Obama Health Care

The field of medicine is one which is very crucial to humanity and must be devoid of egocentrism, monopoly and similar sentiments and dogmatism that at the long run will transpire into an inimical and detrimental outcome which will negatively impact on the primary beneficiary- the patient. The fundamental goal of any healthcare delivery system should be how to meet the challenges of providing the best possible healthcare services that is pragmatic, efficient, proficient, timely, and accurate, and at the same time less expensive.

Consequently revisiting the Medical laboratory science profession and trying to reposition, rejuvenate and restructure its current curriculum to meet and if possible surpass the currently achieved standard of healthcare services is very crucial and almost nearly indispensable if the country hope to modernize and achieve the primary goals of the medical and healthcare profession and aspirations.

Without an iota of doubt, this noble profession is as complex as humanity itself and any approach thereof in trying to elucidate the best way to uplift the field must definitely take into cognizance such complexity and diversity. Medicine as we used to know has evolved a great deal and today represents greater diversity than seen in the 19th and even the 20th century. From a general perspective when link with the healthcare profession as a whole, this laudable and very imperative field can be broadly divided into Clinical and Laboratory with specialty such as diagnostics falling into the later even when they might not be directly related, while on the other hand nursing and pharmacy among others may fall into the clinical aspect of the medicine.  

The fundamental inclination to this brief summation is essentially related to how does the status quo hope to modernize the medical and allied healthcare profession in such a way that the medical laboratory technology discipline is allow to reach its full potential in becoming the true corner stone of modern medicine and its professionals are given the due recognition by the state? I wish to reiterate the fact that my perspective may vary from some of my colleagues principally as a result of my background training which by omission or commission imbibe in me the mentality of seeing my profession from a noble and pragmatic angle in terms of its usefulness, necessity and indispensability in the provision of a comprehensive healthcare services.  

Consequently the call for modernization of the profession is not in any way one which blatantly request for a synonymous training scope with that of physician or pathologist, instead it is a call for the incorporation of curriculum that will enable the medical technologist to be able to professionally and legally interpret, aid in the diagnosis, therapy, management and prophylaxis of a given medical condition without compromising either the patient or the primary healthcare provider. This again raise the concern about why it is necessary for the field to determine that monopoly and egocentrism within the multi-complex discipline should be relegated to the background and instead focus and emphasis must be on providing the best healthcare delivery system.  

I am very quick to point out that as a consequence to the emergence of varieties of complex scenarios which cloud the easy elucidation of the causative organisms or agents implicated in diseased conditions, the role of the medical laboratory scientists have changed dramatically from that of primarily responding to just the healthcare provider,  to now include the determination of the exactness, that is the accuracy and that the same time the best possible treatment and prevention of the cause as necessitated by the contemporary curriculum. Medical Laboratory Scientist are therefore evolving to become more independent in decision making and in some cases have tremendously helped to reduce both cost and waste as a result of their timely intervention, a fact that has been widely recognized within the status quo but never allowed to be publicize for reason beyond imagination.  

The modernization of the medical laboratory profession should be able to make an average graduate to be capable of comprehensively utilizing the new curriculum to assist in the interpretation, diagnosis and treatment recommendation of the condition(s) as it relates to the laboratory test(s). This in my opinion can be achieved with the help of adopting a scheme of studying that may be similar to that of the Physician Assistance training, in respect of pragmatically understanding the clinical implications of laboratory data, but with less emphasis on clinical and invariably greater inclinations to the laboratory management of diseases and other medical conditions.  

In order for the field of medical laboratory profession to pragmatically achieve such goal of making it to become a 21st century specialty, which will be responsive to primary healthcare providers and the patients, there is no doubt that Physicians and Pathologist must buy into the idea of allowing what is best for the patient to become a reality rather than becoming sentimental- which is understandable. Relying on the conviction that the patient comes first, I do believe that the prevailing status quo can work itself out and aid the field to become ready.  

At this juncture I wish to briefly but modestly narrate an incident that happened during a flight from Frankfurt Germany to Washington Dulles Airport in which a passenger on board developed symptom of acute fatigue and thirst leading to fainting. The flight attendance immediately announced that there was a medical emergency on board and seeks the intervention of any medical personnel. Without giving the credit to myself alone, I recognize among other things that the pulse rate and the blood pressure was okay and the dry mouth might be sequel to dehydration and or anxiety. The passenger had to lie on the floor with the head slightly down in comparison to the leg in order to allow for greater blood flow to the brain. With the vital signs okay and the patient having regain consciousness I advice that he should given as much fluid as possible and in the absent of pure glucose-D drink the juice on board did suffice for this purpose. Fortunately there was no need for fluid infusion and by the end of the day it all went well.  

Upon arrival in the USA I was later presented with an American Express gift certificate and a thank you letter from the medical director of the airline in addition to the many on board gifts and appreciation. The above narration is not about wanting anybody to thank me further, but rather as an example of how knowledge if well utilized can save life! I had a background training that to a greater extent recognize the essentiality of first aid and being a part of the primary healthcare delivery system. I am not a doctor or physician, but rather a medical laboratory scientist whose professors recognizes the fact that during the course of our training we must know how to deal with some situation without compromising life and at the same time impersonating.   Is it therefore possible to train medical laboratory scientist in such a way that they too can have the knowledge base to intervene if need be in a medical situation to the extent that life can be preserve as far as it depends on that knowledge?  

There is an absolute necessity of training the modern medical laboratory scientist in the fashion that they are vastly knowledgeable in the area of physiology, anatomy, biochemistry and pharmacology and some basic clinical maneuvers in addition to the most fundamental essentiality of performing diagnostic and or laboratory tests.   We all cannot be a nurse, pharmacist or Genetics, nevertheless we can lend a professional helping hand by being able to assist in the most comprehensive manner the bone of contention and by so doing elevate the practice for the benefit of the patient and the system at large.  

