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In the wake of the news about Children's Hospital Oakland's fiscal problems , this video from their YouTube channel explains their "same-day surgery and diagnostic imaging" done at their Children's Specialty Center Outpatient Surgery Center in Walnut Creek. As the video explains, the facility is for "healthy kids" who need ear tubes and plastic surgery (no, not like Nip / Tuck). As reported last week Children's Hospital is undergoing what could be called a fiscal makeover. In an email Children's Hospital CEO Bertram Lubin said: We hope to restructure our medical center so that our losses this year are $15 million less that last year (which was $25 million) and that we can make a financial turnaround in three years. Children's Hospital's problems grew from California and America's high unemployment rate, rising medical costs and less than adequate Medi-Cal reimbursement levels. Children's Hospital has lost $80 millio

Have you ever wondered in frustration why someone you respect or admire decided to “stay” with a spouse or partner who has committed repeated acts of betrayal? Or do you tend to always end up dating people who come from alcoholic or dysfunctional families? Or maybe you know someone whose job consumes all of their time and energy, leaving essentially no time for self-care or meaningful relationships. This article aims to explain why some of us struggle to separate from unhealthy people or work settings that consume our energy at the expense of our own mental and physical well-being. Codependency became a widely used term in the 1970’s to describe family dynamics when one person is an alcoholic. Since then, mental health professionals have come to describe codependency as a learned behavior that often originates during childhood in dysfunctional families. Common causes of family dysfunction are chronic parental conflict or divorce, alcoholism or addiction of any kind, physical, emotional

The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, the new version of the classic American muscle car from GM and Chevy, gets George Barris makeover for a Saturday event. On April 10th, Community Chevrolet , located at 200 West Olive Avenue in Burbank, California has the first, the # 1 Barris Kustom 2010 Chevrolet Camaro "Spirit" car, and it's hot. If you're wondering who George Barris is, you haven't lived. Barris created many of the legendary television cars like the 1966 Batman TV Batmobile, The Munster Koach from The Musters , the Beverly Hillbillie truck, and Knightrider KITT car, to name some of Barris creations. But this Barris Kustom "Sprit" Camaro is not for TV, it's for real (Barris likes to use the word "Custom" with a "K" so it's "Kustom"). Barris said: Today so many kustom vehicles have entirely too much work done on them. I believe we have succeeded in developing a kustom vehicle with just the right amount of kustom

Related searches: neo-nazi, san francisco nazi, marina district, sf marina district, chestnut and pierce, sf nazi party Why does it seem like there's a rise in the number of white people who claim to be Nazi, or more accurately Neo-Nazi and young people regardless of color who don't know how awful Nazi symbols are or why? The most famous example of the latter was the Taylor Swift Swastika photo scandal where Taylor Swift's representative claimed Taylor Swift did not know that A.J. English's t-shirt (English is the man who took the photo with Swift) had a Swastika symbol on it, and English himself said that people at the party just painted it that way! Then there was the more recent photo of Jesse James wearing a Nazi Waffen SS hat, and giving the "Heil Hitler" salute. And of course, there was his alleged first mistress Michelle "Bombshell" McGee, who posed in a Nazi bikini and worked as a model for the "Angry White Boy" clothing

Related searches: Bus Rapid Transit, City of Oakland, City of San Leandro, AC Transit, BRT, Oakland transit, City of Berkeley transit Bus Rapid Transit in St. Louis AC Transit needs our help. Yes, this blogger has been critical of the AC Transit Bus Fight, but maintaining service for those who can't afford private transit is critical. For those of you who have followed the issue, AC Transit has been working with San Leandro, Oakland and Berkeley in developing a rapid bus system that will significantly improve transit operations from Berkeley to San Leandro. The new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is particularly important to the Oakland area as it is one of the densest urban population centers in the country and most definitely the densest along the proposed dedicated lane for rapid bus service. That is why the upcoming planning and approval meeting on April 19 is so important to the future of transportation in San Leandro, Oakland and Berkeley.  BRT is an idea who's t

If you’ve ever felt annoyed, amused, baffled, or disturbed by the various ways people use social networking sites such as Facebook, this article is for you. “Can you believe she posted that status update/picture?” “Why would he write that on my wall, where everyone can see it?” “Why do people do that on Facebook, with no concern for how awkward or irritating it is for other people to see?” “I can’t take it anymore. I’m unfriending this person!” These are actual statements I’ve heard from people, in frustration towards others’ differences in personal boundaries on social networking sites such as Facebook. Quite often we see stark contrasts in the social judgment of our friends, family members, co-workers and acquaintances as they reveal themselves in various ways on Facebook. If we look closely, we can begin to understand these differences in social judgment (as well as our responses to them) as a reflection of our psychological functioning. The following list serves to capture

