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Welcome!! My name is Paul Lappen. I am in my early 60s, single, and live in Connecticut USA. This blog will consist of book reviews, written by me, on a wide variety of subjects. I specialize, as much as possible, in small press and self-published books, to give them whatever tiny bit of publicity help that I can. Other than that, I am willing to review nearly any genre, except poetry, romance, elementary-school children's books and (really bloody) horror.

I have another 800 reviews at my archive blog: http://www.deadtreesreviewarchive.blogspot.com (please visit).

I post my reviews to:

booklore.co.uk
midwestbookreview.com
Amazon and B&N (of course)
Librarything.com
Goodreads.com
Books-a-million.com
Reviewcentre.com
Pinterest.com
and on Twitter

I am always looking for more places to post my reviews.

Sunday, October 17, 2021

The Hidden History of American Healthcare

 The Hidden History of American Healthcare, Thom Hartmann, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2021

Why does every major industrialized country, except America, have some sort of national health insurance system? This book attempts to answer that question.

In the early 20th century, around 1915, the Woodrow Wilson Administration attempted to bring national health insurance to America (based on the German model under the Kaiser). It's failure can be blamed on Frederick Hoffmann of the Prudential Insurance Co, of America. He wrote all sorts of articles and pamphlets, emphasizing all the bad parts of the German system, and the British, which had started a few years previously. National health insurance would supposedly destroy the Daniel Boone spirit of individuality in America (sound familiar?). Today, the insurance industry has plenty of money to spend on Washington lobbyists to make sure that it stays that way.

Everyone has seen, or read, ads for Medicare Advantage health plans. The compete with, but have no connection to, traditional Medicare. Such plans get a lump-sum reimbursement each year from the government, so it is in their interest to make their patients look as sick as possible. Patients get a yearly visit from a nurse. A slight anomaly in a patient's heart rhythm, which doesn't affect the patient at all, is listed as Heart Attack (more money). An emotional problem that lasts more than 2 weeks becomes Major Depressive Episode (more money). This goes along with the usual denial of coverage the first time around. A number of sources report the government overpayments to these plans is in the billions of dollars each year. Also, switching from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare is impossible; you are locked in.

This is a short book, but it is a huge eye-opener. It is highly recommended for all Americans, and gets more than 5 stars. 

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Blueprint of Core Calmfidence

 Blueprint of Core Calmfidence, Nell Puetter, Independently Published, 2021

This book asserts that it is very possible to access the powers and abilities of your subconscious mind. Maybe winning the Nobel Peace Prize is not an option, but it will certainly help you to live your best life.

There are other parts of your brain that also have to be in synch with each other. They are your Heart-Brain and your Gut-Brain (home of your "sixth sense" or your "gut instinct"). There is another part of each person that also needs to be pointed in the right direction.

Everyone has that negative voice inside them. Perhaps it is an Inner Critic that says "You'll never succeed." Maybe it is an Inner Procrastinator that says "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow." Believe it or not, that voice is there to keep you "safe." If you suffered a trauma, or other bad experience, in the past, that voice is there to keep it from happening again. The author explores what to do to get that voice, and all other parts of you, in alignment and moving together.

It has been said that humans use only a small portion of their brain's capacity. Perhaps accessing our subconscious will considerably raise that number. This is a fascinating book that is very easy to understand. It is very much worth reading.