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May 28th, 2007

Evidence of improvement in Iraq.By Bill CrawfordAn important step in stemming the violence in Iraq is to find a formula to share the country?s oil revenues fairly between the three main groups: Shiite, Sunnis, and Kurds. Iraq is preparing to take a step in the right direction by providing opportunities for foreign oil firms to invest in the country, thereby increasing its output and revenues: The production-sharing agreements (PSAs) would allow oil giants to sign 30-year contracts for extracting Iraqi oil. Under PSAs, the state retains legal ownership of its oil but gives a share of the profits to companies that invest in infrastructure and in operating the wells, pipelines and refineries. The newspaper [the Independent] said that under the draft law, oil companies could recoup 60 to 70 per cent of revenue until initial costs had been recovered, which compares to around 40pc usually.Along the same lines, Lt. General Graeme Lamb, Deputy Commander of Multinational Forces-Iraq, sees 2007 as the year that Iraq moves forward, and says he sees plenty of progress to base his optimism on: Let me give you an example. I was out at Hit the other day, Ramadi. The battalion commander out there, young battalion commander ? actually, I suppose he’s not that young; he just looks it ? had been in Ramadi two years before, had done a full year’s tour. As far as he was concerned, he always just seemed to be going backwards. When I saw him the other day, as far as he was concerned, they were making huge progress. Ramadi. Four months ago I don’t think there was any policemen in the town. Seven hundred and ninety-one now. They were shot at from a building. Two hundred policemen drawn together surrounded the building, cleared it. Now, that’s just an example of some progress. I then look at some of the economic issues. I look at the megawatts of power that are coming on line. I see some of the reconstruction programs that are going out. Now, that gives me a degree of optimism. I see this prime minister. I see this government. I see the challenges they face, and I’m not trying to dismiss the difficulties or trying to give you some sort of political upbeat spin. I don’t do optimism. I don’t do pessimism. I just do realism as I see it. And I do spend a lot of time out here. I spend a lot of time out here. I got a feel for the Arabs. So it’s just the way I see it, and it’s not sort of in effect trying to ? I don’t know ? make something out of nothing. I think the situation here ? you know, as someone once said ? I think it was a field marshal of ours said things are never as good or as bad as you think they are. I just see these in fact at a point in turning. Mosul and al Qaim are other areas where significant progress has been made over the past year. In Mosul, Iraqi police and army forces have brought law and order to a historically violent area: ?Yes, there is violence in this city. But, there is violence in American cities that have nearly two million people in their population as well,? said [Maj. Gen. Benjamin R.] Mixon. Recognizing the similar levels of violence in a comparable city in America, Twitty paints an optimistic picture of the current state of Mosul and Ninewa Province. ?Amidst the turmoil and issues that persist in Iraq, there is a semblance of peace and normalcy in the north. Ninewa?s leadership works hard to provide its citizens security, build its economy, and implement programs that will continue to keep sectarian violence from the province,? said Twitty. ?One thing we cannot do is attempt to put an American standard on any Iraqi city,? said Twitty. ?We have to remember that this country lived under a dictator for more than 30 years. The major and significant difference between U.S. cities and Mosul is the use of improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, and other military - grade weapons. Anti-Iraqi forces persist in their attacks, but the Iraqi security forces, consisting of the Iraqi Army, border patrol and police, continue to quell those attacks daily,? Twitty continued.Al Qaim was frequently called the ?Wild West,? but the Marines cleaned the area up in 2005, and the situation is improving daily: Two years ago, the same streets were fraught with roadside bombs and snipers, and sellers and buyers stayed away. The area was considered too dangerous even for a quick tour by a U.S. general in his armored Humvee. The Al Qaim region routinely was described as an out-of-control “wild west” where the Marines were fighting, with only limited success, to control the smuggling of insurgent fighters and weapons from Syria. Today, Marines walk the downtown beat, chatting with residents, fielding their complaints, encouraging them to contact the Iraqi police if they suspect insurgent activity. In a country studded with areas where the United States either has failed or had only limited progress toward stabilization, Husaybah and the surrounding Al Qaim region stand out as a success, officials said.Unfortunately, the American people aren?t hearing about this, as Army medic Corporal Ignacio Garza observes: Based on his experiences in Iraq, events there are not as bad as the news media make it seem, an Army medic from Adrian said. Cpl. Ignacio Garza, a medic in the 1st Armored Division home on leave after serving in Iraq for six months, said the troops don?t watch television news for war updates because they think none of the networks show an accurate depiction of what?s happening. He said they ignore large parts of the country, including the Kurd-dominated north, that are stable.In fact, if the mainstream media isn?t ignoring a story in Iraq they could just as easily be making one up. For the second time in six weeks, the Associated Press has put out a story from Iraq that isn?t backed by the facts: The Associated Press has again put out an Iraq story detailing events that did not happen. This time, it involves an airstrike that, ” killed a family of four during a firefight.” However, according to the press desk of Multi-National Forces-Iraq, no air strike happened during that firefight, and MNF-I also reported that which six insurgents were killed by American troops in Baghdad on January 1. This is the second time in roughly six weeks that the AP has been caught fabricating events.Iraqi Security ForcesIn an operation on January 7, members of the 6th Iraqi army division captured the leader of a cell responsible for kidnappings, murder, IED attacks, and car bombings.Near Baqubah, soldiers of the 5th Iraqi army killed three insurgents during an operation to capture a cell leader. The Iraqi patrol came under fire from men exiting a mosque. They returned fire, killing three.The 