How is obama a socialist? Please enlighten those of us who've apparently been living under a rock for the past 3 years.

I think he would support the chewing of cocoa leaves or the eating of poppy seeds, and disagree with the separation and distillation of the active components of marijuana to later be injected or snorted.

21 years old? I could see a high schooler doing something stupid like this, but at 21 y/o you've hit a developmental road block.

Mark Daniel Meade, I seriously hope you don't think that you're going somewhere in life. Might as well throw in the towel, because you're in for a rough future! Or are you counting on that lotto win? All I ask is that when you start that meth lab do it away from Boulder County. Deal?

Not a bad study. I would also say that the treadmill likely obscured the results, if it is a traditional model, due to the significant "bounce" on impact. Running barefoot on a treadmill is much easier than barefoot on the creek path, and requires less bracing for impact and mechanical alteration, which the researches cleverly suggest might account for the extra energy expenditure.

sigh... People seem to be more concerned with the witch hunt and blame game than seeking real justice. If he was purposefully attempting to hit the attendant, then vehicular assault is the just course. As quaternion writes, it is the civilized thing to stop for a pedestrian (under all circumstances, I think). I still don't think we should go around making it into something it wasn't to fulfill our own emotional senses of justice. I guess i'm the crazy one here....

Wow what a reaction to your comment! (mine too, soon). It seems like it was someone who just didn't want to pay and once they made up their mind to go through they didn't want to stop for anything, including someone's safety. When I read the headline I thought that the primary intent of the driver was to hurt the attendant, not to get free parking and risk the parking attendants safety. Not that it much matters as the result is the same either way, and intent apparently doesn't matter anyway.

Can't we agree that they shouldn't have beaten it to death with a broom stick in plain sight, but that it isn't that much of a travesty? It is a bird. Its not a human. It does not have human moral standing. If you disagree here, we have bigger issues. No one is actually FOR animal cruelty, but just slap a fine on these kids and leave it alone. It was wrong, they'll learn, the news attention and fine will make people think twice about doing it in the future. The first time I shot a bird with a pellet gun and I watched it die I felt sick to my stomach. I felt so ashamed and terrible and I'll never do it again. It doesn't sound like these kids felt the exact same as me, but I'm trying to say I doubt they'll go out and throw a grenade under foothills and the creek path after this.

Awesome that you have extensive experience here because maybe I can get an answer to a question I've had for awhile. In the ER, is it true that they blanket charge visit rates (from everyone i've talked to its around $1200-1500 for just the visit) to make up for the large amount of people who cannot pay their bills? I've paid $1500 both times i've been in, including the $250 charge from the Boulder ER Physicians group whatever that is.

I had also thought that hospitals charge the same to everyone with the reimbursement varying.

I don't know how much I agree here. I think this is overly simplistic. First, you think that a large corporation (or industry for that matter) is less corrupt than government? I'd say they're equal. Also, there is a blurred line between large corporations and government these days, confusing matters worse. In healthcare, insurance companies pit their profits against your health, and guess who wins? This has lead to practices like denying claims and refusing to accept people who aren't healthy, basically allowing insurance companies to take peoples money without ever paying it back out! Hospitals and physicians have to hire entire departments just to barter with insurance companies for services already rendered and still lose ~15% (as opposed to 30-40%). Guess what is changing these practices *gasp* - the federal government.

Totally. I paid $1400 for one IV bag and one antiemetic pill for a case of food poisoning and they streeted me 45 mins after admission (3am, only patient there), still vomiting and losing fluid. I had an expired insurance card with me, conveniently the new one was in the mail! After negotiations with the new insurance company they found some way to not pay their share of my bill. Sigh. Insurance companies, Foothills hospital, and half fast subs won that one at my expense.