Don’t belittle the top tax brackets Don’t belittle the top tax brackets.(Local)

The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) December 1, 2010 MOST AMERICANS dislike class-warfare talk aimed at rich people. It does not follow, however, that they don’t want the wealthiest among us to pay more taxes. Polls show they do.

That puts Democrats in the mainstream on such matters. But Democrats still need a sophisticated way to discuss this, one that does not rely on simple-minded formulations pitting a “greedy rich” against an “oppressed poor.” The angry electorate that just gave Democrats a beating — largely middle class, largely white — feels besieged by what it perceives as a freeloading lower class. here 2012 tax brackets

And many think of the poor as dark people having children out of wedlock, living off food stamps, spending years on welfare and otherwise draining the productive members of society — that is, themselves.

There’s little point in calling these folks racist. Some surely are, but one doesn’t have to be racially biased to feel uneasy at the sight of so many minority 16-year-olds with big bellies and no prospect of marriage pushing strollers through the mall. True, the “baby mama” phenomenon is growing in white America, as well — look at Bristol Palin’s star-studded single motherhood — but it’s become the norm in many black and Hispanic communities.

Our post-industrial economy no longer accommodates high school dropouts, and one of the biggest drags on educational achievement is a chaotic family life. Not recognizing the culture-driven causes of poverty is intellectually dishonest and alienates middle-class voters coping with their own economic anxieties.

As for the rich, liberals too often buy into the false notion that great wealth must come at the expense of others. For example, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently likened the U.S. to a banana republic where “the richest 1 percent of the population gobbles up 20 percent of the national pie.” But “the economy is not a national pie eating contest,” as Dartmouth economist Andrew Samwick smartly responded on the Capital Gains and Games website. “The phrase casts income as something that is consumed, not as something that is produced.” Meanwhile, most super-rich Americans committed no fraud in building their piles. “Do I feel oppressed that I made Steve Jobs richer by buying an iPad?” Samwick asks. “Of course not.” That doesn’t mean that billionaires should be able to buy elections. It doesn’t mean that hedge-fund managers deserve outrageous tax loopholes. It doesn’t mean that financiers should be allowed to hobble Securities and Exchange Commission rules, then demand taxpayer bailouts when their risky deals collapse. go to web site 2012 tax brackets

And it doesn’t mean that raising these people’s taxes to help reduce deficits is anything but a fine idea. Taxes must go up, and the higher the income, the less personal sacrifice in paying them. That’s the reasoning behind our progressive income tax system. Any resulting “wealth redistribution” is a byproduct.

Many conservatives have adopted an unpleasant strain of servility toward the rich. (No, they don’t hire us as a charitable gesture.) But liberals shouldn’t answer the worshipping of wealth with a demonizing of it.

What Democrats should say to the top tax brackets is this: “Congratulations on your good fortune — assuming it didn’t come from cheating anyone or corrupting our civic life. May you long prosper, and, by the way, thank you for doing your bit to end our national deficit crisis.” Any effort to hike taxes for the upper incomes will spawn charges of “class warfare.” But Democrats need not stoke these phony claims by cluttering their arguments with nonsense about income pies and implications that tycoons can’t be perfectly nice people.

Keep it simple: This is about raising enough money to pay the government’s bills in the fairest and most effective way.

Froma Harrop is a columnist for the Providence Journal.

Cardiovascular effects of neuropeptide Y mediated by Y[subscript]1 receptor.

Cardiovascular Week June 7, 2004 2004 JUN 7 – (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) — The cardiovascular effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY) are mediated by the Y[subscript]1 receptor subtype. atstilluniversity.net at still university