1st Iraqi army division assumed tactical command of the 2nd Brigade on January 9. The brigade will operate within Fallujah: ?We will be loyal soldiers to defend our precious country and to implement security and stability,? said Brig. Gen. Khalid Juad Khadum, the commanding general of 2nd Brigade. ?And this will hit the pages of history in godly words, and we promise Allah that we will take care of this handover and to protect it, God willing, until the last drop of our blood, and Allah is a witness of what we say.?The Iraqi police enlisted 301 recruits during a recent recruiting drive in Fallujah and Habbaniyah. The new recruits will undergo six-week basic training in Jordan. Another 400 were enlisted during a recruiting drive in Ramadi. The situation was far different last year: One year ago a murderous intimidation campaign prevented local Iraqis from enlisting in Ramadi. Recruiting numbers for police were insignificant. More than 1,000 enlisted in the police force last month. Over 800 are expected to enlist in Anbar Province this month. ?The local tribes stood up to the intimidation campaign and are taking back their city from the terrorists,? said the Coalition spokesman in Ramadi Marine Maj. Riccoh Player. ?Hundreds of Iraqi Police are holding areas cleared by Iraqi and American forces in recent operation in the worst neighborhoods of Ramadi,? said Player. ?Building and manning a police station in Ramadi is what progress looks like in a counterinsurgency.?Based on tips from Iraqi civilians, the Iraqi national police, with Coalition forces, detained ten and uncovered several weapons caches during an operation in Baghdad: The operation was the result of tips from local citizens of possible insurgents and weapons caches in the neighborhood. The national police seized three large weapons caches containing one rifle fitted with a silencer, one machine gun, one sniper rifle, assorted small arms ammunition and bomb-making materials. In Fallujah, Iraqi police and army troops captured 47 insurgents during Operation Ar Bead. The operation was planned and executed by Iraqi troops, who have tamed the once restless city: ?The district police chief ? this was his idea,? said Lt. Col. Race Roberson, the RCT-5 police implementation officer. ?It was (an Iraqi Security Forces) operation; they were the owners of it.? ?The police are a strong force, and they will go anywhere at anytime in the city of Fallujah,? Roberson said.The Iraqi army has begun a major operation in Baghdad. Thirty terrorists were reported killed on the first day, including five from Sudan.The 2nd Division of the Iraq army is now operating independently of Coalition forces.In Qasaiba, soldiers of the 5th Iraqi Army Division captured the leader of an insurgent cell operating in the area: The insurgent cell leader is suspected of limiting the travel of Iraqi civilians in the area through intimidation and violent criminal activities. It is also believed the cell leader coordinates and conducts kidnapping, torture and murders of Iraqi civilians and security forces in the area.On January 10, Iraqi soldiers rescued a kidnapping victim: Working on a tip, Iraqi troops from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized) searched for the kidnapping victim?s vehicle. They discovered it on a farm. Upon conducting a cordon and search of the farm, the soldiers found the kidnapped Iraqi in a farmhouse unharmed, with his hands tied.Iraqi Special Security Forces captured two leaders of an insurgent cell during an operation in Al Doura. The cell is responsible for car bombings against civilians in Sadr City and IED attacks against Iraqi security forces.In Tal Afar, Iraqi police killed four insurgents after they came under attack while on patrol. A later search of the area found a weapons cache consisting of 12 RPGs and two mortar shells.Iraqi army special forces captured 19 during an operation targeting the leader of an insurgent cell responsible for attacks against Iraqi civilians and Coalition forces.During two operations in Fallujah, Iraqi soldiers captured six members of al Qaeda. The men are suspected of involvement with IED attacks against Coalition troops and weapons trafficking.Iraqi security forces joined Marines and U.S. soldiers in conducting a successful operation to clean up Ramadi: Iraqi Army, police and Coalition forces seized hundreds of weapons and explosives during the operation, including three mortar systems, 101 mortar rounds, 90 pounds of explosives, eight rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 47 AK-47s, five Dragonov sniper rifles, 26 grenades, 26 mines, 34 artillery rounds, 12 rockets and other items used to attack Ramadi?s security forces and civilians. During the operation 44 enemy combatants were killed and 172 suspected insurgents were detained.The Iraqi army captured a high-level insurgent leader during a raid in Hajjan: The suspect is allegedly an experienced IED builder and an illegal armed group member. He was believed to be training other illegal armed group members how to construct and employ IEDs.Prime Minister al-Maliki has finally been convinced to drop his protection of the Mahdi army. The move came after U.S. officials convinced al-Maliki that the militia was infiltrated by Shiite death squads. In related news, Sadr?s political block is ending its two month boycott of parliament.Two tips led Iraqi national police to a kidnapping victim and a sizeable weapons cache in Baghdad: ?This raid was planned and executed entirely by the Iraqi national police,? said Maj. Blaine Wales, the team chief for the 1st Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Transition Team. The weapons cache consisted of 31 mortar and artillery rounds, 12 rolls of detonation cord, one can of ball bearings, three blocks of C4 explosive, 100 blasting caps and fuses, two completed improvised explosive devices, multiple batteries of all types, four handheld radios, nine cellular phones and seven completed electronic circuit boards similar to those found in roadside bombs. In eastern Baghdad, an Iraqi patrol found an IED before it could be detonated.In Baghdad, an Iraqi army patrol successfully fought its way out of an ambush: While conducting a routine patrol in Baghdad?s Fahhama neighborhood, an element of the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army was ambushed by a group of insurgents armed with pistols and AK-47s. The patrol immediately returned fire on the men attacking them. Two insurgents were killed and four others wounded in the fire fight.Tips from citizens led Iraqi police to two large weapons caches: The first cache included fifteen 9mm TNT rounds, a dozen 90mm Composition A3 rounds, five 155mm High Explosive rounds, four artillery