By and large, any curriculum that hopes to accommodate the tentative modernization that I am asking for may take a minimum of 3 years post graduation from the medical laboratory technology program. During the 3 years period, the prospective student shall receive the necessary educational and professional training needed to enhance his or her capacity to midwife in the most qualified manner the laboratory results, the clinical interpretation from a laboratory management perspective and recommend if need be further test(s) or elimination of some already ordered ones.  

Two years shall be spent on correlating clinical and laboratory studies in relation to patients through the thorough studying of the physiology, anatomy, biochemistry and pharmacology, and also pathology. The last year of study should be concentrated in a given area of the clinical laboratory discipline namely; clinical biochemistry (chemical pathology), hematology, microbiology, immunology, coagulation study, urinalysis and instrumentation (automation), laboratory information services (LIS), genetics, among others.  

In a nutshell in order to reposition the field of medical laboratory science to become better equip to deal with the challenges of the 21st century medical and health concerns, there is an absolute necessity to upgrade or modernize this area of healthcare that is very crucial and in some cases nearly indispensable as far as the diagnosis, treatment, management and prevention of a medical condition is concerned. Its professionals who are involved in the carrying out of diagnostic tests in order to generate results that is use to substantiate or refute a given provisional diagnosis and or in adequately and scientifically managing the conditions must be treated with respect and be given due sue place of honor among the committee of professions.  

The patients stand to gain the most if we can allow our selfish interest or desire for monopolistic inclination to be sacrificed in order to move the United States of America healthcare delivery system forward in order to become second to none in the world and by so doing once more provide the kind of leadership that mankind is expected of the country. As the saying goes necessity is the mother of invention and the medical laboratory profession is in itself a child of necessity that should be allow to grow, rather than being truncated or marginalized at the detriment of the patients.  

Ours is the generation that has the pragmatic potential for change as epitomized by the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America in President Barack Obama which some cynic pundits have concluded will never happen in the country. The attestation to the pragmatism, broadmindedness and the desire for concrete actions and solutions to the nefarious problems facing the nation especially in context of the economic maladies has been one of the fundamental reasons why the president defeated his opponent in the November 4th 2008 general election.

Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses and the other allied healthcare professionals could be making history and changing the spectrum of the profession for the best if only they are willing to support the aspiration of the medical laboratory scientists in orchestrating the necessary modalities that will bring about a lasting and durable change and career progression with the ultimate goal of positively impacting on the healthcare delivery system and further leading to a reduction in the cost of doing business.  

It has never been my dream to train as a physician as epitomized by my aspiration to pursue the medical laboratory science profession during my undergraduate studies at the University of Calabar College of Medical Sciences. However I was also made to understand within my professional and academic training that I will be very useful and respected as a medical laboratory scientist especially based on my job discretion, performance and potential to make a pragmatically positive difference. In the United States of America the above conviction seems to be a mirage and consequently it may not be good enough for those who aspire to be like me.

We must change, since the later is just inevitable; life without change is not worth living and that is why I do hope that somehow the healthcare profession and its professionals can help the medical laboratory profession to transition from its current status to that which will enable the citizenry to better utilize their profession at full capacity rather than the prevailing circumstances in which the job and responsibilities are more or less haphazardly distributed in context of how laboratory data are generated and yet the generators have little or no input as to how these results are consequently utilized to bring about the diagnosis, treatment and management of the conditions that might have necessitated the request in the first place.

I am proud of being who I am and look forward to achieving the peak of my career which based on my mentors may culminate in the award of a doctorate degree in the field of medical laboratory profession in addition to the capacity to touch lives through researches and other veritable tools that will help bring about further progress, innovation and discovery in the health and medical profession.

May God bless the noble professionals in this field of healthcare, who have continued to give their best with little or no recognition at all for their indispensable services that have been miniaturized into the generation of laboratory data as against the real values and capacity that abound in this very noble profession, amen.

Peter Odeh
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-publishing-articles/modernizing-the-medical-laboratory-profession-to-meet-the-21st-century-challenges-748014.html

The United States of America began to feel the effects of this financial crisis about September 2008, though some believe that signs were there earlier.

This crisis developed from decisions and actions in various areas over a long period.

This financial crisis has already had serious effects on many companies, families and individuals.

It is acknowledged as the most significant problem with the international financial system for many years. But, no-one can be certain of how long or drastic the crisis will become because of the interlocking demands and reactions of the various countries, governments and major corporate players.

Just a few months ago, the Iraq war held precedence over all other news and the Administration put major efforts into possible improvements with the Iraq war and the Afghanistan conflict.

Right now, no other subject gets the coverage which is, naturally, given to the financial turmoil of the United States of America.

This crisis has developed during the period of a fiscally responsible and conservative Republican domination in Washington.

State debt assumes enormous proportions once it goes out of control.

It is not that a government does not have any debt. Debt is a part of every government’s financial affairs. But, huge amounts of debt are definitely a matter of concern.

The national debt was about $5.7 trillion in January 2001 when President George Bush took office.

The national debt presently stands around $10 trillion. It has grown by more than $500 billion each year since the fiscal year 2003.

The $700 billion government bailout could cause the national debt to exceed $11 trillion, perhaps by the time that the new President Obama comes into office.

This could surely mean that the new President and government would start under the burden of an immense long-term debt.

The national debt ceiling is presently at $10.6 trillion. Congress Treasury Secretary wants it to be raised to $11.3 trillion to clear debts arising out of massive borrowing that are believed essential to deal with the current financial crisis.

This could translate into a national debt of around $37,000 each for every man, woman and child in the United States.

What Factors Led to the Current Situation?

There was not just one thing which caused the present crisis to develop. Even the most reputable experts have differing views about the main causes.

Most accept that a major factor was uncontrolled borrowing from foreign central banks and other world nations.

