Monday, March 04, 2013

Questions?

Average Regular Gas Prices - Updated: 8:55 PM ET - at GasBuddy (click here)

USA

Today - $3.701

Yesterday - $3.709

One Week Ago - $3.737

One Month Ago - $3.493

One Year Ago - $3.716

Now, what did I write about "The Speculator Tax?"

3:58p.m. EST March 4, 2013

New York (AP)

Oil dropped below $90 a barrel for the first time this year Monday, (click here) although by the end of the trading session, the price had rebounded to $90.05. For consumer, gasoline prices dropped 3 cents a gallon over the weekend as driver caught a break after two months of steep increases....

...The International Monetary Fund predicts the spending cuts could reduce U.S. growth by 0.5% percentage point in 2013 in an economy that is already struggling with subpar growth four years into recovery.

Traders also said that a report showing weakness in China's service sector contributed to the drop in oil....

The USA economy is out pacing China and we are more energy efficient. That. Is. A. Good. Thing.

By Garry White and Emma Rowley
6:20 PM BST 13 May 2012

Oil price tumbles as global supplies flourish (click here)

The oil price has tumbled over the past two weeks as global stocks rose and concerns about eurozone debt and Chinese growth mounted. So, for oil investors, is it a case of sell in May and go away?

The macro data certainly supports this view. A statement last week from the Opec oil cartel noted that oil production by member states was more than 8pc ahead of what was needed in the second quarter. It is no surprise the price has been falling.
Opec supply has risen to about 31.62m barrels per day (bpd), as the Libyan oil industry started to recover. Saudi Arabia has also been ramping up production by than 56,500 bpd to 9.9m. Oil inventories in the US have also been rising. Supply is no longer such a large concern...,
Remember this? Last year before the election the gasoline prices were high and in some places in the USA over $4 and $5 per gallon? Remember? There was such a fuss by The West regarding prices to the consumer, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia came out to state they were over producing and was going to cut back on production. Remember? He stated the price to consumers at the gas pump had absolutely nothing to do with production. Remember? Ah, yes. And what exactly was the problem? 
SPECULATORS. 
Okay then.

I has said, "The inmates were running the asylum."


So, in order to get past the asylum, Mr. Rodman went to North Korea to play basketball and unexpectedly had a conversation with Kim. 
Yep.
How many statemen/woman can say they have had a conversation with Kim? 
ZERO. ZIP. NONE. Hello?
This is from Forbes. They know. There needs to be road blocks removed to facilitate a real economy for North Korea.
LEADERSHIP 

|
 
3/04/2013 @ 1:48PM

Here’s the entire North Korean quandary – Dennis Rodman as go-between inviting President Obama to ring up Kim Jong Un – in a nutshell.
Imagine you’re in high school and one of your classmates offers you a free ticket to see the hottest music act around in a coveted totally sold-out arena. You know that, as the only kid in your neighborhood in attendance, you’d be a hotshot and even a hero to your buddies. The only catch is that the person offering you the ticket is the class buffoon – a total jerk ridiculed by your crowd – and everyone would know he was your sorry conduit to the show. You really want to catch the show, but the likelihood of losing face with the people who matter to you is a nightmare. What do you do?
This is a broad description of where Washington finds itself, dealing with one of those “can’t make this stuff up” political offers delivered by former N.B.A. and Hall of Fame basketball player Dennis Rodman – a shameless clown on and off the court....

I don't want to hear it from the two faced media. China has human rights problems, too. The difference between North Korea and China is WALL STREET. Am I right or am I right?

200 more billionaires than in 2012. 200 more.

 , Forbes   –   10 hrs

This year Forbes has uncovered a record 1,426 billionaires. (click here) That is 200 more than we found in 2012, another record breaking year. It’s also nearly 10 times as many as Forbes pinned down in 1987, the year we began tracking fortunes around the world.

The group is worth $5.4 trillion, an astounding 17 percent jump from a year ago. The average net worth of a Forbes billionaire is $3.8 billion, $100 million more than a year ago. More than two-thirds of the world’s richest added to their fortunes. Only 259 from last year’s list are poorer than a year ago. Sixty dropped out of the ranks, including Zynga’s Mark Pincus and former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon. Another eight passed away....