fuses, six 20mm rockets, and nine RPG rounds among other items. The second cache included two 105mm rounds rigged as improvised explosive devices. Iraqi Police captured the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq?s cell in Samarra during an operation on January 18.Iraqi forces captured two high-level insurgent commanders in separate raids: Special Iraqi army forces, with coalition advisors, captured a high-level terrorist leader today during operations in eastern Baghdad, military officials said. The suspect is allegedly affiliated with Abu Dura and other Baghdad death squad commanders, and is responsible for assassinating numerous Iraqi security forces members and government officials. Military officials said he has also organized kidnappings, torture and murder of Iraqi civilians. During operations in Samarra yesterday, Iraqi police forces with coalition advisors captured the suspected leader of several al Qaeda in Iraq terror cells. The suspect is responsible for directing several IED and small arms attacks against Iraqi security forces, coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. During the operation, combined forces captured an additional insurgent and confiscated IED components, assault rifles and ammunition. In Morocco, security forces have disrupted a cell responsible for recruiting terrorists to fight in Iraq: Moroccan security forces have dismantled a radical cell recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and arrested 26 people, the government said on Thursday. In Tal Afar, Iraq forces discovered a tunnel leading below a house where they found a weapons cache consisting of 200 pounds of explosives, more than 125 rockets, and 2,500 rounds of ammunition.Over at the Department of Defense website, a map of Iraq shows the progress made by Iraq?s army over the last year. ?Green areas? indicate areas under control of Iraqi forces. The ?green areas? increase significantly as the year progresses. Check it out.SecurityOperationsRaids across Iraq targeting al Qaeda resulted in the capture of 25 suspected terrorists.Nine terrorists were killed in a series of raids in Baghdad over the weekend: Nine terrorists, including an al-Qaeda leader, were killed during raids conducted by coalition forces in Baghdad today and yesterday. Also, one terrorist was wounded, and three were detained during the raids. A known al-Qaeda weapons dealer was among those killed during today’s Baghdad raid, according to officials. Another terrorist was wounded in the action, while two more were detained. The wounded terrorist was provided first aid and transported to a nearby medical facility. Coalition forces had targeted the weapons dealer, whose body was identified by his wife. In other news, coalition troops killed six terrorists and detained one suspect during a fierce morning firefight in Baghdad yesterday, officials reported. Intelligence reports indicated the targeted location was used as a possible al Qaeda in Iraq safe house for terrorists to conduct operational planning.Another 90 al Qaeda terrorists were killed by American and Iraqi forces during a ten-day operation near Baghdad. A patrol consisting of troops from the 1st Cavalry Division uncovered seven weapons caches in the village of Arab Salman Salman: ??uncovered the caches, which included 51 rocket-propelled grenade rounds; 11 RPG launchers; two assault rifles with 13,000 rounds of ammunition; six 57mm rockets; eight plastic explosives; two 120mm artillery shells; two 137mm missiles; 225 pounds of explosives; and other IED-making materials.Iraqi and Coalition troops discovered a weapons cache in Yusufiyah consisting of materials used in the manufacture of IEDs: The cache, which contained a variety of improvised explosive device making items and weapons included six 120mm mortar rounds, a directional charge, five rocket propelled grenade launchers, seven RPG charges, nine RPG rockets, 150 small metal cylinders filled with plastic explosives, 1000 7.62mm rounds, 200 ft. of detonation cord, seven hand grenade fuses, five hand grenade shells, five long-range antennae, 22 transformers, four cordless phones, two cordless phone base stations, two cell phones, 12 cell phone cases with assorted parts and 12 60mm mortar round casings. Twenty-eight suspected terrorists were captured during raids across Iraq which targeted the safe houses of foreign terrorists.Over the past month, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne have found more than 500 artillery rounds that could have been used to make IEDs or VBEIDs.Reconstruction & EconomyIf it were any other country, the reconstruction of Iraq would be a huge story. As of December 31, 2006, there are 658 projects underway at a cost of $2.67 billion, 3,026 projects have been completed at a cost of $7.11 billion, and 94 more projects are planned.A $43 million upgrade to the Al Basrah oil terminal is expected to be completed by April. The upgrade includes an emergency shutdown system, control valves, metering system, and fire protection. The upgraded terminal will meet all international safety and metering standards.Twenty hospitals throughout Iraq are currently undergoing $103 million in renovations.A small water project was completed in Dahuk Province. The new water storage tank and pipeline serves more than 1,000 residents of Dahuk.An $8.6 million renovation to the Samawah Railroad Maintenance Center has been completed. The Samawah site is one of two railway maintenance centers in Iraq, and employs more than 250 Iraqis.Iraq?s power grid is now being monitored by a central control system, called SCADA: ?The main function of SCADA is to create and maintain a digital connection in order to check the provinces? power loads and control them easily by connecting them to the central power distribution points,? Perry said. The SCADA system includes input and output signal hardware, controller networks, and communications software.There are 47 primary health-care centers under construction in northern Iraq. The first completed center recently opened in Salah Al Den Province: More than 112,000 people in the Salah Al Den Province are receiving healthcare from the first completed Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) in the north. Built by local construction companies with quality assurance managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this $3.35 million dollar facility provides routine and initial emergency care to patients including X-ray, laboratories and dentistry. Medical supplies and laboratory equipment were included in the contract to make this facility complete and operational. On January 15, three new schools were opened in Mushahidah: an elementary school for girls, a secondary school for