All Blog Posts (1,655)

'Avatar' Rules Box Office For Third Straight Weekend

Box-Office Top Five

#1 "Avatar" ($68.3 million)

#2 "Sherlock Holmes" ($38.4 million)

#3 "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" ($36.6 million)

#4 "It's Complicated" ($18.7 million)

#5 "The Blind Side" ($12.7 million)

The third time isn't just the charm for "Avatar" — it marks yet another notch in the science-fiction epic's… Continue

Added by bloglist on January 4, 2010 at 12:28pm — No Comments

Healthcare Reform Misconception - Giving patients more control of their healthcare expenditures will lead to lower costs

It makes good sense to have all of us more involved in our healthcare decision-making and with that its payments. But individuals purchase healthcare in a manner unlike any other purchase. Patients or their loved ones do not “shop” for the best price the way they shop for a new washing machine. They shop for the best [as they understand it] physician, hospital, etc. Mostly they accept the advice of their personal physician as to drugs, surgery or rehab. That said it makes sense to have high… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on January 4, 2010 at 10:24am — No Comments

Iran Plans Large-Scale War Games

Iranian media reported Tehran would conduct a large-scale defensive military exercise next month, coinciding with what Tehran officials now say is a deadline for the West to respond to its counter-offer to a nuclear-fuel deal.

The commander of Iran's ground forces, Brig. Gen. Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan, said the drill would be conducted by Iran's army, in… Continue

Added by bloglist on January 3, 2010 at 3:58pm — No Comments

Climate change far worse than thought before

Global alarm over climate change and its effects has risen manifold after the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Since then, many of the 2,500-odd IPCC scientists have found climate change is progressing faster than the worst-case scenario they had predicted.

Their studies will be considered for the next IPCC report, but since that will come out… Continue

Added by bloglist on January 3, 2010 at 12:56pm — No Comments

Obama Vacation Day 10

After his regular early morning workout at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii and following a secure conference call with top aides investigating what went wrong with anti-terror programs, President Obama took his daughters, Malia and Sasha, and some other members of his family to the Sea Life Park, a privately owned marine park about ten miles down the coast from the Obama's vacation… Continue

Added by bloglist on January 3, 2010 at 10:20am — No Comments

For tobacco states, a change is in the air

Reporting from Arlington, Va. - The changing face of the Old Dominion can be seen in the stuff Jimmy Cirrito sweeps up off the floor of his bar every night. It used to be cigarette butts -- now it's gum.

"I got Nicorette and Bubblicious and green and yellow and purple. It looks like a circus down there," said Cirrito, owner of Jimmy's Old Town Tavern in the northern… Continue

Added by bloglist on January 3, 2010 at 6:44am — No Comments

Cable TV Standoffs Threaten Viewing Costs, Choices

Many questions remain for cable TV viewers nationwide even after Fox and Time Warner Cable settled their noisy spat with a New Year's Day agreement.

The deal was good news for more than 6 million Time Warner customers in the short term: College bowl and National Football League games, "American Idol" and a host of other popular Fox programs in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas,… Continue

Added by bloglist on January 3, 2010 at 4:40am — No Comments

Twin brothers born in different years

Two twin brothers were born in different years thanks to their mother giving birth late New Year's Eve in Tampa, Fla., the boys' father says.

Juan Velasco said his wife Margarita underwent emergency surgery at Tampa General Hospital to deliver the twins with the first, Marcello, being born just before midnight Thursday and brother Stephano being delivered shortly after… Continue

Added by bloglist on January 2, 2010 at 6:52pm — No Comments

From the AllHumanity Blog: Happy New Year!

WHAT IS THE ALLHUMANITY GROUP?

WHAT IS THE ALLHUMANITY GROUP?

The AllHumanity Group is an international humanitarian organization uniquely positioned to deliver critical humanitarian aid through a combination of state-of-the-art internet television and in-country…

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Added by Eric K. Noji, M.D. on December 31, 2009 at 12:52pm — No Comments

A 2-for-1 Giving Opportunity from INSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters)

Colleagues,

Please see message I am forwarding to you below from MedTech-IQ member, Eric Rasmussen, CEO, InSTEDD. InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters) is a non-profit created three years ago to fight global health threats and natural disasters in remote and dangerous places founded by Dr. Larry Brilliant, former director of Google's philanthropic arm ... Google.org.

