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I had to take care of some business in Frankfurt and I took a Lufthansa flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt (which was incident-free) and a Frankfurt-LAX flight back. I had a business class ticket. There was a passenger who just got on board before me, and I noticed how one of the flight attendants immediately walked over to the passenger in front of me who was just starting to settle down and offered to hang the passenger's jacket in the cupboard at the very front of the seating area. I took some time to put my briefcase away and took off my suit jacket. 2 flight attendants saw me but were not interested in putting my jacket away.
I didn't want to make a big fuss and I'm not entirely familiar with the storage cabinet at the front of the plane, so I put my jacket on the back of my seat. I doze off for 30 minutes. When I woke up, I noticed my suit jacket had been stepped on and was crumpled near the bathroom door. The flight attendants had been walking up and down the aisle where my jacket had fallen, but apparently they didn't feel compelled to pick up a passenger's jacket that had fallen.
During the flight, except for 1 friendly female attendant who was mostly helping out with the other aisle, the rest of the flight attendants repeatedly skipped me when they were pouring drinking water and distributing bread rolls for the passengers. At that point in time, I was starting to feel that I was being discriminated against because I was an Asian (Japanese-Chinese) passenger. I was the only Asian in the whole section. Fortunately, I had a kind Italian gentleman from Turin sitting next to me, so I asked him to get another glass of water every now and then, which he would then pass on to me.
Towards the end of the flight when we needed to fill immigration form, I realized that my pen was in my briefcase which by then had been well wedged in in the storage compartment which would be a nuisance to dislodge during the flight, so I raised my hand in the air and asked to borrow a pen. A flight attendant came to tell me that they didn't have any pens. But a few minutes later when another customer asked, the flight attendant came with a tray of pens. I was truly fortunate that my neighboring Italian passenger again was able to come to my rescue with his pen.
I am a well-mannered, well-educated (PhD in Mathematics), patient person and I have never been a fussy passenger. The only thing that came to my mind was that the cabin crew in that section must have an aversion to Asians since I was the only Asian in that area. I have flown with many airlines throughout Asia, Europe, America, and Australia the past 30 years and LUFTHANSA was, by far, my ABSOLUTE WORST flying experience. I wrote a complaint to Lufthansa via their website and after over a month, their response was a generic statement that said that they always tried their best to provide the best service.
Given that the appalling service I received was their best service, I dare not imagine what the service would be like on their not-so-best days. I have since spoken to my employer to not fly us on Lufthansa and have spoken to colleagues, family, and friends about the rude cabin crew who provided such appalling service.
DELAWARE -- Satisfied with German airline Lufthansa we booked a flight to Mallorca on April 26 2011, Toronto-Newark-Madrid-Mallorca. Lufthansa used their associates Air Canada to Newark, Continental to Madrid, Spanair to Mallorca. Continental was late leaving Newark, the seat I was assigned was in the back of the plane, and broken, would not recline, and when passenger in front of my seat reclined, I had his seat inches from my nose, unable to use the TV screen at the back of the seat. Uncomfortable I called steward, and consequently her manager, who verified the seat was broken, and advised he would have a repairman fix problem when we land.
No alternative seat was offered, apparently the plane was filled to capacity. I asked for extra cushion - "sorry, we are full, no cushion is available". The overnight flight lasted about about 7 1/2 hours - very uncomfortable! The flight arrived 20 minutes late, since we were in the tail of the plane, and crew aware of our rush to catch connecting flight in Madrid.
We had to wait for the passengers to deplane, ran across the terminals to arrive at "our" gate at 11:10 am to be told the flight which was supposed to depart for Mallorca at 11: 20 has left - no boarding pass available to us - we were told to go to another terminal to Lufthansa counter as SpainAir could not issue the boarding pass. We were offered a standby for 17:30 (5:30 pm), when we pleaded, we were issued a boarding pass, got onto the SpainAir but had to wait additional hour for Safety Crew to perform the missed maintenance on the plane's Autopilot, resulting in our missing again a pre-arranged, then changed pick up from Mallorca's Airport.
We were informed no meal was provided, even though we were to receive a breakfast on our 11:20 scheduled but missed flight. The return trip with Lufthansa's "associates" - Well, no boarding passes issued by SpainAir in Mallorca, neither in Barcelona - my wife and I seated in different parts of the aircraft. Apparently if we want to sit together we must specify the seats ahead of time and pay extra. I e-mailed a polite summary of my "experience " to Continental and Lufthansa and received a response of understanding, and apology promised $100 e-certificate towards future flight with Continental.
Lufthansa explained in their response that the Continental Flight Newark-Madrid was not full, that there were 28 seats empty - and how sorry they were I was misinformed. What I found interesting was that during the flight the passengers were repeatedly informed that Continental has received Award Winning Service. I asked Lufthansa and Continental to review their compensation for a sleepless, restless 8 hrs. "Continental experience" and wasted time due to missed flight and inconvenience - certainly worth more than $100 towards a flight with same airline - Continental.
Lufthansa should insist that their associated airlines try to live up to the excellent service, and product of this German airlines, and when they fail, the least they should do is not to insult their customers by making them a low-ball offer, while claiming their plane was just 15 minutes late, and our not reaching the gate was probably due to action of some 3rd party such as board/pass control, and that we had "legally" enough time to make the connecting flight. I shall return to Share Information with you....when I receive a satisfactory response.
Lufthansa Air - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The Lufthansa Gate Nazi. Lufthansa bad service. Lufthansa good service. Which is it? Depends on the person, not the Lufthansa process. Our recent round-trip on Lufthansa included: Departure: Saint Louis-Chicago-Dusseldorf-Venice (codeshare w/ United) Return: Venice-Munich-Charlotte-St. Louis (codeshares w/ Air Dolomiti and US Airways).
The Good: Our departing transatlantic flight crew was professional, well organized and prompt in their service. Seats are reasonably comfortable and relatively new. Individual seat-back video screens with a good selection of movies was standard. There were better-than-average (for airlines) audio headsets and passengers may choose to start and stop movies as they wish. The crew provided a wall-attachment crib for the youngest of our travelling party of 16 people. Wine was complimentary on the return transatlantic flight.
The Bad: Our return flight from Venice-Munich was delayed by one hour and 15 minutes on Lufthansa's partner airline Air Dolomiti because, and I quote the pilot's announcement, "of a stupid error by the check-in attendant." Passengers were told we would need to disembark 4 at a time to claim our pieces of luggage because there was an extra piece of luggage on board. That seemed reasonable even for security purposes. We did not disembark, however, because it was determined that a check-in attendant had let a piece of luggage on the plane for a cancelled passenger.
The Ugly: Running late in Munich due to disembarking only 30 minutes prior to our transatlantic flight to Charlotte, a large passenger group was met at the gate by a Lufthansa representative. She directed us up the escalators with the exception of a disabled passenger in a wheel chair and our relatives with the baby, who needed the elevator. She let them find their own way to passport checkpoint another set of security which was painfully tedious for in a normal situation, much less a situation where passengers had already been screened and passed through security in Venice. Perhaps this was because the flight terminated in USA.
The Lufthansa leader left us at security while passengers for a later Philadelphia flight jumped the line in front of us. My 3 kids passed through security along with my niece and two nephews. As the security personnel slowly checked all the carry-on baggage of my wife and sister (not Lufthansa's fault), a Lufthansa gate agent ran down to tell us to hurry up. I still hadn't even made it through security. The Lufthansa agent again yelled at us, saying they were closing the plane door.
This was alarming to us all as six of our children had already boarded the plane. My sister's bags were still being rummaged through by security, my wife's passport was stuck under the x–ray on the security belt. My sister and wife asked repeatedly if they would let the plane depart with our kids on board and without us. "Maybe." She said at first. And after that she just nodded her head in the affirmative. If we weren't such seasoned travelers, this could have caused even greater stress to Lufthansa's paying passengers.
I, meanwhile was still stuck in security line. The security personnel took their time examining my carry-on luggage while my wife ran ahead to hold the agents at bay at the gangway. BRIGHT SPOT: There had been enough time for my wife to report to the gate agents to what had occurred with the other agents and they were shocked that it was a Lufthansa employee, but, indeed, it was. We were told they would report the offender and that they had experienced bad behavior as a Lufthansa employee and passenger on a recent flight from Paris. The two friendly female gate agents seemed to think this was an exceptional situation.
Particularly offensive was the short, portly blonde-haired Lufthansa Gate Nazi who yelled at us at the security line and seemed to smirkingly enjoy it, and the tall black-haired Lufthansa male agent who literally yelled at us repeatedly to hurry up on the gangway because the plane needed to depart. He barked at us repeatedly, followed by a "sorry" only to bark at us again. Strange. Salt In the Wound.
Someone was in my brother-in-law's seat upon boarding the transatlantic flight and my video monitor didn't work. I asked one attendant if she could fix it and I got no response for 2 hours so I asked another one who said she would get it fixed. 9 hours into the flight, the original attendant realized it wasn't working and apologized. BRIGHT SPOT: She gave us a 25 Euro certificate for Duty Free which bought a box of over-priced chocolates.
Upon boarding a flight attendant required a boarding pass for my other sister's 10-month old as they suspected she was taking up a paid seat on a fully-booked flight for free. Luckily they had her paid boarding pass, so she was able to keep her seat. No crib attachment for the baby on the return flight, though one was available for another infant. Pretty Cool. The multiple bathrooms grouped together in the center of the plane belly. You descend stairs to reach them.
Today has been the worst travel experience in my life. It started this morning with a 7:20 am flight from Venice to Frankfurt with San Diego as my final destination. An early start to a long trip. Well, we had a flat tire before the plane left the gate. Lufthansa has no contingency for a flat tire in Venice so we had to wait 4 hours for another tire to be flown in from Frankfurt on the next flight.
Of course, we all missed our connections to the U.S. Again, Lufthansa has no contingency for a missed connection. When we landed we were given no directions where to go to get the problem resolved. At the check-in kiosk, we were all directed to the Transfer Desk. Pretty soon there were 150 passengers in line while 2 trainees and two regulars tried to reroute everyone.
