Whistle-blower bill
Medicine in the U.S. is a revered institution that continues to improve the quality and longevity of our lives. For that I am most thankful. Medical institutions are also big businesses. Medical costs account for 18 percent of our GDP, and the competition from hospitals and insurance carriers to add to their bottom line is intense. For all the good, there are mistakes in financial governance, and hospitals need to be accountable.
I have followed the "whistle-blower" case involving Joe Vincoli and N.C. Baptist Hospital since the beginning ("Whistle-blower bill clears assembly," July 4). My conclusion is that Vincoli did something very courageous — the right thing. For his efforts in bringing an error to his superiors, he lost his job, suffered damage to his reputation and was sued. I believe the evidence demonstrates a lack of integrity on N.C. Baptist Hospital's part.
Joe Vincoli was very courageous and should be commended. The American people have always championed the "little guy" when oppressed by the big and powerful. This was a shining example of just that. Our legislature has done the right thing in passing House Bill 244. No one should undergo what Vincoli has for doing what is right.
KEN BURKEL
Clemmons
A last holdout
Finally, it has taken the plight of one poor little escaped monkey to bring national attention to what has been going on for years at the Wake Forest University Primate Center ("Animal control seeks escaped monkey," July 4). Why is Wake Forest one of the last holdouts against this inhumane treatment of animals?
It has been proven beyond a doubt that there have been alternative methods to curing diseases that do not use animals in medical research. One after another of these research labs have been closed and the animals sent to finally live out their days with rescue organizations as broken, fearful, crippled animals, but at least free of the torture and cruelty that they were receiving in medical labs around the country.
Where have PETA and other animal-rights groups been all these years, possibly knowing this was going on at Wake Forest? I have written to these groups, as well as to the Journal, several times in the past calling for attention to animal medical research, without a response. It has finally taken a little 8-pound monkey to be the "whistle-blower" against the Wake Forest University Primate Center. Hurray for this little girl.
POLLY McCLENDON
Winston-Salem
Andy and the monkey
At first I was miffed that the passing of Andy Griffith played second fiddle to a monkey ("Animal control seeks escaped monkey," "The pride of Mount Airy," July 4), but after reading the article about the escaped monkey, I understood your intentions. What a fitting tribute to North Carolina's favorite native son to describe such a comedy of errors.
Kudos to the gentleman who sat on the curb all night holding a banana. I'm so glad he was able to enjoy the banana for breakfast.
The clincher came when you described a monkey for readers. I truly felt as if I were living in Mayberry.
Thanks for the chuckle, Journal.
Thanks for the memories, Ange.
PHYLLIS BAKER SMITH
Winston-Salem
Finish the Thought
Saturday, we asked readers to complete the sentence: "Andy Griffith touched people worldwide because ..."
"... he made us laugh and think. Today, there aren't many quality shows of that caliber."
WILLIAM SAMS
"… he had the courage to be true to himself. Most people want to be, but they stray, trying to climb the social ladder, having wealth and fame, but Andy had all this, just by being honest, humble and true. He was a Christian and loved God."
OPAL DOWELL MARION
"... he brought them North Carolina. He was the perfect combination of King Solomon, Atticus Finch (minus the racial tension) and Doc Watson. RIP Andy."
KAM BENFIELD
"... he was one of the good guys."
JONI SWEENEY
"... he believed in universal health care and made a commercial for Obamacare."
AL BAKER
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: The whistleblower bill was one of the very few instances where the state legislaures got it right.
LTE 2: It is a very tough issue. On one hand there are potentially harmful and painful experiments being performed on highly evolved and innocent animals that are practically our cousins. On the other hand, the use of humans in such experiments would be considered unconscionable, so what better way to see the potential effect on humans than by using the nearest relatives? Are there really no other alternatives?
LTE 3: The monkey did make fools of a lot of people.
