Galapagos Islands were worth the wait – Post-Bulletin

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Finally, after three years of waiting, my family and I were off to Ecuador and then to the Galapagos Islands.

It is said that the Galapagos have more unusual animals than any place in the world. It took three years of waiting for us because the Galapagos are a national park of Ecuador, and only a few cruise ships are allowed in that area each year. So if you are thinking about going, make reservations now.

Our flight from Minneapolis to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was uneventful. We were staying two nights in Quito because I wanted to be sure we would catch up on our jet lag and our luggage would arrive before we got on the ship, and we were successful on both accounts.

Quito is located in the Andes and is the second-highest capital city in the world. We were careful and took it easy when we were arrived, as I was concerned about high altitude sickness.

We slept late the next day to catch up on our jet lag and then did an afternoon tour to learn about Quito. It was a holiday, so most of the shops were closed. We were advised not to leave the hotel for a walk at night.

The next day we were driven to the airport for our two-hour flight to the coast, where we got on the ship, "Celebrity Xpedition," and we were off to the Galapagos.

There was always a briefing about the animals and the terrain the night before we would go on land. Dinner on the ship was early evening and afterwards we would go to the deck to learn about the next day.

After breakfast, we would be taken to land for an hour or so hike, and then back to the ship for lunch and a rest. Later in the day we would go to another island to view the wildlife and go for a walk.

There were sea lions and blue footed boobies as far as the eye could see. There aren't many different types of animals, as the islands are far apart and the animals would have to swim to the other islands. Man is the only predator, so the animals aren't afraid of anything or anyone.

I think we were one of the few that didn't have our photo taken with our arm around a sea lion. When I asked why I didn't want a photo, I replied, "I don't care how used they are to humans, they are still wild animals."

One briefing warned us about the slippery rocks that we needed to walk over before we got to land. The three of us decided we would go out in the inflatable boat with the group, but not go on land. If I were to be breaking a leg, I would want to be in the backyard of the Mayo Clinic, not in the middle of the Galapagos.

While the group was on land, the driver of the boat took us into inlets and around islands and told us that the wildlife we were seeing could not be seen on shore by the group we just dropped off. So we had the best view, the sea was calm, and we didn't have to walk.

One day we were told that we were going to the post office. Great! That would mean we would be in a city or village and maybe get a chance to go shopping. My assumption was wrong: The post office was a barrel on a post by the beach. People put in letters that were addressed with postage. I think it will take a long time for the letters to get to their destinations.

We saw plenty of unusual plants and animals on this trip. We also saw a lot of historic buildings and learned the history of the area. It was a great trip and it helps me remember that America is very young and the best place to live.

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Galapagos Islands were worth the wait - Post-Bulletin

Dispatches from the Aleutian Islands – SDSU Newscenter

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A team of SDSU scientists provides a first-hand account of their investigation into Pacific Ocean kelp forests.

After nine hours of flying, we finally walked out onto the tarmac at Adak Island and were nearly pushed over by 30 mph winds.

Ah," we thought. Welcome back to the Aleutians."

Adak, also known as "the birth place of the winds," is in the central part of the Aleutian Archipelago, an island chain that stretches from mainland Alaska to Russia and divides the Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea.

Characterized by volcanic islands, abundant marine life and unforgiving weather, the Aleutian Archipelago is a unique place. The nearshore rocky reefs have historically been dominated by dense dragon kelp (Eualaria fistulosa) forests. These algae are considered ecosystem engineers because they provide habitat and structure that support a diverse array of marine life.

Dragon kelp, along with associated algae, oxygenate the water via photosynthesis, and provide the base of the food chain for hundreds of species, ranging from mammals such as sea otters and stellar sea lions, to invertebrates such as sea stars and sponges.

While these islands are incredibly remote, they have not escaped the impacts of human activity. From the 1700s through the 1970s, humans have altered this unique island chain. That is why our group of 11 scientists from San Diego State University, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and South Koreas Kunsan National University are conducting research here. The R/V Oceanus is our floating home for the next three weeks.

In the 1980s, sea otters throughout the Aleutian Islands began to disappear. It is hypothesized that orcas (also known as killer whales) depleted their populations because they were hungry; international whaling in the North Pacific had wiped out their staple food supplies.

As the numbers of otters decreased, the population of their favorite food, green sea urchins, began to explode. This shift in the food chain, known to ecologists as a trophic cascade, resulted in large-scale changes to the underwater landscape of the Aleutians. Sea urchin numbers became so great that they began to essentially "lawn mow" the surrounding kelp forests and associated algae, leaving behind urchin barren grounds.

Over the next 5-10 years, sea urchins consumed thousands of kilometers of kelp forests. The goal of our research is to understand how this immense loss of kelp affects patterns of marine diversity and primary production across the archipelago. To do this, we will sample 11 representative islands (six in 2016, five in 2017) to make inferences about impacts across the archipelago.

We are currently on Day 3 of our expedition, anchored in Constantine Harbor at Amchitka Island. Adjacent to our boat is a pier that was constructed during World War II, but has since been abandoned. One of our dive sites is littered with old ammunition and an airplane wing. The topside weather has been cloudy and grey, but when the winds are not blowing, the calm seas bring out the bright colors of the subtidal world.

Once we depart from Amchitka Island, we will begin our steam to Attu Island, which will take more than 24 hours. During this time, we will be busy sorting through samples collected during dives and offshore trawls, recording data, and hoping for good weather that will give us a smooth transit (which is unlikely). Stay tuned for more field notes in the coming weeks!

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Dispatches from the Aleutian Islands - SDSU Newscenter

Here’s a health-care fix that’s small but powerful – CNBC

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The program also isn't working for doctors. The reimbursement rate is roughly half that of private insurance, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Participation requires reams of paperwork, approvals, and delays in reimbursements. Patients, as a result, increasingly cannot find a doctor to treat them. Over half of doctors no longer accept new Medicaid patients, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, and stories of patients trying dozens of times in vain to get an appointment are not uncommon.

Expanding charity care can relieve some of the Medicaid burden. Perhaps even more importantly, such an uncontroversial reform could achieve the bipartisan support necessary to become law.

Charity health care, where doctors volunteer a certain number of hours a week and donations cover variable costs, has a long history in the United States. There are currently over 1,200 charitable clinics nationwide, largely operating outside and parallel to the Medicaid system.

One major advantage of charity care is that doctors can have their medical insurance costs covered by the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act when working in a charity clinic that meets federal government requirements. This allows them to provide good care, but not excessive or defensive medicine, worried that their good deed may go punished.

Charity care could be expanded further if state governments, which have the most to gain from its implementation, cover the private practice liability insurance costs of any physician who volunteers a certain number of hours per week in a free clinic.