Many say that the U.S.A. Federal Government has continually borrowed to maintain operational expenses.

The funds have been aimed at spending on many areas, including:

Federal Medicare prescription benefits

Oil prices (that tripled since the start of Iraq war)

Military campaigns and many other programs.

As I am writing this, the United States finances are under severe stress.

The US dollar has lost significant value.

Some fear that there may be negative effects from some of the quickly prepared measures that are being used to try to remedy various aspects of the crisis.

While governments can introduce measures to reduce some of the pressure on institutions such as banks etc., their ability to provide quick help to individuals and families in a major crisis like this is more limited.

Savings in banks and with other institutions may be affected while we wait for the new measures to have significant effect. Some people say that the federal government’s actions to protect the banks may add significantly to inflation.

The present financial crisis is not something out of the blue. A few people predicted aspects of the crisis well in advance but the “common wisdom” of many experts was that these suggestions were over-stated.

The recent surge in America’s debt has outpaced technology – the clock which shows a record of the country’s national debt has run out of digits! This clock, National Debt Clock, shows total debt owed by the government of the United States of America. It was first installed at Times Square in 1989 by real estate developer Seymour Durst. Mr. Durst wanted the public to be informed about the nation’s overall debt. It was $2.7 trillion at that time.

Seymour died in 1995 and the clock is now the property of his son, Douglas Durst.

This debt clock has provisions to show only up to 9,999,999,999,999 dollars after the dollar sign. Once the debt level reached the 10-trillion dollar level, it could not easily be represented on the clock. The operator of National Debt Clock, The Durst Organization, then dropped the dollar sign in the total figure. Presently, I believe that arrangements are being made to create a replacement for the clock with two additional digits. This new 15-digit clock would make it possible to accommodate and display up to a quadrillion (a million, billion) dollars of debt in addition to a dollar sign. However, this clock is not expected to be in place sometime during next year.

A common view of many experts is that one of the best strategies for the federal government to reduce the current financial problems requires that it borrow many hundreds of billions of dollars.

Of course, this borrowing is very likely to translate into higher taxes for the average taxpayer. The justification for this would be so that expected large increases in Social Security costs, healthcare programs for the elderly and Medicare could be dealt with.

The people that support this view say that another possible justification for the amount of increase in taxes could be that the extra government revenue would be, in part, a possible protection for the American economy from another recession.

They estimate that a minimum of two years of government borrowing would probably be required for the extra reserves to reach a suitable level.

It is likely that the rise and fall of deficit and debt might be very sharp over the next period.

It is very likely that the new government will have a major task to steer our economy through the troubled waters.

But, the status quo and historic policies cannot be maintained because it would be too risky for the economy. Too much dependence on continual increase of deficits because of increasing government borrowing could cause a lack of capital available for companies as investors might feel safer buying government-owned securities rather than privately-owned securities.

People that support this view claim that the debt market might be flooded with Treasury bills and other US securities. That could mean that the government would have to pay higher interest to attract enough buyers.

Higher federal interest rates could help to push interest rates of mortgages and other similar loans higher.

This could be expected to have some dampening effect on overall economic growth.

The government would depend in part on foreign investors. It might also mean a cut in spending along with the increase in tax rates.

Most accept that some tax increases are probably inevitable. The bailout could cause some increase in deficit levels and that could lower expectations for growth of the gross domestic product.

So, the government could have to draw in more revenue primarily from taxes.

There seems to be little that can be done to prevent this occurring to some degree.

Some analysts also predict that a growing deficit is on its way.

Although we cannot, at this stage, predict how long it could take America to get through this financial crisis, you can plan how you can make the best possible future for yourself and those close to you.

The government will, at some point, be able to sell assets like mortgage-backed securities held by financial firms and some bank shares it purchases during the current bailout, and then be able to use the money to recover some of the huge costs it has incurred. This practice has yielded positive results in similar bailouts undertaken by other countries like Sweden which have sometimes been able to recover up to two-thirds of their initial costs.

You can discount the extreme claims that the present crisis could lead to bankruptcy of the federal government.

Given the cooperation of all the stakeholders, there are signs that a new resurgence, more growth and a chance to rebuild our financial economy to a higher level than before are possible.

Our government must do its best to chart a new growth plan and prevent corruption and planning defects right at the start.

A lot can be learned from past mistakes.

This could offer an excellent opportunity to produce and follow a better plan to rebuild our future and the future of America.

Make the most of the current situation and educate yourself on how you can survive the current debt crisis with this detailed e-book, Surviving the Debt Crisis.

Craig Maugham
http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/an-overview-to-the-state-of-usa-government-financials-701114.html

What’s more than opbvious is that the Bush stimulus bill hasn’t stimulated anything other than an argument over what someone can do with the so-called stimulus money. Citi Bank tried to buy a fancy $50,000,000 plane. Merrill Lynch spent more than one million upgrading the executive suite. And god only knows what else the money has been spent on or why. The taxpayers can’t get access to that information. So, hey, let’s do another one.  

The Obama administration and Congress are talking about spending an unprecedented sum of money to try to revive the economy. Obama wants somewhere between another $825 BILLION and ONE TRILLION more. Since the first $700 BILLION didn’t do anytbing let’s do more the second time around, Whatcha say?  

Obama and House Democrats laid down the marker with an $825 billion package of spending and tax cuts. The Senate version will be taken up by two committees on Tuesday. Dozens of proposals. Hundreds of pages of legislation. Billions of dollars. So, does anyone really READ these bills? Do you know how much PORK is in this stimulus package. For those who have SEEN the bill and know a little about what’s in it to STIMULATE us, let’s take a look-see.

The legislation is a work in progress, but here is an overview.