girls, and an elementary school for boys: ?This is a great example for the projects in this area,? said Shiek Naif Moutlak, the chief of the city council. ?We thank the coalition for all they have done and hope for other projects in the area to help the people.?The Pentagon is helping fight unemployment in Iraq by reopening factories that were once owned by Saddam Hussein: Under a new program, the U.S. Defense Department is already helping reopen factories that were owned by Saddam Hussein’s government and abandoned by occupation authorities shortly after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The Pentagon may also start providing them with contracts to support U.S. troops. One factory restarted operations in the past two weeks, and nine more are to open by the end of this month, adding some 11,000 Iraqis to employment rolls, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released yet.The president?s speech this week put Iran on notice that the U.S. was going to work to prevent its interference in Iraq. Iraqi forces took the first step in confronting Iran when they raided Iran?s diplomatic mission in Irbil: Iraqi officials said today that multinational forces detained as many as six Iranians in an overnight raid on Tehran’s diplomatic mission in the northern city of Irbil just hours after President Bush gave details about his new military plan for Iraq. The forces stormed the Iranian mission at about 3 a.m., detaining the five staffers and confiscating computers and documents, two senior local Kurdish officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Irbil is a city in the Kurdish-controlled north, 220 miles from Baghdad.Japan is preparing to loan Iraq $3.5 billion for reconstruction. In the city of Al Qosh, Medics from the 1st Cavalry Division treated more than 80 people during a humanitarian mission to the city: During the mission, one female physician?s assistant and one female pediatrician medically examined over 80 people; 65 percent children, and 35 percent women. Three dozen soccer balls were distributed to the children of the town, courtesy of a donation from a radio station in the United States, as well as clothing, toys, shoes, and school supplies.Resolved Question: If the media is not liberal then why are they not reporting the progress in Iraq?

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Resolved Question: Can you express what the real facts of Banglore,?FACTS: Interesting Facts About Bangalore Here are some interesting facts about Bangalore 1. Bangalore has the impeccable record of highest growth within a span of 20 Years2. Bangalore has highest number of pubs in Asia.3. Bangalore has highest number of ??igarette $mokers in India.4. Bangalore has the highest number of software companies in India-212, followed by Hyderabad - 108, Pune - 97. Hence called the Silicon Valley of India5. Bangalore has 21 engineering colleges, which is highest in the world in agiven city. Bangalore University has 57 Engineering colleges affiliated to it,which is highest in the world.6. Bangalore is the only city in the world to have commercial and defenseAirport operating from the same strip.7. Bangalore has highest number of public sectors and government Organizationsin India.8. Bangalore university has highest number of students going abroad for higherstudies taking the first place from IIT-Kanpur.9. Bangalore has only 48% of local population (i.e.Kannadigas) .Hence a truecosmopolitan with around 25% Tamilians, 14% Telugites, 10% Keralites, 8%Europeans, and 6% a mixture of all races.10. Bangalore police has the reputation of being second best in India afterDelhi.11. Bangalore has the highest density of traffic in India.12. Bangalore has the highest number of 2-wheelers in the world.13. Bangalore is considered the fashion capital of east comparable to Paris.15. Bangalore has produced the maximum international sportsmen in India forall sports ahead of even Mumbai & Delhi.16. Bangalore has produced the maximum number of scientists considered forNobel Prize nominations.17. Bangalore has produced the highest number of professionals in USA almost60% of the Indian population abroad is from Bangalore (except Gulf). 18. Bangalore is famous for THREE: Software Professionals, Girls and Dogs.19. Bangalore is famous for its dog bites, an average of 12 people are bittenby stray dogs per MINUTE somewhere in Bangalore!!People Feel that this is answer, ya its cool I am waiting for some interesting facts of Banglore which is not included in this list…. hopefully U all will know these facts

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Resolved Question: Some of you wanted to know how illegals affect us?personally???? Here is ONE example!!!!!!!!!!!!!Catastrophe in CareHospitals are being crippled by the costs of treating migrants–and that could be just the start of an immigrant-related health crisisBy LEO W. BANKS Leo W. Banks One of the many signs on the Naco Highway. Leo W. Banks “It’s not unusual to have one UDA (undocumented alien) cost $5,000, and we know we’re not going to get that back,” says Josie Mincher, emergency room manager at Copper Queen Hospital. Leo W. Banks “Until we have comprehensive immigration reform, we need to bear the health-care costs for undocumented workers, whatever those costs are,” says Rev. Tom Buechele. If you drive along Southern Arizona’s border with Mexico long enough, you might see a lone illegal wandering the desert. Or maybe he’s hunched at the roadside sipping water from his milk jug. What’s he doing there, and where are his compatriots, the people he broke into the country with? The uninformed might ask those questions, but those who live with the daily invasion across our open borders can make a pretty good guess what’s happening. The fellow got bounced from his group by the coyote-guide. Two transgressions will get an illegal cut loose with certainty: Either he can’t pay, or he shows signs of tuberculosis. You think these coyotes are fools? They don’t want some hollow-eyed lunger hacking and coughing blood on them. So it’s adios, pal, and now you’re America’s problem. But they know that already. Every illegal realizes that if he makes it to an emergency room in Southern Arizona, or anywhere around the country for that matter, he can get treatment, free of charge. It’s federal law, and has been for 20 years. In its evolution, the policy has become a kind of federal health insurance program for illegals, and its rising costs are eating up resources that could otherwise go to poor and uninsured American citizens. It has created a financial nightmare for border hospitals and contributed to cutbacks in services at Tucson hospitals. Is this an outrage? A scandal? Some think it’s both. But