Such a trade would be a bargain for both doctors and state governments. The average primary doctors would save roughly $12,000 in annual malpractice insurance premium costs. Specialists would save even more. In return, by keeping Medicaid, uninsured, and undocumented patients out of expensive and overburdened emergency rooms, the state would save hundreds of thousands of dollars per doctor. As an added bonus, defensible and costly malpractice lawsuits would likely be reduced because of the bigger burden associated with suing the government instead of the individual physician.

Dr. Alieta Eck, who runs the Zarephath Health Center, a charity clinic in Somerset, New Jersey, shows how this model can work in practice. By relying on donated physician time and cutting out the burdensome Medicaid bureaucracy, the cost to provide care comes to $15 per patient visit (covered by donations). This is compared to the roughly $1,000 it would ultimately cost the taxpayer if the patient ended up at the ER.

She's spearheaded a New Jersey bill, S239, that calls on the state to provide liability coverage for the private practices of physicians who donate at least four hours per week in a charity clinic. Similar proposals are alive in several states across the country.

While trial lawyers may object, opposing charity care expansion is a dim prospect for even the most hardened partisan legislator. Such small yet beneficial reforms are now the best hope to improve American health care.

Commentary by Joel L. Strom a Beverly Hills dentist and a fellow at the Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.

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Here's a health-care fix that's small but powerful - CNBC

Thousands flock to free medical clinic, as Washington dithers on health care – Washington Post

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WISE, Va. The sick and the disabled pour out of these mountains every summer for their one shot at free health care, but this year was supposed to hold hope for a better solution.

Donald Trump won the White House in part on a promise to fix the nations costly and inefficient health-care system. Instead, Republicans in Congress are paralyzed and threatening to dismantle the imperfect framework of Obamacare.

[Trumps promise to very quickly repeal and replace Obamacare runs into reality]

No relief is in sight for someone like Larry McKnight, who sat in a horse stall at the Wise County Fairgrounds having his shoulder examined. He was among more than a thousand people attending the areas 18th annual Remote Area Medical clinic, where physicians and dentists dispense free care to those who otherwise have none.

I really think that they dont have any clue whats going on, McKnight said of political leaders in Washington. You watch the news and its two sides pitted against each other, which in turn just makes them pitted against us, the normal person.

About 1,100 such people descended on the fairgrounds Friday, with more expected Saturday and Sunday. Medical personnel from across the state were there with makeshift examination rooms in tents and sheds. Sheets hung from clothespins for privacy; giant fans pulled hot air through buildings intended for livestock shows.

These events are staged nationwide, but the Wise clinic is among the biggest, drawing people from throughout Appalachia and casting Washingtons sterile political debates into the starkest human terms.

A third of the patients who registered Friday were unemployed. Those who couldnt afford a room slept in their cars or camped in the fields around the fairgrounds. They lined up in the dead of night to get a spot inside the event.

It is the place of last resort for people who cant afford insurance even under Obamacare or who dont qualify for Medicaid in a state where the legislature has resisted expansion.

At 37, with a long graying ponytail, McKnight had never been sick until about eight months ago. So he hadnt worried too much about not being able to afford insurance on his roughly $18,000 a year in pay as an auto mechanic. But now he was getting a referral to the University of Virginia hospital to check for the source of his pain, which he had vowed to withstand without resorting to opioid medication.

The normal person doesnt care about a lot of the things that they care about [in Washington]. Most people want to work, they want insurance and they want to be able to take care of their family without assistance, he said.

The only way to do that, he said, is to have everybody the healthy and the sick paying into a centralized health insurance plan. I really think the only thing that would truly help this country is if it were single-payer, McKnight said.

Around here, thats not politics, its just life. Many of these people voted for Trump not only for his vow to fix health care, but also for his promise to bring back the coal industry. Theyre still waiting for results, with varying degrees of patience.

[Trumps promise to bring back coal jobs wont be met, experts say]

Patricia McConnell was having trouble speaking around the bloody gauze in her mouth. She had just had four teeth pulled. The unemployed former manager of a McDonalds had driven eight hours from her home in Glen Burnie, Md., to attend the clinic.

My teeth were hurting, she said. McConnell, 63 and disabled, said she had health insurance through Medicaid but no dental coverage.

So this was her dental plan: Shed save for six months to afford a motel room and gas, then wait in line in the morning heat to see a volunteer dentist.

McConnell has been watching the health-care debate in Washington and wondering if it will ever amount to anything that actually helps people like her. I dont know what theyre trying to do, she said, struggling to get the words out around the gauze.

She voted for Trump, she said, and still feels that hes working hard to help. But his anger and his tweets seem to aggravate Congress, and no one is working together, she said.

They need to set all that aside and work to pass health care for everyone, she said. Lets get this done.

Others had a hard time mustering the faith that anyone cared.

Theyre trying to kill us poor people, is what theyre trying to do, said Robert Horne, 55, a disabled former construction worker seeking dental care. Horne said he voted for Hillary Clinton last fall because of her pledge to maintain the Affordable Care Act.

That didnt work out, either.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who flew out to the clinic Friday morning, had invited Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to join him but said that the Republican leader politely declined. McAuliffe, who visits the clinic every year, spent nearly two hours touring it twice as long as scheduled and took every opportunity to proclaim that hes been trying for three years to get the state legislature to agree to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

The Republican-controlled General Assembly has resisted, unlike the legislatures in nearby states, which McAuliffe kept reminding the patients and doctors who crowded around him on the hot fairgrounds.

All of our neighbors in Kentucky and West Virginia and Maryland they did it! he said to a Christian counseling group that had set up shop under an awning. But in Virginia, he said, legislators turned down millions in federal dollars that would be available under Medicaid expansion.

[If Obamacare is here to stay, its time to expand Medicaid, McAuliffe says]

We need it, called out Tonya Hall, operations director for a hospice-care facility. Let them come and visit some in southwest Virginia. Let them see the poverty. Let them see how we live. Let them come.

This isnt about politics, McAuliffe said.

Right! Hall agreed. Its about people.

Its about peoples lives, McAuliffe said to a round of Amens from the group.

Hall, 42, said she had voted for Trump but that she was disappointed he hadnt been able to do anything to improve the health-care system. If Obamacare cant be fixed, she said, then I say we scrap it and start over. You can see the need, she added, gesturing at the masses of people waiting for their turn with a medical professional.

Beyond her, a long line stretched into the triage tent, where people were sorted and their vital signs measured. Allen Sexton, 37, was there to have all his teeth removed, years after a car accident had left them a scrambled mess.

In a metal shed nearby, vision specialists sat in darkness, performing eye exams in pools of light. One man said that his glasses had broken a year ago and that he couldnt see at a distance or up close, but hed been driving anyway.

There was another tent for orthopedic care. Another for basic checkups. Each one was full, with more people waiting outside on metal folding chairs or standing in lines.