Some $90 billion is to fund the rebuilding of crumbling roads and bridges, build clean water and flood-control mechanisms and provide funding for mass-transit systems. Another $142 billion is fore ducation to rebuild thousands of schools by modernizing classrooms, labs and libraries. Renewable energy gets $54 billion to double production of alternative energy in the next three years. Weatherize low-income homes, modernize 75% of federal buildings and update the nation’s electrical grid with a new, cost-efficient “smart” grid.

Health-care $20 billion. Science, research and technology $16 billion. Medicaid gets $87 billion. Law enforcement $4 billion for states and municipalities for law enforcement. Unemployment benefits need $43 billion to extend through December 2009 emergency unemployment insurance assistance to states. Increase weekly unemployment benefits by $25, and provide incentives for states to expand unemployment coverage.

Cobra $39 billion, feeding the hungry $20 billion, and then we get into the biggie! A middle-class tax cut of $145 billion. Tax cut amounting to $500 a year for individuals and $1,000 for couples. The full credit would be limited to those making $75,000 or less ($150,000 or less for workers filing joint returns).

And then there are the BILLIONS for stuff you’ve never heard pf and before the bill gets voted on more BILLIONS in pet projects will be added. Stimulus? Who knows?

Ernie Fitzpatrick
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/stimulus-bill-2-743357.html

We the taxpayers are not only bailing out wallstreet and automakers (along with UAW workers), but we are also footing the bill for illegal immigrants in every state.  The cost of illegal immigration has skyrocketed over the years since our government is not taking care of business (oh, what a surprise).  An illegal immigration news website named FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) has studied and created a report on how much it costs the state of Colorado for illegal immigration.

The cost of illegal immigration for the Rocky Mountain state is $1.1 Billion dollars annually. The FAIR study observes the most obvious costs.  For an example, expenses related to medicare, incarceration and education.  There are other costs that the report doesn’t pick up since they only focused on the major expenses. 

Here is part of the report from FAIR:

Education. Based on an estimate of 35,000 school-age illegal aliens and 49,000 U.S.-born school-aged children of illegal alien parents and estimated per pupil costs of $11,000 per year for public K-12 schooling, Coloradans spend about $925 million annually on educating the children of illegal immigrants. An additional $68 million is being spent annually on programs for limited English students, most of whom are likely children of illegal aliens. Those estimates exclude federal contributions to those programs. More than one in ten (10.8%) K-12 public school students in Colorado is the child of an illegal alien, and this share has grown as the illegal resident population has grown.

Health Care. State-funded uncompensated outlays for health care provided to Colorado’s illegal alien population amount to more than an estimated $82 million a year. That is a net cost after crediting compensation from the federal government. Additionally, Coloradans who have medical insurance also pay higher medical insurance bills to help cover the costs of those without insurance.

Incarceration. The cost of incarcerating deportable aliens in Colorado’s state and local prisons amounts to more than $38 million a year. This estimate also is a net amount after deducting compensation received from the federal government. It does not include short-term detention costs, related law enforcement and judicial expenditures, or the monetary impact of the crimes that result in incarceration.

So there is your tax dollars at work, at least if you live in Colorado.  For the ones that live outside the state, don’t worry, you’re footing some of the bill as well since the federal government supplements a lot of these programs.  So where is the Colorado State politicians concerning these problems with illegal immigration?  How about on the federal level – George Bush?  Nance Pelosi?  Harry Reid?  How about Barak Obama?  I’m not going to hold my breath.

RightWingIt.com

Mark Shrigley
http://www.articlesbase.com/immigration-articles/cost-of-illegal-immigration-in-colorado-681673.html

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With the cost of living increasing at a rapid rate throughout the United States finding affordable health insurance is becoming increasingly and increasingly more difficult for families who are struggling to make ends meet. It is common for many of these parents to have recently been laid off or had hours reduced as many companies are beginning job cuts as well as cutting back hours in order to deal with the slowing economy. This type of behavior has been seen the most in Detroit, Michigan where Detroit’s “big three” automobile companies have began to deteriorate at a rapid rate causing thousands of jobs to be shut down, these three automakers have began to beg for government help when it comes to getting government loans in order to pay for the damage these companies have done to themselves. For many of the families who are feeling the repercussions of the economic downturn as a result of many of these plans cutting jobs, health insurance may be the last thing on their mind, but it shouldn’t be. Studies have shown that during difficult economic times people are more likely to engage in dangerous or risk-taking activities. It is during these times that it is most important for people to have affordable family insurance because not only will it help them save money at a time where people are desperate for every penny, but it will also give families some faith when it comes to someone being there to support them. Having affordable health insurance is almost a backbone to many families, it is the string that keeps them together because without it the risks that we take for granted in everyday life become much more of a threat. For people to know that they have the support of an insurance company backing them, and being there if something happens to your family.

What having affordable family insurance does for these people is give them almost a safety net of sorts, if you or someone in your family were to get sick or injured, having affordable family insurance will give people the opportunity to get healthy or get better by allowing families to be tested, vaccinated, screened, and taken care of by medical professionals who know what they are doing. This should not only give people peace of mind at such a trying economic time, but it should also give people the strength to get through this hard time. During primary voting done prior to the election it was a found and affordable family insurance is one of the biggest concerns of voters, with more than 46 million people being uninsured throughout the United States today. Some of these concerns have been alleviated since President-elect Barack Obama has been elected and has demanded mandatory health care for everyone in the United States in the next few years.

Ronnie Hamilton
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/affordable-family-insurance-give-families-a-safety-net-716437.html

Do you think NDC or NPP care about Ghanaians look at their record? NDC ruled Ghana for 8 years and NPP has also ruled for 8 years. Did any of them help to make Ghana a developed country? Did any of them solve the unemployment problem in Ghana? How about education and health? Look at the roads in Ghana. Do we deserve that? Any person who has been to Europe, Asia or America can say for sure that both major parties have not done much for Ghanaians.

