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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 13 March 2001 | Vol. II #37 | ||
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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 13 March 2001 | Vol. II #37 | ||
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Who better to speak out on the terrible tragedy of school shootings than Republican Rep. John J. "Jimmy" Duncan Jr., who before coming to Congress was a criminal court judge in Tennessee.
So are guns the problem?
"I was told the first day that I was a judge that 98 percent of the defendants in felony criminal cases came from broken homes," the congressman says.
"During my years as a judge, I went through approximately 10,000 cases, because . . . 98 percent of the defendants plead guilty and apply for probation or other considerations. I would get . . . 12-page reports that went into the backgrounds and life histories of the defendants before me.
"I would read over and over and over again things like defendant's father left when defendant was 2 and never returned, or defendant's father left to get a pack of cigarettes and never came back."
[ John McCaslin, Inside the beltway ]
TCN Comment: This is not new information. It has been common knowledge for years, but the assault on the home continues.
New York City Democrats are so uninspired by their mayoral candidates they would overwhelmingly vote for former President Clinton if he decided to run, according to a poll published on Sunday.
The Daily News/CBS Channel 2 poll was the second in two weeks showing about half of New Yorkers would like to see Clinton run for mayor in November, even though the Arkansas native has indicated he does not want the job of running one of the world's biggest cities.
Clinton, who returned to private life amid outrage over last-minute pardons and the embarrassing return of gifts meant for the White House, would win 40 percent of the vote if a Democratic primary for New York City mayor were held today, the poll found.
It showed he would easily defeat Public Advocate Mark Green, who drew 15 percent, Bronx borough President Fernando Ferrer at 10 percent and three other candidates at 7 percent each -- City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, City Comptroller Alan Hevesi and activist Al Sharpton.
In a general election to succeed crime-fighting Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani the survey showed Clinton would defeat potential Republican candidate Michael Bloomberg by 66 percent to 20 percent. Bloomberg stepped down last week as head of the Bloomberg media company he founded and was expected to run.
The Daily News said the random telephone poll of 503 registered voters in New York City -- where Democrats outnumber Republicans five to one -- was taken Wednesday and Thursday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
A Clinton candidacy for mayor however, was not being taken seriously by other politicians and observers. Clinton's spokeswoman said last week that he was not running for mayor and Congressman Charles Rangel, a Democrat from Manhattan, said the idea ``was nothing but a big joke.''
Clinton, who owns a house in the suburbs north of the city with his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton decided last month to open offices in Harlem.
A poll published Feb. 28 by Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University showed that 47 percent of city voters would like to see the Democratic former Arkansas governor and two-term president run for City Hall, but 49 percent were opposed to the idea. Four percent were undecided. The Daily News/CBS Channel 2 poll showed 54 percent would like to see Clinton run for mayor.
[ Reuters ]
A key part of Hillary Clinton's original health care plan that would have allowed third parties to collect your private medical data and records may become federal law in a matter of weeks.
President Bush's new Health and Human Services Secretary, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, is considering whether last-minute regulation changes made by Bill Clinton should go through.
The new federal rule would allow doctors, hospitals, druggists, HMOs and insurance companies to pass and share your medical information without your permission.
But Thompson put the rule changed on hold, partly because they allow marketers access to private medical records they can use to sell their products.
The new rules were ordered by then-President Bill Clinton and due to become effective Feb. 26, but have been delayed until April 14.
The rule changes are supported by powerful special interests in the health care and insurance industries.
But privacy advocates are worried about a system that will work much like a credit bureau, but with information far more important than one's financial status.
The issue has gotten little ink, but consumer advocate and nationally syndicated columnist Robert Heady has highlighted concerns about the new federal rule.
The rule was issued by the Clinton administration in December pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Under the Congressional Review Act, before major regulations can take effect, a federal agency must submit to Congress a report containing a copy of the rule, the proposed effective date and a concise general statement about the rule. For the most part, the regulations become effective 60 days after the later of the date that: (1) Congress receives the agency's report, or (2) the rule, if published, appears in the Federal Register if Congress takes no action in that time frame.
The privacy regulation was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 28, 2000. However, because of an error, the regulation was not sent to Congress until the week of Feb. 12, pushing back the effective date to mid-April.
There are problems with the new rules, however, and Thompson wants time to study them.
Sharing Your Records with Marketing Firms
Although intended to improve the confidentiality of medical records, the regulations contain a sleeper provision that allows health-care providers the right to use confidential medical information for selling their products that could make such noble intentions into a sick joke.
Under the proposal, doctors can even share the information with a "business partner" who can conduct marketing on behalf of a provider.
"It's perfectly legal under the rule for someone to knock on your door and say, 'I've learned from your doctor you have hemorrhoids, would you like to buy this treatment?'" said Bob Gellman, a medical privacy consultant and former congressional staffer.
"You can only opt out after you have been marketed to. I've been working on this issue for 20 years, and it's the worst anti-privacy thing I've seen."
Right now, there are no federal limits on the use of medical information for marketing purposes, so the new rule will not allow the industry to do anything it can't do already.