Politicians prowled the fairgrounds. Several area legislators attended while Attorney General Mark Herring (D), running for reelection, walked with McAuliffe and Sen. Tim Kaine (D) helped register patients.

Stan Brock, the English philanthropist who founded the RAM clinic program more than 30 years ago, said there was one more visitor hed like to see at the clinic.

Its absolutely imperative that the president of the United States come and visit one of these events, he said. I believe if he did, he would take some immediate action.

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Thousands flock to free medical clinic, as Washington dithers on health care - Washington Post

What kind of healthcare works in other countries? The US should take a look. – Los Angeles Times

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To the editor: You cant repair what is broken. The U.S. spends about twice as much per person on healthcare than other advanced nations and with poorer results. (The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country but not with better health outcomes, July 18)

We need to start over. Study successful healthcare systems such as those in France, Switzerland and Singapore. These hybrids mix government coverage and subsidies with consumer choice; they are not purely socialistic, a term we seem to fear.

Create a bipartisan task force and get input from physicians and consumer groups too. If it works in other nations, we can create a U.S. version to work here.

But it will never happen if ego and rigid ideologies declare one side must lose and the other must win. Courageous men and women on both sides of the aisle can do this.

Eileen McDargh Elvins, Dana Point

..

To the editor: This article cites troubling statistics that add up to an embarrassing report on the adequacy of our healthcare system in terms of outcomes.

However, there are certainly many other factors affecting longevity (such as obesity and drug addiction) that are at epidemic levels in the U.S. and should also be factored into the analysis.

Please fill in your full name, mailing address, city of residence, phone number and e-mail address below. Submissions that do not include this information cannot be published. This information is seen only by the letters editors and is not used for any commercial purpose. We generally do not publish...

Please fill in your full name, mailing address, city of residence, phone number and e-mail address below. Submissions that do not include this information cannot be published. This information is seen only by the letters editors and is not used for any commercial purpose. We generally do not publish...

James Maddox, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: This article overlooks the elephant in the room: private insurance companies that consume about 20% of every healthcare dollar.

Two additional reasons for our higher costs that are not mentioned are our failure to reduce drug prices through bulk purchasing and the low ratio of primary care providers to specialists. Primary care physicians decrease costs by coordinating care and providing preventive treatment.

If the government became our insurer, we could cover everyone at a lower cost and have better health outcomes. Thus, if Congress wants to replace Obamacare, it should develop a single-payer system, something that polls now show Americans increasingly support.

Nancy Greep, MD, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

Sights, sounds, and the people that made the first day of 2017's Comic-Con a sight to behold.

Sights, sounds, and the people that made the first day of 2017's Comic-Con a sight to behold.

Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova are preparing already for their August 2018 congressional primary rematch by raising and spending campaign money.

Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova are preparing already for their August 2018 congressional primary rematch by raising and spending campaign money.

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What kind of healthcare works in other countries? The US should take a look. - Los Angeles Times

LETTERS: The imbalance in health care between legislators and citizens – Chicago Sun-Times

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Everyones heart goes out to Sen. John McCain battling brain cancer. We pray he survives it as he did his years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war, which left one arm compromised from severe torture.

Columnist Lynn Sweet surmised his sobering confrontation withhis mortality this week mightmove him to vote in favor ofthe DREAM Act enabling undocumented children to stayhere, having grown up asAmericans.

SEND LETTERS TO:letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verificationpurposes.

From there, its only a short leap to realize McCain received immediate first-rate medicalcare no questions asked, thanksto the platinum insurance coverage he and other senatorsand Congress people enjoy asa fringe benefit: no deductibles; no disqualifying preexisting conditions; no agecutoffs. Bulletproof. Its single-payer coverage like everyone receives in Europe,where health outcomes arebetter at half the cost.

Why deride such coverageas socialism for the rest ofus but not for our federallegislators? Word games. Pure and simple. All that is neededis to re-shuffle the deck andstart fresh, with open minds,seeing as stake-holders notonly the usual players likeBig Pharma, for-profit insurers, etc., but also thepeople.

As long as theres hopeMcCains condition mightdispose him to vote yes onimmigration reform sincewere all pulling for him whynot also hope he speaks in favor of reforming the U.S.health care system for thebetter?

Ted Z. Manuel, Hyde Park

Senate health care bill vote is irresponsible

Tuesday the Senate will be called to vote on a health care plan that will change the lives of at least 32 million people. As of Friday they still didnt know whats in the bill theyre voting on. This bill could be a total repeal of Obamacare, but delayed for two years. It could be a limited replacement. Nobody knows. Whatever side of the health care issue you take, this is irresponsible.

For the last six months, veterans, the elderly and the disabled among others have been on tender hooks about what insurance they would have, or if theyd have insurance at all. In some options that could go on for another two years.

All of the options the Senate leadership are considering would destabilize the insurance market. The ripple effect would spread to everyone who has health insurance whether theyre on the exchange or not. Businesses unsure of next years expenses might be slow with expansion or raises, ultimately slowing the economy.

Our president and our congressional leaders indicate a take our plan or no plan, doesnt matter to us attitude. That doesnt sound like making sure the vast majority of Americans have adequate health care is their priority.

Im asking you to call your senators. Ask them to vote no on any health care bill until they have a fully considered and debated plan that voters have time to review.

Wendy LaFauce, Belvidere

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LETTERS: The imbalance in health care between legislators and citizens - Chicago Sun-Times

What does the uncertainty around health care mean for insurers? – Marketplace.org

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ByLizzie O'Leary and Eliza Mills

July 21, 2017 | 1:56 PM

It's been an uncertain time for health insurance providers. The back and forth debate in Congress over potential plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has been an ongoing source of stress for consumers and insurers. The complexities seem never-ending and tensions are running high, even within the Republican party.

Medicaid has become a major point of contention, as Republican senators who have expanded Medicaid in their states want to defend their constituents against future cuts.

Sen. Ted Cruz's proposed Consumer Freedom Option amendment, which would allow insurance companies to sell bare-bones policies provided they also sell comprehensive plans, has prompted criticism from insurers. CEOs from the advocacy group American Health Insurance Plans and insurance providers in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association wrote a letter coming out against the amendment. Under the proposal, people could opt out of maternity or mental health coverage, for example, which could raise the cost of insuring maternity care or mental health to about the actual cost of service.

Craig Hasday, president of Frenkel Benefits, an insurance brokerage and benefits consulting company, joined Marketplace Weekend's Lizzie O'Leary to discuss the ways that the health care debate affects insurance providers and how that affects consumers. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Lizzie O'Leary: What do health insurance markets look like in the U.S. right now?

Craig Hasday: There's a lot of different components of the markets. I mean the vast number of people that have health coverage in the United States are covered by Medicare and Medicaid or by employer provided coverage and within that employer marketplace there's two segments there's the small group marketplace and the large group marketplace. And the large group marketplace is largely self-insured. So when you look at coverage most Americans are actually through the employer covered by self-insured employers and there are no insurance companies.