Look at the state of Ghana’s manufacturing sector. What do we produce? Virtually nothing. What do we do with the cocoa that we produce? We only export the raw beans for peanuts. How about the gold and the diamond and the many minerals we mine? They are exported to Switzerland and Dubai before Ghanaians go there to buy the wedding rings and bracelets to sell to Ghanaians. Computers, cars, mobile phones, fridges are made in Europe, Japan and the US and it is affordable but Ghanaians cannot buy common chocolate even though the vital raw material which is cocoa is made here. And the same is true about gold and diamond. We cannot buy them even though they are mined right here.

Look at the state of the agricultural sector. How many of our farmers have their own tractors and farming equipments to produce beyond the level of subsistence? Virtually none. Virtually all the important equipments needed to make the agric sector viable and productive have to be imported and how many of our farmers have their own resources to buy even the basic machinery to expand their farms? Although we are in the 21st Century yet our farming practices indicate that we have still not moved beyond the 19th century. This is the more reason why we continue to hunger even though rich soils abound in Ghana. We under utilise our land for lack of political commitment.

Look at the policies of the two major parties and see if they can even put Ghana on the level of Korea, Taiwan or Hong Kong in the next 20 years. Ghanaian business men are frequenting Dubai and China importing every good you can think of. Investigate to find out how the Chinese and co did it and whether any of the parties can help Ghana do the same.

Look at the state of infrastructure in Ghana: roads, harbours, telecommunication, health, education, market and airport. We have neglected the few that Nkrumah built yet we have forgotten that no nation no matter the size of the natural resources that she has can develop without investing in infrastructure. That is why Democratic Republic of Congo has every mineral you can think of yet they are one of the poorest in the world. That is why Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong have developed and that is why President Elect Obama  is talking about building US infrastructures because they are the engines that run the economy. You cannot export if you do not have harbours and airports to support it. You cannot attract tourists if you do not have airport, hotels and other infrastructure that support it.

You cannot move goods from centres of production to centres of consumption if you do not have roads, rail lines and inland water infrastructure to deliver it. You cannot supply the industries with doctors, architects, bankers, lawyers, planners, engineers, teachers, nurses if you do not have the educational infrastructure to deliver it. And you cannot run an efficient and vibrant economy if you do not have the energy and telecommunication infrastructures in place. Ghana has been experiencing serious disruptions in the energy sector for years and no political party has seen any wisdom to solve. As a result factories are folding up and are laying off workers and we are waiting for nature to help fill Akosombo Dam before we rectify the problem. Can these do nothing approaches to problem solving help our nation? What are we doing with the abundance of sunshine in the country? We have not taken advantage of it, have we? We have sunshine 365 days and we have not tap into solar energy which is cheap and more reliable than hydro. It is another indication of the useless institutions that we have and lip service paid by the various political parties and their leaders to development. Look around yourselves and see if any of the goods you see are made in Ghana I mean the mobile phones, computers, televisions, cars and all the flashy things that Ghanaians are crazing for. It is sad to note that almost all the raw materials needed to build these phones, cars etc are obtained from Ghana and other African countries.

How about the state of the housing infrastructure? A visit to any village or town gives the same picture of poor housing and poor quality of public service. People are living in mud/thatched houses with bamboo leaf as roofing sheet with no electricity, potable water and clinics. They live in a subsistence environment without social security, health insurance and are condemned to poverty, desperation and hopelessness. Those living in urban areas are without jobs, without mortgage, and face high utility bills with poor service. They face constant barrage of water and energy disruptions everyday. In every region the situation is not different. On the other hand our MPs, ministers, vice president, the president, their cronies and families live in total luxury with mansions, SUVs, bodyguards, fat salaries, fat bonuses, house servants and they have all the resources of the state at their disposal. Yet they claim to be serving the people. How can it be?

And how about our education sector upon which the development of the nation rest? It is nothing to write home about. Isn’t it? Look at the world ranking of Universities and see where the first university falls. Can we afford to develop the nation with low quality graduates not to mention the millions of illiterates and semi-literates that roam around the country? Of the about 9,760 Accredited universities in the World, Ghana’s prominent universities including University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of ‘Science and Technology’ only managed to place 5,702 and 6,703 positions respectively in the World University Ranking. Even in Africa, our own backyard they only managed to secure 43rd and 63rd positions respectively.(Source: topuniversities.com) It is abundantly clear that our education system is not producing the architects, engineers, planners, bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, social workers, nurses and the scientists that we need in the 21st Century. That is why every major architectural and engineering activity in Ghana is undertaken by foreigners and foreign companies especially from USA, Japan, China, India and Europe. And any nation that depends on foreign expertise for her survival is doom to fail in the long run. The Universities lack well trained lecturers. They lack modern facilities such as state of the art libraries, laboratory simulation facilities, studios, computers, and books. They lack them because we cannot build them; we cannot build them because the curricula have not prepared our students to build them. As a result we have to import the equipments and books from countries that have done their home work well and have invested heavily in education notably in science and technology.

In many of our universities, Polytechnics and secondary schools lecturers/teachers are still teaching students the same way the 19th century academic institutions taught forgetting that we are in the 21st century. The same notes given a final year student four years ago are still being given to first year students with no addition and subtraction.  Lecturers cannot write books for students because they do not have the resources to carry out research that form the basis of any academic material.

Whereas students in advanced countries get their hands on books immediately they are released those in Ghana have to wait 4 years or even more to get the same books. What is more the academic facilities including libraries are in a state too appalling to describe. Not a single of our universities can boast of a million volumes of books in their libraries. Even the few books that they have are so old that information contained in them are useless. Very few books have been published by Ghanaians. Due to this most students have to rely on the notes that lecturers give them. This is state of our universities and the little I say about our Polytechnics and secondary schools the better. Our research institutions have achieved very little because they are underfunded and the researchers do not have the expertise and the facilities to carry out any meaningful research. A case in point is Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) located at New Tafo in the Eastern Region. Despite decades of its existence we still export raw cocoa beans for peanuts. No value has been added to the cocoa. CRIG has not been able to come up with other ways in which to use the beans to benefit Ghanaians despite the mounting evidence that the beans have several potential uses.