Finish the thought: "He was the perfect combination of King Solomon, Atticus Finch (minus the racial tension) and Doc Watson." - sums it up quite well. Unlike other popular tv/movie characters who are impossibly good looking, or have fabulous wealth or possess some super human ability, Sheriff Taylor was an average guy everyone could relate to with a strong set of morals he tried to live by and impart to his son. I recall one poll which voted him as TV's favorite father and he was indeed the ideal father figure. Griffith always carried his small town values from childhood with him which combined with his sense of humor made him universally appealing.
The monkey was a lot smarter than most Democrats I know.
DeleteMost Democrats WANT to stay in a cage.
DeleteIt annoyed Andy Griffith that people thought he didn’t have to act to play Andy Taylor.
ReplyDeleteIn real life he wasn’t much like Sheriff Taylor at all. He enjoyed living in Hollywood and was well known in the local night clubs as a connoisseur of fine wines.
And he preferred playing serious, darkish roles, as he did in “A Face in the Crowd”(1957), assuming the persona of a paranoid egomaniac. He got so wrapped up in the character that he couldn’t turn it off at the end of the day, which caused mucho stress in his marriage.
Possibly his best ever performance was as the cold-blooded psychopath John Wallace in “Murder in Coweta County”, a made for TV drama co-starring Johnny Cash.
I've always heard that on the TAGS set Knotts was more like Taylor and Griffith was more like Fife. Of course, if my name was the title of the show, I suppose I would be fanatical about making sure everyting went according to plan as well. Imdb states that some of the earlier episodes where Andy is wearing a cast is the result of Griffith breaking some bones in his hand after pounding his fist while losing his temper on the set when something went wrong.
DeleteI once saw Andy make a wonderfully funny speech in which he said "You know, the original concept of the show was that since I was a rising stand-up comic, I would be the center of attention. But once we got on the set with Don Knotts, I knew that that was not going to work out. I told the writers, play Knotts to the hilt...from here on out I'm just the straight man."
DeleteI recall a TV movie Griffith made called Winterkill, in which he played a sadistic guy hunting a younger man for sport.
DeleteUSA Today:
ReplyDeleteA Florida state attorney's release Thursday of FBI reports surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin shows that his accused killer and self-appointed neighborhood watchman had a pattern of calling authorities about criminal activities and safety issues in the neighborhood.
___________
Amazing....you can't please the liberal media. Now they are upset that Zimmerman called police over 'criminal activities' and 'safety issues'. Who was he suppose to call? Ghost Busters? Geeez!
He shot a guy that was pounding his head against a concrete sidewalk. Get over it!
Bucky, there is a young person in the ground with an extra hole in his carcass furnished by Zimmerman with no witnesses present. And furnished after being told by authority to back off. Stripping this of emotionalism on both sides, this requires a trial. So I'd say you should get over it and wait for due process.
DeleteAnd your fellow forum members say amen.
DeleteWhat many of you fail to recognize is that witnesses coorborate Zimmerman's account, along with the physical evidence.
DeleteWhy don't you wake up and let the known facts to this point dictate your opinions, instead of getting whipped into a PC emotional state because of victim's race?
Fine, Bucky, let those witnesses testify and let the physical evidence be presented. No emotionalism in that.
DeleteWitnesses "coorborate" (whatever that means) nothing. One "saw" a person wearing a white shirt on top of another person. Since neither of the supposed combatants was wearing a white shirt, or anything close to that, I'm sure that that witness will weigh heavily with the jurors.
DeleteNone of the other "witnesses" actually "saw" anything at all.
Dunce loves to quote Killer about having his head banged on the concrete. Killer is the only one who has made that claim. The cops know better. None of the physical evidence, from Killer's minor scalp wounds to the position of Martin's body, supports that.
In Dunce's world, there are three levels: dumb, dumber, dumbest.
Killer's only hope is another OJ stupid jury.
Zimmerman had injuries to the back of his head, NW.
DeleteZimmerman is being railroaded by the liberal media.