Turns out they didn't have the capability to do that at the transfer desk. But rather than make an announcement, they simply waited for everyone to work their way through the line, then they tried in vain to find a flight, before giving up and sending everyone to the Ticket Counter at the front of the terminal. Everyone got the same unhelpful treatment. I was about in the middle of the line and I waited about 70 minutes to get to the front. The people at the back probably waited about 2 hours to find out they were in the wrong place. Then off to the ticket desk I went - something that I can best describe as a DMV-style experience from hell.
I took a number and then waited 2 hours to be helped. The problem was that Lufthansa uses an antiquated mainframe ticketing system that has all the sophistication of something developed in 1975. The ticket agent literally had to look through all the possible flights and routings to try to find some means to get me to San Diego. The system provided no suggestions. So instead have been giving a list of options, the ticket agent had to spend 20 to 30 minutes struggling with each passenger to find a new route. Once again, Lufthansa has no contingency plan for when things go wrong and flights must be re-planned.
A more modern ticketing system could have reduced the time spent per passenger from 30 minutes down to 5 minutes. Turns out there are no available seats on any flights to the US on any Star Alliance carriers for the next two days. Again, this stupid airline has no contingency planning on place. Every flight is overbooked by 12-30 seats. Right now I am at a barely passable hotel in Frankfurt that Lufthansa is paying for. I am hoping that a seat will open up tomorrow for me. But this hotel is full of dozens of other passengers from my delayed flight this morning hoping for the same.
I haven't mentioned just how surly and generally unhelpful everyone has been today. I have walked from one end of the airport numerous times trying to follow erroneous directions given to me. At least I only spent 5 hours at the airport before getting to the hotel. My parents are headed to Cleveland and are in the same situation as me. After about 8 hours, they are now at the DMV "take a number" state as they were given worse information than I got.
I am expecting them at this hotel in a few more hours once they have reached the ticket counter, spent half an hour trying to find a flight, another hour waiting to retrieve their luggage, and then spending more time trying to find the courtesy bus which isn't found where they tell you to go. I would give most U.S. airlines one star out of 5 for their service nowadays. Lufthansa doesn't deserve any stars whatsoever. They are a terrible terrible airline. Never ever fly with these people.
Postscript: I finally made it to the US, although the in-flight entertainment at my seat didn't work. But I got home with my luggage intact. My parents ended up going to Paris, checking into a dirty hotel that Lufthansa paid for, checking out and finding a better hotel on their own dime, and then flying home via Montreal. Their luggage was misplaced and a new tea set my mom had been hand carrying but was forced to check by a rude Lufthansa assistant was smashed. My sister's luggage is simply lost. I just booked another trip to Venice in 5 weeks for Venice. I'm flying US Airways/TAP. That way, I don't need to go anywhere near Lufthansa.
Last week I had to fly from Los Angeles, California, USA to St. Petersburg, Russia and had the misfortune of having to layover 4 hours at the Frankfurt airport in Germany, Lufthansa's main Hub. I spent the first 3 hours waiting for someone to come to the Lufthansa passenger service center on the second level. There are 8 personnel counters in this center, none of which were staffed even though there were at least 30 people sitting as I was, waiting to get some information. (I have pictures available of the situations mentioned in this article.)
People would come, look around, wait for a period of time and then leave with an obvious negative impression of the Lufthansa service. I understand this airport is Lufthansa's main hub for connecting flights. At one point I started wandering around and found a Lufthansa passenger service center on the third level which was fully staffed for information pertaining to gates A, C, D, E, and F. When I asked an officer if the downstairs Lufthansa service center was open, I was told I was not allowed within the confines of this office because my ticket was for a flight leaving from gate B.
I was directed across the hall to the Lufthansa Senator Lounge. Of course I was denied entrance because I did not have a membership card. Let me explain at this time that the only information I was seeking was where to find a drinking water fountain so I could take some medication! After asking 7 people, a waitress, bartender, policeman, gift shop clerk, rest room attendee, baggage handler and a person at a boarding gate counter, I still could not believe the only water available in the whole airport was for 3.20 EU (5.00 US) for an 8 ounce bottle. I know that Germany has one of the leading economies in the world, is this how it was achieved?
By now it was time to start gathering at gate B to get ready to board my flight to St. Petersburg. After finding out that gate B was on the basement level and having to walk down a flight of stairs to a lobby that looked like a warehouse, I found there were no seats except after you pass through the gate and receive a boarding pass. Is there something between the German and Russian cultural relationships I don't know about? I am 67 years old with a heart condition and Spinal Stenosis. The woman behind the counter said it would be another 45 minutes before they start issuing boarding passes.
At this point I pulled out a doctor's note stating that it was impossible for me to stand for any length of time due to my back problem. After scrutinizing the note for what seemed like 3 minutes she let me sit on the chair behind the check-in counter. As I looked around, I spotted a tiny water fountain tucked away in a corner of the warehouse-size lobby. Was it so hard for someone on the upper levels to remember there was a lonely little water fountain down here, or would that have taken away from the airports profit margin?
My mother was born in Munich and my father in Hamburg and I thank God that I was born in the USA so I can call myself an American instead of a penny pinching Deutschlander! I will have another 4 hour layover at the Frankfurt airport on July 8th on my flight home. This time, I won't go thirsty. Upon arriving in St. Petersburg, Russia, after unpacking my bag I found my luggage was damaged on the inside! The lining that covers the shaft that the handle retracts into was ripped off. The hard shell which is under the lining that protects the contents was shattered into many small jagged edged pieces.
And then I found a bolt. After searching the bag I realized the bolt belonged to one of the wheels which was now held on by one stud. How did the bag get damaged from the inside? I had a small cardboard box with my medications inside. The box was ripped open and one of the cases that held blood pressure medication was open with pills laying all over the bag and mixed in with the clothes and other items. As if that wasn't enough, inside the box was one of those "Notice of Baggage Inspection" slips from the TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
It seems they inspected the medication and not the baggage contents and were in such a hurry to keep up with the line they forgot to close one of the cases. I took the damaged bag to the Lufthansa office at LED airport. After waiting approximately 30 minutes for someone to ask me what I wanted, I don't know why I had to wait so long because no other passengers were in the office at the time, the only agent on the Lufthansa side of the office told me I had to bring the bag to another office at the other end of the main building for damage inspection and they would give me a damage report which I had to bring back to this office.
The second office gave me a Damage Report with file reference ** and told me I could either get a bag here in St. Petersburg or when I arrive back in the USA on July 8. The Lufthansa agent also said it would be impossible for me to buy a bag here for $120.00 which was the accessed damage to my bag. After researching Lufthansa's office locations in the USA I found there is no Lufthansa office at the TUS airport in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
I have tried to call the Lufthansa office at LED airport for several days, but the line is perpetually busy and when I was there no one bothered to answer the ringing phone while I waited those 30 minutes! The emails do not get a response and neither do the feedback messages. Kind of makes you wonder who's working on the ground. It seems during my 5-week stay in St. Petersburg, I will continue to try to find out what I should do with the receipt of the new bag purchased in Tucson to get reimbursed when there is no Lufthansa office there.
This is to demand immediate reimbursement from your company of $859.60 that was extorted from me by your Shanghai staff on 17 December 2008, in what amounted to a ransom payment to forestall an act of kidnapping and false imprisonment by your company.
Secondly, be advised that Lufthansa's current business practices regarding levying 'excess baggage' charges merit immediate review by your legal counsel, as they evidently entail potential criminal and civil liability for your company's officers and shareholders. The legal ramifications of Lufthansa's policies, in a U.S. context alone, include the following: Racketeering (organized conspiracy to commit extortion), fraud, breach of contract, breach of implied contract (e. g. to apply baggage rules consistently), false imprisonment, kidnapping, invalid contract (duress), unjust enrichment, and negligence.
The details of my experience (see My Experience, below) are strongly indicative of a deliberate Lufthansa policy of cheating unwary customers – who are unwary by design. Accordingly, the contractual validity of many if not all air tickets being issued by Lufthansa worldwide is highly dubious.
Thirdly, I have been a loyal Lufthansa customer for eleven years, using your airline almost exclusively for travel back and forth from the USA to Europe, where I teach in executive MBA programs. Additionally, I am a stakeholder in a Prague-based travel company ( www.artbreak.org ) and have always recommended Lufthansa to our travel clients. I am shocked that, under your care, Lufthansa has resorted to some of the most unethical practices I have ever heard of in the airline industry.
My Experience: Prague-Shanghai-Prague with Lufthansa - On 16 October 2008, in Prague, for the sum of $1161.36 charged to my US credit card, I purchased round-trip coach passage via Lufthansa from Prague to Shanghai. On 13 November 2008 I flew to Shanghai (through Frankfurt) with two pieces of check-in luggage, plus one backpack carry-on. The checked-in luggage contained heavy textbooks and readings to be used by me in teaching a business strategy course at a university in Shanghai.
On the evening of 17 December 2008, while checking in two pieces of luggage (minus the textbooks and materials that I had left at the university) I was told by Lufthansa ground staff that, in order to fly back to Europe, I must pay 600 euros for 20 kilograms of 'excess baggage'. This sum equates to a 74% surcharge on my original ticket. I asked the ground staff member, and her supervisor, to produce any document showing me that this demand was legal, and they could not. I was told that the class of ticket I held entitled me to 20 kilograms of carry-on luggage. I replied that this was news to me.
Lufthansa's ground staff, specifically the check-in clerk and her supervisor, whose education and grasp of English seemed insufficient to discuss legal issues, told me it was irrelevant when I showed them my two luggage receipts for the Prague-Shanghai journey, and told them that ground staff in Prague had accepted my two pieces of checked luggage without comment. I asked the ground staff supervisor what my options were, and was told that my only possibilities were that I could either pay or stay in Shanghai.
I was told that the pending expiration of my visa was my problem, not Lufthansa's, even though it would mean my violating Chinese law and being prevented from future travel to China. Similarly, Lufthansa's ground staff declined to offer any assistance or advice regarding, for example, sending one of my bags via air freight or sea mail. When I asked if I could take the smaller of the piece of checked luggage on board, along with my backpack, I was told that this was not possible because Lufthansa strictly enforces a 'one carry-on' rule.