Related searches: Easter Sunday, Children's Hospital, Oakland news, City of Oakland, easter egg archive, Bert Lupin, Happy Easter Sunday! There will be happier blog posts to report, but the matter of the fiscal problems of Children's Hospital in Oakland (or "Children’s Hospital Oakland") are as important as an easter egg archive, how to tie a tie, Rachel Ray's Deviled Eggs Recipe, or the iPad 3g. Children’s Hospital Oakland is Northern California’s only independent non-profit regional medical center for children, a national leader in many pediatric specialties, and an Oakland treasure. "Children's" is also a designated Level 1 pediatric trauma center with the largest pediatric critical care unit in Northern California. Children's Hospital, suffering from California's terrible economy, a poor national economy, low government and private reimbursement rates, increasing healthcare costs and what it says is a "lack of public hospi

Libby Schaaf Libby Schaaf really is running for Mayor of Oakland, this time in 2014.   Oakland has a new candidate for Mayor of Oakland: Libby Schaaf. Last night, at a well-attended kickoff party for what was to be Libby Schaaf's run for Oakland City Council District 4 seat currently held by Councilmember Jean Quan, Libby Schaaf shocked and surprised almost everyone in the room save her campaign assistants, when she announced that she was running for Mayor of Oakland. Libby stood on a make-shift pedestal and said "I really gave this a lot of thought as I'm concerned about the state of education in Oakland, and I consulted with my wonderful husband; I'm running for Mayor of Oakland." Oakland Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5 - Fruitvale), for whom Libby gives credit for her political growth, reacted with his mouth agape, then spontaneous applause. Asked for a reaction after her speech, De La Fuente said "I'm speechless. That

With all the celebrities that have admitted themselves into ‘sex rehab’ centers recently, you might be curious about what goes on there. How does sex rehab work? Is it effective, or is this just an excuse to ask others for forgiveness? You might even scoff at the idea that someone needs to enter a sex rehab center. Perhaps you believe all they really need to do is come clean and stop cheating on their significant other, or choose to live a single life so as to not hurt others with lies and increased exposure to sexually transmitted diseases. This article serves to explain what sexual rehabilitation or ‘sex rehab’ is, and how a person with a sexual addiction might benefit from this form of treatment. Treatment for sexual addiction tends to focus on two main areas: 1) Separating the addict from opportunities to continue harmful sexual patterns of behavior, much in the same way drug addicts need to be separated from their drug-filled lifestyle. This is why inpatient or residential treatme

After years of fighting off rumors about his sexuality, Latin singer Ricky Martin has finally just posted the following message on his official Web site, coming out and telling the world he is gay. “Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment. These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed … I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am,” he wrote. Coming out as gay, lesbian bisexual or transgendered is a process that for many, is experienced in stages of change. While there are different models and theories about coming out, the six-step process (The Model of Homosexuality Identity Formation) was created by psychological theorist Vivienne Cass in 1979 and is still an accepted model for understanding the experience. While many will not experience these steps in a linear course

According to a source Monday evening, Major League Baseball (MLB) is set to report that their MLB Baseball Stadium Commission formed to evaluate the Oakland A's stadium situation is going to recommend to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig that the Oakland A's move to San Jose. The news came too late in the night Monday to check with appropriate key players for their reaction, but it's far to say one person who will not be pleased is Oakland City Attorney John Russo, who has openly said he's considering a lawsuit against both the Athletics and the City of San Jose. The reasons why MLB would pick San Jose over Oakland will be listed in the report set to be released within three days (unless MLB elects to delay the release of the report after this blog post). But the array of information required and the template that information fits in is not complex or vast. One can guess that San Jose has a more complete stadium development plan. But if Major League Baseball even uses

What’s a 'cognitive distortion' and why do so many people have them? Cognitive distortions are ways that our thought patterns can convince us that something is true or false. These are typically thoughts that occur automatically, and are usually used to reinforce negative thinking or emotions. Our automatic thoughts can feel rational and accurate, and most of all, they can feel factual. But with examination, we can often find evidence that our thoughts are NOT factual, but based on a set of negative thought patterns that have developed based on our feelings, rather than factual evidence. Cognitive distortions are at the core of what many cognitive-behavioral and other kinds of therapists try and help a person learn to change in psychotherapy. By learning to correctly identify distorted thoughts, a person can then respond to the disorted thoughts by balancing them with thoughts that are more balanced, and based on fact/reality rather than negative feelings. By refuting negati

The City of Oakland, California's post-World War II history has been one of deep racial diversity and integration. Racist actions were few and far between but that's changing and it's happened in fits and starts over the last six years. This blogger has been in Oakland since 1974. Never in less than a year (pay attention to that) have there been incidents like racist statements against Martin Luther King Day written on the bathroom walls of an establishment like Cafe Van Kleef in downtown Oakland, or even worse, a Swastika painted on the same Greek Orthodox Cathedral that serves as the home of the annual Greek Festival, an event I love to attend, or Yoshi's in Oakland making a jazz compilation of performers at the club without a single black jazz performer in it . Something's going on. I personally think Oakland has been invaded by the "New Oaklander": the person who's only lived in Oakland as much as 10 years, from 2000 to 2010 at best, an