yichao firstname, zeaster nickname, zhang lastname

cnn news on 12.29

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Nicole Lapin. Thanks so much for tracking in with us today, here is a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

CHAOS IN SOMALIA
Chaos is unfolding in Somalia's capital. Ethiopian-backed Somali troops are in Mogadishu , and the government has imposed a state of emergency. The Islamic militia that controlled Mogadishu for months abandoned the city just hours ago. There are all reports of wide spread looting now. The Islamic militia has vowed to regroup and regain control of the Somalia capital.

HAJJ PILGRAIMAGE
Millions of Muslim from all around the world are in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the start of the annual HAJJ Pilgrimage. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must take a trip at least once in a life time. Saudi Arabia has stepped up security and has issued warnings to avoid deadly stampedes that have killed people in previous years.

DICTATOR ON DEATH ROW
It looks like Saddam Hussein's execution is no longer a question of "if" but "when". It could have been anytime over the next few weeks. An appeals court Tuesday upheld his death sentence for the 1982 Dujail massacre. In what can only be described as a goodbye letter. The former Iraqi dictator urges the Iraqis to unite. The letter was posted on the Baath’s website.

JOHN EDWARDS 2008
Former senator John Edwards made it official just hours ago. He is added again as a Democratic candidate for president. Edwards kicked off his 2008 bid for the White House from a New Orleans home being rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. He says it represents the power people have to build a better America.

EN ROUTE TO THE APOLLO
The godfather of Soul takes to the stage of Apollo Theater today where fans will bid him farewell. A horse-drawn carriage with James Brown’s golden casket was followed by thousands of fans walking through Harlem. Saturday he will be buried near the James Brown Arena in Augusta,Georgia. Brown passed away on Christmas morning in Atlanta at the age of 73.

And with that you are now up-to-date, for more on these stories and other news of the day, CNN is always your source online or on television.

cnn news on 12.27

I'm Nicole Lapin at the CNN center in Atlanta. Here are some headlines NOW IN THE NEWS.

A developing story out of Taiwan. Three-foot high waves are heading towards the east coast of the Philippines right now. Taiwan Central Weather Bureau says a tsunami was triggered by a powerful earthquake. US officials say the magnitude was about 7.1. Then a magnitude 6.4 aftershock hit. No reports of damages or injuries so far.

People are remembering the devastating tsunami that struck parts of Asia two years ago today. Survivors and mourners visited mass graves, lit candles along the beaches and observed the moments of silence. Indonesia held a tsunami evacuation drill to raise awareness. They also hope to test new technology. The tsunami killed about 230,000 people and left millions more homeless.

People in Florida have a lot of cleaning-up to do this morning. Powerful storms hit the state yesterday. Tornados destroyed at least two homes and damaged at least ten more near Jacksonville. One person was injured there. Six more people in Daytona Beach were injured when a storm swept their apartment building.

A fuel pipeline explosion in Nigeria has killed at least 200 people. It took twelve hours to contain this fire. The Nigerian Red Cross says thieves trying to steal fuel caused this explosion. Stealing fuel is very common in Nigeria and often deadly. Back in May, 150 people were killed in a pipeline explosion near Lagos.

In Iraq this morning, three more US troops killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The death toll now passes quite a milestone. 2,977 Americans have died in Iraq, four more than the number of people killed on the September 11 terror attacks.

And overnight rebel forces in Somalia are retreating, and forces from neighboring Ethiopia advanced on the Somalia capital of Mogadishu. Islamic militants have been fighting for the control of Somalia since June. Somalia’s internationally-backed government called on militants to surrender and promised them amnesty if they stopped opposing the government.

In the Philippines, a horrible Christmas Day fire at a department store kills dozens. Look at this video right here. A woman on the roof right there is waiting to be rescued as intense smoke is surrounding her. Illegal fireworks being sold at this store sparked that blaze. People inside couldn’t escape because the exit was locked. So far, police haven’t been able to find the owner of the store.

And for more on these stories and continuing coverage of breaking news, log on to cnn.com or tune in to CNN television right now.

cnn news on 12.28

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I 'm Nicole Lapin, here is some headlines NOW IN THE NEWS.

Former President Gerald Ford died last night .He was 93 years old .Ford helps the US recover from water gate Scandal .His presidency was defined by his pardon of Richard Nixon. Ford is the only person to have served as president and vice president without have being elected to either office .

Sadaam Hussein could be excuted as early as today .Yesterday ,an Iraqi appeal court upheld Sadaam Hussein death sentence .Iraqi law requirements to be carried out within 30 days .He was sentenced in Nov for his role in 1982 massacre .

Israel has launched what could be a major blow to maintaining its monthly ceasefire with the Palestinian authority.This morning , Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's vow to renew pinpoint attacks against rocket -launching cells in GAZA.The decision came after 2 Israeli boys were wounded by a rocket in a town On the Israeli Gaze border .

Ethiopian and Somalia government troops have taking control of major Somalia town from Islamic fighters .A somalia spoksman says Somalia troops are now heading towards Porter Town about 20 miles from Mogadishu. An Islamic militia controls Mogadishu and much of Somalia.Yesterday ,UN envoy to Somalia warned a deteriorating situation in that country .

Charges that US military had identified the 9.11 hijackers before the attacks are false .That's the finding of investigation .While Publican Congreeman Curt Weldon had charged ,that a secret military unit had collected data on hijackers a year before the attack. Waiters on the Senate intelligence now say there is no evidence to back that up .