When I asked to speak with the manager of Lufthansa in Shanghai, I was told that he was a European, did not work the night shift, and could not be contacted. Lufthansa ground staff provided me a boarding pass only after I signed a charge against my credit card for 600 euros. No other options were presented to me or suggested to me by Lufthansa ground staff.
While boarding the aircraft, I saw that, contrary to what Lufthansa ground staff had told me minutes earlier, approximately 70% of passengers in economy class were each taking on board two maximum-size pieces of carry-on luggage. These passengers typically had one bag with a metal frame including wheels and telescoping handle, and another large bag on top of that. The overhead storage bins were already filled, just two thirds into the boarding process; cabin crew were stacking carry-on pieces in front of the A-340's stairway, and even putting carry-on pieces in spaces reserved for cabin crew.
The passenger seated on my right, destined for Barcelona, had three maximum-size carry on items. On 22 December I met with my highly experienced and reliable travel agent in Prague and, before relating the above experience, asked him two questions: Has Lufthansa ever provided his travel agency in writing or in any other way communicated to him their list of charges for 'excess baggage'? Answer: No. If, hypothetically, I had been deemed to have had 'excess baggage' on my journey back from Shanghai, what, in his opinion, would the likely surcharge levied against me? Answer: $25
Conclusions: Lufthansa ground staff in Shanghai could have found other solutions than to charge me 600 euros, for example, by allowing me to repack my bags and substitute my smaller piece of luggage for my carry-on backpack, or by helping me send a bag to Europe by alternative means. Their training evidently forbids them from allowing passenger-victims to escape or reduce ridiculously punitive charges.
Lufthansa does not enforce baggage 'rules' in a consistent way. In this case, ground staff in Prague waived luggage that ground staff in Shanghai used as a pretext for extortion. And Lufthansa's allegedly strict 'one' carry-on bag rule is not enforced at all.
Although, as I have subsequently researched, Lufthansa buries on a website an obscure (and difficult to understand) PDF file listing your outrageously punitive 'excess baggage' fees, Lufthansa issues electronic tickets that contain no alerts to prospective customers that this PDF exists or should be referred to as part of the passenger's contract nor does Lufthansa make any other attempt to make your baggage surcharge policies transparent, such as pre-departure emails to passengers, or clear notice in your in-flight magazine.
These omissions by Lufthansa evidently are clearly deliberate, to facilitate unjust enrichment at the expense of unwary customers. Finally, Lufthansa's present excess baggage PDF is dated September 16, 2008 when fuel prices were extremely high, which makes it all the more indicative of unsavory intent that, while fuel prices have fallen steeply, Lufthansa makes no effort to alert customers of these charges. They are, in short, pure profit windfall and it would not surprise me if your ground staff in places like Shanghai are instructed to meet a daily quota of victims.
In closing, Mr. Mayrhuber, I would appreciate a refund check in the amount listed above at your soonest convenience, and also, if you can find your way to it, an apology commensurate with the inconvenience and distress caused me. I also would like to recommend that you, as a leader, take steps to mitigate the liabilities that your firm is accumulating by condoning a racket that is eventually going to attract a huge class-action consumer lawsuit and embarrassing punitive sanctions by regulatory authorities. In a nutshell, greatly reduce the excess baggage fees or widely publicize them.
Flight Cancellation - When it was my turn after lining up for quite a while to rebook my flight, I asked the LH staff "What is my compensation since EC regulations indicate that passengers have a right to claim?" She just told me that the flight was operated by LOT and not LH. That's it. For me, that is not the proper response. I've booked the flight through LH and LH is the marketing carrier and I expect LH to take responsibility. I am disappointed that LH staff did not even consider my previous seat preference when she rebooked my flight. I am in Business class and I expected the LH staff to respect my previous seat selection or at least ask me.
Note that my previous seat selection was not yet taken. I have to go to check-in kiosk to change the seat myself. I was given a lesser known hotel and is farther than the other 2 hotels near the airport. I am a Loyalty member and I am booked in Business. They were not considered. EC regulation dictates that I have a right to 2 phone calls or e-mails. The hotel does not offer free internet and does not even have bottled water in the room! I have to use my own phone to make international calls to inform my family what happened and I even have to pay for water.
The worse - When I've approached a LH staff asking for directions where B2 counter is, the staff was not pleasant and with a hand motion, she just pointed towards a general direction. As I am not familiar with airport layout, I've tried asking for more directions but was answered with a rather unpleasant and rude response saying "Just go ahead." I'm not happy with this behavior. I expected courtesy from staff. While lining up to have my flight rebooked, there were also a couple of other anxious and worried passengers who don't know what to do with the flight cancellation. They've tried asking the LH staff and LH staff was very disrespectful and sarcastic.
She goes something like - "we will rebook your flight, you have to wait and don't worry you have lots of time... you have until Monday to wait." I believe this kind of comment is not appropriate. I understand that during flight irregularities, things can get overwhelming. Treating passengers rudely however does not help the situation. I have already email Lufthansa twice and LOT once and that was 3 weeks ago. Until now I have not heard back from them.
I have reservations to fly from San Diego CA to Venice Italy in Business Class tomorrow 5/9/11. I attempted to contact their 24/7 800 number after 7 PM two nights in a row. The result was that it rang for a long time then disconnected. On the third day I called in the afternoon and was able to get through. I informed them of my experience and they said that there was nothing wrong with the 800 number. I then explained it to them again in more detail and they again informed me that I was wrong and that the 800 number works fine 24/7, in other words I'm a liar.
I asked how I can speak to a higher level of customer service, they told me to get the email address on the web. I did and I was informed by email to call the 800 24/7 line for assistance. When I attempted to check and get my boarding pass 23 hours before the flight on their web page the first question they ask is "Did you check-in any luggage at your original departure airport to your final destination?" Confused by the way this question was termed I called up the friendly people at the 800 24/7 line. They informed me if I was going to check-in any bags I could not check-in via the web. Great that's nice.
You see I needed the boarding pass to find out what terminal I needed to go to for the first flight. They did not bother to put that in my reservations. Since the first flight was not on Lufthansa the flight number did not work. I couldn't get the correct flight number from Lufthansa for the airline that they use in the U.S. So now when I go to the airport tomorrow I have a 1 in 3 chance of being at the right terminal. I even attempted to contact the U.S. airline but they said without the U.S. flight number they could not help me. U. S. Airlines are not the greatest but I have never experienced this level of rude and yes MEAN customer service before.
With a check-in time set for 2 AM in the morning, on the return leg of an international trip with my 6 and 8 year old daughters, Lufthansa gate agents forced me to pay an entire new ticket, at a cost of over $2,900 USD because, according to them, I did not have a transit Visa to make a connection on the return leg of an itinerary bought through an Expedia travel agent which the Expedia agent and Lufthansa recommended in the first place. While I could have flown from A to B to D; the itinerary that Expedia recommended, after checking in with Lufthansa, was A to B to C to D.
While there were many available options at a much lower cost to modify my trip and avoid the leg where the Visa was necessary, they only made one available: purchasing a full fare one way ticket from A to B to D. The situation was a shake down: pay up or get stuck abroad at 2 AM in the morning with two children in tears. What's more aggravating is that even after I agreed to pay up, we were forced to wait at the counter for over an hour as the gate agents slowly took action with no sense of urgency while we stood helplessly watching every other passenger check in.
By the way, I am a Gold Star Alliance member - a frequent flier with one of their partner airlines - which did not help at all in terms of any consideration for service or assistance. And as a frequent flier, I can confidently rate both the outbound and the return flight with Lufthansa as terrible experiences filled with poor service, poorly maintained equipment, unorganized boarding processes and seating assignments. To add insult to injury on a 9-hour flight back, our row had malfunctioning audio-visual equipment so my children were unable to watch any of the movies, making our long-return trip that much harder and uncomfortable.
Two months since the incident, now back in the US, I have written to the Customer Service Department no less than 4 times and I have not received a personable reply and despite my requests it has been impossible to speak with any representatives. A cursory computerized reply, one month after I filed my complaint, indicated I should expect a reply in a time frame upwards of 6 to 8 weeks. Their reason for the delay in their reply: in simple words a deluge of other disgruntled travellers. Distrust their claim that there is no better way to fly.
LIVERPOOL -- On 11 Jan 2010 my partner flew in from Afghanistan to Germany and then Germany to London Heathrow on Flight LH4740 to find his luggage missing. At the baggage tracing desk at Heathrow Terminal 1, he was given File Reference: ** for his Tag No. ** and a sheet of paper with contact points for lost luggage. He was instructed to buy what items he needed until his luggage was found and delivered. He was promised he would be compensated at 50% for clothes and 100% for toiletries. His missing luggage was located and delivered within a week.
Subsequently he sent a fax to the Lufthansa Customer Feedback Europe fax number (0049 6969 055171) with a copy of all receipts. This was followed up with a hard copy of the same information to the mailing address (Lufthansa Customer Relations, PO Box 1289, Liverpool L69 3AX). He waited but nothing happened. He tried calling the London Heathrow telephone number and was given the run-around. He then resubmitted all information and receipts by letter and fax and email. He received an automated email reply on 17 March (feedback reference number **) but no further action from Lufthansa.
My partner has now been re-deployed to Afghanistan and left the matter in my hands. I sent a letter dated 29 March 2010 with full details and receipts requesting a refund. I have received no response. I resubmitted all details on the online Customer Feedback email form (www.lufthansa.com) and again received an automated response but no action. A hard copy was also resent. This is now the 4th time of asking for reimbursement.
Our customer feedback states that this is totally unacceptable service by Lufthansa and we demand that the claim be dealt with immediately and the promised reimbursement made. Moral: do not check your luggage, do not let it out of your sight, do not trust anything they say, do not fly Lufthansa ever again.
On 9 April 2010 Lufthansa responded by email apologising for the delay but refusing to reimburse the replaced items because the luggage had been returned prior to the date of the receipts. They stated they required proof of my partner's movements in order to reconsider his claim.
My partner responded on 9 April with exact details of his onward connections to Belgium on 11 Jan 2010 and his subsequent movements until he was reunited with his luggage in London.
Finally on 20 April 2010, more than 3 months after losing his luggage, Lufthansa finally agreed to reimburse £115.27 for replacement items.
Moral: never give up - don't let them grind you down.