O'Leary: What does that mean self-insured employers?

Hasday: So insurance means someone's taking risks. Someone is taking a premium and they're paying claims as they're presented. With self-insurance, the employer takes the place of the insurance company: they're taking risks. There might be stop-loss insurance, which is insurance to protect against catastrophic claims, but they're actually paying the claims and making the claims adjudication decisions.

O'Leary: So when you think about where we are right now you work with a lot of companies what do companies come to you guys and say "this is what we want for our employees"?

Hasday:I would say that, largely, employers want to provide the best benefits possible within their budgets. And the budgets vary widely by industry, by profitability of a company, but most employers are good stewards of insurance. Not all, I mean some you know try to get away with as little as they can. It's actually interesting, as the Affordable Care Act went into play there was a lot of consternation among large employers, but really large employers by and large figured out how to navigate around the Affordable Care Act and really not much changed. And you know one of the interesting discussions was regarding the repeal. And I was asked what would happen if there was repeal, what would happen and large employers, and quite frankly, very little. The large employers have largely planned around ACA. The rules would roll back to what they were, and they would eliminate some fees and taxes which they would not have to pay. But really the markets wouldn't really be disrupted for large employers, and for Medicare if there was repeal. The big issue with repeal is Medicaid. And that's a wildcard because so many people have come to rely upon Medicaid benefits.

O'Leary:So what happens if there is just a strict repeal vote? You know these kind of votes that we saw repeatedly in the House? What happens then?

Hasday: Well it doesn't look like that's going to happen at this point. But if there was a repeal it would roll back to the pre-ACA rules. The biggest issues in the rollback of the Affordable Care Act are people with subsidies, and that's going to have an enormous impact. People have subsidies who are paying very little for coverage. They're going to lose those subsidies and all but the very sickest are just simply not going to be able to afford coverage, it's just unaffordable. And we're going to create a situation where the insurance companies are not going to be willing to play. The variable that I think is going to come into play are the states because insurance provided by insurance companies is regulated by state law. As far as Medicaid goes, there are so many people in the country that have become so reliant upon Medicaid benefits, I just don't see that states that have expanded Medicaid are going to be able to roll it back without revolt.

O'Leary:And that certainly seems to be the case with the senators from those states who said absolutely not.

Hasday: Very clearly. The senators in states that expanded Medicaid understand the political realities of pulling back the Medicaid expansion, and they're going to have to find a way to fund it. Increase taxes, something, but I don't I don't think there could be a full rollback of Medicaid in the states that have opted to expand.

O'Leary: If you could make tweaks to the ACA, what would you do?

Hasday: I would definitely expand the coverage tiers, the premium tiers, from three to five. So right now under the Affordable Care Act, the difference in premium between the ones that pay the lowest cost are the ones that pay the highest cost is a maximum of three times. There's only three rate bands.. What it allows is the difference in costs between the youngest and the oldest citizens to be a wider spread of rates. Right now within the Affordable Care Act, we have a vast number of younger, healthier people who are opting out of the system. Part of the reason they're opting out is because they are subsidizing older Americans. If there were more rating tiers then the older people would pay costs which are more equal to the amount of benefits that they would consume. So increasing the rating tiers I think is important. I would unquestionably increase substantially individual penalty to not participate in coverage because one of the other problems with the Affordable Care Act is people would access the system when they needed benefits and then opt out. And that free-riding cost the insurance companies quite a bit.

O'Leary: You study this stuff very closely, look into the future a little bit. Do we have any sense of what's going to happen in the next year?

Hasday: I don't think the future is a year. I think we're looking at more like the five to 10 year time horizon. I think that we're going to be jockeying with chipping away at the Affordable Care Act.I think that even if the Republicans aren't successful in repealing or replacing the Affordable Care Act through the legislative process the Republicans are going to be able to substantially impact things. For example by not enforcing the individual mandate, which by the way is pretty weak anyway. I think that for the next few years we're just going to be stumbling through trying to keep equilibrium in the system. I'm a little worried, because you know one of the things that all of this political posturing does is create uncertainties, and insurance companies are very nervous about uncertainties. I mean they they're concerned about where that's going to lead, because the legislatures, federal and state, have the ability to take what's out there and mandate that insurance companies do certain things or apply political pressure to continue to offer coverage, or continue to offer some types of coverage. Insurance companies are very nervous, and if you've been watching the stock prices of insurance companies they've been moving quite a bit with almost every change in the Republican debate. I think the insurance companies are kind of trying to lay low, because they're not exactly sure what direction the health care in this country is going. I think that what they're trying to do is control the controllable.

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What does the uncertainty around health care mean for insurers? - Marketplace.org

Personalized medicine focuses on patients’ genetic clues – Newsday

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Personalized medicine, also called precision or individualized medicine, is a rapidly growing medical field. It focuses on improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease based on clues found in a persons genes.

In addition to determining your physical traits, such as eye color and height, your genes have an enormous effect on your health. Collecting information about your genes through genetic testing can provide you and your health care providers with valuable medical information.

Several kinds of genetic testing are available. Some tests are specific to inherited diseases and conditions, such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia. Other tests can check for genetic changes or variants (sometimes called mutations) that make it more likely you might develop a condition, such as breast cancer or blood clots.

A newer kind of genetic test called whole-genome sequencing goes beyond individual medical conditions and provides detailed information about all of a persons genetic code. Along with data about health and medical care, whole-genome sequencing can reveal more information. Research is continuing to better understand all the information held in the human genome.

You may have heard about direct-to-consumer genetic testing through radio, TV or internet advertisements. In this type of testing, a consumer provides a saliva or cheek swab sample to the company without a health care provider. Some companies offer disease carrier status, health traits, wellness or ancestry and family origin information. These tests attempt to help consumers better understand how genes influence health and wellness, and may help them talk to their health care provider about conditions that can run in families. Some tests provide information for entertainment or enjoyment. Its important to know the difference.

The information gathered through clinical genetic testing can offer valuable insight into how health care can be tailored to fit an individuals specific needs. One area where a considerable amount of research is being performed is in the way a persons genetic makeup may affect how his or her body responds to certain medications.

For example, for the common prescription pain medication tramadol to work effectively, the body has to process it to an active form. If your body cant process the medication due to your genetic makeup, you may not get pain relief from that drug.

Another example of genetic testing helps identify a cancer tumors genomic profile something like a fingerprint. Then, cancer therapies can be selected based on that tumors variants. This enables your health care provider to choose a medication that targets the tumor more effectively.

Although that example sounds straightforward, the connection between medication effectiveness and genes is like most topics associated with genetics quite complex and requires a great deal of research. Mayo Clinic researchers are exploring how the information gleaned from genetic testing can further inform the process of medication prescription.