Apart from the few things Dr. Nkrumah did in his 9 years of administration virtually nothing has been added to it by the various governments who came after him neither the NDC, NPP nor PNC.

I can continue all day but it is a fact that both the NDC and NPP are bunches of hungry politicians with no concrete economic and social agenda to move Ghana beyond the level of importing used computers, used cars, used televisions, used underwear and any used thing you can think of. What are all these telling you about Ghana, the NPP, and the NDC? Do we have any option not to vote for them? Until we have leaders who have visions and are committed to industrialising Ghana beyond agro raw material production, Ghana will continue to be classified as a developing and poor country and even though we will continue to vote we will continue to wallow in abject poverty.

Lord Aikins Adusei
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/do-you-think-the-political-parties-care-706866.html

With the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States and his coming inauguration in January, many are predicting his impact in specific areas. While his priorities are shifting, and will probably continue to in the face of current critical needs, there are likely to be some continuing themes that remain consistent throughout his time in office, and they can provide some guidance as to what to expect. This is a good opportunity to think through what some of the impacts will be in the project management world.

To start, my approach is to look at five key priority areas. Here is my take on how they might influence project and program management:

1. Health care reform. Reform in health care is aimed at controlling costs and making health care more available and more affordable to many more people in the United States. On the cost control side, it would seem that we can expect companies and organizations of all sorts will put an increasing emphasis on accelerating cost-containment in their organizations. These methods are already in operation, possibly, but there remain untested policy initiatives that could speed up and make more efficient these methods.

Projects in the health care realm could include more Six Sigma projects for health care providers and pharmaceutical companies. It could include rethinking of priorities in favor of cost control and containment. Based upon many statements made, we can expect emphasis on more efficient information systems to manage personal and general health care information. The move to make health care available to most, or all, American citizens would seem to be quite a logistical and administrative challenge, spawning further projects in information technology and records management.

2. Energy. There has been a lot of talk about energy throughout the campaign, and hopefully not everything will shift as dramatically as energy prices have! But I think this will be a continuing source of projects of all sorts, and virtually everything in the energy field is big and requires expert project management skills. There are tremendous logistical and operational challenges throughout the whole supply chain, from extraction all the way through getting product to the consumer. Keeping some semblance of balance in that supply chain, especially in the face of erratic pricing and markets, makes that even more challenging.

There is likely to be an increased interest in alternative energy sources, including an emphasis on natural gas, drilling in new areas, wind energy, and solar energy. The key factor in my mind is the economics of each and tracking the variability in those factors, so that when changes come projects can be started rapidly. Given that most of these are large capital intensive projects, and that they are long term in nature, they will be hard to stop once started, and project selection and portfolio management will require exceptional skill.

3. Tax reform. Much emphasis has been put on tax fairness. This has been a clear indication that higher income individuals will receive higher tax rates. This could have an effect on consumer spending and possibly investment, thus effecting projects accordingly. It also may be that capital gains taxes will increase, and this will have a direct impact on the viability of projects many projects. The question is, how much of an impact, and specifically where?

My guess is that these tax policy changes will have a marginal impact as far as project managers go. I believe that those viable projects will remain viable, and only a few from the status quo will have to be changed. Of course in the short term, at least, the availability of money to finance many projects is a huge factor.

4. Education. Frankly, I am not sure at all what education reforms might be viable, but here are some ideas. Any educational service related to technology and the bringing of books, virtual classrooms, and interactive learning that bring efficiencies to the educational process will be considered. Other things that I think will be considered relate to customization of educational services or segments, such as charter schools who want to make their own innovative programs.

There may also be some macro changes in the educational system, related to local versus broader control of education. This type of thing would likely spawn information technology projects aimed at tying together information across local domains. Other changes in this area could relate to sharing teaching resources and flexibility across educational domains for both students and teachers.

5. Regulatory reform and infrastructure spending. There will likely an increased number of regulatory reform projects related to new financial regulations probably at the top of the list, just as there have been a plethora of Sarbanes-Oxley projects in the last few years, though there will be an increasing number of projects of that sort with the new changes to come.

Areas where such projects are most likely to occur include financial (at the top of the list) and environmental. Regulatory reform could have an impact on transportation, and the transportation infrastructure is likely to be the target of a great deal of fiscal spending. Any projects are likely to be large, requiring substantial professional project management, and many will also be information intensive.

John Reiling
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/what-obamas-victory-means-to-the-world-of-project-management-712808.html

What a week for Barack Obama.

He (accidentally) refers to his “Muslim faith” on George Stephanopolous’ show, waivers and quakes on every position he has hitherto held (abortion, taxes, Iraq, the surge), and now faces a 10 point deficit to McCain/Palin in the latest USA Today likely voter poll.

And as we all know, it is the likely voter polls, not the registered voter polls, that really count.

I can hear the Democrats now, wondering aloud in polite company how the rest of America could be so stupid. I would respectfully take that question and redirect it in the direction from whence it came.

Barack Obama’s entire primary campaign was a personality contest and a “change” event (which really just kept reminding me of this particular South Park episode, where his supporters were the homeless). Between he and Hillary, there was little difference on the issues, ergo the issues were not discussed. Except maybe health care, though from a conservative point-of-view, government control is government control. A skunk is still a skunk, no matter how wide his (or her) stripe.

Now that the general election is upon him, and real questions, voter scrutiny and his own soaring oratory begin to descend, the plaster of Paris that is Barack Obama’s candidacy has begun to crack.