We are just now take out from this one ,and i think another storm could probably snow a simpelly good .And they just can't catch a break in the mile high city .Meteorologists are say more snow is expected in the Denver's area tomorrow and on Friday rivaling last week blizzard .

The White house is expected to announce today that it wants to list polar bears as the endangered species .And An interior official deparment tells the Washington post bears are in trouble because warm temperatures are melting their habitat. It would be the first time in-administration acknowledges climate change as a reason for putting a species on that list.

And for more on these stories and continuing coverage of breaking news, log on to CNN.com or tune in to CNN television right now.

npr news on 12.26

From NPR news in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell.

Pope Benedict delivered his traditional Christmas speech to the world today, and the Pope called for solutions to conflicts across the globe. He especially mentioned the Middle East with as many grave crises and conflicts. The Pontiff said he hopes for a just and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. The Pope also mentioned violence in Lebanon, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Darfar and the whole of Africa. His message came as Ethiopian fighter jets bombed airports in Somalia, and more people died in suicide bombings in Iraq. Benedict delivered Christmas greetings in dozens of languages including English.

In Iraq violence has made it difficult for Christians in Baghdad to celebrate Christmas. NPR's Joe Riddle reports.

The Virgin Mary church is a largest church in Baghdad, It is simply overflowing with catholics on Christmas, but today it's half empty. The street of seats on was cordoned off. Extra guards were posted and a police general was in the audience. These are the latest security precautions the church is taking in an atmosphere of increasing religious persecution. While generally regarded as benign by most Muslims, Sunni and Shiite extremists have targeted at Christian of all stripes. This year at least 8 Priests have been kidnapped, 2 of them tortured. Christians and other religious minorities have fled their homes. Some assessments say that three out of every four Christians from the southern province of Basra have now left for the Kurdish North, Syria or Jordan. Joe Riddle NPR news, Baghdad.

The conflict in Somalia has intensified. Aircraft from neighboring Ethiopia today bombed the international airport in the Somalia capital. Somalia's Ethiopia-backed transitional government later announced that it had closed all land, air and sea borders. NPR's Ofiba Christ reports.
It is hard to see how Somalia’s beleaguered interim government which only just controls Baidoa, its provincial base in the south can order all the country's borders closed. Backed by neighboring Ethiopia, the transitional government is effectively encircled by Islamist fighters who are backing loyalist forces. Ethiopia formally waded into the conflict Sunday with fighter planes and attack helicopters acknowledging for the first time that it had combat troops on the ground in Somalia. At dawn, Ethiopia aircraft bombed the international airport in the heart of the Somalia capital Mogadishu, a city controlled by the Islamists. This was evidence that Ethiopia is making good on its pledge to hit Islamists positions in Somalia, justifying its attacks as legitimate self-defense. Ofiba Christiansen, NPR news, Dacca.

James Brown, the godfather of Soul has died. He was 73. His agent says James Brown died earlier today at hospital in Atlantic after being admitted yesterday with severe pneumonia. Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and a few others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years.

This is NPW news.

In Canada, retired passport office workers are being brought back to work to help clear \ backlog. New US regulations are blamed for the logjam. Richard Remold reports form Toronto.

Canadians have always been allowed to enter the US without a passport. A driver's license and a birth certificate\ were all those required, but new regulations which take effect in January 23rd mean that Canadian citizens flying to the US must have a passport. This is usually a busy time of the year for the Canadian Passport Office, but applications are running almost double the rate they were last year at this time. People have been lining up as early as 5 AM at some offices to have their applications reviewed by an examiner. Compounding the effect of the new regulations is the fact that many passports issued just after 9.11, when there was a surge of applications, are now expiring and need to be renewed. Canadians crossing by car will have\\ until 2008 to get their passports. For NPR news, I'm Richard Remold in Toronto.

The Roman Catholic Church’s highest official in the Holy land celebrated midnight Mass in Bethlehem and appealed for an end to Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed. Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah made the remarks during his summitry to hundreds of worshippers. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attended the service and was escorted to the service by a large security detail to a front row seat. Earlier thousands of people were joined by marching bands clergymen and children dressed as Santa Claus. Most were local residents or Christian-Arabs from neighboring Israel. There was sparkling of foreign tourists. Bethlehem's tourist industry has been hard hit by the last six years of Israelis-Palestinian violence.

I'm Carl Kasell NPR news in Washington.

npr news on 12.25

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nori Ram.

Iran is dismissing as illegal a UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on the country over its nuclear activities. The resolution calls on all countries to ban materials and technology that could be used for Iran's nuclear and missile programs. F reports from Tehran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has called the resolution illegal and invalid in a statement read on state-run TV. Iran vowed to continue its nuclear activities, which it says are peaceful. The resolution demands Iran end all research on uranium enrichment, a key step in the nuclear fuel process that could be used to make bombs. The resolution also calls on Iran to stop all research and development that can make or deliver atomic weapons. If Iran does not comply, the Council could adopt other non-military sanctions. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the resolution would only discredit the UN Security Council. For NPR news I am R in Tehran.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the resolution a piece of torn paper. He said the Security Council would regret voting in favor of the sanctions, saying the west has lost its chance to make amends with Iran.

In Iraq today, officials say at least 7 police officers were killed in an attack on a police station, about 30 others were wounded. According to the report, a man walked into the station and blew himself up. Insurgents then fired 6 mortar rounds at the building.
Meanwhile in the southern city of Samara , at least 5 police officers were killed in fighting with militia members.

