Richly in the category of ‘unintended consequences’, intriguing considerations are surfacing in China because no siblings exist with which to allocate eldercare responsibilities on account of China’s national ‘one-child’ policy.  Now, driven by a government growing more and more concerned about the costs of care, legislation is being proposed mandating family members must visit their aging parents at some yet-to-be defined frequency as well as accept financial responsibility for related medical and nursing expenses.  Author Laurie Orlov wonders in her article… "does Skype count?” as a qualified visit to the parents?

Article:

http://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/aging-place-technology-watch-february-2011-newsletter

CareFlash, Community when it matters most"

I was surprised to learn that more and more people are compensating relatives to serve as caregivers to their elders.  According to this piece, over 43 million Americans looked after an older friend or relative in 2009, a much larger percentage than just a few years previous.  And many more than you would think quit their jobs or reduced working hours to provide such care. 

This WSJ article by  Anne Tergesen raises some excellent considerations surrounding family politics, accessing Medicaid, federal and state tax obligations and others well worth knowing about.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703963704576005892803914056.html 

A great article that discusses the question… as to whether gastric bypass surgery should be viewed as a shortcut to treat obesity?

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/02/gastric-bypass-short-cut-treat-obesity.html

Children living on farms being seen to have a lower risk of asthma than children who don't because they are surrounded by a greater variety of germs. 

Check out this interesting video.  

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704520504576162660949338624.html?mod=djemHL_t

Amazing seeing this video and especially understanding that her on-air lapse into incomprehensible dialogue was little more than a migraine.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110218/ts_yblog_thecutline/tv-reporter-serene-branson-on-her-migraine-induced-grammy-incident

Beyond meeting a bunch of enterprising and inspired entrepreneuers all with a passion for new media and loads of real-world credibility, I had the opportunity to hear their professor, Dr. Ranjit Nair speak about some considerations of left-right brain management styles as they relate to entrpreneurship.  One student in particular, Beverly Baker has gone so far as to develop her own Digital MBA Blog.  It's worth a look.  http://beverlybakermedia.blogspot.com/2011/02/case-study-in-leveraging-social-media.html