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The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to direct $50 million in foreign assistance under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. The assistance includes donations for 13 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe and will feed nearly 2 million children.
"With this announcement, USDA's food for education programs will have provided nutritious school meals to some 11 million children in developing countries since 2001," says Secretary of Agriculture Ann. M. Veneman. "These programs increase access to education, improve child nutrition, build new classrooms and extend health services for some of the world's poorest children."
The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program helps support education, child development and food security in low-income, food-deficit countries committed to universal education. It provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products as well as financial and technical assistance for school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects.
Food for education assistance includes a variety of commodities purchased on the U.S. market and donated by USDA. The commodities will go to private voluntary organizations, the United Nation's World Food Program and one foreign government.
Detailed agreements will be negotiated for each donation and announced as they are completed.
USDA also provides international food assistance though section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 and through the Food for Progress program.
The McGovern-Dole program was authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and is administered by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. The program is named in honor former senators George McGovern and Robert Dole for their efforts to encourage a global commitment to school feeding and child nutrition.
The countries earmarked to receive the latest round of funding are Afghanistan, Bolivia, Republic of Congo, Cote d'Icoire, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Gambia, Guatemala, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Moldova and Mozambique.

subset: commoncrawl


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In Today's Japan, Fathers Are Beginning to Do Their Part
Recently, I was back home in my native Japan—I currently live and work in the United States—catching up with family and friends. I hadn't seen some of my friends in seven years, so I was obviously looking forward to spending time with them. But having recently worked on Catalyst's The...
September 2, 2014 by Makiko Ishizawa


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Behati Prinsloo & Angels Lipsync to Adam Levine/Justin Bieber!
Behati Prinsloo looks super sexy in her bikini while lipsyncing to boyfriend Adam Levine's voice in a new Victoria's Secret video featuring Maroon 5's song "Woman"!
The Victoria's Secret Angels are also featured in another lipsync video set to Justin Bieber's song "All Around the World"!
The other angels featured in the videos include Erin Heatherton, Candice Swanepoel, Lindsay Ellingson, Barbara Palvin, Lais Ribeiro, Sara Sampaio, and Karlie Kloss.
Make sure to check out the Angels in the Victoria's Secret Swim 2013 catalogue!
Victoria's Secret Angels Lipsync to Maroon 5′s "Woman"
Click inside to watch the Angels lipsync to Justin Bieber's song…
Victoria's Secret Angels Lipsync to Justin Bieber's "All Around the World"


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ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. -- Quick-moving police nabbed a fleeing driver moments after his Jeep t-boned a female motorist's sedan, pushing it onto a sidewalk and into an office building in Elmwood Park, authorities told Daily Voice.
"Her car was crossing Broadway/Route 4 through the cut-through when the Jeep T-boned her and pushed her onto the sidewalk and into the building, totaling the car and damaging the building," Police Chief Michael Foligno said.
"He kept going west on Broadway -- without the license plate," said Foligno, who raced to the scene.
"We ran the plate, called ahead and our friends in Paterson stopped the car," he said.
Elmwood Park police took custody of the driver moments later, the chief told Daily Voice.
The victim, meanwhile, had on an oxygen mask -- perhaps provided by someone who works in the building where the crash occurred just before 2:30 p.m. -- when an ambulance arrived, a witness told Daily Voice.
She was taken to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center with a serious head injury, Foligno said.Investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Sheriff's Office rushed to join their colleagues at the scene.
Broadway/Route 4 remained closed in the immediate area.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


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Applications and Problem Solving with Volumes of Solids (part 1 of 2)
Unit 7: Applications of Integration
Lesson 13 of 14
Lesson 13 of 14
Objective: SWBAT compute volumes of cross-sectional solids and solids of revolution. SWBAT apply cross-sectional solids and solids of revolution in modeling and solving authentic problems.
Big Idea: When will I ever use this? Today we encounter applications and problem solving with volumes of solids familiar to students.
Math, Precalculus and Calculus, Integrals, AP Calculus AB, solids, solids of revolution, cross, volumes of solids, calculus, AP Calculus, calculus ab
120 minutes
Warm-up and Homework Review
30 min
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Setting the Stage
15 min
expand content
expand content
Closure + Homework
3 min
Resources (3)
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Google form for submitting answer to AP As We Go:
5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions, NCTM book
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CBC to show an OKC Barons game for a 10-game "AHL on CBC"
The game will be shown on CBC on October 24th.
Per Oilers.com:
The Oklahoma City Barons of the American Hockey League will be featured as part of a 10-game Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) series called "AHL on CBC" during the 2010-11 season, the American Hockey League office announced today.
All 10 games in the AHL on CBC series will feature AHL teams affiliated with one of the six Canadian NHL teams. The Barons, the primary developmental affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, will be showcased October 24 when they travel to Ontario to play the Hamilton Bulldogs, top affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. (EDT). Other teams participating are the Abbotsford Heat (Calgary Flames), Manitoba Moose (Vancouver Canucks), Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Binghamton Senators (Ottawa Senators).
CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Saturday broadcasts will be followed by an AHL on CBC game on 10 Sunday afternoons, giving fans across Canada a chance to cheer on the NHL stars of tomorrow. All games will also be available live and on-demand on CBCSports.ca. Continue reading 'CBC to show an OKC Barons game for a 10-game "AHL on CBC"'»