In an interview on "The Nightly Business Report," Warren Buffet stated it wasn't the cuts in spending that causes uncertainty in economic investment. He stated it was the continual brinkmanship to know what the plan is from the USA government. He also doesn't believe there is a problem with Medicare. He stated the problem is systemic throughout the entire health care system and effects all insurances, private of government. 

I told you so.

Mr. Buffet stated the only concern over the National Debt, not deficit, is the growth in recent years due to loss of Gross Domestic Product. There needs to be a return to the GDP post 2008 and the rest takes care of itself.

I told you so.

By Karen Weise on September 12, 2012
At least things didn’t get worse. For half a decade, the percent of Americans living below the poverty line has increased each year, from 12.3 percent in 2006 to 15.1 percent in 2010. Today the Census Bureau released its analysis of U.S. poverty in 2011, and the official poverty rate essentially held at 15 percent, meaning that 46.2 million people live below the poverty line.
That’s still the highest level in almost two decades, but it’s good news compared with what some people expected. The Brookings Institution, for example,predicted that the rate would increase to 15.5 percent, or an additional 1.5 million people.
Although poverty levels held, there’s still bad news. Median real household income fell 1.7 percent, to $62,273, and income inequality rose in 2011. The Gini index, a common measure of inequality, rose 1.6 percent from 2010 to 2011. “This represents the first time the Gini index has shown an annual increase since 1993, the earliest year available for comparable measures of income inequality,” the Census said....

Since when does a professional have the right to refuse CPR to an entire population in a retirement community?

There are laws. When does anyone have the right to refuse treatment to someone dying?

The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (11/2000) granted immunity from civil damages for administering CPR and using an AED with some restrictions (i.e. immunity does not apply in cases of gross negligence and/or willful misconduct)

In January 2000, (click here) the 106th Congress of the United States amended the Public Health Service Act to include the Federal Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (CASA). On January 24, 2000, the President signed the Act. The CASA recommends the placement of automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, in all Federal buildings and provides for Federal Good Samaritan protection to emergency first responders who use AEDs....

California actually granted this facility the right to withhold emergency treatment?

Why does that sound incorrect to me?

This sounds like negligence. Gross negligence. A licensed nurse was on duty, yet she has the responsibility of withholding life saving CPR? It is not the law to allow someone to suffer and die while waiting for the EMS responders.



....In a written statement, (click here) Jeffrey Toomer, the executive director of Glenwood Gardens in Bakersfield, Calif., says it is the facility's practice "to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives. ... That is the protocol we followed."...

This is criminal neglect. Yes, it is. Assisted Living facilities don't have to staff professionals to administer care under the demands of a "Skilled Nursing Facility," but, they have to respond to life threatening circumstances. Calling 911 while a professional is within reasonable response time is not a legal alternative. If this happened when there was no professional staff on the premise it would be a different story, SOMEWHAT. 

Nursing Assistants are the usual staff of these facilities round the clock, but, they are trained CPR. I believe the Nursing Assistants have to maintain an annual certification to maintain their state certification. 

This is criminal neglect. I don't care if the family is okay with it. Unless this woman had an active and current Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) there was a legal obligation to respond to the emergency with professional staff on duty. I am sorry to hear a professional would actually accept her lack of response as a reasonable option in her employment. What was she there for? Paperwork? She has to keep the facilities paperwork in order with professional credentials? 

"Good Night, Moon"

Current Moon is a Waning Gibbous

58% lit

21.3 day old Moon

by NANCY ATKINSON on MARCH 3, 2013


A newly found asteroid (click here) will pass just inside the orbit of the Moon, with its closest approach on March 4, 2013 at 07:35 UTC. Named 2013 EC, the asteroid is about the size of the space rock that exploded over Russia two and a half weeks ago, somewhere between 10-17 meters wide (the Russian meteorite is estimated to be about 15 meters wide when it entered Earth’s atmosphere). 2013 EC was discovered by the Mt. Lemmon Observatory in Arizona on March 2. . There is no chance this asteroid will hit Earth.
2013 EC will come within 396,000 kilometers from Earth, (246,000 miles, or around 1.0 lunar distances, 0.0026 AU.

The Moon’s distance from the Earth varies between 363,104 km (225,622 miles) at perigee (closest) and 406,696 km (252,088 miles) at apogee (most distant point).