Baghdad Life

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Violence since the start of the war in 2003 has forced millions of Iraqis to leave behind their homes and properties in quest of a safe haven. See an interactive map examining where they're living now, and why they chose the places they did. See an interactive map of day-to-day events in Iraq, including insurgent attacks. View an updated tally of military deaths, based on the Associated Press's count. The White House has released two reports on the Iraqi government's progress on 18 political, military and economic goals. The latest assessment gave the Iraqis satisfactory marks on nine benchmarks, not satisfactory marks on seven and mixed reviews on two issues. Assessment: Summary | Full Report – Sept. 14, 2007 Assessment: Summary | Full Report – July 12, 2007 clipped from blogs.wsj.com An Iraqi policeman talked to teenage boys on the empty streets of Baghdad during the curfew Wednesday. Photo: Associated Press

Is Clinton’s Pennsylvania Lead Really 20 Points?

clipped from blogs.wsj.com A new survey showing Sen. Hillary Clinton leading Sen. Barack Obama by 20 percentage points in Pennsylvania comes from a polling firm with a shaky track record this election season. The poll, which topped the Drudge Report on Monday afternoon (”shock poll”), was issued by American Research Group Inc. (ARG). In the poll, conducted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 57% of likely Democratic voters said they were supporting Sen. Clinton, compared with 37% for Sen. Obama. Just last week, each candidate received 45% in an ARG poll in the state. Other recent polls generally show a much smaller Clinton lead. But there are reasons to question ARG polling numbers In a polling report card of 2008 primary accuracy issued by a rival survey company, ARG ranked in the bottom half of more than three dozen polling firms It also ranked near the bottom in another ranking of pollster accuracy at fivethirtyeight.com Other pollsters’ numbers disagree with ARG’s Quinnipiac University Polling

Depressed consumers

clipped from krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

Naked woman in Cheney's sunglasses?

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com The blogosphere is buzzing over this photo of Vice President Cheney by David Bohrer of the White House. Check out the reflection in the veep's sunglasses. What does it look like?

U.S. Wastes More Than Half of Health Spending

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Health care isn’t exactly known for its efficiency, but a new analysis from PricewaterhouseCoopers puts the value of the waste sloshing around in the system at a whopping $1.2 trillion a year. That’s right. Trillion–with a T. The findings of the firm’s Health Research Institute suggest that up to that much “wasteful spending” could be going on, more than half the $2.2 trillion spent on health care in this country. including ineffective use of information technology ($81-$88 billion), claims processing, ($21-$210 billion) and defensive medicine ($210 billion). Medical errors cost $17 billion and badly-managed diabetes is tied to $22 billion. the analysis adds to a growing pile of other research (including the granddaddy of the genre, the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care) focused on unnecessary health-care expenditures.

Forecast: Eight hurricanes this season; four major ones

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com William Gray, a leading hurricane forecaster, says he expects to see eight Atlantic hurricanes, including four major ones, during the coming season, according to the Associated Press.

Rich, Not Poor, Are Crowding Emergency Rooms

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Yes, ERs are getting busier. But it’s not because of poor people or the uninsured, according to this analysis in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The study is based on national surveys conducted between 1996 and 2004. During that time, overall visits to the ER increased by 26% — but a disproportionate share of the growth came from those whose incomes put them at more than four times the poverty level, and who typically get their care at a doctor’s office. The percentage of uninsured ER patients remained flat, at roughly 15%. The researchers did the study because the conventional wisdom didn’t seem to match the on-the-ground experience of ER docs. Instead, they saw a rise in ER traffic across the demographic spectrum, said Jonathan A. Showstack a study author based UCSF’s Institute for Health Policy Studies.