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Our radiology residency program is renowned for its superior educational and research components and for the friendly atmosphere in the radiology department. Our faculty includes 40 full-time subspecialty radiologists, many of them leaders in their field. Graduates of our program have excelled in both academic and private practice. Every resident completing our program has become board certified by the American Board of Radiology.
Carol Geer, MD, Program Director
Lori Rice, Residency Program Coordinator
Carol Geer, MD, RecruitmentMichael Zapadaka, DO, Recruitment
Melissa Chrismon, Recruitment Program Coordinator
The American Board of Radiology requires a clinical year before entry into a diagnostic radiology residency program. Residents may complete the clinical year (PGY-1) in a non-radiology department at our Medical Center or elsewhere at any approved training program.
The 4 years of the residency are spent in the traditional radiology curriculum, which offers a wide variety of instructional opportunities covering diagnosis of diseases that vary from the commonplace to the unique, with modalities and techniques ranging from the traditional to state-of the-art innovations. Two conferences are held each day to reinforce and refresh topics already covered during formal rotations. Regular conferences are scheduled in subspecialty areas for radiology residents and students in conjunction with other departments. In addition, formal annual courses in physics and radiobiology complete a well-rounded program of education. Although the schedule varies, the following rotation is typical.
Basic radiology is emphasized, covering the areas of thoracic, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal, pediatric, emergency room, and neuroradiology with computed tomography of the head.
New rotations, in addition to those continued from Year I, include nuclear medicine, ultrasonography, body computed tomography and breast imaging.
Rotations are scheduled in peripheral and visceral angiography, cardiac radiology, neuroangiography, obstetric ultrasound, body computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology (Restin, VA), a 6-week program that offers an unusual opportunity to study radiologic-pathologic correlation from the best collection of cases in existence.
The year consists of several shorter refresher rotations, completion of the lengthier required rotations such as breast imaging and nuclear medicine, and some elective time.
One of the most appealing aspects of radiology is that it is dynamic and continuously expanding. The role of the radiologist in participating in the diagnosis and treatment of acutely ill or injuried patients has seen tremendous growth in recent years. Demand for radiologists after-hours has therefore significantly increased. The structure of our call system is therefore requisitely dynamic.
Our current overnight call system is based on graduated responsibility beginning in January of the first year of training and continues until December of the final year of residency, allowing a sufficient call-free period during the initial and final months of residency to prepare for basic call responsibilities and for completion of training, respectively. The current structure provides 3 graduated "tiers" of call coverage.
"Tier I" coverage responsibilities center on emergency room plain-film and neuro-CT interpretation.
Subsequent "Tier II" responsibilities focus on the interpretation of emergent chest, abdomen, and pelvis CT, as well as emergent sonography and nuclear medicine examinations.
The "Tier III" responsibilities are mostly limited to vascular interventional procedures and CT or MR angiography. We currently employ an in-house call frequency of one call every 10th night, with the post-call day off. Additionally, there are some attending-supervised weekend morning responsibilities throughout the first year of residency. All of the above activities are scheduled so as to fully comply with national duty hours limits.
Daily conferences are an important part of the schedule in the Department of Radiology. A teaching conference for residents each morning presents core material designed for the radiology residency program and ensures an in-depth study of each subspecialty area.
The proper interrelationships of the numerous imaging techniques are stressed. A daily current case conference provides residents with reinforcement in all radiology subspecialties and affords faculty contact in areas in which they normally do not work. Each subsection presents one conference every other week. The residents also participate in this conference schedule with teaching file cases.
Interdepartmental conferences are scheduled with most medical and surgical disciplines. Designed to meet both clinical and educational needs, these conferences provide an excellent forum for communication between radiology and other departments.
The Department Chair welcomes informal feedback at a monthly conference with the residents. All conferences are open to students, residents, fellows, and community physicians. View the conference schedule.
Pay and fringe benefits are competitive with those at major southeastern hospitals. Salaries in 2016-2017 range approximately from $51,310.00 for House Officer Level I through $64,048.00 for Level VII. Vacation policies and other benefits are outlined in the brochure "House Officer Programs." In addition, a $350 book allowance is available for the resident during each year of the radiology residency.
Attendance at radiologic society meetings and postgraduate courses is encouraged. A travel fund for one trip per residency is available to either the RSNA, ARRS or AUR. In addition, the department will offer funding for one trip per year per resident if the resident has the opportunity to present AS FIRST AUTHOR of a poster selected through peer review process at RSNA, ARRS or AUR only. The Department of Radiology will also provide each resident, during the course of his/her residency, with one trip to a Radiology review course.
All diagnostic residents attend the 6-week radiologic pathology course at the American Institute for Radiologic Pathology in Reston, VA. The Department of Radiology pays the tuition fee and reimburses up to $1,950 in living expenses.
Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be relied upon as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.


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Hand-painted Art Glass
Silver Creek Industries is the gift industry's premier source for American-made hand-painted art glass! They recently acquired Artistic Gifts, Inc. and synergistically combined it with their original Open Windows line. Silver Creek Industries now provides instant access to the largest, most thematically diverse collection of painted art glass gifts and decor ever offered.


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Study Abroad in Hungary
API students in Budapest can choose from a variety of undergraduate courses in English in the areas of economics, business, social sciences and public administration. Semester and academic year terms are available. Classes are comprised of other foreign and American students. Each course is worth 3 semester credits, and students typically take 12-15 credits per semester. Take the plunge and study abroad in Hungary with API!
Szívesen Lát Magyarország
A relatively small, landlocked nation of just over ten million people, Hungary will steal your heart; lure you back again and again to sample its rich wines, lounge in its thermal spas, gaze at its natural beauty and make one more attempt to master its hermetic language.
Its beautiful, and very hip, capital city, Budapest, has a lively arts, cafe and music scene, and is host to a range of cultural and sporting festivals. In the countryside you'll find majestic plains, resort-lined lakes, Baroque towns, horse markets and rustic villages.
API Study Abroad Blog
Click here to read API Hungary student stories


