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Wait times improved slightly in five priority areas last year, but the time it takes patients to actually receive care remains shrouded in mystery, a coalition of medical experts said Thursday. The fourth annual report card by the Wait Time Alliance, titled Unfinished Business, found only "spotty progress" has been made in reducing wait times in the five areas that the federal government and the provinces and territories agreed to under a $5.5 billion deal in 2004 — hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, radiation oncology, cardiovascular surgery and diagnostic imaging like MRIs. 'In many parts of Canada patients still...

Our organization has just viewed the upcoming “R-rated” movie “Brüno,” which is scheduled to come out in local movie theaters Friday, July 10. Having attended a screening of the movie, we can factually state that the movie contains the following obscene, pornographic and offensive material (and more besides): • Extremely graphic sex scenes (including depicted heterosexual intercourse, depicted oral sex (including anal licking), depicted homosexual sodomy, and sadomasochistic whipping of a homosexual in his bikini briefs by a fully nude female “Dominatrix”); • Scenes of full frontal male and female nudity (including extended close-ups of a man swinging his fully...

Father Fessio: A New Framework for Social Justice Pope Places Charity and Truth at Heart of Debate By Father Joseph Fessio, SJ NAPLES, Florida, JULY 7, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has something for everyone in "Caritas in Veritate" -- from praising profit (21) to defending the environment (48). But in these cases, as in all the others, he calls for a discernment and a purification by faith and reason (56) that should temper immoderate and one-sided enthusiasms. Once again, Pope Benedict shows himself to be a theologian of synthesis and fundamental principles. In the titles of his three encyclicals he...

Burner charged with desecrating a flag A teen claimed she was "making a statement" when she lit an American flag on fire with a cigarette lighter and then stomped on it in the middle of traffic, according to police. The incident occurred just hours after Americans celebrated Independence Day with fireworks celebrations across the region. Two officers said they saw Rebecca Ellen McKimmie, 18, of Ocean City, Md., light the flag on fire early Sunday morning while standing between two lanes of traffic near the Route 50 Bridge. Police said once it was lit she then stomped on it in...

Everyone knows that Obama and the Pope disagree on abortion and birth control... but maybe what we should be more concerned with are the things they AGREE on - things like global governance and eliminating "greed"

A Capitalist or Anti-Capitalist Encyclical? Vatican Aides Present "Caritas in Veritate" VATICAN CITY, JULY 7, 2009 (Zenit.org).- "This is not an anti-capitalist encyclical," affirmed one of the Vatican aides who presented "Caritas in Veritate" today, but it does "condemn capitalism when it becomes totalitarian." That was the estimation offered by Stefano Zamagni, an economics professor from the University of Bologna and a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, during a press conference to present today Benedict XVI's third encyclical. The text, Zamagni explained, "looks at capitalism in its historical situation" and reiterates that no economic system is...

HOLLYWOOD--God bless America, and how's everybody? Staples Center hosted both Michael Jackson's funeral and the Ringling Brothers opening Tuesday. What a day. Everybody's favorite moment was when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and twenty-five other dignitaries all got out of the same Volkswagen. Tennessee Titans legend Steve McNair became the ninth celebrity in the world of entertainment and sports to die in three weeks Saturday. It's the recession. Once the economy forced them to start drinking tap water, their bodies just couldn't adjust. Los Angeles police demanded Monday the Staples Center help pay the police costs for Michael Jackson's memorial....

Celebrity financial crash of the day: Former Major League Baseball star and Lake Sherwood resident Lenny Dykstra filed for bankruptcy protection today in Los Angeles, listing less than $50,000 in assets -- and debts totaling between $10 million and $50 million. The 46-year-old Dykstra, who played for the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, retired in 1996. He has since been involved in a number of entrepreneurial ventures, including a string of car washes, an investment column for Thestreet.com, and a service called the Players Club Operations that offered credit cards, charter jets and other services to athletes. In...

DNA could be the answer to sorting different kinds of carbon nanotubes, say US researchers. Short strings of synthetic DNA wind onto nanotubes in a very sequence-dependent way, which has allowed researchers to separate 12 of the most common types of tubes from the inevitable mixtures that form when nanotubes are synthesised. Since the physical and electronic properties of nanotubes are heavily dependent on the size and structure of the tube, separating the mixtures could lead to much more effective nanotube-based devices and even ways of making specific types of tubes selectively.Ming Zheng of Dupont Central R&D, Delaware, and Anand Jagota from...

At one time, Burr Oak Cemetery was the only place black Chicagoans were sure they could bury their dead. But on Wednesday, the historic African-American cemetery became the site of a horror story. As many as 100 human bodies — someone’s grandfather, grandmother, father, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew cousin or friend — were removed from their graves and the plots resold. “All of us who were working on this for the last week were pretty distraught,” Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told me. “You start with the premise of your own loved ones and how they are cared...