And it is not the “Republican attack machine” that is dismantling him, contrary to his echoes of Hillary Clinton’s mythical “vast right-wing conspiracy” from Democrat whines of yore. It is his own failure to stand for anything worth supporting, and like a Seinfeld episode that never ends, pinning his political future on a campaign about nothing. As he added substance to his campaign-speak, we learn what many of us already knew. He isn’t about “change” – he is just another tired old liberal, advocating policies that would balloon the federal government, destroy federalism, and transform this country in ways that would make her completely unrecognizable to her Founders. His proposals stem from a childish admiration of that pathetic 1960s hippy mindset of free love and free everything, except that you and I pay for it.

And why does it seem he is running against Sarah Palin? Is he really that afraid of John McCain?

I now feel free to offer a bit of advice for you Democrats who think that the debates will work in his favor. Barack Obama may be the most scripted presidential candidate in history. Though well produced, Ronald Reagan (as Bill Clinton) was great off-the-cuff, had their own ideas, and knew their subject matter. Obama, certainly unworthy of Reagan’s dirty sock, and not a sliver as tough as Bill Clinton, loses his unicorn-like luster when required to think on his feet. John McCain does not.

This may be the beginning of the end for the Obama candidacy. If it is, the country will be better off for it.

Nathan Moore
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/the-obama-meltdown-553744.html

As part of The Cap and Trade Bill HR 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, adds another layer of conditions for selling personal real estate (your home) in the United States.  The American Clean Energy and Security Act, a whopping 1,200 pages defining a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions, a federal renewable electricity mandate, and a suite of new mandatory energy efficiency standards, imposes 397 new federal regulations and 1060 mandates on an American public already overwhelmed by extensive federal regulations.  Written in there is a requirement for all home sales to be conditioned upon an energy audit and an energy rating assessment labeling program. How much additional selling costs will all sellers now be required to pay to comply with the proposed requirements?

Congressmen Ron Paul, on 6-29-09 said:

“The Cap and Trade Bill HR 2454 was voted on last Friday. Proponents claim this bill will help the environment, but what it really does is put another nail in the economy’s coffin. The idea is to establish a national level of carbon dioxide emissions, and sell pollution permits to industry as the Catholic Church used to sell indulgences to sinners. HR 2454 also gives federal bureaucrats new power to regulate a wide variety of household appliances, such as light bulbs and refrigerators, and further distorts the market by providing more of your tax money to auto companies.”

Just like the TARP bill, this is all happening too fast. Anyone who thinks that Washington can craft a respectable bill in this short period of time is dreaming. The specifics of the bill aren’t being publicly discussed. The Democrats are trying to push this through so fast no one will know what hit them. The media is complicit in this. This is not the time to increase energy costs, either.

Kansas City Power & Light said the bill will force them to buy so many carbon allowances for coal that electricity rates could rise 50 percent by 2012, and another 70 percent by 2020.

Let’s get some positive economic growth first, not minus 6.6%, before we kick in some expensive program/tax.

Over 7,000 climate scientists have spoken out and signed a petition that states “climate change” is NOT caused by man, more than the number of scientists who wrote the UN charter on the topic.

This, along with the “stimulus” and “health care reform” is able to succeed to a degree because the American people are, for the most part, sheep who demand to be led, do not care to be involved in the process, do not care to know what is happening in their government, do not care to act on their own behalf and figure that Obama is more intelligent than they are. In fact he is leading them down the road to higher taxes, higher inflation and higher costs on all natural resources, all because of a false theory that curtailing carbon emissions can make a difference.

Kim Strassel, published in the (June 2009) Wall Street Journal:

“Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting. It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with an assist from the media), did a little too vociferous a job smearing anyone who disagreed with them as ‘deniers.’ The backlash has brought the scientific debate roaring back to life in Australia, Europe, Japan, and even if less reported, the U.S.”

“In April, the Polish Academy of Sciences published a document challenging man-made global warming. In the Czech Republic, where President Vaclav Klaus remains a leading skeptic, today only 11% of the population believes humans play a role. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to tap Claude Allegre to lead the country’s new ministry of industry and innovation. Twenty years ago Mr. Allegre was among the first to trill about man-made global warming, but the geochemist has since recanted. New Zealand last year elected a new government, which immediately suspended the country’s weeks-old cap-and-trade program.

“The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. — 13 times the number who authored the U.N.’s 2007 climate summary for policymakers. Joanne Simpson, the world’s first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, expressed relief upon her retirement last year that she was finally free to speak ‘frankly’ of her non-belief. Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming ‘the worst scientific scandal in history.’ Norway’s Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner for physics, decries it as the ‘new religion.’ A group of 54 noted physicists, led by Princeton’s Will Happer, is demanding the American Physical Society revise its position that the science is settled. (Both Nature and Science magazines have refused to run the physicists’ open letter.)

“The collapse of the ‘consensus’ has been driven by reality.”

Scientists – the ones without a political agenda – have shown that solar activity correlates with temperature changes. In fact, it correlates stronger to changes than CO2 does, and changes in CO2 levels FOLLOW changes in temperature by about 800 years. The only reason that CO2 and temperature would be increasing at the same time NOW is that temperature increased about 800 years ago. By the way, temperatures have been decreasing for a couple of years now.

It appears that the government is more concerned about the appearance of making changes and are thus, creating these massive documents that no one can possibly read and digest.  Don’t be naive enough to think we are being saved from disaster; one is being created. France has a better idea called nuclear power.

Bob Schwartz, CRS,GRI, San Diego California real estate broker
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/the-cap-and-trade-bill-is-bad-for-the-housing-market-sellers-wallets-1012018.html

(n)Obama is a raving, race baiting populist. His record, statements, writings and church activities say so. The man is the most seriously under-qualified nominee for President in the entire history of the United States. Underachievers like Grover Cleveland or the abysmal Herbert Hoover look majestic when compared to the community organiser who believes there are 57 US states. The collective orgasmic expostulations around the little man with the big ears hides the relevant and important fact that (n)Obama is the worst possible leader imaginable – worse even than the stupidest man in US history, that obscene anti-semite dimwit Jimmy Carter. The Americans might as well elect Mickey Mouse to lead them than (n)Obama. At least Mickey is honest.