In Somalia, fighting between the Union of Islamic Corps militia and forces loyal to the UN-backed government has spread beyond Baidoa , where the government is now located to new areas of the country. Fierce clashes were reported today. BBC's Adam Meina has more.

The opposing sides blame each other for broadening the offensive. The Islamic Corps claim they've been attacked by Ethiopian artillery and helicopters, and there are also reports that Ethiopian military jets have been bombing Islamic forces in the town of Jaweler, near the Ethiopian border. Meanwhile the transitional government is accusing the Islamic Corps of opening their assault on new fronts. The BBC's Adam Meina reporting.

All 6 runways are supposed to be opened at Denver International Airport today for the first time since a blizzard hit Wednesday. Thousands of passengers were stranded, including Sherry Louis Cohoe (人名) of L., Idaho. She spent much of her time making new friends. “Only confiscated from caught, from captain there, so that we only thought somebody was in need, we can offer them to them and we can friendly have our a little community up here and it has been very pleasant.” Denver International is the fifth busiest airport in the country. The shutdown there has had a ripple effect across the country, causing delays and cancellations at one of the busiest travel times of the year.

You are listening to NPR news from Washington.

There are thousands of homes and businesses without electricity in central Wisconsin. A snowstorm brought down power lines Friday, interrupting services to about 30,000 customers. Utility officials say about half have been restored and crews are working to bring everybody back online.

Phoenix-based Mesa Air will be the first US-based carrier to operate flights out of mainland China. After a merger with Shenzhen Airlines, the combined carrier will also extend Shenzhen's reach into rural China. From Member station KJZZ in Phoenix, Mark Marine reports.

Mesa Air already operates its regional carrier for a number of larger airlines including Delta, United and US Airways. Now it will combine with Shenzhen Air to reach in the parts of rural China. Under the deal, the combined airline which is yet to be named will have 20 50-seat planes operating before the 2008 Beijing Olympics with plans to operate 100 planes within 5 years. Right now, Mesa Air flies to 173 cities and 43 states, the Bahamas, Canada and Mexico. China is the world's fastest growing travel market, with the population of more than 1.2 billion people. Forty of the country's 50 largest airports have expansion projects underway. For NPR news I am Mark Marine in Phoenix.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger broke his leg, skiing yesterday in Sun Valley, Idaho. A spokesman for the governor's office said the governor was vacationing with his family in Sun Valley when the accident occurred. He said no one else was hurt.
I'm Nori Ram, NPR news in Washington.

npr news on 12.24

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbra Client.

A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly ended. Agreement has been reached on several confidence-building measures. NPR's Linda Grustin has more on the surprise meeting.
It comes after heavy international pressure on Olmert to do more to strengthen Abbas over the ruling Hamas Movement. Abbas recently announced he will call new Palestinian elections, an announcement that sparked violence between his Fatah and Hamas in Gaza that left at least 10 Palestinians dead. Palestinian officials say what would most strengthen Abbas is an Israeli release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. But Olmert has said he won't do that until Hamas frees an Israeli solider captured in June. Linda Grustin, NPR News Jerusalem.

The UN Security Council has unanimously approved sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear activities. The resolution prohibits all countries from supplying materials and technologies that could contribute to Iran's uranium enrichment program. Acting US ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff says the resolution is the result of intense diplomatic discussions. "We are working nationally with our friends and allies, with the institutions like the EU to implement these measures and ensure that there is no assistance provided to Iran's enrichment, reprocessing heavy water or ballistic weapons programs. " Iran says the resolution is illegal and vows to continue its nuclear activities.

Coalition forces in Afghanistan say they have killed a top Taliban leader. Military spokesmen say Akhtar Mohammed Osmani had been leading the insurgency in southern Afghanistan where it has been the strongest. The BBC's John Migivering has more.
The statement from Coalition forces in Afghanistan said Osmani and two of his associates were killed in an air strike while traveling in a vehicle in Helmand province close to the border with Pakistan. It described his death as a major breakthrough. But the spokesman for the Taliban denied that Osmani has been killed, and dismissed the news as Coalition propaganda. The BBC's John Migivering in Kabul.

Islamists fighting the weak western-backed transitional government in Somalia are calling on Muslims around the world for help. Government forces have been defending Baidoa, its only stronghold, from Islamic Courts Union fighters since Tuesday. The Islamists are also targeting Ethiopian troops which are supporting the official Somali government. The Islamists want Somalia to be under Koranic rule.

Outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says Sudan may be willing to approve a peacekeeping force for the Darfur region. He said Khartoum might agree to African Union peacekeeping troops with support from the United Nations. Annan recently sent a special envoy to Sudan.

This is NPR News.

Some 15, 000 striking GoodYear workers in the United State and Canada could return to work as early as January third if they ratify a tentative agreement reached yesterday. We have details from Mark Uricky of member station WCPN in Cleveland.
The deal between the largest American tyre company and the United Steel Workers Union could end a two-and-half-month-old strike that affected 12 plants in the US and four in Canada. Union spokesman Wayne Ranick said key to the agreement was saving health care benefits for retirees. "We believe that this is something that the current retirees have already earned and they should not have taken away from them, and also we have many people who have worked a number of years in anticipation of having this type of coverage in retirement years. " Retirees will pay what Rudnick called a very modest increase in premiums. The company also agreed to reverse its plans to shut down its plant in Talor, Texas, pledging to keep it open at least one more year. For NPR News, I'm Mark Uricky in Cleveland.