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Telecom Law in Michigan: Change, or Get Left Behind
(The following is an edited version of remarks made on May 24, 2005 in Lansing by former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey at a luncheon hosted by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.)
Good afternoon. I am Dick Armey, and I am from Dallas, Texas. I am a free-market economist, and I am very proud of the fact that somehow, when I was young, I discovered the discipline of economics and later had the privilege of becoming an economist. Even after having been a member of Congress and a U.S. House majority leader, I still think of my self-definition as, "I am an economist."
I watch this electronic age developing around us. The marvels of this electronic age should be astounding to all of us. If you study economic history, the first economic revolution was the agricultural revolution, and from that followed the industrial revolution. Well, I became convinced several years ago that we're really now in the electronic revolution. And just like during the agricultural and the industrial revolutions, there are massive transformations in the structures of economies.
Stay Engaged
I am reminded of something my father always used to say. My father was an old-fashioned guy who believed in such things as practical American genius. His point was, if you don't keep up with progress, you get left behind. And his point was significant: If you do get left behind, it is your own fault. My father wasn't much of a person for thinking in terms of someone else pulling your fat out of the fire. …
I became convinced, watching this marvelous world of discoveries going on around us and the speed of change taking place, that there are going to be massive transformations of economies. If you study economics at all, you know about Joseph Alois Schumpeter's great theory of creative destruction. Remember, the fundamental problem of any economic system — any community of production and consumption — is that you must allocate scarce resources among competing ends. The fact of the matter is that resources must be allocated away from losing propositions, so that they can be redirected to winning propositions. The entrepreneur, the creator, the discoverer — this is the person who is always looking forward, saying, "What's new coming down the line? How can I be a part of it, and how can I get the resources from what has passed?"
Governments have a tendency to look backwards, trying to preserve the past, because the past is where the existing special interests are vested, and governments tend to serve them. Well, what happens is that governments tend to stand in the way of progress, because they impede the process of creative destruction that takes the resources away from the things of the past and allows them to be redirected to the future. And governments that are not quick-footed in keeping up cause their own economies to fall behind.
So I realized that this wonderful electronic revolution was going on all around us and that governments — whether state, local or national — could do very little to make it happen. They are capable of doing a whole lot to screw it up. In fact, "Armey's Axiom No. 1" is this: The market is rational; the government is dumb.
Governments are fundamentally, systemically dumb. I don't mean to be unkind when I say that. The fact of the matter is that real people, in the ordinary business of life, pursuing their own interests and those of their families, are able to do those things because they are smart.
Why are they smart? Because they know what they want; they know what they can do. They are very quick and able at allocating their scarce resources among competing ends and directing themselves in a matter that is most satisfactory.
Governments are inherently stupid, because they are not doing for themselves, but are doing for other people. The first problem of all governments is that they don't know what they are trying to do.
I always laugh at people who say, "The government will provide for us." Well, let me ask you this: When was the last time you bought your spouse the right birthday present? There is nobody in the whole world who knows your spouse as well as you do or loves your spouse as much as you do. … There is nobody in the whole world who more grievously suffers as immediately the consequences of getting it wrong. And you can't get it right. You have every incentive in the world — love and fear — riding on the right decision. And you can't get it right.
If you take that lesson and apply it back to the notion of government taking care of us, why would you expect a bunch of people in the state House to get it right? That is why politicians will fundamentally revert back to doing those things they know how to do, which is to work for themselves — just as everybody else does.
But what happens is that governments screw things up because governments look backwards. Governments are inherently dumb in terms of the rationality of choice.
I don't mean to say these are not good people. They are good people. They are able people. They are responsible people. They are decent people — on either side of the political spectrum.
But it is a systemic avarice, not individual avarice. Although you might say there are some bad apples in Congress and the Legislature, there are bad apples to be found everyplace. Systemically, governments are dumb because governments don't know what governments are supposed to do.
I could ask you here to give me a definition of the public interest. If I have 50 of you lined up, I would get 49 or 61 different definitions.
Adam Smith, by the way, best defined the public interest (as he did most everything best) in 1776. And don't you think it is a marvelous accident of history that "The Wealth of Nations," the treatise that created the discipline of economics, was a treatise on free enterprise written in the year of the work of the greatest historical experience of free enterprise in the history of the world? In 1776, in "The Wealth of Nations," Adam Smith said the ultimate economic activity is consumption. To the extent that the government intervenes in the affairs of commerce, it should do so on behalf of the consumer. … That is still, for me, the best definition of the public interest.
Take a look, then, at your public policies, and tell me the extent to which public policy is guided by that notion. How many times does public policy that affects commerce find itself constructive in the interest of some entity other than the consumer? Quite often, it gives advantage to one producer over another.
What I see happening in Michigan is a good example. You have a backward-looking government that is impeding the ability of your state's economy to get with modern times. …
The automobile industry has a great tradition in this state. But the future of Michigan's economy cannot be the automobile, as it maybe has been in years past. The future, the growth, if you look at the world economy today, is in modern telecommunications, electronics, computers, the Internet.
My wife got a marketing call the other day. It cracked me up. I said, "Honey, that call probably came from Pakistan." We've got modern communications centers so great now that people who do telecommunications make calls from overseas. Yet Michigan's regulatory laws are so antiquated that you get restrictions on your ability to make phone calls within the state.
Now, if a business is looking to locate in Michigan, its officials calculate the cost. They say, "I have to do a lot of marketing in Michigan. I am going to have a flood of phone calls in Michigan. My business depends on my being able to do that. I am going to India."
From anyplace in the world, they can set up their whole business, and where telecommunications are concerned, they can communicate more quickly, more reliably and with less cost to your Michigan households and residents. Those are jobs that could be going to Michigan citizens; that's growth and development.
I have gotten very interested in Michigan, because your state is about to begin the process that we're completing in Texas of telecommunications reform. You've got to have a force within the state that goes to a legislator and says, "This is a new and different time."
My wife and I are building two new homes. She is in charge of all things related to color and design. (I am not authorized. The builder comes to me, and I say, "I am not authorized.") I'm in charge of all things communications.
I can't get what I had — DSL. I can't get DSL because I'm more than three miles from the switch. So I'm working out my options, and they aren't all that bad. I found a competitive local carrier that is going to bring fiber optics to my house. I've got to pay for it — that's the bad news. But if you get fiber optics to your house, you've got all the telecommunications capability you will need for the rest of your life.
In Texas, I can afford it. But who is going to be willing to do that here in Michigan? Your Baby Bells aren't going to do it, because the minute they build capital structure under existing laws, all the free riders might jump on their capital. They've got to sell access to that capital structure to their competitors at rates that are more favorable than what they can charge their own customers (if they could get it), and their competitors use this capital to undercut them. So what we are talking about are telecommunication laws that are antiquated.
I grew up in rural North Dakota. I remember when bringing in electricity or bringing in telephones was such a difficult proposition that you had to have government support and all kinds of regulations regarding universal services.
You don't need those kinds of regulations now. What those regulations do is basically say to providers: "Stand back. Don't put your time and money and capital and discovery into this, because you can't recover your investment, and you're likely to have to share your equipment."
I created a word back in 1977, when I wrote my textbook on microeconomics. … The word is "octopoidal." The telecommunications industry is, to a large extent, octopoidal. Capital must extend like the tentacles of an octopus out to the customers. How do you get people willing to do that?
As you review telecommunications law in Michigan, you have the opportunity to bring your legal structure up to the promise of the electronic revolution in the 20th century. But if you're going to have the same telecommunications regulations that you had after World War II, you are not going to be competitive with the rest of the world.
Michigan is a great state. It's got one of the best hockey teams, although you're not doing very well in football — and that's fine with me; I'm a Vikings fan. But why should Michigan be behind? Why should your unemployment rate be so deplorably high compared to other states?
For years, I was on the House Labor Committee, and I kept joking to your representatives that you ought to keep these labor laws you have in Michigan: We love all these businesses coming down to Texas. Businesses like a right-to-work state like Texas.
Generically, you've got a problem in this state. I mention labor laws, but if you look at taxes and regulations, you're talking about a cost to do business. When a business looks at whether to locate in Michigan, they are going to measure the cost. The additional costs that rise from higher taxes and stricter regulations can amount to a lot of money. So a business is going to go to Texas instead.
Telecommunications is critical because, more and more, nobody is going to be able to grow a business except on the basis of their comprehensive communications with the rest of the world. The cutting edge of all growth in the world economy has been, and will continue to be, electronic.
Telecommunications is the aorta for all of the electronic marvels that are driving the world economy. Telecommunications law can be a great liberator. We are quite optimistic with the direction in which we are going in Texas, and that direction is deregulation.
Texas is ahead of Michigan. You've got to catch up. The fundamental principle should be deregulation — maximizing the incentives to discover, create, invest and build. Nobody is going to invest their money here if state law says they've got to turn it over and let another guy ride free on their capital.
(Mr. Armey then took questions from the audience.)
Q: There are a lot of proposed mergers among telecommunications companies in the news. What effects do you think this will have on the economy, and what effect should that have on the regulatory environment?
A: Well, "Armey's Original Axiom" was, "Given the size of the market and economies of scale, the market will always generate the optimal number of firms operating at the optimal size." And telecommunications, given the nature of the technology, is always going to promote integrations, mergers, takeovers and so forth.
This is not new. Go back to 1952. There were probably 30 separate automobile companies in this country. Now we are down to The Big Three.
There is a tendency to believe that mergers are inherently competition-diminishing. I don't buy that. I believe that the optimal number of firms can be one, given the right conditions of market size and economies of scale. With all the creativity in telecommunications, I prefer to sit back and watch all these mergers take place.
Q: You have a public service commission in Texas that regulates and dictates to these companies what they can and cannot do. How do you work with them?
A: Well, you have to work with them, obviously. The commission is responsible for implementing the laws that are written by the legislative body.
So, you start with that. I mean, everybody cusses the IRS. The poor old devils in the IRS, bless their hearts — they are just trying to make a living. But we write insane tax law and tell them to enforce it, then we cuss them when we get audited. It's the same thing with the commission. The commission can only work within the bounds of the law.
I have argued for years that legislators leave a lot of loose ends in the law and therefore leave a lot of latitude for commissions. I promise you, if you give me a position of public responsibility and authority, I am going to work for myself to some degree or another. Do you think these commissioners aren't going to build their empire? So, the legislative body has got to define the limited jurisdictional range of the commission.
I used to call it "the legislative aftershock." Remember Michigan Rep. Bill Ford? He didn't like me much. One time, when we were trying to work out some details of a law, he said, "Oh well, just leave that to the agencies." It hit me how many times we just don't want to do the hard work of typing out the language and instead leave it to the agencies to do it. That gives the agencies latitude.
My view is that our regulatory commission is not inherently a bad thing, and that it possibly may be a useful thing, if it is properly franchised in the law that it is asked to administer.
Q: Please explain to members of the Michigan Public Service Commission and some legislators the difference between overregulating telecommunications and what is truly in the public interest. There is a great deal that they do, well intended though they may be, under the rubric of consumer protection that is, in fact, contrary to that.
A: … Government excess is born out of two audacities. One says, "The people aren't competent, therefore we must protect them." This gets me singing, "Mr. Big Shot, who do you think you are?"
The other audacity is the notion that people can't be trusted, and therefore, we must regulate them. I used to tell my colleagues when we sat down to work things out to get to some governing principles. What are we trying to do here? What is this about?
It's about the well-being of the consumer, the household. We work to eat. … That's what we're living for. So the object of our affection must always be the consumer. It is not about protecting one competitor against another. So define the law.
How much regulation do we need in an area of creativity where people are providing service all over the place, in new ways, with new devices?
You may be in the position of writing or administering the law, but that doesn't make you smarter than the people. I've heard colleagues say, "Oh heck, I can't vote that way. People back home won't understand." And I say, "How do you figure that they were smart enough to elect you, but too dumb to understand the issues?"
We get in these offices, and we don't have respect for real people, their abilities and integrity. My prayer for America is that we have a government that knows the goodness of our people. We are a good people, and we are an able people.
If I know that as a public official, then I can restrain myself. The world is not going to go under or go on the rocks if I don't have my hands on the levers. In fact, the ship may be better off without me. That's something you really have to work at.
There are a lot of people enthusiastic about Big Government. I never understood that. My mother, bless her heart, raised me right. Basically, her take was very simple: The government's no damn good. Don't trust them.
I appreciate you letting me be here. I hope it's been worth your time. Thank you.
Dick Armey is a former House majority leader and is co-chairman of FreedomWorks, a grass-roots organization that promotes principles of limited government. He gave the remarks shown above at a luncheon in Lansing hosted by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the speaker and the Center are properly cited.


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'True Blood' Season 6 Episode Photos
In Season 6 of "True Blood," the Authority is in flames, TruBlood is in short supply, Bill comes to terms with his newfound powers after emerging reincarnated from a pool of blood, and humans are in open conflict with vampires like never before. Meanwhile, Sookie and Jason must steel themselves for an encounter with their parents' killer: the mysterious and ancient Warlow. "True Blood" airs Sundays at 9 PM on HBO.


