ONLY POTPOURRI

(A) Our world is paved with good intensions; but pavements do develop potholes. My came last night when I intended to go to the Council’s 3^rd Ward Town Hall Meeting. Regrettably for unknown reasons I did not finish dinner until 7pm. Despite the fact that the 3^rd Ward has always been one of the better wards for this type of a meeting I did not feel in the mood to rush to Cedar Brook School.

So, I too will depend on Bernice’s and Dan’s blogs today for a report. I am sure that there were questions about the Hospital site; about JFK’s intentions and why the City has not collected taxes. I am also sure that there were no answers.

(B) Among life’s mysteries is what little information about local events I can find at the City site. There is a large budget item for IT in the 2013 proposed Budget; but in 2012 I had trouble finding stuff at the Plainfield site. This has continued for the first 5 months of 2013.

The NAACP Candidates’ Forum time and location was almost a well kept secret. I have heard rumors of a “Community Forum” at Washington School this week, at which time Sharpton will appear; but on my Internet there was no mention except for Bernice’s blog the other day. Who is sponsoring it? What is the subject matter?  How can I decide if I would like to attend?  Should not all this be on the City site and easily obtainable?

(C) I have continuously harped on the dangers of relying on electronic record keeping and mandated electronic communications. My focus has been on their use in the health care field, yet the dangers are paramount in every aspect of daily life.

Once again the Chinese have been accused of “hacking in” on secret information. In the field of Health Care the bean counters have decided that everything must be done or recorded electronically. Doctor’s have to transmit prescription electronically to the pharmacy or be subject t to financial penalties. Personal Privacy a Constitutional right is disregarded.

One example was in an article in WSJ the other day. I have excerpted two paragraphs:

“In the old days, sales representatives from drug companies would chat up local pharmacists to learn what drugs doctors were prescribing. Now such shoulder-rubbing is becoming a quaint memory — thanks to vast databases of patient and doctor information being used by pharmaceutical companies to market drugs.

The information allows drug makers to know which drugs a doctor is prescribing and how that compares to a colleague across town. They know whether patients are filling their prescriptions — and refilling them on time. They know details of patients’ medical conditions and lab tests, and sometimes even their age, income and ethnic backgrounds.”

Supposedly the individual’s identity is not available, but if some of the above information is on record so is all and nothing is safe.

Oh for the days when the druggist had to fill a doctor’s illegible written prescription. Nobody could get someone else's personal info from  that document.