Denver's International Airport has reopened after a blizzard forced it to close for 2 days. But spokesman Chuck Cannon says delayed travelers shouldn't expect to get on a plane anytime soon because travelers with tickets for today have priority. "They are getting on the planes first, the ones whose flights were canceled are being put on standby, and the problem is there are not many empty seats to use for standbys, so there are a lot of those people whose flights were canceled earlier that are not gonna get where they wanna be by Christmas.
Meanwhile the fog is lifted over London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest stand. Some normality is returning after more than 1000 flights were canceled over the last 3 days.

I'm Barbra Client, NPR News in Washington.

show hidden files in mac os x

using AppleScript to show hidden files, switchHidden.scpt

tell application "Finder" to quit
display dialog "Show Hidden Files..." buttons {"ON", "OFF"} default button 1
copy the result as list to {buttonpressed}
try
if the buttonpressed is "OFF" then do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE"
if the buttonpressed is "ON" then do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE"
end try
tell application "Finder" to launch

sth about .DS_Store files

from
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107822
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301711

1. To delete all the .DS_Stores on your drive (use Terminal.app or xterm to execute this command):
sudo find / -name \.DS_Store -print -delete

2.
this is just a suggested thing for people to do so that their XP drive wont have the .DS_Store files on it everywhere...
Prevent the .DS_Store files from being created
a.    Open the Terminal (Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Terminal)
b.    Type: "defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true"
c.    Press Return
d.    Type: "cp Library/Prefrences/com.apple.desktopservices.plist /Library/Prefrences/"
e.    Press Return
f.    Type: "sudo chmod 777 /Library/Prefrences/com.apple.desktopservices.plist"
g.    Press Return
h. You will be prompted for your password.
i. Press Return
j.    Restart the computer

Mac OS X 10.4: How to prevent .DS_Store file creation over network connections
This article contains advanced material intended only for those who are looking for information on .DS_Store files. If you do not already have an opinion on this matter, you can disregard this article.

To configure a Mac OS X user account so that .DS_Store files are not created when interacting with a remote file server using the Finder, follow the steps below.
Note: This will affect the user's interactions with SMB/CIFS, AFP, NFS, and WebDAV servers.

Open the Terminal.
Type:
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
Press Return.
Restart the computer.
If you want to prevent .DS_Store file creation for other users on the same computer, log in to each user account and perform the steps above—or distribute a copy of your newly modified com.apple.desktopservices.plist file to the ~/Library/Preferences folder of other target users.

These steps do not prevent the Finder from creating .DS_Store files on the local volume. These steps do not prevent previously existing .DS_Store files from being copied to the remote file server. Please note that disabling the creation of .DS_Store files on remote file servers can cause unexpected behavior in the Finder (details on the following).

Mac OS X: Get Info Comments May Not Appear for Remote Volumes
When you add or edit a Get Info comment for an item on a server volume, the change is not visible to other clients or at the server itself.   

Mac OS X treats comments as a Finder property, such as icon position and view setting. Writing of these properties is local, which means your changes are not saved back to the server. Thus someone connecting to the server from a different computer may not see the Get Info comments you add to an item on the server from another remote client of the server.

For a comment to be visible to all clients, it may be changed at the server itself (see Note 2).

Notes
Comment changes do not appear to clients immediately, but they will eventually.
Copying a folder to the server yields a different result than editing an existing file or folder. Comments for that folder and items within it will be transferred when you copy it. If you must modify a comment on the server from a client, a user with adequate privileges may do so in this manner.

关于美国医疗救治无保险人士的一个例子和相关了解

在麻省的frogx前一段写了两篇讲美国的社会医疗保险的文章,极好,转载如下。


关于美国医疗救治无保险人士的一个例子和相关了解


美国社会医疗保险的继续调查


昨 天晚上,一个朋友(F2)切伤了手,比较严重,需送医院急救。但是他没有医疗保险,于是就电话找人帮忙。我让他们首先给校医院电话(他们没有车,住在校内 住宅区,校医院救护车5分钟可达)。结果校医院说,没有保险,请去35分钟路程外一家有ER(emergency room)的医院。

我 家离他们家15分钟开车,只好着急上火的让他们就近找了人送医院,然后换了衣服就奔往另外一家医院(私立,条件很好,有ER)。那里的护士先量了病人血 压,确定无生命危险,给了三张无菌纸让捂住伤口,然后晾了45分钟无人理睬(6:45pm到7:30pm)。后来一个医生过来,给拍了片子,看了看,给包 扎止疼以后(包扎很好,器械不错),8:45pm赶出门,让自己去看别的大夫(给了refer)。

以上是事情梗概,去帮忙之前先粗略做了一些相关法律的调查,回来以后继续细查了一些法律网站。可以介绍一些情况。

介 绍这些的目的是为了澄清“美国医院不可以不救助病人,哪怕病人没有钱”这个概念。这个概念跟“美国银行跨行查询不收费”“美国手机单向收费”一样,属于国 人容易被恶意宣传误导的yy概念。这些概念并非完全误导,因为美国银行确实有一些(根据目前个人阅读各大银行服务条款的调查结果,属于极少数)跨行查询不 收费,美国手机也确实有一些plan单向收费(根据公开的调查数据为少数)。


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首先介绍大致的概念:

一个医院可能分为两个部分,DO(doctor's office)和ER(Emergency Room)。

法 律规定(各州细节不同,下面介绍的是大致相同的骨干部分),所有冲到ER的病人,必须得到检查(无论是否有钱),一旦检查后确定是危急情况 (Emergency Condition),必须采取所有可能的措施来稳定病人病情(Stabilize,不是治疗)。所有被ER指定到DO的病人 (refer),DO的医生必须至少看一次病人,但是医疗建议和诊断治疗不是必须的。

