Monthly Archives: August 2008

Featured Link – Rushmore Drive.com

Written On August 30, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Is Google too White? That’s the question posed by new search engine RushmoreDrive.
The developers of this site say that Google is unconsciously biased in
favor of sites sought out by Whites, and not those searched for by
Blacks. So at RushmoreDrive, the search results tend more toward
"Black" sites. This proposition seems a bit dubious to me, but [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Featured Link

Friday Fun

Written On August 29, 2008 By Bob Kraft

From the Disaboom Web site comes a list (with photos and captions) of the world’s 50 funniest road signs. Warning: some are PG-13 rated.

Posted in Friday Fun

Muscular Dystrophy And Social Security Disability

Written On August 28, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Muscular Dystrophy (MD) is one area of a broader group of diseases known as Neuromuscular Diseases. Neuromuscular Diseases include not only the group of Muscular Dystrophies, but also  Motor Neuron Diseases, Metabolic Diseases of Muscle, Diseases of the Peripheral Nerves, Inflammatory Myopathies, Diseases of the Neuromuscular Junction, Myopathies due to Endocrine Abnormalities, and a few [...]

Posted in Disability, Social Security Disability

Featured Link – BuzGate.org

Written On August 28, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The oddly-named BuzGate.org is a Web site that provides information and links to free resources for small businesses. There is some good information here, but you do have to wade through a lot of buzz-word-filled vebiage to get to it. For instance, here is the beginning of the Welcome page:

  Buzgate.org™
is a leading branded business-to-business [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link

Texas Still Leads In Percentage Of Residents With No Health Insurance

Written On August 27, 2008 By Bob Kraft

A U.S. Census Bureau report this week confirmed that Texas still has the highest percentage of residents without
health insurance. Almost one of every four
Texas residents – 24.8 percent – were uninsured in 2006 and 2007, based
on an average of the rates for those two years. That’s up from 23.9
percent for 2004 and 2005.
California still [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

Financial Conflict For Texas Doctors?

Written On August 27, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The Dallas Morning News recently published a troubling story about Texas foster children whose doctors have financial ties to drug manufacturers. The doctors prescribe drugs made by these companies. Here are the opening paragraphs of the story:

One in three
Texas foster children has been diagnosed with mental illness and
prescribed mind-altering drugs, including some that the federal
government [...]

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Prescription Drug Claims

Information Service For Your Cell Phone – ChaCha.com

Written On August 26, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The information service at ChaCha is pretty well-established now, and the business has an interesting structure to it. ChaCha employs thousands of "guides" who answer questions sent in from cell phones. The guides are paid $.20 per answer, and frequently use Google or Wikipedia to find the answers they text back to the users. The [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Consumer Information

Don’t Use Cell Phones In School Zones

Written On August 25, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Across the country, kids are returning to school today. In the Dallas area, several cities now have laws that prohibit the use of handheld cell phones in school zones, so parents and other drivers need to be alert. Here is a list of Dallas-area towns and cities with this law: Dallas, Duncanville, Flower Mound, Highland [...]

Posted in Vehicle Law or News

Restaurant Employees Lose Health Insurance, Even For Past Bills

Written On August 25, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I’ve been a little behind on blog posts while spending time trying to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, so this story is a little old, but still compelling. The Dallas Morning News wrote recently about employees of Bennigan’s Restaurants, approximately 8000 of who were laid off when the parent company filed for bankruptcy.
Usually, [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

Friday Fun

Written On August 22, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a mindless little game that I just don’t have the coordination to do well. It’s called Ball.

Posted in Friday Fun

Handguns And Kids – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Written On August 21, 2008 By Bob Kraft

That’s the question asked in a Dallas Morning News editorial today, regarding the recent decision by the Harrold school district to allow teachers to carry guns in school. This is a typically Texas issue. I doubt there are too many other states where such a matter would even be considered, much less approved. I think [...]

Posted in Political and/or Judicial

Please Help The Muscular Dystrophy Association

Written On August 19, 2008 By Bob Kraft

This is my second request for donations to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but time is running short, and I’m still not at my goal. I’m going to be locked away in "jail" if some of you don’t help bail me out. Here’s what I said earlier in the month:
I’m proud to tell you that I’m [...]

Posted in Medical and Health Resources

Basic Information For Handicapped Drivers In Texas

Written On August 18, 2008 By Bob Kraft

If you live in Texas and have a disability that requires better parking locations wherever handicapped spots are available, there are designated license plates that enable you to park as close to your destination as possible. Since these parking spaces are in close proximity to facility entrances, it reduces the distance that you must travel [...]

Posted in Disability, Vehicle Law or News

MDA Supports First U.S. Trial Of Lithium In ALS

Written On August 16, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The Muscular Dystrophy Association announced some potentially good news recently regarding an experiment to see if lithium carbonate might slow the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here is the press release from MDA:
An MDA-supported trial of lithium carbonate in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) is now open at 10 medical centers across [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Disability, Social Security Disability

Friday Fun

Written On August 15, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Courtesy of my friend Tom Mighell, another great time-waster, called Ramps. I finished the game, but the last few levels aren’t easy.

Posted in Friday Fun

Mr. Cornyn, Listen To The Uninsured

Written On August 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

That is the title of a commentary in the Houston Chronicle this week about the health insurance crisis in Texas. Senator Cornyn seems to be focusing on the wrong part of the health care crisis, and is missing the big picture.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn told the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club this week
that Texas is a [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Political and/or Judicial, Tort Reform

Parents, Consider The Dangers Of Cheerleading

Written On August 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

A story in the Dallas Morning News about the dangers of high school cheerleading certainly surprised me, and I imagine that many other parents will be equally surprised and dismayed. The article shows that cheerleading accounted for two-thirds of sports-related deaths or serious injuries
to high school girls over the past 25 years, according to a [...]

Posted in Safety Tips

Two Great Legal Marketing & Management Groups

Written On August 13, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I have the good fortune to be attending two excellent legal marketing and management conferences in September. I’ll be making a short presentation at one and a longer one at the other. I highly recommend both these conferences to any lawyers, especially personal injury and Social Security disability lawyers, interested in improving their marketing and [...]

Posted in Practice Tips

Friday Fun

Written On August 8, 2008 By Bob Kraft

There are plenty of online personality tests but this one is more interesting than most. All you do is view some photographs and choose the ones that best signify such things as "art" or  "freedom." The results are not terribly significant, but the photo decision process is thought-provoking.

Posted in Friday Fun

Please Help Bail Me Out Of Jail!

Written On August 6, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I’m proud to tell you that I’m being locked up…that’s right, I’m going behind bars to help Jerry’s Kids and MDA. To be released on good behavior I have to raise bail and I need your help!
All you have to do is click here to make a secure, online donation before 08/28/08. Your donation will [...]

Posted in Medical and Health Resources, Miscellaneous