What convenience stores? The quake did little damage. The tsunami created a big pile of debris, nothing to loot. Now the real question between cultures, if my convenience store was still intact and I had plenty of food on the shelves, which culture would just give it away or say "cash only" and jack up the prices?

Yes indeed. Lets hope they still have a long life in front of them...

No I don't get the part, we were duped. White, Asian and black kids were getting lead poisoning from peeling lead paint. We were not duped, this is a fact. The lead level for kids in inner-city 'lead free' apartment were most likely, so low that it was not a concern. But there were so many documented cases of kids with high level of lead in their system from poorly maintained houses, it was a problem. FYI, years ago I obtained certifications lead paint inspection and risk assessment.

"It seems as though we are played as fools...like the high lead content in black children blamed on the eating of paint chips...as if kids would actually do that....then,25 years later,a study discovers that blacks simply have a higher lead content than whites." You are right about the kids not eating lead paint chips, they don't. Nor do kids chew on wood, kids are not dogs. What happens with peeling lead paint, the paint falls of the ceiling and lands on the carpet. You walk over it and crush it into dust. Vacuum with a non HEPA (?) vacuum will just evenly distributed the paint in the house. Kids love to crawl around carpeting and love to suck on their thumbs and in general, put their hands in their mouth. That's the primary way...

You mean the social workers hired and paid by the hospital? My wife fights social workers all the time concerning if a patient needs home care. Good luck on that one...

"Um, drearie, I can get a court to force them to pay. We do it all of the time. " Well that sounds like a cost effective way to reduce medical cost, get a lawyer and take them to court! "Besides, insurance companies cherish their certificates allowing them to operate in particular states." And if an out-of-state insurance company refuses to pay, I can hire an out-of-state lawyer, travel to that state and sue them? And this will reduce insurance cost?

I believe it was private insurance, elderly does not imply he was eligible for Medicare. The vast number of policies are a nightmare for health care workers...

"So lemme get this straight; we need to turn over our health care to the gov't because private companies can turn down our claims. Care to guess who turns down claims at the highest rate?:" No, what we need is standardized policies, including the hospital by the way, so we can understand what is covered. Case two from the wife.... A small clause in your policy states, you must be official admitted for 48 hours in order to qualify for out-patient physical therapy. Sure enough, at the 44 hour mark there was a big push by the administration to discharge the patient, get him out by 4:08 pm. The insurance company want to avoid paying for therapy. And for this poor guy, the insurance was offer by his employer, he really had little...

Agreed, the policies and regulation are so complex. My wife works in health care, here is a classic. The hospital did not officially admit a patient since they could not properly diagnosis his illness. An elderly gentleman who kept falling down. He did spend the night but was not "officially" admitted. The doctor recommended physical therapy but since he was not officially admitted, the insurance company refused to pay.

As they say, never let a crisis go to waste. To me this should be a wake up call to start replacing these old Gen 2 nuke plants with the next generation. Passive cooling system instead of these complex active system such as in Fuckushima I know, wishful thinking....