具体到实例,就是说,如果一个人断了骨头,冲进 急诊室,医生不能因为他(她)没有医疗保险就说滚蛋。当包扎给夹板(不让骨头继续晃荡)给止疼药(让睡好)以后,可以扔走,不一定要做接骨手术。然后病人 去看医生,医生给看看,然后refer给另一个医生,然后无限循环直到病人找到钱或者遇到足够好心的医生为止。

而且如果附近的医院不 设ER,这事情就比较微妙了。因为医生完全可以拒绝诊断和治疗。就好比我朋友遇到的情况,UHS(university health service) 就不设ER(请看名字,虽然大小比一般医院还大,但是就是不叫hospital),用来规避经济损失(学生穷的比较多,容易不买医疗保险或付不出医药 费),然后就可以拒绝做哪怕最简单的包扎止血,直接说,你去35分钟外那个医院吧。我当时真是很着急,因为朋友的太太没说清楚,我还以为是朋友手指完全被 切断(实际上是切了很深),断肢再造有时间限制,而且ER多半不会为无保险的人做手术。事实上最后的处理也是打了止疼针,包了一圈。


---------------------------------


相关法律简介:

EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act)于 1986年被国会通过(在此之前美国医生是凭良心在救助穷苦病人的,和中国以前赤脚医生所讲究的医德类似!)在它通过之前,医院有权转移无钱的病人并不给 予诊断和治疗。

EMTALA规定如下条款:

1. 如果到医院的病人为Emergency Condition,医 院无权拒绝检查或者非必要的令其转院。(如何在诊断之前就决定病人是否为EC呢?看你去不去Emergency Room,呵呵。ER的同样项目收费大概 是DO的若干倍)请注意,这里有保护女性的条款,特别注明,只要女性在怀孕,无论任何情况,她都是EC(10个月内都是),因此ER必须对女性病人特别小 心,万一瞎了眼嫌贫爱富推出门去是个孕妇,那就乐大发了,刑事罪。

2. 每个到ER的病人都必须得到检查(screen)以确定他(她)病情的严重程度。一旦确定是EC,则医院有义务诊断和稳定(examine and stabilize)病人病情到一定程度(a certain limit)。

3. 医院有询问病人是否能支付治疗费用的权利,但不得以此为理由耽误法定的诊断和治疗。



---------------------------------




美国几年前的情况:

将 近4千万美国人(18-64岁,因为65岁以上公民美国政府有medicaid项目用于保证最底线的医 疗,赞!)没有医疗保险。以前只是穷人和失业者没有保险,现在甚至很多中产阶级也买不起保险了。1980到1998之间,保险费用翻了4番 (quadrupled),在1998年,美国人一共花了1.1万亿美元用于医疗保险,平均每人$4000(1998年的$4000,我靠!)

Nearly 40 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 carry no health insurance coverage. In the past, only the poor or the unemployed faced this problem. Today, with health care costs rising dramatically each year, the threat of being uninsured now extends to low and moderate income people as well. Between 1980 and 1998, according to the Health Care Financing Administration, the amount of money Americans spent on health care quadrupled. In 1998 Americans spent $1.1 trillion on health care, roughly $4,000 for every person in the United States.

---------------------------------


中国的对比现状:

2005年12月21日,中国社会科学院发布的社会蓝皮书显示,全国有65.7%的人没有任何形式的医疗保险,大约四分之一的受访者曾经因为无力支付医疗费用而放弃过医疗。

基 本医疗保险方面,中国劳动和社会保障部公布的数据显示,截至2004年12月底,中国医疗、工伤和生育保险的参保人数分别达到12386万人、6823万 人和4370万人。数据显示,到2004年底,医疗、工伤和生育保险的参保人数分别比上年增加1484万人、2248万人和715万人。在参保人员中,有 51万人享受了工伤保险待遇,44万人享受了生育保险待遇。
商业医疗保险方面,人身险业务平稳增长。保费收入3228.2亿元,同比增长 7.2%,与2003年的32.4%和2002年的59.75%的同比增长速度相比,出现了较大幅度的回落。因保险公司主动调整业务结构和受升息等因素的 影响,人身险业务增速有所放缓。健康险是寿险品种中被人看好的一个品种。按照寿险、健康险和人身意外伤害险的划分方式,2004年这三大类险种的保费收入 分别为2851.3亿元、259.9亿元和117.1亿元,分别占当年人身保险保费收入总额的88.32%、8.05%和3.63%,同比增长速度分别达 到7.21%、17.56%和6.81%。


---------------------------------



我国对应法律条文

《医疗机构管理条例》第三十一条规定,医疗机构对危重病人应当立即抢救。
《中华人民共和国执业医师法》第二十四条规定:对急危患者,医师应当采取紧急措施进行诊治;不得拒绝急救处置。

同样是规定了急救处置,而没有治疗规定。

这里澄清的概念是,法律上,中美都规定了对急诊需急救不得拒绝救治,而不是普遍意义上的救死扶伤。

我国法律还细致的规定了,战时不救治伤员军人是刑事罪,自然灾害造成的疾病不得拒绝救治。

---------------------------------


但是我国明显还存在有法不依的拒收危重急诊病人的情况,这和医疗资源紧张,法律意识淡薄都有很大关系。

更 深一步的调查发现中 美的区别。美国有15%的诊所不接收任何形式(或者绝大部分面向公众,负责范围受限)的保险,只收取现金,只对有支付能力的人服务。同时也有一些大医院, 慈善医院(比如在芝加哥的一所医院,心脏病治疗排名全美前列,每年40%的支出为慈善性质,面向低收入者)在“捡”这些病人救。不得不赞一下美国的富裕程 度,$1.1 trillion的保险支出,而且大部分是仅仅保着头疼脑热(比如我的保险就有并不太高的上限)。