Previous studies showed that the NPY receptor antagonist PYX-2 “blocks the enhancement of a carbachol (CCh)-evoked pressor response produced by prior NPY administration into the posterior hypothalamic nucleus (PHN),” researchers in Missouri explained. “The Y receptor subtype that mediates this response, and an increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate, remained unknown due to the lark of selectivity of PYX-2 for the Y receptor subtypes.” To remedy this, J.R. Martin and coauthors at the AT Still University of Health Sciences conducted another study “to elucidate the Y receptor subtype responsible for mediating the NPY-evoked cardiovascular responses from the PHN by determining the rank order of potency of several NPY related peptides for increasing MAP, and by correlating the pressor response evoked by these peptides to reported K[subscript]i’s and IC[subscript]50′s for the Y[subscript]1, Y[subscript]2, Y[subscript]4 and Y[subscript]5 receptor subtypes.” “The pharmacological profile (PYY greater than or equal to NPY greater than or equal to [Leu[superscript]31, Pro[superscript]34]NPY greater than or equal to NPY[subscript]13-36 greater than or equal to hPP) and correlations suggest that the Y[subscript]1 and/or Y[subscript]5 receptor subtypes mediate these cardiovascular changes,” published data indicated. “Administration of the relatively non-selective Y receptor antagonist PYX-2 or the selective Y[subscript]1 receptor antagonist BIBP 3226 into the PHN prior to NPY completely blocked the cardiovascular responses.” “BIBP 3226 also blocked the cardiovascular changes evoked by [Leu[superscript]31,Pro[superscript]34]NPY, NPY[subscript]13-36 and human pancreatic polypeptide (hPP),” according to the report. “In contrast, neither BIBP 3226 nor PYX-2 inhibited the cardiovascular changes induced by peptide YY (PYY) or CCh microinjection into the PHN.” “These results show that NPY and PYY act on different receptors to mediate their respective cardiovascular changes from the PHN with NPY stimulating the Y[subscript]1 receptor,” the investigators concluded. go to website at still university

Martin and colleagues published their study in Brain Research (The Y[subscript]1 receptor subtype mediates the cardiovascular changes evoked by NPY administered into the posterior hypothalamic nucleus of conscious rat. Brain Res, 2004;1002(1-2):11-20).

For more information, contact J.R. Martin, AT Still University of Health Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, 800 West Jefferson St., Kirksville, MO 63501 USA.

Publisher contact information for the journal Brain Research is: Elsevier Science B.V., P.O. Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Cardiology, Neuroscience, Proteomics and Receptor Studies.

Kaiser Permanente and Goodwill Southern California Sponsor E-Waste Collection from Kern to San Diego.

Computer Weekly News May 6, 2010 Celebrating a four-year Earth Day partnership, Kaiser Permanente and Goodwill Southern California are anticipating that, with this year's expansion to six days and 20 Southern California sites, the Kaiser Permanente Southern California response to the e-waste campaign may hit a new record and prove to be the largest and most successful collection by a Goodwill corporate partner in California this year. website kaiser permanente locations

"Every year our physicians and employees bring in obsolete computers, monitors, cast-off cell phones, and other outdated electronic home equipment and hazardous e-waste that might otherwise have ended up in area landfills," says Benjamin Chu, MD, MPH, MACP, president of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region. "We are leaders in green design, building and purchasing, so partnering with Goodwill in their Earth Day E-Waste collection is a natural for us. It just makes sense to do what we can to keep the environment as healthy as our communities," adds Dr. Chu.

"The Kaiser Permanente and Goodwill Earth Day program is one of the most successful corporate partnerships we've ever had," said Goodwill Southern California President and CEO, Doug Barr. "This year we have 20 collection sites on Kaiser Permanente locations, and we can't say enough about the enthusiasm and energy that Kaiser Permanente has put behind this region-wide effort." Kaiser Permanente's e-waste collection began in Fontana on April 15 and rolled out in Downey, Panorama City, San Diego-San Marcos, and Woodland Hills through April 20.

Today, April 22, e-waste collection continues at the Kaiser Permanente corporate headquarters in Pasadena (393 East Walnut Street, 91188), and the Los Angeles, South Bay, Riverside, Anaheim and Irvine medical centers, as well as the Kern County-Ming Avenue and East Hills locations.

