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POPSWhy we must ration healthcare More: we should remind ourselves that the U.S. system also results in people going without life-saving treatment — it just does so less visibly. Pharmaceutical manufacturers often charge much more for drugs in the United States than they charge for the same drugs in Britain, where they know that a higher price would put the drug outside the cost-effectiveness limits set by NICE. American patients, even if they are covered by Medicare or Medicaid, often cannot afford the copayments for drugs. That’s rationing too, by ability to pay. Dr. Art Kellermann, associate dean…at Emory School of Medicine…wrote of a woman who came into his emergency room in critical condition because a blood vessel had burst in her brain. She was uninsured and had chosen to buy food for her children instead of spending money on her blood-pressure medicine. In the emergency room, she received excellent high-tech medical care, but by the time she got there, it was too late to save her.
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POPSA life revealed: "The Afghan girl", seventeen years later
More: In the mid-1990s, during a lull in the fighting, Sharbat Gula went home to her village in the foothills of mountains veiled by snow. To live in this earthen-colored village at the end of a thread of path means to scratch out an existence, nothing more. There are terraces planted with corn, wheat, and rice, some walnut trees, a stream that spills down the mountain (except in times of drought), but no school, clinic, roads, or running water. Here is the bare outline of her day. She rises before sunrise and prays. She fetches water from the stream. She cooks, cleans, does laundry. She cares for her children; they are the center of her life. Robina is 13. Zahida is three. Alia, the baby, is one. A fourth daughter died in infancy. Sharbat has never known a happy day, her brother says, except perhaps the day of her marriage… "I want my daughters to have skills," she said. "I wanted to finish school but could not. I was sorry when I had to leave."
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POPSHow long before that debt falls off my credit report? More: Child support judgments: 7 years from date judgement is filed. Small claims and civil judgments: 7 years from date judgement is filed. Liens: 15 years for unpaid tax liens. 7 years for paid liens. Hard credit inquiries: 2 years. Paid positive accounts: 10 years. Positive open credit information: forever.
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POPSElaborate puppetry brings "War Horse" to life Click through for the preview video. If this comes to SF, I'm there, regardless of ticket prices. More: Since opening at the National in 2007 and transferring to the West End this spring, “War Horse” has reduced many London audience members to tears, especially in the final minutes, as they learn the fates of Albert, Joey and Topthorn and whether Albert and Joey will find each other amid the chaos of war. That two puppets elicit this sort of response has inspired the designers to develop a theory they call micromovement. “We work on the assumption that the audience is in fact far more perceptive than they are normally given credit for,” Mr. Jones said. “Meaning, if the puppet is breathing, even people sitting in the very back row can see it. So even the tiniest movement is important, and those onstage need to be aware of it. It’s this focus on the importance of detail in the horse movement that, strangely, has quite epic emotional resonance.”
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POPS"Sit! Stay! Snuggle!": An Iraq Vet Finds His Dog Tuesday Click through for the video. More: Tuesday is with Mr. Montalvan at all hours. Taught to recognize changes in a person's breathing, perspiration or scent that can indicate an imminent panic attack, Tuesday can keep Mr. Montalvan buffered from crowds or deliver a calming nuzzle. Other dogs, typically golden retrievers, Labradors or Labrador retriever blends, are trained to wake masters from debilitating nightmares and to help patients differentiate between hallucinations and reality by barking if a real person is nearby. "Tuesday is just extraordinarily empathetic," said Mr. Montalvan, 36 years old, a retired Army captain who received a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in Iraq. "In bad moments, he'll lay his head on my leg, and it'll be like he's saying, 'You're OK. You're not alone.'" …At Mr. Montalvan's apartment -- decorated with his Purple Heart and Bronze Star certificates, and pictures and paintings of Tuesday -- they sleep in the same wooden sleigh bed.
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POPSRescued fighting pit bull is now a therapy dog This big sappy moosh is all weepy now. More: In order to be certified, each dog and handler team must pass a rigorous, 15-part exam. "We try to mimic what some of the encounters might be like," said Marcia Fritzmeier, a TDI evaluator who administered Hector and Yori's test. TDI's exam tests each dog's manners, obedience, ease around people and reactions to situations such as loud noises and meeting other dogs. Fritzmeier was aware of Hector's background before his test and paid special attention to his temperament, extending some of the tests to be sure Hector would be a good therapy dog. "I could not believe the degree of excellence he passed this test with," she said. "He never stopped wagging his tail. He just enjoyed every second of it."
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