Right now, individualized medicine is focused largely on customizing medical diagnosis, treatment and prevention based on a persons genes. But, in time, the field is likely to progress beyond genetics. Research is under way thats examining how the community of bacteria that live within a person the microbiome could affect certain diseases.

As individualized medicine moves forward, the goal is to personalize health care in such a way that each person receives optimal care thats crafted to suit his or her unique situation and needs.

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Personalized medicine focuses on patients' genetic clues - Newsday

Scientists provide insight into genetic basis of neuropsychiatric disorders – Medical Xpress

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July 21, 2017 Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A study by scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) is providing insight into the genetic basis of neuropsychiatric disorders. In this research, the first mouse model of a mutation in the arid1b gene was created and then used to show that growth hormone treatments reverse some manifestations of the mutation.

The ARID1B gene is one of the most commonly mutated genes in patients with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders, but scientists have not yet discerned if and how defects in the ARID1B gene contribute to these clinical manifestations. To understand how reduced levels of the protein product of the gene might cause these disorders, a team of researchers led by Dr. Hao Zhu and including graduate student Cemre Celen genetically modified mice to carry a mutation in one of two copies of the ARID1B gene. This mutation replicates the genetics of Coffin-Siris syndrome, a disorder that some patients with defects in the ARID1B gene have that is characterized by speech and social development problems, intellectual disability, and delayed physical growth.

The hope is that by understanding the molecular basis of Coffin-Siris syndrome, scientists will gain a deeper understanding of more common diseases involving intellectual and social impairment.

Scientists found mice with the mutated ARID1B gene exhibited the same type of physical and social changes seen in children with Coffin-Siris syndrome, such as abnormal brain development, muscle weakness, and increased anxiety and fear. The mice also displayed features consistent with autism spectrum disorder, such as social interaction abnormalities, repetitive behaviors, and abnormal "squeaks" or vocalizations. Further testing found these mice had lower-than-expected growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) levels in the blood, potentially explaining the small stature and delayed development seen in human patients. Treating mutant mice with growth hormones restored body size and muscle function, but did not significantly change the behaviors associated with the syndrome.

"These results suggest that growth hormone treatment could be a useful therapy for ARID1B patients. This is an interesting finding because we know some pediatricians already treat Coffin-Siris patients with growth hormones, although they were unaware that this response might be common to many people with ARID1B mutations," said Dr. Zhu, an Assistant Professor at CRI with joint appointments in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research.

Dr. Zhu said he believes the study provides the scientific community with an important animal model to further investigate ARID1B's role in human brain disorders and will be a useful tool for therapeutic testing of potential treatments for autism, intellectual disability, and Coffin-Siris syndrome.

Explore further: Mice provide insight into genetics of autism spectrum disorders

More information: Cemre Celen et al. Arid1b haploinsufficient mice reveal neuropsychiatric phenotypes and reversible causes of growth impairment, eLife (2017). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.25730

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Recruiting for autism study – WTAJ

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An area health system is recruiting people with autism and their families for a nationwide genetics study.Geisinger's Autism and Developmental Medicine Institute (ADMI) has been awarded a one-year $150,000 grant for the research. The grant is renewable for a full three year term.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Boston Children's Hospital and the UCLA Center for Autism are also taking part in the study. Researchers hope to enroll 50,000 people and use their medical and genetic data to better understand autism.

Approximately 50 genes, believed to play a role in autism, have been identified and Geisinger says researchers estimate that at least 300 more are involved. But many more samples are needed from those with autism and their immediate families.

ADMI Associate Director Brenda Finucane said, "we do a lot of family studies to look at just people's genetic makeup and then when a child is born with a particular change in their genetic makeup, how the family background genes are influencing the way it plays out."

To participate in the study contact Kate Dent at 570-522-9402 or email her at kadent@geisinger.edu.

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Recruiting for autism study - WTAJ

New ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Clips Show Off Beautiful, Retro-Futurist Tech (Including a New Phaser) – Outer Places

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A lot of noise has been made by creative decision-makers involved withStar Trek Discovery concerning the show's very impressive production quality. Apparently it's the design of props and costumes that caused significant delays to the show's release this fall.

We don't just have to take their word for it anymoretheDiscovery Twitter account has been sharing small glimpses at the heavily redesigned technology of the show, which draws inspiration from the original Gene Roddenberry Star Trek series, but has been updated to make it look a little more impressive.

Here we have a Star Fleet officer's badge, which will probably not serve as a communicator as it does in later periods in the timelinecontinuity is important here, as in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies.

Instead, the classic flip-top communicator, which inspired real life cell phones, will return. This time, though, it sports a neat little computer display that makes it look at least a little more modern, if not hugely futuristic. There's something of a CASIO watch design to its circular screen and illuminated display, which can't be an accident.

Finally, there's the new phaser, which, if anything, resembles a very old movie camera from the early days of film. One thing's for certain, it's very pretty.

If there's a theme to these props, it's the idea of futuristic technology hearkening back to the old daysthis continues the theme of the very retro-looking transporters that we've already seen on board the Discovery. That is, except for this laser rifle, which looks like something out of a SWAT kit:

The solution, then, is to deliberately bake vintage designs into these items. Discovery is almost claiming that in the far-flung future, humanity prefers something that looks older and traditional because it makes space travel feel less sterile. It's a smart design choice, as it definitely reflects modern society, with our obsession with retro fashion, vinyl record players, and Instagram filters that make photos look worse. Our current culture reacts to Star Trek-style advancements in technology by yearning for our simpler past, and it seems that Discovery's props are a reflection of this.

Star Trek Discoverypremieres on CBS onSeptember 24th, 2017.

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Central South African Bank Will Experiment With Bitcoin Regulation – Futurism

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In Brief The central South African bank is partnering with a blockchain-based solutions provider to experiment with digital currency regulations. This may bring digital currencies like Bitcoin further into the mainstream and legitimize their use. South African Bitcoin Experiment

The South African Reserve Bank, which functions as the countrys central bank, is partnering with blockchain-based solutions provider Bankymoon to experiment with digital currency regulations. Bankymoon will serve as a sandbox business as the team works with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with the ultimate goal of understanding and legitimizing the growing adoption of cryptocurrency.

As with any new technology that becomesmainstream, regulation becomes an issue. However, cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology they are based upon are, by nature, decentralized. Therefore, there is, at some level, a fundamental tension between the governments need or desire to regulate and the structure of the technology (not to mention the intent of its users).

However, government regulation of digital currencies could legitimize the technology. Gamaroff believes that regulations will strengthen and give legitimacy to Bitcoin and other digital currencies for novice users, I think the regulation will move things along and make people on the street comfortable with Bitcoin. With these new regulations, these everyday people can now trust that Bitcoin is not just for hackers and criminals.