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Hedge funds cut bullish wagers on commodities by the most since June as prices retreated to a three-month low on mounting concern that Europes debt crisis will worsen and U.S. growth slow.
Money managers reduced combined net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options in the week ended Oct. 30 by 11 percent to 1.05 million contracts, the lowest since July 10, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Copper holdings fell to an eight-week low, and gold wagers are now the smallest since September. Gasoline bets declined for a fourth week, and those in oil reached the lowest level in four months as Hurricane Sandy forced U.S. East Coast refineries to shut.
The Standard & Poors GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials fell a third week, the longest contraction since June. Greece cut its economic outlook for 2013 on Oct. 31, and Spain delayed asking for a bailout. U.S. lawmakers are at an impasse over tax rises and spending cuts, and the presidential election takes place tomorrow. Sales trailed analyst estimates at 59 percent of U.S. companies that released third-quarter results through Nov. 2, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Its hard to see upward price pressures in commodities when were still seeing such slow growth, said Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Seattle, which oversees about $111 billion in assets. Supplies are sufficient for current demand.
The S&P GSCI retreated 2 percent last week, with 15 of 24 components declining, led by gasoline and heating oil. The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities advanced 0.6 percent, and the dollar climbed 0.7 percent against a basket of six major currencies, strengthening for a second week. Treasuries returned 0.1 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows. The S&P gauge was little changed today, near the lowest level since July.
Energy Slump
The global economy will expand 3.3 percent this year, the slowest pace since the recession, the International Monetary Fund said Oct. 9. The Washington-based group cited alarmingly high risks of a steeper slowdown.
The 17-nation euro areas jobless rate climbed to a record 11.6 percent in September, the European Unions statistics office said Oct. 31. The regions debt crisis has pushed at least five nations into recessions and economic confidence dropped to the lowest in more than three years in October.
U.S. Economy
U.S. payrolls increased by 171,000 workers in October, exceeding the most optimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The data followed reports showing stronger manufacturing, construction spending and consumer confidence.
An official Chinese purchasing managers index released Nov. 1 indicated the first expansion in manufacturing in three months. Reports also showed Taiwan resumed growth last quarter, South Korean industrial production climbed for the first time in four months in September and Singapores jobless rate fell to a six-quarter low in the most recent period.
Were seeing signs of bottoming in the global economy, and that should be supportive of commodity prices, said Newport Beach, California-based Mihir Worah, who manages Pacific Investment Management Co.s Commodity Real Return Strategy Fund, which had about $22 billion in assets as of Sept. 30. People are differentiating more among commodities, but overall were still seeing pretty good inflows.
Money managers added a net $16 million to commodity funds in the week ended Oct. 31, with $154 million going to gold and precious metals, according to Cameron Brandt, the director of research at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based EPFR Global, which tracks money flows.
Fiscal Cliff
Stanley Crouch, who helps oversee $2 billion as chief investment officer at New York-based Aegis Capital Corp., said that investors are growing more concerned as the U.S. closes in on the so-called fiscal cliff. That refers to more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that will take effect in 2013 unless Congress can reach a budget compromise.
The issue has been among the topics in the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Net-long positions in copper plunged 61 percent to 6,964 contracts, CFTC data showed. Inventories of the metal tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange reached a six-month high, a report showed Nov. 2.
Bets on a gold rally fell 7.5 percent to 149,853 contracts, the third straight drop, the CFTC data showed. Futures tumbled the most in four months on Nov. 2 in New York, settling below $1,700 an ounce for the first time in eight weeks. They gained 0.3 percent today.
Cotton Slides
Cotton net-longs tumbled 55 percent to 9,751 contracts. Inventories in China may reach 9 million metric tons this season, enough to cover the countrys supply deficit for the next six years, Joe Nicosia, the chief executive officer of Allenberg Cotton Co., said on Nov. 2 in Hong Kong. Futures fell 2.9 percent in New York last week.
In crude oil, net-long holdings fell 11 percent to 122,863 contracts, the lowest since June 19. Prices dropped to the lowest in almost four months last week amid speculation that the refinery shutdowns caused by Hurricane Sandy will add to ample supplies. Gasoline wagers fell 4.4 percent to 72,134 contracts.
Damage from Sandy last week may subtract 0.1 to 0.2 percentage point from U.S. gross domestic product in the fourth quarter as spending drops on services such as restaurant meals, according to Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A measure of 11 U.S. farm goods showed speculators trimmed bullish bets in agricultural commodities by 12 percent to 603,173 contracts.
Investors reduced their net-long position in corn by 16 percent to 236,382 contracts, the lowest since mid-July. Bullish bets on sugar dropped 28 percent to 32,981 contracts.
Were still in a perilous state here, even with some signs of stabilization lately, Aegis Capitals Crouch said. Chinese metrics have been better, but Europe is still in a big slowdown. Theres uncertainty over what will happen after the U.S. election, and how close to the brink well get.
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Med Ed Report briefs
The FDA issued a draft blueprint for educating doctors on long-acting and extended-release opioid drugs. It has core messages for CE providers to use in developing materials for training prescribers under the required risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for the products.
ProMed Communications, a new Chicago-based medical education group specializing in programs for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, will be co-run by Lee Colpi, owner and managing partner of DAW Communications, and Steve Eckert.
Brian McGowan, former Pfizer senior director of education, oncology, in the medical education grants group, has signed a book deal with NoLimit Publishing and expects a fall release of his book on healthcare quality.
Plannernet (formerly PMPN) named Nicole Davis-Ellison VP, client services. At Advanced Health Media, LLC, she had been VP of operations and service delivery.The Alliance for CME is now the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, reflecting its new mission: accelerating excellence in healthcare performance through education, collaboration and advocacy.


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Sports & Games
Hut, hut, hike! Go long and catch some sports action this week with activities and games that are all about building your child's most important athletic muscle - her brain! We've got ideas for sports fans, and non-athletes, and everyone in between with beanbag tosses, baseball ice cream, gold medals, and more.Download All (16)
Click on an item in the set below to see more info.
Week 9: Sports & GamesDownload Worksheet More info
Verb Relay RaceView Full Activity
Shoebox CroquetView Full Activity
MARTHA SPEAKS: Make Your Own Obstacle Course
Practice words and get some exercise with this obstacle course activity from PBS KIDS' Martha Speaks. Click here to get started.
Play Dart BallsView Full Activity
Jumping Bean PhonicsView Full Activity
The set is continued below.
Color By Letter: Playing BaseballDownload Worksheet More info
Sports Round-Up Sight WordsDownload Worksheet More info
Cut and Color Sports BookmarksDownload Worksheet More info
Pizza Toss GameView Full Activity
Bowling for PhonicsView Full Activity
Make Your Own Gold MedalView Full Activity
The set is continued below.
ARTHUR'S Play Ball
Incorporate words and music into your next game with this activity from PBS KIDS' Arthur. Click here to get started!
Books About Sports!
Does your child love sports? Encourage their love of reading by helping them explore topics they love. Here's a list of some of PBS KIDS' favorite books about sports to get you started.
Summer Reading Essentials
Looking for more summer reading ideas? We've picked the best of the best of our most popular workbooks for every grade to help you make the most of your kid's summer. Avoid the summer slide and spark your child's imagination with our picks. Check them out here!
More to Explore!
PBS KIDS' Arthur is the ultimate good sport. Check out more do-it-yourself activities with everyone's best friend. Find out more!
Image Credit: Courtesy of WGBH


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Charity Tractor Convoy to Conquer Morecambe Sands
A convoy of vintage red and grey Massey Ferguson tractors is to cross the hazardous sands of the UK's Morecambe Bay in a charity run to raise money for Diabetes UK on Sunday June 2nd.
Led by retired Massey Ferguson employee Bob Dickman, up to 20 tractors will make the 17 mile (27 km) fully-guided return trip.
81-year-old Bob, who retired in 1995, spent 40 years working for Massey Ferguson culminating in his role as Export Service Manager. He will be driving a fully reconditioned 1954 Ferguson TEF 20 tractor across the sands.
"A similar crossing was undertaken by Land Rovers some years ago but this is the first time for tractors," he says. "I am raising money for a Diabetes UK Type 1 research project after seeing the impact the disease has had on the lives of family and friends."
Massey Ferguson is supporting the event with the supply of raffle prizes including an all-expenses-paid trip to its tractor factory in Beauvais, France.
Bob's mission has also attracted the support of some of his former Massey Ferguson colleagues now retired including Glynn Patrick who was Managing Director of European Distribution and Gordon Graham, previously General Sales Manager Eastern Europe. Glynn will be behind the wheel of his family farm's refurbished 1968 MF 135 and Gordon will be assisting with the logistics of the event. Other ex-Massey Ferguson employees will be among the spectators.
At low tide which occurs at 1.45pm on 2 June, the notorious Morecambe Bay in northwest England exposes 120 square miles (310 sq km) of sand and flats. To ensure the safest route across the bay, Steve Morris, another key organiser of the tractor convoy, worked closely with a father and son team of experienced guides who use their own tractors to fish Morecambe Bay sands.
The guided crossing, which starts and finishes at Cark Airfield near Flookburgh. is expected to take three to four hours. Four- year-old Neev Renton from Cumbria who suffers from Type 1 diabetes will set the tractors off at 12 noon.


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East Palo Alto officials announced Wednesday that the city will seek $2.7 million to repair and shore up a dirt levee that was breached and flooded over during last month's torrential storms.
"I want to reassure all of the residents along San Francisquito Creek that the work that we did … has been paying off and it's holding up and there's no immediate danger along the creek," Mayor Ruben Abrica said at a City Hall news conference. "However … after further and more thorough assessment we have encountered additional damages, serious damages. So we're concerned about the entire rainy season and we have two or three months left."
In a step necessary to obtain the state's help, Ruben and City Manager Magda Gonzalez signed a proclamation Wednesday officially declaring a local emergency. The city council is expected to ratify it at a special meeting scheduled for tonight.
As a result of heavy rainfall Dec. 23, a swollen San Francisquito Creek flowed over the levee between Verbena Drive and Daphne Way; water also seeped through it and bubbled up from the ground in three areas. Officials ordered seven households to evacuate and encouraged nearby residents to leave as well. The neighborhood, which is at a lower level than the creek, saw water and mud damage to streets, homes and other facilities, according to city officials. Flooding also occurred in areas west of Highway 101, near University and Woodland avenues.
In response, a team of volunteers, city employees and 27 California Conservation Corps workers toiled through the night of Christmas Eve until early Christmas morning shoring up the levee with sandbags and making emergency repairs.
Subsequent inspections have revealed more damage to the levee and creek, including the steepening of a slope, a fallen oak tree south of University Avenue that took out a significant chunk of creek bank, and water-eroded concrete on the University Avenue bridge abutment and the O'Connor Street pump station, city officials said.
Gonzalez said the $2.7 million repair estimate could rise as work and further inspections are done along the creek.
"We've exhausted our local and regional resources in addressing the immediate flood controls and the levee stabilization needs required as a result of this flooding," she said.
The city's finance director, Edmund Suen, said after the meeting that East Palo Alto has spent approximately $115,000 on repairs and would expect to be reimbursed through the $2.7 million emergency grant.
State officials are scheduled to tour the flood-damaged sites today.
About 49 percent of East Palo Alto is within a flood plain, City Attorney Kathleen Kane said before the press conference. "So levee or creek failure would be devastating."
That stretch of San Francisquito Creek is slated to get new floodwalls, but the project is not scheduled to begin until mid-2013.
Email Bonnie Eslinger at firstname.lastname@example.com; follow her at twitter.com/bonnieeslinger.