中国医院是大医院富裕,小医院几乎要倒闭。而富裕的医院也没有医疗资源来照顾那些无钱就医的人,他们的资源也很有限,只好价高者得。比如天坛医院的脑外科病床,那就不是仅仅有病就能住的了。还得有些关系,有些运气。总的来说,资源缺乏是根本性的矛盾。

同时,我国传统观念造成人们容易过度幻想美好,这给我国医疗事业的发展,医疗改革的深入带来了极大的困难。

比 如认为求医就要治好,没有尽最大的力量救治(无论是否能负担)就是不救死扶伤。前一个要求不可能实现是因为现代医学离人类的健康诉求还差得天隔地远,现代 西医从解剖尸体开始这么些年,取得的成就极其有限,非人类免疫系统可攻击的重大病症几乎没有征服的。关于不同人体状况的不同医疗状况也是最近10年才开始 研究,以前就笼统分个男人女人,老人成人小孩。后一个要求是对世界大同的过早yy。比如世界上最好那个级别的心外科医生就那么几个,你让他们过劳死了也不 可能给每个心脏手术病人动刀啊,再说那医学院学生怎么成长啊。而且有些药全世界生产能力都有限,青霉素还用了20年才普及工业化生产呢,很多好药它成本就 奇高(整个制药工业都有很大责任),除非政府负担全部药费实现管理下公民的医疗共产主义(目前我国可以实现平均的低水平,比如毛主席时代的赤脚医生下乡, 各位同意否?要更好条件,得学美国搞个每年$1.1 trillion),不然咋搞?


认为救死扶伤就是哪怕没钱 也得给治好(不是仅仅急诊处置)是一个普遍误解的概念。中国有传统说送佛送到西,救人救到底,这个有些不切实际。现实 法律的要求是,如果是危重急诊,不问经济情况得采用一切手段尽力维持和稳定病人健康状况,这条目前国内也很难做到。比如南湘雅北协和之一的湘雅医院,脑外 科ICU一共12张床位,显然很高概率时时爆满(一旦中风基本就要进这里抢救),怎么办?一个明显没有后续治疗支付能力(不可能进行康复治疗)的病人在 ICU里,外头一个有条件有可能的等床位,怎么办?这都是现实中的问题。也许有人会说,那就政府负担所有医药费啊,多收些富人的税就够了。请注意,美国一 年医疗保险$1.1 trillion,尚且做不到全民免费医疗(以美国的器材和水平),就把他们的档次降一半(中国大陆器材差,但是医生并不差),甚至降10倍,我们每年财 政收入也负担不起。同时要注意到,对于强烈依赖维生系统植物人这个很棘手的问题(稳定状况,但是离开医院就是死路一条),美国都已经法院批准干掉一个了 (实际上保护保险公司,名义上是依照病人家属的要求)。

2002年9月开始实施的《医疗事故处理条例》提出了举证倒置的概念,也使得医疗 成本不可避免的上升。医生为了自己的安全,不得不防御性治疗。要么就开大检查,大药方;要么就建议转院说自己治不了。这个条例使得我国医疗体系进一步“现 代化”,随之而来的就是西方一直在承受的医疗成本高问题。



美国社会医疗保险的继续调查



再续上次的事件,那个切了手指的哥们得到一张$850+的帐单并且不能享受减免医疗保险的待遇,我们建议他去寻求社会低保援助。



那个哥们通过咨询医院,得知麻州有一个叫做FreeCare的程序,给低收入人群减免医疗帐单,他于是去申请,得中,那天晚上的急诊费一分都不用掏了。



得知这个消息,今天下午我去我们镇的Health Department了解了更详细的情况,结合一周前对镇“人大代表”(Member of Board of Selectives)Cynthia的访谈,我大致了解了美国的医疗保险体系。



因为体系很复杂,我表达能力有限,这篇文章可以想象会比较长而且杂乱,请大家多点耐心,多谢宽容。:)



一、历史与现状



很 久很久以前(比如100年前),美国人都拿着支票本或者现金或者赊账去看医生,保险业网络还不具备社会基础保障能力。到了50年前,日益进步 的医疗科技和医疗负担使得保险业有了介入的空间,保险公司开始组织起医生网络,提供真正广泛意义的医疗保险服务。美国的大部分哲学都是小政府的, Liberal的,因此政府很愿意让保险公司让市场来解决这个问题。


一开始,情况是很不错的。可是随 之而来问题就出现了,随着医疗科技进步,保险费越来越高,很多人买不起保险。根据统计,50%以上的个人破产是 因为医疗帐单,而其中绝大部分是没有医疗保险的人。于是政府开始介入,通过公共法案COBRA(1985)要求所有雇主给雇员提供保险,并在企业破产之后 的最长到12个月内继续保险失业者。这缓解了一部分问题,但是近年来形势进一步恶化,美国政府不得不开始寻求解决方案,并在各个州进行医疗改革试点 (2004开始至今)。