going back to our active TB sufferer, here’s something even worse: The guy can’t get treatment anywhere, goes underground and takes a job at a restaurant in Tucson or L.A., and coughs his way to infecting scores of others. Talk about a Hobson’s choice. But as with everything in the ongoing crisis of illegal immigration, the hard choices would largely evaporate if the federal government fulfilled its constitutional duty and took control of our border. The threat illegal immigration poses to American public health plays out every day at Arizona’s hospitals. Until recently, the issue remained only marginally public, a problem medical people batted around among themselves, not with the media. Even today, several hospitals contacted for this story declined comment. The Copper Queen Hospital in Bisbee, one of the hardest hit, helped break that barrier when CEO Jim Dickson began returning reporters’ calls, even though the subject, as he puts it, has become “like the third rail. You don’t want to touch it.” But his problem had grown severe. Dickson’s uncompensated costs for treating illegals rose from $35,000 in 1999 to $450,000 in 2004. His total shortfall now sits at about $1.4 million, a hefty deficit for a 14-bed hospital. To make ends meet, he had to close, in June 2000, the Copper Queen’s long-term care facility, and cut back on staff and hours, forcing some employees to take second jobs to survive. The hospital has seen a ray of light, however. In the first months of 2005, the Copper Queen has gone back into surplus, in part because more illegals are in Border Patrol custody when brought in to the hospital. That means the Border Patrol must reimburse the Queen for the cost. In the past, agents would drop injured illegals not in their custody at the ER and take off, sticking the hospital with bills that never got paid. Another reason for the decrease, says Dickson: the Minuteman Project. “It’s been terrific for us in April,” he says, cutting down on the number of people coming across and therefore the number requiring ER treatment. Dickson says the hospital wrote off about $6,000 in losses in April this year, compared to about $35,000 in April 2004. The central issue, though, remains in place–the hospital has had to scale back health services to American citizens to treat illegals. Bisbee isn’t alone. The most comprehensive study on the subject found that 24 counties in four states bordering Mexico wracked up $190 million in unpaid emergency medical bills caring for illegals in the year 2000. The study, commissioned by the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition, found that California spent $79 million of that; Texas, $74 million; Arizona, $31 million; and New Mexico, $6 million. Bear in mind that these numbers, the best available, are from 2000. We can assume, with increasing rates of crossings since then, the costs are considerably higher today. Nor do the above figures take into account non-border counties. Treating illegals in Maricopa County costs as much as $50 million a year, according to an estimate used by Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. Nationally, American hospitals lose $1.45 billion a year. The Medicare reform bill passed in 2003 allocated $1 billion to reimburse states for federally mandated ER care given to illegals–about $45 million a year of that to come to Arizona over four years. But even that, some hospital staffers say, is little more than a Band-Aid on a huge problem. Ruth Kish, director of patient care services at Copper Queen, expects that under the repayment formula, her hospital will receive only 10 cents of every dollar they spend on illegals. “But every bit helps,” says Kish. Another factor: The counties in the above-mentioned study spent an additional $13 million in 2000 on emergency transportation, such as helicopters and ambulances, to pick up illegals injured after sneaking across the line. The Bisbee Fire Department’s ambulance responds to about one of these calls a day during the summer, says Chief Jack Earnest. Asked how many of these patients pay up, Earnest wasn’t sure, and recommended contacting the billing office in Sierra Vista. The billing office knew exactly how often illegals pay their ambulance bills–never. But there’s another category–Mexicans injured in Mexico who call American ambulances for help. By federal law, they have to respond, which makes Bisbee’s Copper Queen the trauma center of choice for Sonora’s northern frontier. The calls come from Naco, Sonora, the town across the line just south of Bisbee, where, in spite of widespread poverty, cell phones are popular, and everybody knows the Americans are bound by law to treat them. “When we get a call we go, and we don’t ask where the person’s from,” says Earnest. Naco residents needing care go to the port of entry and declare an emergency to American officials. When they’re waved through, they’re transported to the Copper Queen’s ER in Bisbee’s ambulance, or they drive themselves in private cars. The policy is called Compassionate Entry, and it applies to hospitals up and down the line. The Copper Queen averages about five such cases a month. Some abuse the privilege, says ER Manager Josie Mincher. She’s seen Compassionate Entries with bad sore throats and others who aren’t sick at all. One pregnant girl landed in the ER recently complaining of morning sickness. Most are seriously sick, though, and the staff rushes to help, “because that’s what we do,” says Mincher. But it doesn’t take much to blow the budget. “Just walking in the door is $400,” says Mincher. “It’s not unusual to have one UDA (undocumented alien) cost $5,000, and we know we’re not going to get that back. We’re playing with monopoly money here.” Here’s an example of how one patient can wrack up a huge bill: A young Mexican man had a bad auto accident across the line and was taken to Douglas’ Southeast Arizona Medical Center with severe neurological problems. After being stabilized there, he was transferred to Barrow’s Neurological Center in Phoenix. He spent a costly month there, courtesy of the Center, and was transferred–with a tracheotomy tube in his throat and supplies to clean it, also provided gratis by Barrow’s–to a hospital in Hermosillo. That facility kept him less than a day before releasing him to his home in Naco. But for reasons no one can explain, the Hermosillo hospital kept his trach kit and cleaning supplies. As a result, he became septic–a bad infection–and came through the Naco port under Compassionate Entry to the Copper Queen. He spent three days there, then the staff sent him off, with more free supplies, to a clinic in Agua Prieta for continued care. How much did this fellow cost the American health care system? A