Then those injuries will be introduced in court. And it will be introduced in court that he was told not to get involved. If he had headed the other way, he would be sitting at home right now, cleaning his handgun. And if Martin was as bad as you indicate, he would have ended up in a court himself, to face fairer judgment than furnished by Zimmerman. This killing well warrants a trial to seek the truth.
DeleteA person is not required to follow a police dispatcher's orders.
DeleteHad Martin went to the place he was staying, instead of jumping Zimmerman. He would be at home right now eating 'skittles'.
____________
In an interview with FBI agents in March, investigator Chris Serino told authorities he "believed that Zimmerman's actions were not based on Martin's skin color, rather based on his attire, the total circumstances of the encounter and the previous burglary suspects in the community," according to an FBI report.
CNN
Police dispatchers receive more training than watching reruns of Lethal Weapon movies. If Zimmerman had followed reasonable instructions, things would be better for all concerned. If you want to fuss about something, attend the slaughter of bystanders in Chicago and the studied overlooking by the not at all reverends Jackson and Sharpton. Children die under gangsta guns but we hear not a peep from those two charlatans or the watchdog media who quote them. Fertile field there.
Delete"A person is not required to follow a police dispatcher's orders."
DeleteFor once, Dunce is actually right.
Nor is one required to look both ways before crossing a street.
Nor is one required to brush their teeth.
Nor is one required to avoid drinking anti-freeze.
Nor is one required to beware of bad dogs.
Nor is one required to avoid jumping off cliffs.
Nor is one required to avoid swimming in shark infested waters.
Nor is one required (in most states) to avoid talking on one's cell phone while driving.
Nor is one required to avoid racing a train to a crossing.
Nor is one required to breathe.
Nor is one required to be intelligent in any way...proof of that provided by the Dunce himself.
Funny you brought Chicago up.
DeleteChicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Yet, it is having gun chaos in its streets as we post. All perpetuated by people that, legally, don't have the right to have a handgun!
Gun control gone awry!
Single, independent, liberal women support Obama. Obama wants more social programs and government support for people.
ReplyDeleteThat makes perfect sense in the liberal world.
And people think I make this stuff up.
The word "women" is guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of the Dunce.
DeleteBut add to the word "women" the adjectives "single", "independent" and "liberal" and he will be curled up in a corner in the fetal position sobbing "no, no, no..."
The last time he was in bed alone with a woman was when he was in his mother's womb.
AG Holder didn't want to prosecute members of the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation when they slapped billy clubs in their hands while voters entered the polls. Yet, he wants to sue the State of Texas because it wants people to provide I.D. before they vote.
ReplyDeleteThe world is upside down under the Obama Administration.
The filing makes reference to D.C. Bar Counsel rules and claims the attorney general violated the ethics code by "engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation" and "conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice."
Delete____________
Complaint filed with DC bar against AG Holder.
As always, a dunce is a dunce is a dunce...
DeleteIn this case it is our own beloved Dunce against another well known dunce, Minister King Samir Shabazz.
Minister King Shabazz is famous for yelling things like "I hate all white people. We ought to kill them all. We ought to kill their babies!"
Obviously, Minister King Shabazz is an average American exercising his 1st Amendment right to free speech, and doing so in a fashion meant to influence millions of Americans to follow his lead. All hail Minister King Shabazz.
Meanwhile, Dunce is famous for posting lies like "...when they slapped billy clubs in their hands..." all over the world. Obviously, Dunce intends that his lies will influence millions of Americans to follow his lead. All hail Minister King Dunce.
Unfortunately for him, some Americans are inclined to investigate what actually happened before deciding whether they will follow his lead or not.
On election day in 2008 one dunce, the aforesaid Minister King Shabazz, showed up at one polling place in Philadelphia wearing a foolish looking outfit and carrying a police type nightstick.
Wearing a foolish looking outfit is not a crime...thank goodness, because if it were, the majority of Americans would already be in jail. Just look around you.