CC

____________________________________________

| December… Continue

Added by CC-Conrad Clyburn-MedForeSight on December 31, 2009 at 7:30am — No Comments

Healthcare Reform Misconception - Costs are rising because of the avarice and greed or just unregulated “bad guys

Drug and technology companies, doctors, hospitals, malpractice lawyers and third-party payers/insurers deserve some approbation and bear some responsibility at the margin, but these are not the major reasons why costs are rising. But it seems that politicians, the media and so many others seem to believe what’s convenient rather than what is accurate.

The real culprits are: 1) the poor coordination of care of those with chronic illness resulting in excess visits to specialists,… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on December 29, 2009 at 11:05am — No Comments

Avatar tops Christmas box office in US and Canada

The estimated $278m (174m) in weekend ticket sales broke the previous record of $253m (158m) set in July 2008, the weekend The Dark Knight was released.

Sci-fi epic Avatar took $75m (47m) in its second weekend, according to early studio estimates.

Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and It's Complicated all enjoyed strong debuts.

In its… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 28, 2009 at 7:54pm — No Comments

Time to Pick a Drug Plan

Former supermodel Tyra Banks said on Monday she is ending her Emmy-award winning TV daytime talk show in the spring of 2010.

Banks, 36, said in a posting on her official web site that the current fifth season of "The Tyra Show" on the CW network, would be the last.

"This will be the last season of 'The Tyra Show'," Banks said. "I have been loving having… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 28, 2009 at 3:40pm — No Comments

Time to Pick a Drug Plan

As the year comes to a close, so does the open-enrollment period for Medicare prescription-drug plans.

The deadline to make changes to Medicare drug plans is Dec. 31, except for people who qualify for a special enrollment period like those in a low-income subsidy program.

Generally, there are two types of drug plans to choose from: a stand-alone prescription-drug plan if you… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 28, 2009 at 10:45am — No Comments

U.S. Flights Face Delays Due to Storms, More Security

Christmas weekend air traffic is experiencing delays of 15 to 90 minutes, some major U.S. airlines and the government said, due to far-flung winter storms and an alleged terrorist attack on a trans-Atlantic flight.

Delta Air Lines Inc. and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines are waiving some flight-change fees for passengers in areas affected by bad weather hitting the U.S. Midwest and… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 27, 2009 at 6:52pm — No Comments

Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew 'killed' in Tehran clashes

At least eight Iranian protesters were reported to have been shot dead in Tehran today — including a nephew of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi — during the fiercest protests in the capital since the immediate aftermath of June’s hotly disputed presidential election.

The shootings mean that the confrontation between the so-called Green movement and the regime has… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 27, 2009 at 4:21pm — No Comments

Bomb Suspect's Teacher, Family Dismayed, Shocked

A Nigerian man who tried and failed to blow up a plane over Detroit ''sneaked'' into his native country the day before his botched Christmas Day attempt, leaving his father shocked and regretful, Nigeria's information minister said Sunday.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters Sunday that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab passed through Nigeria for only one day before… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 27, 2009 at 1:36pm — No Comments

Ivana Trump `kicked off plane after four-letter outburst at children`

Ivana Trump has been kicked off an aeroplane after allegedly screaming obscenities at children.

Police physically escorted the 60-year-old ex-wife of billionaire Donald Trump off the aircraft after being alerted to the foul-mouthed outburst by the pilot.

It is claimed the four-times married socialite, on the New York-bound Delta Airlines flight at Palm Beach… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 27, 2009 at 11:13am — No Comments

Singer-Songwriter Vic Chesnutt Dies at 45

Vic Chesnutt, the Georgia-based singer-songwriter known for his darkly comic songs, died yesterday in Athens, Georgia, after spending several days in a coma caused by an overdose of muscle relaxers. Chesnutt, who was confined to a wheelchair after a car crash at age 18, was discovered in the late 1980s by R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, who produced his first two albums, Little and West of… Continue

Added by bloglist on December 26, 2009 at 7:42pm — No Comments

Welcome to CDC Chatter.net! A Blog to Discuss Issues at CDC

Welcome to CDC Chatter.net!

ABOUT CDCChatter.net

Welcome to CDCChatter.net, an unofficial blog for employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), external partners and others who are interested in CDC. This blog was established for CDC employees and others to post information, express opinions,… Continue

Added by Eric K. Noji, M.D. on December 26, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments