GEORGIA TO START PRIVATIZATION OF STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS

Earlier plans were for limited privatization, now talks are underway to hire for-profit companies to build and operate three new psychiatric facilities to replace all seven existing state hospitals.

This would end 150 years of state-provided psychiatric care in Georgia.There is now an investigation of the hospitals by the Justice Department. Other states have mixed reviews after turning over care to the private sector.Just look at what happened to the state prisons. Florida can't track any difference in care and North Carolina auditors said the state wasted $400 million after allowing unqualified private companies perform treatments.

GETTING PSYCHED UP FOR THE INAUGURATION

Quite a few relatives and friends are going to Washington D C to Barak Obama's inauguration. I do not see how they can put themselves through that. There will be so many people with their own agendas and their signs there. Also it will be liken to the Hajj and a Greatful Dead Concert. I think it will remind me of the sixties.

Washington wants to make much money off the event. Since they will keep the bars open 24 hours a day there will be many arrests for loitering, drunk in public,brawling, etc. The city should fill their coffers to the brim. Just think how many fender benders and DUI's they will have.

To get myself psyched up, the day before, I will look at Spike Lee's 1996 movie, "Get On The Bus".It was about the bus trip to "The March On Washington".
It was a wonderful movie.

BRITAIN DEPORTS HIV PATIENTS

The UK is accused of double standards for permitting the deportation of HIV patients. to countries where they may not get the drugs to stay alive. They are sending them back to places where they may not get medications, even though they were given the drugs in the UK.

The UK has supported the G8 pledge to get treatment to people who used it in poor countries. The African HIV Policy Network is attempting to change the UK'S policy.

THE SUPREME COURT THROWS OUT CASE QUESTIONING OBAMA'S CITIZENSHIP

Phillip J Berg filed a case before the Supreme Court about his citizenship.The case has been dismissed for lack of standing. This case hinges on his place of birth because only a natural born citizen can be eligible for the office of President.

Mr. Berg is claiming that Barak Obama was born in Africa.

ARE YOU AFRAID OF GETTING THAT 3 AM CALL ?

I was speaking to friends last month about the millions of jobs being lost and worried if I may get a call. The solution I had to the problem was to get a house in the south and put those cousins and others in it. I would pay the mortgage and give them some seeds so they could grow their gardens. This would apply to the slackers. I would ask them to recycle.I was wondering if they would survive.

ICELAND IS SHOOTING POLAR BEARS THAT STRAY FROM GREENLAND

In Reykjvik, Iceland, A commission has recommended that polar bears be shot and not offered a free haven. Two polar bears were shot affter they landed on the northern coast of Iceland. They were swept to sea on floes from Greenland. This sparked protests from conservationists and animal rights groups.

The commission head, Hjalti Gudmundsson said the polar bears pose a threat to humans and there are large costs of moving the large mammals back to Greenland or a zoo. Police were forced to shoot one bear in June when it charged a group of reporters "in a panic".

O.J.SIMPSON DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS THE MOST HATED MAN ALIVE

I think the judge in the case was fair, but she gave a complicated sentence. Simpson wouldn't just go away, he flaunted around in public. He was a jock and a very strong man. Most athletes are like that. I think the judge should have taken into account that the policemen were giving each other high-fives, and screaming, " we got him".

I think he could have got some leniency because it was entrapment, and the ex-cons colluded with the " powers that be" to tape him for dropping charges against them.

A DOCTOR GOES ON AN ORGANIC DIET FOR THREE YEARS AS AN EXPERIMENT

A doctor in California went on an organic diet for three years to see if there were any benefits.

DECEMBER 1st WORLD AIDS DAY

The stigma surrounding aids is still strong, but the tradition of polygamous marriage adds to the challenge of preventing transmission. Most people infected are often diagnosed too late to be saved. Some are living with HIV became infected through contaminated needles while injecting drugs.

Swaziland has the highest HIV infection in the world, with more than one-fourth of it's population is infected.

WORLD ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL SLOW TO 1 PERCENT IN 2009

DOHA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - World economic growth will slow to 1 percent in 2009 from 2.5 percent this year as the financial crisis bites and the global economy may even contract if stimulus packages prove too little too late, a U.N. report said.
The report on World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009, an advance copy of which was issued at a development conference in Doha on Monday, urged coordinated international stimulus packages to limit the impact of a downturn in Western economies on poorer countries.
Next year's growth forecasts compare to global growth rates of 3.5 to 4 percent from 2004-2007 and the report said the economic environment for developing countries had deteriorated sharply after early complacency.


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