If the National Association of Tea Partiers and Sissy Boys had their way, it would be legal to carry weapons, especially their PPX 99 Millimeter Dick Substitute Field Cannons, anywhere, especially to polling places.
Fortunately for the rest of us, the Sissy Boys have so far failed in their efforts, so carrying any kind of weapon to a polling place is illegal. The Philadelphia police were summoned. A two man team commanded by a black officer arrived and asked Minister King Shabazz to leave the area. Minister King Shabazz did so.
Minister King Shabazz was the only person who showed up at any polling place in the USA that day or any other with a weapon.
So when Dunce uses the plural terms "they" and "theirs" he is lying, as if that would surprise anyone. Truth is, the only difference between Minister King Shabazz and the Dunce is the color of their skin.
That was one of your best. I'll give you credit. You used a ton of words and you said absolutely nothing. Congratulations. You've broken your record.
DeleteHa, ha! Since I used a ton of words and said absolutely nothing, it should be easy for the Dunce to refute what I said, but, as always, he uses few words to say absolutely nothing...it's very difficult to say anything when you know nothing.
DeleteBucky, he said the idiot showed up with a truncheon, was told by police to get lost, and did just that, thus presenting a different report. Ergo, my cousin did say something. Now refute what he said or concede the round.
DeleteHere's some more video of the idiot that acted in concert with another idiot at the polling place.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYKugGuQkZ0&feature=related
I don't believe that the above post is a legitimate response to my earlier post. I could be wrong, but...
DeleteDunce = A dunce is a person incapable of learning.
The word is derived from the name of the great Scholastic theologian and philosopher John Duns Scotus, also referred to as Doctor Subtillis, or "Subtle Doctor", whose works on logic, theology and philosophy were accepted textbooks in the universities from the 14th century.
Duns or Dunsman was a name applied by early opponents to the followers of Duns Scotus, who were less disparagingly called the Scotists. When, in the 16th century, the Scotists obstinately opposed the new learning (i.e., the King James Bible), the term duns or dunce became, in the mouths of the Protestants a term of abuse, a synonym for one incapable of scholarship.
Dunces are often comedically shown wearing paper cone hats, known as dunce caps, with the word "dunce" or "dumb", or simply a capitalized "D" on them.
Schoolchildren were sometimes compelled to wear a dunce cap and to sit on a stool in the corner as a form of humiliating punishment for misbehaving or for failing to demonstrate that they had properly performed their studies.
Unfortunately, we do not have actual video of our own Dunce of dunces. If we did, it would immediately go viral on the web.
Funny! Obama campaign member accuses Romney of committing a felony while at Bain.
ReplyDeleteIt's a felony to possess any amount of cocaine. The only difference between Marion Barry and Obama is we don't have a video of Obama using cocaine. I'm sure that won't be brought up by the liberal media though.
As always, the Dunce is wronger than wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe level of charge for possession of cocaine varies from state to state. Even in NC, a "hard core criminal" state when it comes to drugs, simple possession of cocaine is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The one thing that you can be sure of from state to state is that possession of crack cocaine, favored by blacks, will be much more severe than possession of powder cocaine, favored in Buena Vista.
Rush, you're an idiot. It's a federal felony to possess any amount of cocaine, and that law applies to all states.
DeletePathetic!
What's troubling is a lot of people in here actually believe some of your nonsense.
DeleteWhen was the last felony prosecution under federal law in NC for simple possession of cocaine? Never.
DeleteOne thing that the Dunce will never understand, because he is a dunce, is that we live in at least two worlds, one of which is his fantasy and one of which is reality.
Maybe at some point he will decide to man up and attempt to answer the comment above on his ridiculous claims about Black Panther intimidation in Philadelphia during the 2008 election.
Don't hold your breath though. Dunce is first and foremost, simply bullshit, or rather, disgusting and smelly bucky poo.