Missing Children and The Technology That May Find Them

Some solutions for protecting your kids. [This post is not an endorsement of any particular company or technology.]

in reference to:

"The VeriChip Company makes VeriKid, used in Mexico where they put scanners in public places kidnapped children may be. VeriChip was primarily developed to hold a patient’s medical information and it does not contain a transmitter and is not satellite-enabled.
Wherify GPS Personal Locator combines GPS and digital wireless technologies to pinpoint a wearers position within a few feet. Parents can view satellite or street map or call an 800 number. Cost is $800 and $30 a month to monitor. Parents lock the bracelet onto the child’s wrist, which could be removed by a perpetrator."
- Missing Children and The Technology That May Find Them | InjuryBoard Jacksonville (view on Google Sidewiki)

UN Food Agency Says 200 Million More People Hungry

With not much hope in site. The collapse of the global economic system has, and will, leave many casualties. It did very little to solve world hunger when international capitalism was "thriving" over the last 2 decades. So you can imagine what will happen now.

in reference to:

"Most of the developing world is paying more for food despite drops in commodity market prices during the global economic slowdown, with 200 million people joining the ranks of the hungry in the past two years, the U.N. World Food Program said Monday.

The agency's executive director Josette Sheeran blamed climate change, escalating fuel costs and falling incomes. She said the number of "urgently hungry" had now reached its highest ever — 1.02 billion.

"One out of six people in humanity will wake up not sure that they can even fill a cup of food," Sheeran told reporters. "We have to make no mistake that hunger is on the march.""
- UN Food Agency Says 200 Million More People Hungry - ABC News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Report: Meteorite-like object falls in Latvia

It isn't just in the movies. Meteors are a reality. And there exists a potential for a massive one to hit the earth and kill many people. Meteors are believed to have killed off the dinosaurs.

in reference to:

"A meteorite-like object has created a crater after landing near a farm in northern Latvia, the nation's official news agency reported. The object fell Sunday in Mazsalaca, leaving a hole of about 65 feet (20 meters) wide and 32 feet (10 meters) deep, Latvian emergency officials told the LETA news agency."
- Report: Meteorite-like object falls in Latvia - CNN.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Saudi king scraps flogging for woman journalist

It gives you hope and teaches a lesson. If pressure is put on dictatorships positive things can happen. And it looks like it was not governments that led to the decision to stop the beatings. World public opinion does matter, and should.

in reference to:

"The Saudi king has waived a 60 lashes punishment for a female journalist charged with involvement in a TV show in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex, a government official said Monday.
King Abdullah's decision followed intense media attention sparked by Saturday's sentencing of journalist Rozanna al-Yami, who was ordered flogged by a judge in the western city of Jiddah.
Al-Yami had been charged with involvement in the preparation of a sex talk show and advertising the segment on the Internet."
- Saudi king scraps flogging for woman journalist - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

'60 Minutes' Transcript: Medicare Fraud: A $60 Billion Crime

Medicare is no model for health care reform as some Democrats are arguing. That's why real reform would mean replacing it with something that does work. Neither party will do that. The Medicare program is too popular, even if we can't pay for it.

President Obama says rising costs are driving huge federal budget deficits that imperil our future, and that there is enough waste and fraud in the system to pay for health care reform if it was eliminated.

At the center of both issues is Medicare, the government insurance program that provides health care to 46 million elderly and disabled Americans. But it also provides a rich and steady income stream for criminals who are constantly finding new ways to steal a sizable chunk of the half trillion dollars that are paid out each year in Medicare benefits.

In fact, Medicare fraud - estimated now to total about $60 billion a year - has become one of, if not the most profitable, crimes in America.

This story may raise your blood pressure, along with some troubling questions about our government's ability to manage a medical bureaucracy.