Traditionally, ethical concerns and logistical impracticalities have prevented much marketing from taking place.
In the long-gone days of family doctors, the medical field didn't seem so driven by profits as it is today in the world of HMOs, Gellman said.
Also, he noted, medical records - more and more stored electronically - weren't so easy to get hold of in the old days.
The marketing loophole is part of the "final privacy rule" that HHS published on Dec. 28, 2000.
The regulation is part of the effort to implement the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 - a bill that sought to fill the gaps in health coverage that commonly occur when workers get laid off or change jobs.
An important part of that law requires HHS to develop electronic standards that all health-care providers and insurance companies must use to communicate with one another about treatment and bills.
The idea is that, if records are stored electronically according to a standard protocol, a patient can change medical coverage and care easily and efficiently. In short, HIPAA requires the entire medical industry to enter the digital age.
A problem is that electronic storage makes your medical records easily accessible to many people who you may not want to know that you take anti-depressants or have a urinary tract infection.
Gellman isn't the only one who's unhappy with the final draft.
On Feb. 23, Thompson said that his department would reopen public comment on the final rule. Thompson has called for more discussion and cautioned against too much regulation.
"While I don't pretend to have all the answers, I can tell you one thing," Thompson said, "it should not be a top-down, federally mandated solution."
Privacy critics and consumer advocates worry that Americans - who were consumed by the aftermath of the election and the agenda of a new president - may not have noticed that such a serious threat to their privacy is under way.
[ NewsMax ]
TCN Comment: Urgent action is required to block this invasion of privacy. NewsMax has an email link for Tommy Thompson at
http://www.newsmax.com/epetition.shtml
Is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) political career already going to the dogs?
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) decided to bring his beloved hound, Splash, a Portuguese water dog, to an education strategy powwow in the office of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) last week.
The pooch literally had a seat at the conference table, hamming it up as the Senators plotted their counterattack against Bush on the education bill.
Suddenly, though, the dog started scratching Kennedy with his paw, signaling that he was getting a little antsy. Kennedy cracked, "It's time for me to go."
Right after the duo departed, Clinton showed up and sat right down in - you guessed it - Splash's seat.
[ Roll Call ]
Al Gore is now apologizing for some of Clinton's personal behavior. Former Clinton commerce secretary and Gore campaign director William Daley, after criticizing Clinton's last-minute pardons, recently received a letter from Clinton slamming him for his comments and further belittling him for Gore's November defeat. When he heard about the letter Gore apologized to Daley and even called Daley's brother, Chicago mayor Richard Daley, to apologize to him. "Gore feels that if he's going to be viable, he has to clean up any messes Clinton is creating," says a former Clinton aide who has spoken to Gore. "The vice president keeps saying that when he's ready, he'll go on national TV and make a clean break with it all." Make way for the ultimate Oprah moment.
[ Washington Prowler ]
Russian President Vladimir Putin served notice to the United States on Monday that Moscow would proceed with its controversial arms sales to Iran and complete construction there of a nuclear power plant. Washington, which sees Iran as a ``rogue state'' able to upset world stability, has slammed the sales and nuclear plan.
Putin told reporters after talks in the Kremlin with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami that Russia would go ahead with arms deals as Iran wanted only supplies for its defensive needs.
``For economic reasons, Russia is interested in (military) cooperation,'' Putin said. ``And the political reasons are that we believe that Iran must be an independent state capable of defending its national interests.''
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, in charge of arms for the government, said a decision on sales would be taken soon.
The United States has applied strong pressure on Russia to sell no arms to Iran. Moscow had refrained from such sales under a secret deal with the Americans in 1995, but pulled out of the accord last year in the final stages of the U.S. presidential campaign, prompting criticism from Washington.
General Leonid Ivashov, who oversees foreign relations at the Defense Ministry, said arms deals with Iran were a matter for Moscow and Tehran to decide on their own.
``Iran and Russia are sovereign states which fulfil their international obligations,'' he told reporters. ``Some may like this cooperation, others not. Our countries will continue working together to their advantage.''
[ Reuters ]
What should be the official name for Bill & Hillary Clinton's New York abode?
There were lots of possibilities, according to the creative audience of The Jayne Carroll Show, a political talk radio program which airs daily in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area.
Carroll asked her audience to come up with an official name for the Clinton $1.7 million house in Chappaqua, New York. Carroll's call-in contest required the names to be in relative good taste, original, and should capture the essence of one or both of the Clinton's.
The response was overwhelming! Some names nominated for the Clinton's new home included:
Perjurers' Palace
HillBilly Villa
The House of Bill's Repute
Drawers Downs
Cheatem Estates
Sin Simeon
The Knee Pad
The White Trash House
The Blight House
The Panderosa Liars' Lair
Bill & Hill's Bribe & Breakfast
The Clinton Compost
Dogpatch on the Hudson
The Hen House
The Out House
The Love Shack
The House of Seven Felonies
But the clear, hands-down winner was...
DISGRACELAND
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