This year's campaign will conclude with collections at the Baldwin Park and West Los Angeles medical centers and the San Diego-Otay Mesa site on April 23. Some locations will collect donated clothes or personal documents for shredding. Goodwill representatives will assist with heavy items, and will provide receipts for all donated e-waste goods they accept. go to web site kaiser permanente locations

Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a nonprofit, group practice prepayment program with Southern California headquarters in Pasadena, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 3.3 million members in Southern California. Today it encompasses the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Kaiser Permanente's Southern California Region includes more than 49,919 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 6,000 physicians representing all specialties. More information about Kaiser Permanente can be found at www.kaiserpermanente.org. About Goodwill Southern California: GSC operates 63 retail stores, 41 attended donation centers, three campuses and 24 workforce/training centers in the counties of Los Angeles (north of Rosecrans Ave.), Riverside and San Bernardino. Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator, gave GSC its highest four-star ranking for eight consecutive years, because GSC spends 91 percent of its budget on programs that transform lives through the power of work. For more information about GSC and its programs, visit www.goodwillsocal.org.

NEWS: IN BRIEF…

Community Practitioner June 1, 2010 | Anonymous Call for School Nurse Forum members The Unite/CPHVA School Nurse Forum is looking to recruit school nurse members in Scotland, Northern Ireland, West Midlands, East Midlands and Eastern regions, which are currently under represented.

Pre-registration consultation response Unite/CPHVA’s response to the NMC Standards for pre-registration nurse education consultation is available for download. To access a copy, please see: www.un’itetJieunion.oem/sectors/health_sector/ professionaLgroups __ assoc/cphva/ cphva_education.aspx Preventing outdoor injury consultation The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published a consultation on its draft guidance on preventing unintentional injuries in outdoor play areas among under-15s. Individuals and organisations wishing to respond must be registered as a NICE stakeholder, and the consultation deadline is 13 July 2010.To access the consultation documents and for further information, please see: www.nice.org.uk, click on ‘Consultation’ and then ‘Preventing unintentional injuries among under 15s: outdoor play and leisure: draft guidance consultation’. web site jaundice in newborns

World Cup reading toolkit The National Literacy Trust has published a football World Cup resource for literacy professionals to help them promote reading among children. The resource includes ideas for activities and games that schools, libraries and learning centres can use to encourage reading, including tips for organising activities such as the ‘World Cup library treasure hunt’, The football reading game’ and ‘World Cup bingo.’ To access the resource, please see: www.literacytrustorg.uk/worldcup and click on 1WOrId Cup toolkit’.

Protecting children against violence The Council of Europe has published guidelines on developing a Europe-wide national strategy to protect children from violence. The guidelines recommend setting up child-friendly services and strengthening international co-operation. See: ww.coe.int/t/transversalprojects/ children/News/Guidelines/ Recommendation CM A4 protection of children _ENG_BD.pdf Neonatal Jaundice guidance New National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance has been published on neonatal jaundice. The guidance recommends that visual inspection should not be relied on alone to identify possible jaundice in newborns. To access the guidance, please see: www.nice.org.uk/C698 Members to inform consultations Unite/CPHVA is calling on members who have specific knowledge and competencies in issues relating to obesity, tuberculosis, enuresis, accident prevention and personal, social, health and economic education to help inform forthcoming consultations planned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

Food Dudes gets gold medal Food Dudes, an initiative to encourage and maintain healthy eating habits in children, was awarded the gold medal at the chief medical officer’s Public Health Awards 2010. The project was set up in Wolverhampton to combat high rates of childhood obesity by increasing and sustaining the consumption of fruit and vegetables among four- to 11-yearolds. For further information on the project, please see: ww.fooddudes.co.uk/ fda-around-the-world New Welsh helpline for children The Welsh Assembly Government has launched a free helpline for children and young people in Wales. Advisers will either provide information themselves or transfer children to an independent professional advocate. The new helpline, called Meic, will work alongside ChildUne and In its initial stage, the helpline will be available seven days a week between 12pm and 8pm, before becoming a 24-hour service. To contact Meic, Tel: 0808 8023456 or text 84001. here jaundice in newborns

Male lower urinary tract symptoms The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published guidance on the effective management of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The guidance recommends that men who have LUTS should have access to care that can help with their emotional and physical conditions, and any relevant psychological, sexual and social issues. To access a copy, please see: www.nice.org.uk/CG97 Anonymous