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Classes and Events
Cardio Circuit Night Exercise Class
Get a high-intensity workout at this group exercise class in Coronado.
Need a different date?
Presented by Sharp Coronado Hospital
This fast-paced class features a combination of strength-building exercises, as well as cardio bursts to help increase your overall stamina and cardio capacity. Participants will do different exercises at each station in the circuit, moving quickly with little to no rest between sets. Be prepared to lunge, jump, lift medium-to-heavy weights and elevate your heart rate.
Cancellation Policy
If you need to cancel your registration for this event, please call 1-800-827-4277 Monday through Friday, 7 am to 7 pm, or log in to your account to cancel online.
Parking Information
Visitors may park in front of the hospital. Valet parking is available at the main hospital entrance on Prospect Place, Monday through Friday, 7 am to 4:30 pm. Free validation is provided to patients and visitors arriving at the hospital for emergency services, surgery, lab tests, rehabilitation therapy and other hospital needs.
Fee Information
If you registered using the City of San Diego employee discount, please remember to bring your employee identification badge with you to class.
Special Instructions
- Classes may be cancelled due to low enrollment. If a class is cancelled, you will be notified before the class and will have the opportunity to attend another date or receive a full refund of your registration fee.
- If you need to cancel a class, please do so at least 24 hours in advance.
- You must be able to run, jump, lunge and squat without assistance.
- Participants must be at least 15 years old to enroll in group exercise classes.
- If this class is full, please call 1-800-82-SHARP (1-800-827-4277) Monday through Friday, 7 am to 7 pm, and asked to be placed on our waitlist.
Presenter Information
Jenny Driessen is a certified yoga instructor, who teaches vinyasa yoga, yoga with weights and cardio circuits at studios throughout San Diego. She instructs all her classes with the same intention — to strengthen the body both mentally and physically and to live a more mindful, meaningful life.
This class will run for approximately 50 minutes. Class times and dates are subject to change.
If this is your first group exercise class with the Sewall Healthy Living Center, you must fill out a health questionnaire and a waiver/release of liability form before participating. Forms are available at the Healthy Living Center on the third floor of the main hospital or you may call 619-522-3798 and ask to have them emailed to you.
If you have previously taken a personal training session or been a gym member at the Healthy Living Center, you do not have to fill out the forms again.
What to Bring
Please wear comfortable clothing and athletic shoes. You should also bring a towel, water and a yoga mat (optional).
Sharp Coronado Hospital


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Small numbers of domestic banks responded to the Federal
Reserve's January survey of senior loan officers with
indications that they have eased their credit standards across major loan
categories over the last three months.
Domestic banks reported that demand for business loans, prime
residential mortgages and auto loans had increased while demand for other types
of loans was essentially unchanged.
U.S. branches and agencies of foreign reported little change in their
lending standards but a net increase in demand.
banks, almost evenly divided between large banks (those with total domestic
assets of $20 billion or more) and other banks responded to the survey question
about prime mortgages. The majority, 92
percent of large banks and 88 percent of other banks, reported that their
standards for writing a prime residential loan were virtually unchanged since
the last survey. Only one large bank
reported lending had tightened "somewhat;" four banks or 6 percent
said their standards for prime loans had eased to some degree.
Demand for these
prime loans for home purchase was reported as about the same by 61.5 percent of
respondents - 20 large and 20 other banks.
Three banks (4.6 percent) reported moderately weaker demand and 19 banks
(29.2 percent) said demand was moderately stronger. Three banks said that demand for prime loans
was substantially stronger.
All but one of
thirty-four banks that responded to a question about their standards for
nontraditional mortgages said that those standards were essentially
unchanged. The remaining bank said its
standards had tightened somewhat.
The demand for
nontraditional residential mortgages was unchanged at 25 banks or 71.4
percent. The remaining ten (one more
bank responded to the demand question than to the one on standards) were divided
equally between those reporting moderately weaker and moderately stronger
Only five banks
said they had done any subprime lending and four reported standards that were
basically unchanged while one said its standards had tightened somewhat. All five said that demand for subprime
mortgages had stayed about the same.
Sixty-six banks
responded to questions about revolving home equity lines of credit. Fifty-nine or 89.4 percent reported their
lending standards were basically unchanged while three reported somewhat
tighter standards and four somewhat eased standards. Demand was moderately stronger in the eyes of
seven banks or 10.6 percent and moderately weaker according to 13 or 19.7
percent. Demand was unchanged for 45 of
the banks or 68.2 percent.
The January survey contained
a set of special questions on respondents' expectations for loan
quality in 2013, questions that have been repeated
annually since 2006. Overall, large fractions
of domestic banks, on net, expected improvements in delinquency and
charge-off rates
during 2013 for most loan categories included in the
survey, assuming that economic
activity progresses in line
with consensus forecasts. Moreover,
improvement in
loan categories were about the same
as the corresponding net fractions from a year ago.
About 50 percent of domestic banks expect the
delinquency and charge-off rates
on prime and nontraditional residential real estate loans to improve
in 2013, on net, about the same fractions reported in
last year's survey. Expectations for improvements this year in the quality of HELOCs
roughly the same
as last year, with
about one-third of the
respondents anticipating an improvement in the quality of
such loans.
Here's a link to the full report.
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text: Asphalt & Rubber has learned that Ducati will debut a Corse version of the Ducati Superbike 848 EVO for the 2012 model year. Similar to the Ducati Superbike 1198 S Corse SE & Ducati Superbike 1198 R Corse SE, the Superbike 848 EVO Corse will feature Ducati's tricolor corse paint scheme, and a bevy of go-fast performance parts. Expected to have at least a slipper clutch and Termignoni racing exhaust, it is also presumable that Ducati will add-on its Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and Ducati Data Acquisition (DDA), and round out the package with carbon fiber bits and premium suspension pieces.


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The panel was part of the American Bar Association's annual meeting in San Francisco.
On August 9, UC Hastings Professor Keith Hand participated in panel event titled "Dancing Handcuffed in a Minefield: China's Hidden Heroes in the Criminal Defense Bar." The panel was held at the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco and explored the strategies and difficulties of human rights lawyers in China. Terrence Halliday of the American Bar Foundation, Malathi Das of LawAsia, David Taylor of The China Aid Association, and Stanley Lubman of UC Berkeley Law School also participated as panelists.
A widely known China scholar, Professor Hand also recently returned from an academic mission to China, acting as a delegate of the National Committee on US-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program.


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Member and Patient Resources
ROCKLEDGE, FL— Hospice of Health First has announced the addition of three new associate medical directors to its staff. Joining the Hospice of Health First team led by Dr. Ruddy Ruiz, will be Dr. Mario E. Ruberte, Dr. Chris Cobbold and Dr. Govind Sriramineni.
Mario Ruberte, MD, is a board-certified Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine physician with Health First Medical Group. He is also associate professor at the University of Central Florida School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine. He is a graduate of Catholic University of Puerto Rico, the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara Medical School and the Fifth Pathway Program at New York Medical College. His residency was spent at Eastern Virginia Medical School and he spent one year as a hospitalist at Sentara Health Systems in Virginia Beach.
Chris Cobbold, MD, is a board-certified Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine physician with Health First Medical Group. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His residency was completed in Internal Medicine at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio.
Govind Sriramineni, MD is a board-certified Internal Medicine physician with Health First Medical Group. He came to Brevard from Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, New Jersey, where he performed his residency in Internal Medicine. Before coming to the United States and gaining his citizenship, he worked in India as a primary care physician. He also attended medical school in India at Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College.
"Adding these experienced physicians to our team will increase our ability to treat and manage the unique symptoms of our Hospice patients in their own homes, where they are most comfortable," said Steve Bice, executive director of Hospice of Health First. "At Hospice of Health First, we believe our patients and their families deserve the most quality and compassionate care we can provide," Bice added.
For 35 years, Hospice of Health First has been there for families as Brevard County's leading provider of hospice care. We focus on improving the quality of life for families dealing with a loved one's end-of-life illness. Each patient and his or her caregivers receive specialized and individualized care meeting their unique physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Focused on caring, instead of curing, Hospice care neither hastens nor prolongs the dying process, but does provide help and comfort in coping with a life-limiting illness. The professional staff of Hospice of Health First provides skilled nursing care and support services to meet the daily needs of the patient and family 24 hours/seven days a week. For more information, please call 321-952-0494 or visit www.health-first.org/hospice.
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About Health First
Health First is Central Florida's only fully integrated health system. With a Mission to positively change the health and wellness of the communities we serve, Health First offers multiple commercial and Medicare health plan products, the latest technological advances and quality care through our four hospitals and numerous Outpatient & Wellness Services, including four fitness centers to help members of our community stay healthy. We offer Brevard's only Trauma and Heart Centers, and the Health First Medical Group is the largest multi-specialty physician group in Brevard County with 246 employed physicians.