figure of a quarter-million dollars would surprise no one. Cost to the Copper Queen? Almost $6,000, and they got none of it back. Northern Cochise Community Hospital is in Willcox, far enough from the border that it doesn’t get patients crossing the line for health care. But that doesn’t mean it escapes the invasion. CEO Chris Cronberg loses about $100,000 a year caring for illegals, mostly those injured in traffic accidents when their loaded vehicle flips while speeding north. “It’s not make or break for us,” says Cronberg. “But as a small hospital, we depend on cash, and those are dollars that aren’t coming in, so it has an impact.” The same is true at Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, according to Vice President Marie Wurth. She expects the hospital to lose $250,000 this year treating those who jump the line, get hurt doing it and don’t pay their bills. The big squeeze is on in Tucson, too. Tucson Medical Center loses an estimated $4 million every year treating illegals. The corresponding figure at UMC, which includes some foreign nationals, was $3.5 million for fiscal 2004, a $2 million increase from the previous year. Part of that is attributable to UMC, in July 2003, becoming Tucson’s only Level One trauma center, meaning it saw the most serious cases. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Burns says the hospital’s re-payment rate for treating illegals is about 5 cents on the dollar. “It’s very expensive for us and continues to grow,” says Burns, who says many illegals, as well as uninsured Americans, use his ER like a primary care physician. “We hear anecdotally that people come here from across the border because they know they can get cared for, and if they present at the ER, they can get that care at no cost.” The federal law that put the hospitals on the hook for the medical bills of illegals goes by the acronym EMTALA–Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. It says that anybody who shows up in an ER must get screened, treated and stabilized, regardless of citizenship or ability to pay. But since its passage in 1985, the definition of emergency has evolved to include just about anything, and because Congress didn’t fund the requirement, hospitals have had to eat the costs as word has spread that the federal goodie wagon is parked at the ER door. In cities with huge illegal populations, such as Los Angeles, the effects have been disastrous. In its spring 2005 issue, the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons reported that between 1993 and 2003, 60 California hospitals closed because, for several reasons including EMTALA, half of their services became unpaid. Another 24 are near closing, says author Madeleine Pelner Cosman. She also writes that in 1983, before EMTALA, L.A. County put together a trauma network that was “one of America’s finest emergency med response organizations.” A mere 22 years later–again, in part because of EMTALA–Cosman says the system is coming apart, with most trauma hospitals having left the network, along with physicians, surgeons and others. The law has caused a similar situation in Tucson, on a smaller scale. “With EMTALA, the government created an unfunded national health insurance program, and it has caused real problems in this community,” says Dr. Herb McReynolds, who works for a company that manages the ER department for St. Mary’s Hospital, which treats a large number of illegals. Lawmakers wrote the legislation to prevent patient dumping–in which one hospital refuses to accept, say, an uninsured woman in labor, telling ambulance personnel to take her to the county hospital instead. It stopped that practice. But it has caused a big increase in the amount of un-reimbursed care that hospitals provide, and in McReynolds’ words, “made physicians rethink their careers and lifestyles.” “The price of it has come over time, because after so much uncompensated care, it forces physicians off our call list,” says McReynolds. “Physicians have a practice to go to the next day and a family, and ask themselves, do I really want to be up at 2 a.m. providing care when I won’t get comp, and I can still get sued?” Some docs have removed themselves from on-call lists by going to work at outpatient surgical centers not affiliated with a hospital. Others stay on call, but limit the amount of time they’re available. A neurosurgeon might take call one day a week, and that satisfies the law. EMTALA says that you must provide a reasonable amount of coverage, without being strict or specific about how much that is. McReynolds says that EMTALA–in tandem with the malpractice crisis–has caused the loss of medical coverage at many hospitals around the country and in Tucson, including St. Mary’s. “Several years ago we had five neurosurgeons on staff here, and now we have two,” he says. “We had hand surgery coverage every day, and now we have it one week a month. We used to have full ob-gyn coverage, and now they’ve left and gone to TMC. We have no ob-gyn and one gynecologist on staff covering emergencies one day a week.” With docs all over Tucson running for cover, trying to stay off call and away from ERs, the variety of emergency health care available to Tucsonans has seriously diminished. And here’s the most maddening irony of all: The feds now reimburse American hospitals for treating non-paying illegals, but not for treating American citizens. Exception: Those eligible for care under Federal Emergency Services, a fairly restrictive program. For a year and a half now, UMC has approached non-paying illegals in a novel way–it actually reports them to immigration officials. “Some people find that cold, but we have a responsibility to protect this charitable asset (hospital),” says CFO Burns, adding that UMC’s status as a public entity requires a different approach. “Our belief is that to the extent people have ability to pay, we expect them to.” After triaging and stabilizing an ER patient, the hospital sets out to learn who that patient is, and how he or she plans to pay. To those who are uninsured and underinsured, the hospital offers the option of applying for its innovative Charity Care program. Under it, the hospital charges the patient the same rate it would receive for that service from Medicare, a possible reduction of up to 70 percent. Patients unable to pay at that discounted rate are eligible for further discounts that can tear up the bill entirely. To apply for Charity Care, the patient need only return to the hospital with a W-2 or other documents. Those who cooperate and return with the required documents don’t get reported to the feds. But the hospital does report those who take the medical care and run. How many illegals cooperate with this generous