The initiative also enjoys the support of some of South Africas leaders and biggest businesses. Former First National Bank CEO Michael Jordaan, for example, believes that digital currency is on track to render central banks and the entire traditional banking model obsolete. Only time will tell whether the government can involve itself in a meaningful way with this kind of regulation or if the technology will simply continue to expand without that type of constraint.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in a number of cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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Central South African Bank Will Experiment With Bitcoin Regulation - Futurism

Porsche’s CEO Just Announced the Company’s Big Plans to Transition to Electric Cars – Futurism

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In Brief According to Porsche's CEO, by 2023, half of the cars rolling off the company's production line will be electric. With this statement, Porsche joins other major automakers like Volvo and GM in betting on a future in which EVs are far more widely adopted.

Porsche CEOOliver Blumehas told Manager Magazin that up to half of the cars the company produces by 2023 will be electric.

According to The Drive, Porsches opening gambit in the bid will be the Mission E slated for release in 2019 followed by an electric crossover coupe, and then a new generation Macan crossover in 2022. The Macan will prove to be the make or break EV for the German car company, as its current gasoline incarnation is Porsches bestseller, with roughly 100,000 vehicles sold in 2016.

Porsche joins a growing number of car companies making ambitious plans totransition to electric in the coming decade. Volvo CEO Hkan Samuelssonsaid in a video on Twitter that the future of Volvo is electric, and to that end, the company plans to make every car off the production line either partially or entirely electricfrom 2019 onwards.

While no other carmaker has announced plans as ambitious as Porsche or Volvos yet, all major playershave or will soon have an EV on the market. General Motors has already released the Chevy Boltand plans to release 10 electric models in the Chinese market by 2020. By that same year, Ford has promised they will release an electric SUV, and Volkswagen saystheir I.D.will be hitting the roads in 2020 as well. Looks likes widespread EV adoption is just a few years away.

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Porsche's CEO Just Announced the Company's Big Plans to Transition to Electric Cars - Futurism

When Will We Discover Some Form of Alien Life? – Futurism

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In BriefHumanity is diligently searching the skies for signs of alienlife through efforts like SETI and the Breakthrough Listeninitiative, but when will we finally find what we are looking for?Here is a timeline for when you can expect a confirmation that weare not alone in the universe. Decade of Discovery

In the Milky Way alone, there arean estimated 300 billion starsthathost about9 billionhabitable, Earth-size planets. Could some form of alien life have taken root on any of these planets? Projects like Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have scoured the skies for signs to answer this question, and we asked Futurism readers when they thought these efforts would finally be successful.

The poll shows that more than halfof responders believe we will discover extraterrestrial life in the first half of the 21st century, and the decade that received the most votes (about 27 percent) is actually the soonest the 2020s. This was the prediction ofMichael Barker, who wrote,Technology is seriously Sci-fi these days.If an alien so much as farts in space in the next decade, well be able to hear it. In all seriousness. The sensors we have today are very broad in their capability, and are very versatile.

While little work has been published detecting bodily sounds fromother planets, our ability to look for different signs of life is rapidly advancing. Examples of our improved technology include theJames Webb Space Telescope, which is seven times stronger than the Hubble telescope, and the equipment used for the Breakthrough Listen initiative.

The initiative is conducting a 10-year survey for signs of life fromthe 1millionstars closest to Earth using the most powerful instruments available.The Breakthrough website claims that their spectroscopic equipment could detect a 100 watt laser (the energy of a normal household bulb) from 25 trillion miles away.

In fact, Breakthrough Listen researchers have already published 11 events they believe could have been caused by aliens. Other interstellar signals like fast radio bursts have some scientists, Douglas Vakoch, director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute, thinking that we may be on the verge of confirming the existence of aliens.

[T]he chances are getting better with every passing year, Vakoch said in an interview with Space.com.He addedthat within the next decade, we may well discover were not alone in the universe.

But the extraterrestrial life we discover may not be an advanced civilization, many experts believe. Astronomy researcherChris Impey said inan interview with Futurism, I put my money on detecting microbial life in 10 to 15 years, but not at all detecting intelligent life.

While the increasing sophistication of our technology has many astronomers optimistic about our prospects of discovering alien life, this is of course contingent on whether there is indeed alien life to find.That, and the possibility that we may have wrong ideas about how aliens will communicate are strong reasons for caution, arguesMichael Michaud, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

There is no way to predict when contact will take place, Michaud said to Space.com. The only generalization I can offer is that expanding ways of searching while continuing to send out our own signals both intentional and unintentional may make contact more likely. Until we have solid evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, we must live with uncertainty.

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07.21.17 – Okayafrica

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Rasheedah Phillips and Camae Ayewa of Black Quantum Futurism. Photo via Instagram.

DIASPORAOver the course of July well be publishing shortprofiles, essays and interviews onthe themeof Afrofutures. Together these stories will bea deep dive into the way African and diaspora thinkers, technologists and artists view a future for Africans in the world and outside of it.

Take a look at our introduction to Afrofuturismhere.

Throughout thismonth, well also highlight and celebrate young, leading talents who already put into practice what a future with black people look like through their work in our daily profile series, NextGen.

In our tenthedition, meet the minds behind the Black Quantum Futurism collective.

Afrofuturism can be expressed far beyond music, art, fashion or film it can be a method of activism and community building. That is exactly what Black Quantum Futurism, a women-led organization based in Philly, aspires to do, with the help of art, history and teaching.

Founded by poet Camae Ayewa of musical outfit Moor Mother, and Rasheedah Phillips of The Afrofuturist Affair, Black Quantum Futurism focuses on spreading healing, justice and memory through activism, DIY culture and art, primarily but not exclusively to people that may not have access to the internet.

Afrofuturism can be used by disenfranchised communities to create safe space for dialogue, visioning, and testing of ideas around community sustainability, resilience, and resistanceand as a technology for the actual implementation of those visions and ideas, Ayewa says in an interview with Thump. (It also sets) an example for other advocates and policymakers on how to creatively approach these issues using social practice and community-engaged art. Thats what Black Quantum Futurism is. Its all practicalthats the main point.

At this summers Moogfest, a music, art and tech festival in Durham, North Carolina, Black Quantum Futurism and The Afrofuturist Affair curated workshops, performances and talks around empowerment through Afrofuturism. There was Discovering Your Secret Superpower, which helps people channel their inner superhero personas and 14 hours, a 14-hour performance by Ayewa. Workshops and performances aside, BQF has published books, created a designated community space called Community Futures Lab in North Philly, has conducted residences and held talks around the world.

