Local time where you're at. ("Where you're at"?)

Item:&#160 Last week, our beloved (?) county hospital, a ragtag Mickey-Mouse outfit known as Parkland Memorial, charged a young lady nursing a broken leg $162 dollars for an emergency room visit.

What did that $162 get her?&#160 About five minutes’ worth of triage.

Oh, and about 19 hours of waiting in emergency room chairs.

Amber Joy Milbrodt limped into Parkland Memorial Hospital’s emergency department at 10 on a Wednesday night, complaining of a fractured bone in her right leg.

She checked in and sat down, wincing with pain as she propped her leg on a chair. She spent all night and the next day in that position, waiting to see a doctor. Finally, she gave up and hobbled out in disgust.

Two weeks after her Sept. 24 visit, she received a bill from Parkland for $162.

“It should have been more like them paying me for having to sit in the emergency room for 19 hours,” she says. “That’s just sad. It’s not proper. It’s almost not moral, what I went through.”

Gee, I wish I could charge that much for some of the PC triage I&#160 do.

Now, Denizens, this came on the heels of another patient waiting another 19 hours for treatment.&#160 Unfortunately, his&#160 condition was a little more serious:

A few days before Ms. Milbrodt’s visit, a 58-year-old man who checked in for stomach pains waited 19 hours and then suffered cardiac arrest. Former restaurateur Mike Herrera died Sept. 20 as his family members looked on.

Who says we don’t have socialized medicine?

Item:&#160 Yesterday, the greedy-assed kind folks at Parkland changed their minds about dunning the poor girl.

“I wanted to make you aware that today, Parkland’s senior leadership eliminated the charge assessed to patients who are triaged in the Emergency Department and leave without being seen by a physician,” said the letter from a Parkland vice president. “Patients will now be charged a fee only after they receive treatment.”

Mighty fucking white&#160 of ’em, huh?

Now, it’s by sheer force of coincidence that bonds for a new Parkland Hospital are going up for a vote in November.

Heh.&#160 Or is it?

The letter also said Ms. Milbrodt’s debt had been canceled, adding, “We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.”

Had they said that to me, I’d have sued, anyway.&#160 And so should Ms. Milbrodt.

Perhaps then they’d realize the folly of apologizing for the inconveninence&#160 rather than FOR THE FUCKIN’ IGNORANT ACT THAT CAUSED THE INCONVENIENCE IN THE FIRST FUCKIN’ PLACE!!!!!!!

Asshats.&#160

Malkin is reporting that the NY Slimes&#160 is standing on the precipice of junk-bond territory:

Moody’s Investors Service said on Thursday it may cut its ratings on New York Times Co into junk territory, citing concerns about continuing revenue declines and risks associated with refinancing its debt.

Moody’s said it may cut the New York Times from “Baa3,” the lowest investment grade. Downgrades into junk territory can significantly increase a company’s borrowing costs.

To borrow a phrase from the Rev’r’nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd Jackass-i-miah Wrong – looks like Pinch’s chickens have come home to roost.

Poor Pinch.

Pooooooooooooooooooor Pinch.&#160