Category: Health and wellness
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10 unconventional tips for replacing health insurance
Changing health insurance is a ritual part of changing jobs, graduating from school or starting your own business. Health insurance market reforms through the Affordable Care Act have not made the process any easier or less stressful. The simple questions “What are my insurance operations?” can still be addressed only with a complicated response. The…
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Money Island infrastructure questions
(Updated October 23, 2014 to incorporate discussion of the state’s latest local water quality report and other news since the original date of publication on May 24, 2014. In July 2016 a joint agency improvement plan endorsed by the county freeholders and local township under the supervision of the township engineer as the lead engineer…
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New Jersey Department of Agriculture: Don’t sell out to the soybean industry
The future of aquaculture in New Jersey New Jersey Department of Agriculture is headed down a dangerous course by promoting a soy-based aquaculture industry. We should be clear that the program’s sponsor, the United Soybean Board, is the marketing arm of the notorious Monsanto corporation with the help of pesticide maker DuPont. Together they champion…
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full moon and its effect on an injured brain
Anyone who lives near the ocean is well aware of the moon’s powerful impact on nature. Tidal flooding where I live on the Delaware Bay, for example, is always heaviest at full moon. The full moon is an undeniably powerful force of nature. In contrast, the moon’s effect on humans has always been uncertain despite…
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The real science of the 21st century
Today The Wall Street Journal included coverage of this important research that was previously covered in Nature and other journals. I am convinced this topic of study will essentially define scientific knowledge about human life and health for the years ahead. Virtually all areas of human science and medical research are pointing in the direction of this…
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“Virus of the mind” – margin notes
This book was published in 1996 by Richard Brodie, the original author credited with publishing Microsoft Word. Although I may be reading it 15 years late, it seems that some of the concepts are more relevant today than when the work was published. These are unformatted margin notes from my reading, published here in my customary…
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Finances in the Older Patient With Cognitive Impairment, February 16, 2011, Widera et al. 305 (7): 698 — JAMA
Here is another report, this one from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that physicians are primary contacts in financial decision-making of cognitively impaired patients; presumably those who have not made adequate prior arrangements with a trusted financial adviser. Research of families with special needs children reported the same conclusion. Physicians are too often the…
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Less than half of us believe in the American dream
Americans increasingly see tension between rich and poor. A sharp change in American attitudes is summarized in this report: A new Pew Research Center survey of 2,048 adults finds that about two-thirds of the public (66%) believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor—an increase of 19 percentage points since 2009.…
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Praise for Kaiser Family Foundation & HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
We applaud HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a groundbreaking speech delivered yesterday at Kaiser Family Foundation. We hope that it marks an expansion of boundaries, literally and conceptually, for the federal government’s health reform movement. It no longer makes sense to view the American health care system independently of worldwide health care. We live in…
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Motivation vs. Follow-through
This is a useful distinction; reminds me of the lessons learned in Dr. William Glasser’s famous book “Positive Addiction”. We might think of motivation as inspired thinking. Follow-through is most effective as a mindless compulsion. The neurological differences in these behaviors are fascinating. “Motivation is in the mind; follow-through is in the practice. Motivation is…