Going Somewhere? The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that cell phone use be banned for all drivers. The lone exception – emergency use. As NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman put it – “”No email, no text, no update, no call is worth a human life.” Don’t expect the car industry, the media, or even most […]
“Don’t talk to the patient” (12/16/11)
A Nurse’s Story You know things are screwy if nurses can lose their jobs for talking to patients. A nurse I know at the main regional hospital has an excellent record, plus decades of experience on medical wards. She was admonished that she was “wasting” too much time talking to patients. “They told me to […]
Regenerating the economy, regenerating your health – Part II (11/28/11)
New Ideas for Health As was clear in Part I, many factors can help revive the American economy . They also hold many lessons for individuals: 3. Immigration – A lot of what has kept the US competitive since the 1970s have been successes in technology like those from Silicon Valley, where at least 35% […]
Regenerating the economy, regenerating your health – Part 1 (11/23/11)
How We Come Back Is America’s economy failing? Why our 45% of families barely making it? Is a nation with stalled growth, a corrupt and overpowerful financial sector, staggering debt, political dysfunction, fighting two wars overseas while its infrastructure crumbles, able to come back? Yes – as it always has. The capacity for regeneration is […]
Booze and sleeping pills – the wrong combination (11/16/11)
Alcohol and Pills for Sleep “Beer and valium, that’s how I sleep. Works every time, a perfect night’s sleep.” So said an actor friend of mine, who often had trouble “coming down” after a play and used this cocktail three or four times a week. Yet often alcohol plus sleeping pills do not “work.” Thirty […]