Black Quantum Futurism proves that we can write our own futures into existence, by remembering the past and envisioning a brighter present. Its interesting how communities all over the world are understanding how important it is to move [away] from social constructs. One model that you read in some book, or some person was talking about on Facebook, may not be the model for you. We have to take the agency to define our own thing that keeps us chill, keeps our head above water.

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New Test Allows For Easier and Earlier Detection of Alzheimer’s – Futurism

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In Brief A new blood test can detect buildups of beta-amyloid in the brain, the plaques that signal the development of Alzheimers disease. This test could mean earlier detection of the disease and more effective lifestyle interventions for patients. Early Detection

A new blood test has been found to be able to detect buildups of beta-amyloid in the brain, the cause of the plaques that characterize the development of Alzheimers disease. Although the role that these clumps of beta-amyloid play in the brains of Alzheimers patients is unknown, monitoring their presence has been a reliable way to watch for the disease. Unfortunately, watching for the build-up of these plaques in the brain has only been possible through PET-scans, which are expensive and not widely available, or with spinal tap procedures, which are invasive and can only be administered by a, relatively, select few practitioners.

In this new study, researchers have developed a simple blood test to screen for Alzheimers risk that anyone from general practitioners to nurses in clinics could use. This simple to administer screening would be able to identify thousands of at-risk patients, allowing them to start treatment before brain damage and irreversible memory loss occurs. In fact, with this kind of basic screening tool, monitoring for Alzheimers disease could be as widespread and quick as checking your cholesterol and blood sugar.

Although there is not yet any silver bullet treatment for Alzheimers disease, there are promising treatments on the horizon some that reverse symptoms, and others that slow the progression of the disease. However, the most important way to fight Alzheimers right now is through prevention. As scientists study why some brains resist the disease more than others and how we might prevent the disease entirely, evidence shows that lifestyle interventions including healthy diet and exercise can reduce the risk of Alzheimers disease by as much as 30 percent. Earlier detection with a blood test would make lifestyle interventions more effective.

Beta-amyloid plaques begin to accumulate 15 to 20 years before a person exhibits the symptoms of Alzheimers disease. Positive test results wouldnt guarantee that a patient would develop the disease, but they would signal possible risk while suggesting a need for lifestyle changes.

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Google’s Newest AI is Turning Street View Images into Landscape Art – Futurism

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In Brief Google engineers have created an artificial intelligence (AI) that is capable of turning Google Street View images into professional-quality artistic portraits. The AI chooses and crops the image, alters both light and coloration, and then applies an appropriate filter. Google Art

Most of us are probably familiar with Google Street View; a feature of Google Maps that allows users to see actual images of the areas theyre looking up. Its both a useful navigational feature and one that allows people to explore far-off regions just for fun. Engineers at Google are taking these images from Street View one step further with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

Hui Feng is one of several software engineers who are using machine learning techniques to teach a neural network how to scan Street View in search of exceptionally beautiful images. This AI then, on its own, mimics the workflow of a professional photographer.

This AI system will act as an artist and photo editor, recognizing beauty and specific aspects that make for a good photograph. Despite being a subjective matter, the AI proved to be successful, creating professional-quality imagery from Street View images that the system itself located.

Googles many different AI programs have been exploring a wide variety of potential applications for the technology. From recent dabbling in online Go playingto improving job huntingand even creating its own AI better than Google engineers, Googles AI has been at the forefront of its field.

But AI technologies are progressing faster and further than many have expected, so much so that some AI, like the one mentioned here, are capable of creating art. So, while robots will never make humans completely obsolete in artistic endeavors, this step forward marks a new era of technology.

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Elon Musk Just Shared an Update on SpaceX’s Upcoming Manned Mars Mission – Futurism

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In BriefAt today's ISS R&D conference, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sharedan update on the company's Falcon Heavy rocket, crewed missionplans, and hopes for building a base on the Moon. The Falcon Heavy

At the ISS R&D conference today, Elon Musk provided some much-anticipated updates on SpaceXs upcoming manned mission to the Red Planet, explaining that the trip hinges on the success of the companysFalcon Heavy.

Once it launches this year, the Falcon Heavywill be the most powerful operational rocket in the world. It will be able to lift more than 54 metric tons (119,000 lbs), which is twice the payload of the Delta IV Heavy at one-third the cost.

Developing the rocket wasnteasy. In fact, Musk says it was way, way more difficult than SpaceX originally anticipated.

[Falcon Heavy] requires the simultaneous ignition of 27 orbit class rockets, he explained. Because of this, Musk says there is a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy, which is why he is setting the bar for success rather low for initial launches: Theres a real good chance that it does not make it to orbit. I hope it gets far enough away from the launch pad that it does not cause pad damage I would consider that a win.

Problems with initial launches wont be due to any inherent flaws with the rocket itself, however; theyre just part of the process. Falcon Heavys going to be a great vehicle. [There] just isnt a lot you can test on the ground, Musk noted.

SpaceX has experienced a fair share of (fiery) failuresin the past, and the potential for problems with early Falcon Heavy launches had the SpaceX CEO joking about the characterof the crew members aboard the first manned missions:No question, whoevers on the first flight brave. Brave.

Other brave SpaceX explorers will eventually be able to enjoy a trip aboard the companysCrew Dragon, also known as Dragon 2. Thus far, the Dragon spacecraft has only been used to transport cargo, but the design is being modified to support crewed mission. In fact, the Dragon 2 could even eventually carry Musk, who replied, I would like to at some point. Assuming things work out, yeah, maybe in three or four years, when asked whether hed like to take a ride to the International Space Station (ISS) and back aboard the craft.

Also in the works for the Crew Dragon are orbital launches and testing of its automatic docking abilities. Currently, in order for the Dragon to attach to the ISS, the space stations robotic arm has to be used. Not of much importance, according to a comment by Musk, is refining the Dragons 2 purposive landing capability (i.e., descending using retrorockets vs. a parachute) as he claims its no longer a requirement for landing on Mars.

The real public excitement lies beyond the ISS and Mars missions, though, according to Musk. If you want to get the public real fired up, we gotta have a base on the Moon. Having some permanent presence on another heavenly body, he said. Thats the continuance of the dream of Apollo.

Some of the biggest players already in the race to build a Moon base hail from China and Europe, and their respective space agencies have announced that they are engaging in international collaboration to realize a Moon Village vision. Whether Musk will beat them to it remains to be seen.

This trickle of small updates will do little to pacify those eager for more details on Musks mission to Mars. That information is likely to arrive in September in the form of a revision to his detailed plan for making humanity a multi-planetary species. The efforts of SpaceX are now more vital than ever, given NASAs recent admissionthatthey wont be the ones to get us to the Red Planet,but perhaps the plan will include the announcement of a NASA/SpaceX collaboration?