首先有个核心的问题是,美国没有一个联邦级别的医疗保障体系,各个州 有自己的。从最好的MA,NY,到最差的Mississippi,New Mexico,社会保障能力差别大到不可思议。MA在过去的十年内为所有居民(甚至非法移民)提供相当好的急诊医疗保障(MassHealth和 FreeCare程序),而Mississippi甚至不能保障新生儿免费疫苗。这是由各州的经济情况和联邦制决定的,联邦政府相当程度上无能为力。而且 美国是个移民国家,各个州有很严重的政治种族冲突因素需要考虑。比如New Mexico就强烈反对对无档案居民(undocumented resident)提供任何形式的社会福利,因为他们非法移民压力非常大。而麻州作为一个非常Liberal的州,则强烈要求推行普遍意义的“人权”。



其 次,医疗费用的上涨最近5年是明显指数型的,最近某期的时代杂志上有一幅图,明确标识这个医疗费用的上涨已经跃过了指数函数的e^x=x那一 点,进入暴涨区间,而且明显还没有看到收尾的迹象。没有任何不带有强制公共政策的纯粹市场调节可以解决指数型成本增长问题。这使得整个形势岌岌可危。如我 在最初的文章中所引用的,美国一共3亿人口,有4000万19-65岁的人没有医疗保险,这是一个极大的社会危机。它带来相当高的中产阶级破产概率,严重 影响社会发展。



再次,保险公司和医疗行业的利益共同体越来越紧密,它们在选举中发挥了极大的 资金源作用,对国会有无与伦比的影响力--它们的影响力与“石油军 事”,“出版媒体”并列。对利益的诉求使得它们完全忘记了社会希望它们完成的保障作用,我哥们受伤以后被拒绝以低价买保险就是很明确的例子。它们不在乎你 是不是会破产,只在乎利润率多高。



作为联邦意义上的法律,只规定了65岁以上的公民(是否包 括绿卡和签证持有者我不确定,应该是不包括无档案居民的,因为这个和社会保险帐号 SSN联系)老人有联邦退休基金保证的Medicaid程序,实现老人免费(或极低费用)医疗。对于有工作的人,法律强制要求雇主提供一定保障程度的医疗 保险。对于其他人,包括小孩,则没有法律保障。



严酷的现实摆在眼前,穷州没有办法,只好看着自己州的竞争力越来越差(谁都不愿意去连小孩疫苗都要自己操心的州吧,税又不见得少),富州则用不同的方案自寻出路。



二、麻州的各种程序


作 为美国第二富州和号称的“the spirit of the United States"(Liberal,Democratic),麻州有覆盖面相当高的社会保障体系。除了执行联邦法要求的医疗保险以外,麻州有两个程序负责为 其他人解除一部分医疗费用或者保障急诊医疗费用。



第一个是MassHealth,它是针对特殊需要保护人群的,具体细节不详,但是应该是包括治疗费用,需要一定的共同负担费用(co-pay)或者减免下限(deductible)。五类人群如下(低收入是前提要求):

1. 孕妇
2. 小于19岁的小孩
3. 抚养(必须住一起)小于19岁小孩的父母
4. 长期(>12个月)残疾人士
5. 长期(>12个月)失业人士

其中第5条审查非常严格,防止自由职业者钻这个空子,“尤其麻洲艺术家多,更要提防”(政府官员原话)。

对于第2条,对于小于19岁的大学生,只要学期学分超过9分(意味着能交钱选一些学分),就不能被MassHealth所覆盖。



第 二个是FreeCare,它是针对广泛意义的低收入麻州居民(包括无档案居民)的,不包括治疗费用(see doctor,specialist,treatment,medicine etc),只包括去公立医院ER和公共社区健康中心(state run community health center)的费用。



FreeCare在它的负担范围(coverage)内,对同一个家庭组成(household)年人均收入在$19,608以下的实行全免,$19608年收入以上的以年收入减去$19608剩下的40%为减免下限(deductible)。



这里有一些非常敏感的美国式法律概念需要澄清:



公 共社区健康中心不是国内字面意义上的那种服务,而是非常非常少的,州直属的医疗服务机构,以我就学的学校为中心,方圆1000平方英里内一共 只有7家。虽然我就学的学校是公立学校,但是学校健康服务(University Health Service)居然算私营社区健康中心,所以那天晚上它可以对我哥们说,你没有保险,我不确定你是否能负担费用,去30分钟外那个公立医院吧。UHS不 是公立的理由是它是学校的直属财产而不是州的(虽然学校是公共财产)。美国法律规定私营医疗机构可以根据患者经济情况决定是否收治患者。



FreeCare负担减免的是去公共社区健康中心进行常规医疗建档(但不包括诊断,治疗,药品)和万一有需要去急诊的费用。我哥们就属于后者。



减免下限(deductible)说的是如果不到这个数,就全部由个人负担,超过这个数,个人出这么多,保险程序负责减免剩下的。



家庭组成(household)和家庭(family)是不同概念,比如住一个屋檐下有两个老人夫妇,一对夫妻和一个孩子,那么这是两个household,两个老人算一个,那对夫妻和孩子算一个,哪怕老人就是夫妻其中一人的父母。



FreeCare 并不是福利性的把税钱拿去补贴,这个是最关键的区别。它完全不同于我国的财政补贴。而是一种医院和个人之间的双赢方案。个人负 担不了帐单,会导致破产。医院形成坏帐,交给收帐公司(collection company),造成它的账目很难看,影响公立医院的资金申请。于是FreeCare就是一种协议,合法的让医院和个人都勾销这些帐,大家都好过一些。



