The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations today announced this year's organization and individual winners of the 10th Annual Ernest Amory Codman Award to recognize excellence in the use of outcomes measurement to achieve improvements in the quality and safety of health care. The Codman Award is the first national health care award that recognizes excellence in performance measurement. A total of 42 organizations and 12 individuals have received this award since 1996. Read more…
Three key measures of Chesapeake Bay health showed minor improvements during the 2006 summer months compared to a year ago, according to data released today by the Chesapeake Bay Program. Read more…
The Concord Coalition will present the Honorable Robert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary, with its Economic Patriot Award at the Concord Coalition's Thirteenth Annual Economic Patriots Dinner on Tuesday evening, Nov. 14 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City. In honoring Secretary Rubin with this award, the Concord Coalition said: "In the 1990's, Secretary Rubin helped establish and guide the longest peacetime economic expansion in our history. The Concord Coalition is honored to present Secretary Rubin with our Economic Patriot Award in recognition of his service to the nation in the cause of fiscal responsibility." Read more…
Minorities account for 30 percent of the U.S. population, but only 8 percent of the physician workforce, and experience less personal satisfaction during medical school than nonminority students, finds a Mayo Clinic study published in the November issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Read more…
In Tuesday's elections, the citizens of seven states voted to pass state constitutional amendments to secure marriage as the union between one man and one woman said the Illinois Family Institute (IFI). Tennessee, Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin bring the grand total of states that affirm traditional marriage to 27. Read more…
On Nov. 7, voters nationwide approved $5.7 billion in new public money to protect land for parks and open space the highest amount ever according to the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national land conservation organization. The increase can be attributed in large part to a California measure, Proposition 84 that included $2.25 billion to improve drinking water, flood control, protection of coastlines and state parks. Overall, 99 out of 127 measures (or 78 percent) were passed by voters. Read more…
Congressman Chaka Fattah (D- Pa.) will challenge a distinguished British-American audience with his nationally-respected views on federal aid for educational opportunity in a unique debate program on Saturday, Nov. 11. Read more…
OSLO, Norway - The United Nations ranked Norway as the best country to live in for a sixth consecutive year Thursday, prompting the country's aid minister to tell Norwegians to stop whining about wanting more. Read more…
Pundits, advocates and strategists from every corner of the political spectrum will most certainly be dissecting the message being sent by the voters in the 2006 mid-term elections. Most of that voluminous blather will completely miss the point. Read more…
A statement from Matthew L. Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Read more…
A seminar for journalists and interested community observers on better understanding and reporting more effectively on the disciplinary methods of risk and benefit analysis in the medical and pharmaceutical fields is being presented Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. and Nov. 16 in New York City by FACS, a not-for- profit journalism education center, in association with the Society of Professional Journalists. Read more…
In advance of the release of the major Warner Bros. film "Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) will devote its quarterly human rights salon at Creative Artists Agency to a discussion of the real-life implications of two subjects depicted in the film: conflict diamonds and child soldiers. The salon will be held on Tuesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. Read more…
New Mayo Clinic research suggests that a shearing injury of the tissue that lines the tendons within the carpal tunnel may cause carpal tunnel syndrome, a debilitating condition of the wrist and hand. If validated by further research, Mayo's study comparing electron microscope images of carpal tunnel syndrome tissue with those from normal tissue could lead to earlier diagnosis and possibly better treatments for preventing or reversing carpal tunnel syndrome. Read more…
> News Conference to announce the "Don't Lie for the Other Guy" campaign in Arizona Read more…
On behalf of special-needs children and families served by the CNS Foundation, CNS founder and President Fia Richmond welcomed the passage of Missouri's Amendment 2, the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The Amendment protects equal access to any federally approved stem cell treatments and cures in Missouri while establishing clear oversight guidelines for stem cell research conducted in that state. Read more…
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, founder and chair of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), today received the National Medal of Honor from President Bush in an Oval Office ceremony. Read more…
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid today released the following statement on the passing of Ed Bradley. Read more…
While Palestinians mourners buried 18 civilians killed by Israel's recent shelling in Gaza, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of "The Weekly Blitz," and Muslim believer, stands trial for multiple counts of sedition, treason and blasphemy for reporting on the rise of al-Qaeda in Bangladesh, publishing editorials in support of Israel, and for promoting peace between Muslims and Jews. Read more…
On Nov. 7, investigators for the election integrity organization VelvetRevolution.us (VR) were contacted by a poll watcher from Henrico County, Va., Maybeury Precinct No. 0408, who reported that the vote tallies were wrong at the end of election-day 808 for Allen and 51 for Webb for a total of 876. The congressional race between Republican Cantor and Democrat Nachman also showed 808 to 51. The Virginia Board of Elections Web site also showed that the down ballot marriage amendment in the same precinct was vastly different 678 to 681 for a total of 1359. No other precincts in Henrico County showed the type of skewing shown in precinct 0408. The poll watcher said that she personally talked to over 300 people who voted for Webb. Read more…
Some 58 new geothermal energy projects are now under development in the U.S., according to a survey by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) the industry trade group. "This represents the U.S. geothermal industry's most dramatic wave of expansion since the 1980s," noted Karl Gawell, GEA's executive director. Read more…
Most candidates supported by the state's largest education employees' union had good reason to celebrate on Election Night. Read more…
The American Jewish Committee has just received word from Buenos Aires of a critically important development in the ongoing investigation of the 1994 terror attack against the headquarters of AMIA, the central Jewish organization in Argentina. Read more…
With a number of races still left to be decided, Clean Elections candidates in three states Arizona, Maine and North Carolina have won at least 206 state offices in this year's elections. These new office holders include Democrats and Republicans, incumbents and challengers, women and a diverse reflection of races and ethnicities. Read more…
Immigration was a major issue for both immigrant and native-born voters this year, and the handling of the issue likely contributed to Democratic gains in this year's elections, exit poll findings released today suggest. Read more…
> Two Cadre members and one cadet of the Norfolk State University (NSU) Army ROTC Battalion will serve as honorary game- day captains for NSU's football game this Saturday versus Delaware State. These soldiers have returned to campus after serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and will be recognized on- field during the opening coin-toss. A message from a local Soldier currently serving in Iraq will also be broadcast over the Jumbotron during the game. The recognition is part of the Army's Operation Tribute to Freedom program which honors returning Soldiers for their service. Read more…