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Elon Musk Just Shared an Update on SpaceX's Upcoming Manned Mars Mission - Futurism

There is freedom in good health insurance for all – Detroit Free Press

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Free Press readers Published 12:06 a.m. ET July 22, 2017

As citizens, we are not truly free if we do not have realistic access to good health care, one Free Press reader wrote.(Photo: TNS)

Free Press readers share their opinions on the health care reform debate in Washington:

Our national anthem ends with the words land of the free and home of the brave. As citizens, we are not truly free if we do not have realistic access to good health care. Republicans, pushing for the repeal and replacement of the ACA, and now just the repeal, are selling the warped notion that freedom is the right to choose to not have insurance, or to have a junk insurance policy. I doubt this freedom is ever chosen by those with financial means.

This version of freedom is packaged and sold to less affluent Americans because, for many of them, obtaining health care currently requires hard choices. Our countrys version of freedom should not be that we allow vulnerable citizens the choice to meet other essential needs while they forgo health insurance and gamble that they will not become sick. For this wealthy, bountiful country, freedom should be something more noble than that.

Freedom should be the ability to choose to leave your current job and start a new business, knowing that you can buy health insurance, and that pre-existing conditions will not affect your ability to obtain or keep that insurance. Freedom is saving and planning for retirement and not worrying that you will lose all of that hard-earned retirement savings should you become ill or have an accident. Freedom is retiring when you want, without having to wait until age 65 when you will be eligible for Medicare. Freedom is not worrying about how you will pay for doctors visits, hospital visits, a childs birth, medicines, or expensive lifesaving treatments. Shouldnt we want these freedoms for all Americans?

If the Republicans repeal the ACA or fail to work with Democrats to fix the ACA, many Americans will be denied the essential freedom to live healthy lives without fear of whether they can pay for it.

Lauren Lisi

Huntington Woods

People forget or never realized how long it took to get a health care plan for all Americans. Finally came the Affordable Care Act. It works to a large degree but has weaknesses. Those problems could have been overcome without so many wasted months if the GOP accepted the ACA and worked to make it a success. Of course, that would mean working for the benefit of the American people rather than the party.

Ron DePentu

Canton

The Republicans had seven years to come up with their version of a health care plan they chose to spend it on meaningless repeal votes on the Affordable Care Act. When it came time to deliver their plan, after claiming for years that they had all the answers, a chosen few went behind closed doors and threw something together in a few short weeks and their own party couldnt support it.

One of the most disturbing things that has come out of all of this is that Mitch McConnell threatened the recalcitrant senators by vowing to work with the Democrats to get a bipartisan agreement if the Republicans didnt fall in line. Well, heaven forbid! Work together for the common good of the American people? Thats something that the Senate on both sides of the aisle seems to have forgotten is their purpose.

Lenore S. Litwin

South Lyon

There is an answer to the health care/health care insurance problem in this country. All federal employees starting with the president down should be on the same plan as citizens. All state employees from the governors down should be on the same plan as citizens. Once that is accomplished I think that federal and state governments will very quickly come up with an excellent health plan for all of American citizens.

M. Chudnov

Farmington Hills

Wouldnt it be something if Congress rallied around Sen. John McCain, and came together to reach a consensus for a health care bill. They certainly have not felt compelled to rally around the people they represent.

Ron Ustruck

Davisburg

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As freedom awaits, newly paroled OJ Simpson isolated at prison for his protection – Los Angeles Times

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O.J. Simpson was on the move again this time to his own cell in the Lovelock Correctional Facility.

Prison officials said Friday the former football star was removed from the general population for his own protection as he waits for his release in early October.

Brooke Keast, spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Corrections, said after Simpson was granted parole Thursday, officials decided it made sense to keep him out of harms way.

Keast said prison officials usually dont allow hearings to be viewed by the nearly 1,700 inmates, but with the widespread attention Simpson received, that proved impossible.

When you have people who are lifers that are not going to be getting out, there are some people who might want to make a name for themselves, Keast said. Its not worth the risk.

Simpsons parole hearing like most legal issues with the 70-year-old was a spectacle that grabbed international attention. Media flooded Carson City, the small capital city of Nevada, with large array of satellite television trucks. His conviction on robbery charges nine years ago landed him in Lovelock, a speck of a town two hours northeast of Carson City, where the four-member parole board unanimously granted his release.

The decision to grant parole proved disappointing to some who were hoping Simpson would serve a longer sentence as payback for being acquitted in the 1994 double murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.

David Montero and Matt Pearce

Goldmans father, Fred Goldman, who along with the Brown estate successfully sued Simpson in a civil lawsuit related to the deaths, told Good Morning America on Friday that the family was disappointed with the parole commissioners decision.

They never pressed him about anything," he said. "He snapped at one of the commissioners. ... The first gentleman who spoke, he snapped at him. There was no feedback to that. He lied numerous times about many things. He was never re-questioned about anything.

Goldman said the commissioners appeared to go over a checklist of conditions that make inmates eligible for parole, and they checked them off, and as long as he answered the proper number of items on the checklist, it was a done deal."

During the parole hearing, the commissioners said they received letters of support for Simpsons release as well as those who wished to see him remain behind bars, but they couldnt consider the 1995 acquittal in their deliberations.

Simpson told the board hed led a conflict-free life" and repeatedly said he was a good guy." Fred Goldman took offense at the remarks.

"Everybody in the world except him knows that he has not led a conflict-free life," Goldman said. "He beat up his first wife, he beat up Nicole numerous times, he had numerous other altercations with people over the years hardly conflict-free, nor do I suspect it'll ever be conflict-free. He's just not capable of being that person."

Kim Goldman, Ron Goldmans sister, told Good Morning America that the family had a nine-year reprieve with Simpson serving the minimum amount of time for the robbery conviction. His sentence couldve been as long as 33 years.

We're going to go back to doing what we've done. I run a nonprofit working with teenagers, I do stories on other victims and survivors, I'm raising my kids, she said. We're active in the world of victims and survivors' advocacy. We're going to continue doing those things and take it one day at a time, and if he chooses to write a book, or do a reality show, we'll be there."

Simpsons plans for when he is released indicate a desire to move to Florida, though the state would have to accept him as a parolee. He told the parole commission he wanted to be with his family already living there.

Tanya Brown, Nicole Brown Simpsons sister, told CNN on Thursday night that she watched the hearing, but said their life doesnt revolve around Simpson.

If you cant change it, you have to at least try to accept it," she said. It works for me. I know it is what it is, and I know its cliche to a lot of people, but it's what gets me through.

Sights, sounds, and the people that made the first day of 2017's Comic-Con a sight to behold.

Sights, sounds, and the people that made the first day of 2017's Comic-Con a sight to behold.

Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova are preparing already for their August 2018 congressional primary rematch by raising and spending campaign money.

Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tim Canova are preparing already for their August 2018 congressional primary rematch by raising and spending campaign money.

david.montero@latimes.com

Twitter: @davemontero

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