Music Video Supports Breast Cancer Awareness

pink-glovesEmily Somers created, directed and choreographed this awesome music video in Portland last week for her Medline surgical glove division as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. This was all her idea to help promote their new pink gloves. I don’t know how she got so many employees, doctors and patients to participate, but it started to really catch on and they all had a lot of fun doing it. Follow me over the fold for a really groovy video… Continue reading…

Get Your H1N1 Vaccine NOW

h1n1-vaccine Guest Blogger – Zippi Dvash Asst. VP of Public Affairs Long Island College Hospital Young, healthy people don’t get sick very often.  But the flu is different.  In fact, the difference between a little bit of fever and a flu is like the difference between a bird and a gorilla.  This flu, the H1N1 virus, has claimed more young victims than any other in recent memory.  So if you hadn’t considered getting vaccinated before – think again.  Follow me below to read why you ought to vaccinate and where you can get it today.  Continue reading…

Black Friday-Cyber Monday, Are You Spending?

black-friday-walmartToday is “Cyber Monday” the Internet enabled, 21st Century equivalent to the post-Thanksgiving, dirt-world doorbusting shopping spree known as “Black Friday”.  The term black Friday, coined by retailers to describe the day after Thanksgiving, was so named because the deep discounts and sales they offered were supposed to draw enough consumers to the stores to enable retailers to recoup their investments into holiday inventory.  This tsunami of Holiday season shopping was supposed to put the retailers’ balance sheets into “the black” or positive territory.  With the rise of e-commerce, there is now a second wave of shopping that begins (unfortunately for employers) on the Monday after Thanksgiving when many return to the office to “work” (read: shop online on the company’s time).  Online retailers put out their most attractive online sale prices of the year for Cyber Monday.  But in this poor economic environment, are people buying?  Are you?  Follow me below the fold… Continue reading…

Are you carrying cocaine in your pocket?

coke_dollars_0817A group of scientists from the University of Massachusetts tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found what they termed “alarming” evidence of cocaine use in many areas.   For the scary details, follow me over the fold. Continue reading…

Senate HCR Bill Moves Forward Over Weekend

senate-shieldLate Saturday night, the US Senate voted to allow debate over their draft of healthcare reform legislation to begin on the floor.  This is another big hurdle that proponents of reform have overcome.  The Senate version of the bill still contains some version of a public option.  It will be interesting to see what amendments are added during the committee process.  For supporters of reform who may be feeling that the reform has been too compromised and watered down, follow me over the fold for a great breakdown of what the current draft of the Senate bill includes for all Americans. Continue reading…

Students Open Thread

whisperThis is your opportunity to steer the conversation here.  It is a free discussion page or “open thread” for  the regular readers of the Allen School Online Blog.  Sound off in the comments about anything you may have on your mind whether its about learning, career, pop culture, movies, recipes or anything you’d like to bring to the community.  Ask your fellow bloggers for their advice about things.  You can learn from and help this community of folks, each of whom is involved in the same educational and career pursuits as you are.  Or, share with me, your humble blogmaster, some ideas of what you’d like to see here on front page posts.

Follow the Money Redux

goldman_sachs_logo_0411A while back I posted several pieces here and here about how an observer could gauge the relative chances of significant healthcare being passed by Congress, simply by looking at the share prices of publicly traded health insurance companies like Cigna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Humana, United Healthcare and others. Well, if anyone doubted that Wall Street was actually in a position to influence these things, follow me over the fold for iron clad proof that Wall Street wants reform to fail. Continue reading…

House Passes HCR Bill – Women’s Reproductive Rights Take Hit

us-houseThis past Saturday night, the  US House of Representatives worked all day and into the evening (it felt good to watch these people work on a weekend for once) and narrowly passed a bill aimed at reforming the broken healthcare system.  In the process though, they were forced to insert an amendment (the Stupak amendment) which disallows women who would be enrolled in the public option plan from getting abortions.  I am fed up with people inserting their religious preferences into legislation that effects all Americans, religious or otherwise. Continue reading…

Forbes Publishes “Most Toxic Cities in US” List

polutionForbes Magazine published a list of the most and least toxic cities in the US to live in.  As a New Yorker and something of an environmentalist, I was surprised to learn we are not on the “Most” list.  Even more surprised to find us on the “Least” list.  Anyway, for those considering a move after graduation or a new city to launch your new career, keep this in mind when weighing quality of life against availablity of employment.  List after the jump… Continue reading…