American online article by Adam Myers:

Projected Federal Spending on Medicare and MedicaidI once witnessed the care of a patient who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which blocks airflow to lungs and makes it difficult to breathe. Over the course of a particularly hot Texas summer, he was admitted to the hospital time and time again—racking up more than $60,000 in medical expenses. Doctors were treating his breathing problems repeatedly, but they did not understand why the patient continued to have trouble.

One population health–oriented physician dug a bit deeper, holding in-depth conversations about the patient in the hospital—and later, having a team member visit his home. There, it was discovered that he lived without an air conditioner. A caring individual purchased and installed a $400 air conditioner for him, and his hospital visits stopped.

To read more click on following link: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/population-health-how-we-can-cure-whats-ailing-health-care/

Political Podcasts: Shields & Brooks Discuss Politics In Washington (PBS Newshour)

Shields and Brooks July 19 2019Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including President Trump’s attack on four congresswomen of color, the Republican response to Trump’s controversial rhetoric, whether race politics is smart election strategy and the battle over health care policy among 2020 Democrats.

New Health Study: Partial Knee Replacements Should Be “Treatment Of Choice” For Older Patients (The Lancet)

From “The Lancet” published July 17, 2019:

Partial Knee Replacements“Knee replacement is increasing in frequency, and it has an associated substantial cost implication to any health-care provider. It is also essential that patients receive the most efficacious operation for this condition. Before our study, and despite several cohort-based reports, knowledge of whether one operation type is superior, remained uncertain. Our 5-year study has indicated that both TKR and PKR are beneficial interventions but, based on our combined clinical and cost-effectiveness data and providing the operation is performed by those with adequate experience, we recommend that PKR should be offered as the treatment of choice for late-stage isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee.

The Lancet Logo

To read entire study click on link below:

https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2819%2931281-4

Top Political Podcasts: Mark Shields And Ramesh Ponnuru (PBS News Hour)

mark-shields-and-ramesh-ponnuru-on-democratic-divisions-citizenship-dataSyndicated columnist Mark Shields and The National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest in politics, including brewing tensions between progressive and moderate House Democrats, President Trump’s executive action on acquiring citizenship data, the role of money in politics and remembering Ross Perot.

Website:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/mark-shields-and-ramesh-ponnuru-on-democratic-divisions-citizenship-data

 

Politics: Biden, Harris And Warren Lead Rivals Ahead Of 2nd Debates July 30-31

From FiveThirtyEight.com com article by Nate Silver:

FiveThirtyEight Politics July 10 2019 Democratic Candidates

Biden, Harris and Warren represent three relatively distinct, but fairly traditional, archetypes for party nominees:

  • Biden, as a former vice president, is a “next-in-line” candidate who is rather explicitly promising to perpetuate the legacy of President Obama and uphold the party’s current agenda. It might not be exciting, but these candidates have pretty good track records.
  • Harris is a coalition-builder who would hope to unite the different factions of the party — black, white, left, liberal, moderate, etc. — as a consensus choice.
  • Warren is offering more red meat (or should it be blue meat?) and would represent more of a leftward transformation from the status quo. But she’s simpatico enough with party elites and has broad enough appeal that she isn’t necessarily a factional candidate in the way that Sanders is. Instead, a better analogy for Warren might be Ronald Reagan; they are not comparable in terms of their backgrounds or their political styles, but they are both candidates who straddle the boundary between the ideological wings of their party and the party establishment.

Read more by clicking below:

A Midsummer Overview Of The Democratic Field

“Live Below Your Means”: VW Beetle Ceases Production 70 Years After Coming To America

From NPR.org article by Laurel Wamsley

Volkswagen Beetle ceases production - NPRAn emblem of the hippie era in America, the car was marketed in the U.S. as adorably uncool. Volkswagen promoted the Beetle with cheeky advertising campaigns using slogans like “Live below your means” and “It’s ugly, but it gets you there.” In 1969, one of the vehicles cost $1,799.

It’s the end of an era — an era that has stretched on for a very long time, albeit with slightly different silhouettes.

The last Volkswagen Beetle, a third-generation Denim Blue coupe, will be produced in Puebla, Mexico, on Wednesday.

“It’s impossible to imagine where Volkswagen would be without the Beetle,” said Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. “While its time has come, the role it has played in the evolution of our brand will be forever cherished.”

Read more by clicking link below:

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/09/739865991/the-last-vw-beetle-rolls-off-the-assembly-line-in-mexico-tomorrow

“The Mueller Report”: An Adaptation By Mark Bowden, Illustrated By Chad Hurd On Insider.com

From Insider.com (via Business Insider):

The Mueller Report Adaptation at Business InsiderIt feels as if nobody read the Mueller report. That’s a shame, because it’s an important document, depicting possible crimes by a sitting US president.

But not reading it makes sense. As a narrative, the document is a disaster. And at 448 pages, it’s too long to grind through. For long stretches, it reads less like a story and more like a terms-of-service agreement. The instinct to click “next” is strong.

And yet, buried within the Mueller report, there is a narrative that reads in parts like a thriller, like a comedy, like a tragedy — and, most important — like an indictment. The facts are compelling, all the more so because they come not from President Donald Trump’s critics or “fake news” reports, but from Trump’s own handpicked colleagues and associates. The story just needed to be rearranged in a better form.

So we hired Mark Bowden, a journalist and author known for his brilliant works of narrative nonfiction like “Black Hawk Down,” “Killing Pablo,” and “Hue 1968.”

Read the full adaptation by clicking link below:

https://www.insider.com/mueller-report-rewritten-trump-russia-mark-bowden-archer-2019-7?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Mueller%20Report%20Alert%20Send%20-%2007102019&utm_term=Mueller%20Campaign%20-%20Alert%20Send%2007102019