这样的程序在美国也非常少见,据相关官员介绍,已知的仅有MA和NY两个州。



三、麻州的未来



就 算是MassHealth和FreeCare,美国人也受不了了,因为医疗费用的暴涨造成极大的财政负担,于是麻州形成改革试点, FreeCare将于2007年10月1日正式终止(我哥们算是赶了末班车)。改为CommonwealthCare程序。改变主要是两方面的:



从覆盖力度来说,CommonwealthCare将会负责更多的费用,比如看医生,住院,常规检查,处方药,心理疾病康复,眼科,对于联邦贫困线(2005年MA为独立个人年收入$9804)以下的覆盖一定程度的牙医。



从覆盖范围来说,CommonwealthCare将大大缩小。它只负责19岁以上的美国公民或者法定居民(legal resident),收入在三倍联邦贫困线(独立个人为每年$29400,典型的4人家庭为$60000)以下,并且不能通过其他渠道获得保险的。



注:法定居民也是一个敏感的法律概念,它其实就是说绿卡持有者,但是通常让签证持有者有文字上的误解以为自己也属于,其实那样的情况属于合法居民(law-permitted resident)。


从费用上来说,Commonwealth对联邦贫困线以下的人实行治疗免费,药品大概付$1或者$3的共同负担费用。高于联邦贫困线低于三倍联邦贫困线的将需要付一定的保险费(Premium)和共同负担费用。



CommonwealthCare已经于2006年10月启动了贫困线以下保障部分,将于2007年1月启动贫困线以上部分,并在FreeCare终止后完全取代之。


据 今天接待我们的负责官员介绍,每年来求助FreeCare的人有30%是无档案居民,它们在明年10月以后将陷入彻底被社会保障抛弃的困境, 目前没有解决办法,州政府目前也没有意向要解决这个问题。对于我们国际学生学者和家属,也将不处在社会保障体系内。因为我们可以从学校自己购买保险(无论 是否有能力负担)。



四、问题的本质和社会呼声



从 以上事实可以看出,保险公司,医院,药品公司的联盟才是真正问题的根源。无论它们是否有意抬价或者科技发展客观上使得成本上升,只要指数性成 本增长得不到控制,任何形式的市场调节都是徒劳的。同时也要理性看待人类对健康的诉求,这样的诉求如果是超越指数增长的,那就会给医疗成本增长提供极大的 动力。



目前各种组织正在游说国会通过联邦统一的社会医疗保障法案(通过的希望十分渺茫),通 过提高药品公司和私立医院税率的方法来形成负反馈(基本是 做梦)。总的来说,老百姓自发的组织很难在游说力上和保险公司药品公司集团抗衡。所以很容易形成类似CommonwealthCare这样形式的妥协,扔 掉一部分人,把钱集中起来服务有选举权的人,短期内缓解矛盾。

some info about Intel Pro/Wireless 2200(ipw2200) driver in Mac

links:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=6912
http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.1R/announce.html
http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=147845
http://www.seattlewireless.net/MacOS

How to mount filesystem as writable in Mac OS X single user mode

At the Darwin Boot Screen


type: -v -s to boot into single user mode.
Then type "/sbin/fsck -fy" followed by "/sbin/mount -uw /"
(as it says in the text it prints out before the prompt) in order to remount the filesystem as writable.

t42 fn+f5 开关无线网卡

Q: T4X系列 Fn+F5 不能用了,说没有安装无线和蓝牙设备?
A: 去IBM下载最新的驱动程序并安装。 安装的时候要注意一下,驱动里并没有带setup.exe,你必须自己在设备管理器里手动更新。然后还有很重要的一步,在解包后的驱动子目录WLLANINT\APPS\API里有个文件叫SBRNGAPI.EXE,
这是Intel的Sebring API,必须运行安装它,否则Fn+F5会依然无效。

some options about insert in mysql

--complete-insert, -c
Use complete INSERT statements that include column names.

--delayed-insert
Write INSERT DELAYED statements rather than INSERT statements.
You can delay INSERT's from happening until the table is free by using the DELAYED hint in your SQL statement. For example:
INSERT DELAYED INTO table (col) VALUES ('val');
The above SQL statement will return quickly, and it stores the insert statement in a memory queue until the table your inserting into is free from reads. This means that if there are multiple inserts in the queue they can be written in one block, which is a more optimal use of IO.
The downside to this is that it is not transactionally safe at all. You don't really know how long its going to take for your INSERT to happen. If the server crashes, or is forcefully shutdown you will loose your INSERTs. So don't use this on any critical information that would suck to loose.
One great use for the DELAYED keyword would be for storing web stats in a database. You don't want the client waiting for the stats to insert, and its not that big of a deal if you loose a few stats (for most people).

--extended-insert, -e
Use multiple-row INSERT syntax that include several VALUES lists. This results in a smaller dump file and speeds up inserts when the file is reloaded.

Recommend: firefox plugin,chmreader

url
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3235/
It works fine under linux, parse chinese files correctly.

ps:
chmsee,gnochm,xchm all have bugs
libchm-bin recommended by others but I have not tried.

说个有趣的事儿,钥匙与hash函数

G君中午借H君的自行车,自己下楼骑车去看病了。
晚上,H君骑车回家,结果怎么也找不到钥匙了,就call G君过来帮忙找。
G君一眼就找到了,指给H君,H君一看大呼:“这不是我的车啊”
G君:“不能啊,我中午就骑的这个车啊”
H君自己的自行车至今还未找到,只好骑着这个自己钥匙可以打开的车回家了。。。。

hash函数冲突了,哈