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More Bailout Funds
Both Democratic and Republican Senate leaders have indicated that they will approve the release of the remaining $350 million of the Treasury’s bailout fund. As there are concerns that banks were hoarding the aid money instead of giving it to consumers and businesses, regulators have requested that banks give information on the amount that has been loaned earlier. Yesterday, President Bush asked Congress to release the remaining money as Obama has been pushing for it. On Thursday, the Senate will vote on it. More details about this matter are available in the New York Times article. Continue reading
New Issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases (Jan. 2009) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The January issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) focuses on Travel-related Infections. One of the historical reviews, Venetian Rule and Control of Plague Epidemics on the Ionian Islands during 17th and 18th Centuries, describes the efforts taken by the Venetian Administration to fight the spread of plague on the Ionian islands in the 17th and 18th centuries. The authors state that “prevention was based on widespread use of an information network of daily reports of Venetian consuls in Mediterranean areas to Venetian authorities, detailed interrogation of sailors who arrived in Venetian ports, effective control of all local movements in plague-infested areas, and activation of the cordoni di sanità.” It sounds like the Venetian administration contained plague effectively using its information system. By the way, the cover art of the EID issues are beautiful. Please take a look at some of them here. Continue reading
Electronic System for Travel Authorization’s (ESTA) Approval Required for Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Travelers to Visit the U.S.
From today onwards, travelers from the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries must get approved via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before they fly to the United States. “ESTA is a web-based system, initially launched in August 2008, that determines the preliminary eligibility of visitors to travel under the VWP prior to boarding a carrier to the United States.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared that all nationals of the VWP countries must follow the new regulation when they travel to the U.S. Currently, the countries that are under the VWP program are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Continue reading
Obama Plans to Digitize Health Records
A special report from CNN.com states that Obama plans to digitize health records within the next five years. This is one of the endeavors to restore the economy as government estimates that this program will create around 212,000 jobs. However, there are some concerns about it because: 1) Commonwealth Fund, RAND, and Harvard have conducted independent studies which reveal that this program would cost between $75-100 billion dollars over the implementation period. The major cost will be incurred in traning the work force. 2) At present, only "about 8% of the nation's 5,000 hospitals and 17% of its 800,000 physicians currently use the kind of common computerized record-keeping systems that Obama envisions for the whole nation." 3) The privacy of patients must be protected as the nationalized system may be affected by system failures and hackers. Obama asserts that this program will create new jobs, cut medical costs, and save $200-300 billion per year for the health industry. Continue reading
Volunteering Opportunities for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Those who would like to volunteer for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will find opportunities via MLKDay.gov You can locate service opportunities within your state using keywords and selecting a state from the drop-down box. Options are also available to register individual projects/organizations. Marketing resources can be accessed through the website. A press release from MLKDay.gov states that Colin Powell inaugurated a new website, USAService.org which has been “created by the Presidential Inaugural Committee where Americans can find volunteer opportunities for the January 19 King Holiday or sign up to host a local event.” Continue reading
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