WAR veteran Ted Kenna made an outstanding contribution to the nation and will be remembered for his courage, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said. Mr Kenna, Australia's last surviving Victoria Cross winner from World War II, died yesterday, aged 90. His death was a sad day for the nation, Ms Gillard said in a joint statement with Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin. "Ted Kenna was a great Australian," they said, adding his story of bravery in New Guinea in 1945 was "extraordinary". "Private Kenna made an outstanding contribution to the nation and he will be remembered for his courage."...

Situated on the banks of the icy Lidder river, a 900-year old Shiva temple is the only Hindu shrine in Kashmir Valley which has Muslim priests. After the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from a nearby village, two Muslim priests - Mohmmad Abdullah and Ghulam Hassan kept the doors of the Mamalaka temple open and bells continued to toll. "We not only took care of temple but also held 'aartis' everyday," Ghulam Hasan told a correspondent. Besides ensuring the safety of the 3-feet-long black stone "shivaling", Abdullah and Hassan have ensured no devotee goes without prasad even for a single day....

Republican challenger Chris Christie has lost his post-primary bounce but still leads incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine in the New Jersey governor’s race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Christie with a seven-point lead over Corzine, 46% to 39%. A month ago, immediately following his GOP Primary victory, Christie led by 13 percentage points. The current numbers are just about identical to the pre-primary numbers from May. Corzine has recently launched a series of attack ads questioning Christie’s ethics, and most analysts expect the race to tighten. New Jersey polls often show Republican candidates doing better early...

John Costa came to Palo Alto in 1978 as a 21-year-old with little more than a high school diploma and a desire to try his hand at police work. He left Monday to multiple standing ovations from a packed house at Palo Alto City Hall, where the city council gave him a hero's send-off. "If there was a hall of fame for police sergeants, John Costa would be in it," said Interim Police Chief Dennis Burns. Costa, 51, worked his last shift Friday after more than 30 years in the Palo Alto Police Department. He said he plans to spend...

July 09, 2009Why I'm Thankful for George W. BushBy Ken Russell On October 23, 1983 the Marine Corps Battalion Landing Team (BLT) building located at the Beirut International Airport was blown up.  Two hundred twenty Marines, 18 Sailors and 3 Soldiers were killed in a split second by a suicide bomber.  I wasn't there at the time.  I was participating in Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada.  I was a squadron CH-46E helicopter co-pilot in Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 (HMM-261) and also the squadron classified materials officer.  Being the one who set up the squadron classified messages, I read about...

Burger King, which runs a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants in more than 70 countries, has apologised for running an advertisement in Spain that offended the Hindus. "We are apologising because it wasn't our intent to offend anyone," Denise T Wilson, spokesman of Burger King said in an email when asked about the demand of the Hindu community that the company need to apologise for running an advertisement which its leaders said were offensive to their religion. "Burger King Corporation (BKC) values and respects all of its guests as well as the communities we serve. This in-store advertisement...

China is planning to build its own version of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch on an island near Shanghai, state media said on Wednesday. The Shanghai Morning Post said the first phase of the project on Chongming Island will be completed within a year and will cover 7.2 million square feet (667,000 square meters). Named after the home of Peter Pan, Neverland Ranch was a Jackson's whimsical retreat - replete with carnival rides, a coterie of animals, two trains and a Disney-like station. The total cost of China's version is expected to be around 100 million yuan ($14.6 million). The tribute...

This brave woman wrote this about the role of military in today'sa Russia http://obozrevatel.com/news/2008/8/26/255012.htm It is in Russian but i strongly suggest that you read it with the help of http://translate.google.com/translate_t# She explains that Russia basically ruled by GRU of General Staff which is highest military intelligence body in Russia. It is The most disturbing news coming from a very high level expert in russian military affairs. And she was badly punished for that. In my opinion it is a pure miracle that she is still alive. ------------------------------------------- This is what heppened to her. ------------------------------------------- I have been released after...

Vehicles packed with Chinese security forces rolled back into Urumqi on Thursday, but there were tentative signs of life returning to normal in the restive city, AFP reporters witnessed. Long convoys of trucks emblazoned with slogans such as "Smash the separatists" and "Bring peace to the city" rumbled through the main streets of northwest Xinjiang's regional capital, where at least 156 people died in unrest here on Sunday. On Thursday morning, sirens and loudspeakers blared out from vehicles, and armed troops remained at barricades although there was a noticeable reduction in troops in some of the Uighur areas, an AFP...

Gurnam Singh, 13, of Richmond Hill told of bullying and harassment at his school during a rally by Sikhs and other civil rights advocates last week in Lower Manhattan. Sikhs said the city Department of Education is not enforcing regulations against such behavior. Photo by Philip Newman Sikhs, many from Queens, rallied last week to protest what they said was the failure of school officials to enforce rules against bullying and harassment in schools, some of it by teachers, staff members and security guards. “We are concerned that the Schools Chancellor Regulation [against harassment] is a promise that is not...