(n)Obama is a classic economic populist, cultural marxist and a raging ‘progressive’ liberal [an oxymoron with the emphasis on the moron]. Not only is (n)Obama the most left-wing Senator in the US Senate based on his voting record, but possesses the most radical ideas garnered from his supporters about redistribution, government’s role to ‘unite’ society, and genuflection to the global ‘community’ [whatever that means]. (n)Obama is simply the most dangerous demagogue to come forward in US politics since Huey Long.

Long was a nationalist-populist during a period of history when authoritarian rule was deemed ‘progressive’. So-called intellectuals supported the twin absurdities of corporate fascism and communism. State management was deemed moral, and community feeling and extremist nationalist ideology in which the individual was submerged into the whole was portrayed as necessary, spiritual and mandatory. Long’s program of populist race baiting; ecomomic management and the creation of ‘us versus them’ rhetoric was part of a troubled episode in which freedom and clear thinking were replaced by blind emotion and state created enthusiasm.

(n)Obama exhibits much of the same penchant for simplistic formulae, state organised parades and speeches; and ego-centricity as any tin horn dictator, populist or Roman senatorial demagogue. (n)Obama is just a pale version of what has long gone on in politics – the pandering to the populist mass by promising some set of nonsense to mask what is really at issue – the aggrandizement of state power. Ironicially the very lemmings and automata who support the little man with no experience, and who say that only they and he have the right ideas, programs and beliefs, are the same small people who cry about freedom, rights and individualism. Their statist program of course would result in the exact opposite of what they weep so emotionally about.

(n)Obama’s socialist agenda:

1. Taxes: The little Black messiah would enact the largest tax increase in US history. This would completely wipe out an already weak US economy and cause capital flight from the US, and from the US dollar, to overseas. There would truly be a deep and profound US economic recession.

2. Trade: Given that (n)Obama’s base are union and government workers, trade restrictions and an increase in barriers would be mandatory. Trade intra-NAFTA and with China would be put at risk. The world trading system would suffer reverses from 60 years of GATT-WTO tariff and protectionist reduction. The average consumer will suffer as will the economy.

3. Spending: The US government is going bankrupt. Social security and medicaid and future liabilities [ie future taxes] now stand at $58 Trillion or 4 times the size of the US economy. (n)Obama’s plan of state power accretion would increase this future debt and increase the size of current and future entitlement spending by $ 1 Trillion per year. It is madness. Spending needs to be reduced by 50% and the entitlement programs need to be privatised.

4. The Death Cult: (n)Obama is the most pro abortion member of the Senate. He openly advocates the creation of government sponsored abortion clinics. Obviously the little Black man has never seen a video of a fetus’ development. How is murdering a human consistent with his rhetoric about love, humanity and unity?

5. Eco-fascism: (n)Obama’s plan to hire 50.000 green-workers to go around and trim trees smacks of FDR’s make work programs during the depression which did nothing to solve unemployment but did a lot to destroy private capital. (n)Obama would also raise taxes on carbon usage; engage in carbon trading [ie tax and redistribution]; and ensure that the eco-fanatics stopped any development of sensible carbon or nuclear energy usage. How this helps the ‘average’ man when energy costs will of course only increase, perhaps only (n)Obama knows.

6. The Useless Nations: Like a typical globalist-socialist little (n)Obama is deeply concerned about whether everyone loves the US or himself personally. Knee bending to the marxists at the UN would come very naturally to the little man from Chicago. That the UN is useless, corrupt and wastes $500 million per annum of US money never crosses the knotted little liberal minds. Yet they will weep that $150 million spent on Iraq per annum is too much.

7. Socialisation of the economy: Whole sectors from health care to energy will undergo a massive government re-regulation and imposition. Health care fraud wastes $100 billion per annum in the US – because it is managed by the government. Contrary to cartoonish portrayals that the US health care system is some free market nirvana, the reality is that the US system is 60% directly owned or managed by government with the remaining 40% under European styled regulation. The US needs a real market in health care, not (n)Obama state management.

8. Iraq and the war: (n)Obama is clueless about war, foreign affairs, or why we are in Iraq to start with [hint WMD is not the answer]. Being an appeasing clown (n)Obama has maintained over 4 years that the US must exit Iraq post haste. Leaving Iraq would have resulted in a huge US defeat and in a resurgence in extremist Islamic power and terorism. How that would benefit US strategic interests or that of the region perhaps the little orator can condescend to enumerate to us beknighted peasants. (n)Obama is a pacifist and a globalist. He has no idea about national strategic interests.

Summary:

Nice words don’t make nice leaders. Lenin was famously dynamic at the podium. Mussolini held most of Italy in thrall. Hitler speeches are apogees of stage management and acting to support emotionally galvanizing rhetoric. Huey Long could mobilise populist passions in a direction that was not only dangerous but at times immoral. Be aware of the charismatic leader. (n)Obama’s rhetoric means nothing. Any actor can stutter about hope, change, more hope, unity, some more change and of course love. It is just drivel.

What the little Black man from Chicago wants to do is reasonably straight forward: increase taxes; install more government spending; end US military paramountcy; lose the war against Islamic terror; regulate and limit freedoms and turn the US into a larger version of Sweden. That is what his plans and those of this supporters comes down to. Just another infantile set of measures designed to wipe out the US experiment. That is what this charlatan is all about. It is fantastically disgusting.

C. Read
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/8-reasons-why-n-obama-is-a-socialist-675189.html