offer? Ten percent. Burns says UMC began reporting the 90 percent who don’t pay in November of 2003. So far, they’ve reported 565 persons. Why start reporting? “Maybe a bit of it was born of frustration because people use our resources and make no effort to work with us and pay,” he says. “Even if part of the population doesn’t pay, I still have to hire new people and buy and upgrade equipment, which costs $15-$20 million a year. When you have these strains on resources, from foreign citizens and as well as Medicaid patients, you have to manage cash flow very carefully.” As with most issues related to the illegal invasion, those who live along the Mexican border, the scene of the crime, have the best view. Where health issues are concerned, it’s not a pretty sight. Residents say they’ve come across ground dotted with discarded pills, syringes containing nobody knows what, and used needles. Some report riding horses along creek beds, popular pull-up areas for groups heading north, and finding 70 or 80 piles of human feces, some of it blackened and running with blood. It’s as disgraceful as it is disgusting–and it raises a question: What happens when rain washes all this into the water supply? Is it a threat to spread diseases such as hepatitis? Some believe it might be. What happens when cows drink from these contaminated creeks? And what happens when this constant flow of Third World humanity goes north, fanning out all across Arizona and the country? What kind of diseases do they bring with them? ER workers like Mincher live with that question every day. “We protect ourselves best we can,” she says, “but if somebody comes in with a contagious disease, I might as well buy the farm, because I don’t know what it is. A lot of times, they don’t know what they have either. If they came off a ranch in southern Mexico, they’ve had no immunizations, no health care, nothing.” Most of what she sees at Copper Queen–around 75 percent–is orthopedic, falls suffered while jumping fences, for instance. Dehydration, too. Some of these are pregnant women nine months along, who, in Mincher’s words, “are so desperate to have their babies born in the U.S., they’ll do whatever it takes.” She sees cardiac-related cases among illegals who’ve been given crack, methamphetamine or speed by their coyote so they can keep walking. But she’s also treated illegals with active chicken pox, tuberculosis, all varieties of hepatitis and AIDS. The Web and print media are full of stories about the diseases illegals carry, and their effect on American health. But some writers make alarming claims with sketchy evidence at best. In the cases of two diseases, however–Chagas and tuberculosis–the evidence is clearer that they’re indeed coming across our border. Chagas, a potentially fatal illness spread by contact with the feces of the reduviid bug, called the “kissing bug,” is prevalent in South and Central America. Fifteen million people in that region are infected with the parasite, and 50,000 die of it every year, according to the World Health Organization. A person can be infected for 10 or 20 years or more before showing symptoms, making it particularly insidious. At its most severe, the disease can cause the heart to fail, and literally explode. In the United States? Louis Kirchhoff, of the University of Iowa Medical School, estimates that between 80,000 and 120,000 Latin Americans with Chagas live here. Matching prevalence studies and immigration numbers, Kirchhoff figures about 10 Chagas-infected persons entered every day from Mexico alone in the 1990s. The disease can be transmitted four ways, but for Americans, the most worrisome is the blood supply. In the United States overall, the chance of contracting Chagas from a blood transfusion is small, one in 25,000, according to David Leiby, a research scientist at the American Red Cross in Washington. But in cities with high populations from Latin America, the numbers fall to much riskier levels. In Miami, for example, the chance is one on 9,000. In L.A., 1 in 5,400. Researchers have confirmed seven cases of people contracting Chagas through blood transfusions–five in the U.S., two in Canada–and they say the number of unknown cases is probably much higher. “A rate of one in 5,400 is something we’re concerned about,” says Leiby, adding that the FDA is still a few years away from a useable blood-screening test. “Chagas is overlooked by the health care system in the United States. Our physicians aren’t aware of it and wouldn’t recognize it in most cases.” Tuberculosis, which also shows up in high rates in Mexico, is migrating north as well. Many assume a place like Cochise County, right on the border and overrun by illegals, would have a high incidence of TB. But it doesn’t, says Edith Sampson, of the Cochise County Health Department. “The immigrants only pass through here on the way to Atlanta, or whatever city they’re going to,” she says. Exactly the problem–which is a big reason why 53 percent of the TB in the United States in 2003 was among foreign-born persons, up from 29 percent in 1993, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In L.A., again because of its huge illegal population, the figure is closer to 80 percent. Only 15,000 Americans suffer from active TB, the only dangerous kind because it can be passed to someone else, usually by coughing and expelling the bacteria from the throat or lungs. That’s a small number, but the New York Academy of Sciences estimates that each victim will “infect 10 or 20 or more people–in whom the disease will likely remain latent, creating the potential time-bomb effect.” The State Health Department says that Arizona had 295 reported cases of active TB in 2003, a jump from the previous year. Why the increase? More of the disease was found among kids under 5 years old and prisoners. The latter were mostly Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees–in other words, illegals. Sixty-eight percent of Arizona’s foreign-born TB cases are from Mexico, says state health. Will TB return to the United States in a big way? It hasn’t yet, says Lee Reichman, executive director of the New Jersey Medical School’s National Tuberculosis Center. But he adds that with globalization–the ability to get around the world in 20 hours–and because “we can’t stop people from getting in to this country, no matter how hard we try,” the potential exists for a new epidemic. His particular concern is with multi-drug-resistant TB, fatal in 60 percent of cases. This strain requires a long regimen of costly drugs that illegals are unlikely to take, or have access to. Arizona has a small number of MDR-TB cases, and all of them in the past five years have been among foreign-born persons. “The reason you haven’t heard about TB here is that good public health is working,” says Reichman. “People who are symptomatic go to physicians, and the physicians don’t ask questions. As soon as you have to ID yourself, or say we’re going to send you back to Mexico, these people go into hiding and spread more TB. Any physician who cares about being a physician isn’t going to ask those questions, because he took an oath to treat sick people.” The Copper Queen’s Rush Kish says that under Medicare reimbursement guides, her hospital cannot ask patients if they are in the country illegally. But how do you bill the feds to get money back for treating illegals if you can’t ask if someone is illegal? Well, you play a little Orwellian word game, probing around the issue with a list of government-approved questions, then make educated assumptions. But the illegal holds the trump card, because he can refuse to answer every question. “We don’t know yet what evidence Medicare will accept when we apply for reimbursement,” says Kish. “But at least we can begin documenting the enormity of this problem.” The question isn’t whether those with genuine emergencies should get treatment. Of course they should. In Naco, residents have no access to ER care and many would die if they didn’t get to the Copper Queen. The real question is: Who pays? Rev. Tom Buechele, pastor at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bisbee, thinks it’s appropriate for the federal government to keep ponying up, as long as American companies “maintain their illegal trafficking in human labor.” “Until we have comprehensive immigration reform, we need to bear the health-care costs for undocumented workers, whatever those costs are,” says Buechele, who, for almost a year now, has been running a free monthly clinic in Naco, Arizona, catering to the poor and uninsured on both sides of the line. Although they talk a different language, politicians, even Republicans, promote policies that further Buechele’s liberal vision. They boast to constituents that they’ve saved border hospitals by pushing through the Medicare reimbursement plan, which provides a relatively small amount of money over four years. But that’s another Hobson’s choice, which is to say no choice at all. What do you do, let hospitals go under? Kyl, who pushed to get the reimbursement money, says an emphatic no. “If we want those ERs to be there for us, then we’d better keep them in business,” says the Arizona senator. “If our hospitals are required by federal law to treat anybody who comes into the ER, and the federal government has failed to control the border, then it’s appropriate for the government to reimburse these hospitals.” But some argue that the system as it stands now, with EMTALA firmly in place, is rigged to produce two results: The federal treasury will remain wide open to illegals, and that all but guarantees that more and more of them will bust the line to get here. After all, this is the end of the rainbow for them, where jobs await, education is free, health care is free. Who wouldn’t come? And the more they come, the more American health suffers–from such diseases as Chagas and TB, further cutbacks in hospital services to American citizens, and even possible closures. Where’s the compassion in that? Copper Queen ER nurse Josie Mincher, herself Hispanic, puts her health, and possibly her life, on the line to treat illegals. Listen to the emotion in her voice as she describes what that’s like: “I go to work every day feeling like I’m on a torture wrack. My heartstrings get pulled in one direction by these sick people I want to help. Because I’m Hispanic, I know how they live. And I’m pulled in the other direction, too, thinking that if our hospitals aren’t around, where do I take my own kids? “But we have to treat them because of EMTALA. It says that anybody who comes within 250 yards of an ER gets treatment. What would happen to Safeway if the law said anyone who comes within 250 yards of the store gets free food? They’d go out of business. Well, we’re a business, too.” Mincher’s solution? “Send the bills to Mexico. If it affected them financially, they might do something about all these people coming across. My grandparents came here legally, and it took a long time and a lot of money. They respected the law. These people just walk across now. They weren’t brought up the same way.” Burns at UMC says he wants the U.S. and Mexican governments to work together to find a solution. But, as Kyl cautions, don’t expect any breakthrough soon. Mexico benefits far too much from our illegal immigration nightmare–in jobs for its citizens and cash sent home–to step up with money to care for its own people. Until the border brought under control and the invasion stopped, we’ll continue to pay the bills of people who illegally tiptoed across the line in the dead of night.This is an article from the Arizona Repuiblic newspaper, NOT something i “made up”!!!! If you don’t believe me, LOOK IT UP FOR YOURSELF!!! It’s on-line, if you look under Copper Queen hospital!!! And for those of you that can not take the time to READ this article, i can SEE why you are so UNINFORMED on this issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Resolved Question: I have a web site to market products, and want to add links to improve traffic. I need help on the processes.My web site is www.keep-safelockbox.com, and so far I don’t have it on any search engines but Yahoo and a few free ones. I want to link to some child safety organizations that I’ve researched and have some urls to send letters requesting approval. I also am planning to add affiliates who offer other child safety products when I write an ezine web site with info on the subject. I know how to get domain names and have assistance with creating web sites, but what is the process for adding both incoming and outgoing links. Can any web master or other expert help me?

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Lead generation market is the new search spaceWhen the most popular websites in the world make money from selling advertising then you have to believe there is a massive need for companies to market themselves in a traceable, affordable way.

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Letting Other People Write The LinkBaitA lot of the things I write go completely over the head of many of my readers, and in some ways that is actually a concious decision which certainly costs me a much higher readership.

A Limited Short-Term OutlookLimited Brands , the owner of well-known retail concepts such as Bath and Body Works and Victoria’s Secret, recently announced a bit of good news and a bit of bad news.

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