If Texas can...

How to drive down health care costs, the Texas way (courtesy NY Times):
Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some long-underserved rural areas.

The influx, raising the state’s abysmally low ranking in physicians per capita, has flooded the medical board’s offices in Austin with applications for licenses, close to 2,500 at last count.

Now, have the applications for the bar decreased? :-)

Why does this drive down costs? 1. Supply and Demand: More doctors = More supply, demand is somewhat inelastic (doesn't increase too much as a result of cost) 2. Lower costs (malpractice insurance) for doctors passed on to customers via market competition.

Now how do we get more doctors in total? How do we increase supply? Maybe if there is less money to be made in the lawsuit industry there are some smart people that will want to be doctors....

Now, if we combine this with lower drug costs via negotiation and a reduction in prescriptions- maybe there is enough money to start extending health care to more people across the world.

WHY WHY WHY...

did this just become my favorite song?

"It's a Rave Dave" by Trash Fashion
I prefer the JE 2 Grade 8 Remix, but this will do...



(Almost hesitating to use the music tag here...)

I'll follow you

...into the dark. Happy to be alive. Sad life is short. Is death the best part of life? Is it what gives it the urgency an endless life would lack?

Race is Racist : Everything is Miscellaneous

Listened to David Weinberger's talk @Google. (see below)

It really connects with some thoughts I've been having about how the whole concept of race is racist. There are no biological meanings to it, it's just a human way of trying to bring groups of people together against others. Tribal status is dependent on identifying tribes is how Ray Immelman would describe it.

Weinberger relates a fascinating anecdote of a South African whose "Race" changed 4 times over his life, as the laws of apartheid labeling black and white changed, forcing him to end his marriage as it violated the law when his race changed.

How can Asian be a race? It seems incredibly racist to label Asians as one race in the US. Are people from Lebanon, China, and India related somehow? It's a useless label.

What about the "mixed race" people? What bubble do they fill in? The whole thing makes me sick.

Don't believe it...

"Don't believe it, 'cause it's never happy hour again".

I think I have enjoyed about 10% of happy hours. I don't even think an hour is enough time for me to get happy. Maybe the problem is that an hour isn't enough time for me to get drunk and not sick.

We must remain silent = STFU?

LOLCATS + Tractatus Logico Philosophicus = Ridiculous

How old am I?

Wishing for autumn to begin makes me feel old. When you're young, you just want summer to last forever. You want to savor the last burning days of August, the last days of freedom. Question marks and blanks of our own design.

Still, the damp that follows the rains that are breaking our drought makes me wistful for a slight chill, a noisy windbreaker shielding me from the world.

It's a Belle and Sebastien day in my head. Must often feel like I am dreaming of in Scotland. But then it gets too cold, we get buried in down, we want the burn again. The simple rhythmic cycle.

I can't believe this is happening...

They can't get a court order? That's total BS. This could lead to serious abuse of power.

Looking for the golden mean

Aristotle [butchered and summarized]:
For any X where doing X is good, doing too much of X is bad, and doing too little of X is bad too. Aim for the golden mean.

Thanks alot 'stot. This is basically an empty statement, the hard bits come in determining what is too much and what is not enough.

I think I'll have another drink anyway.

Good stuff on Stuff

Sometimes I feel like I have too much stuff, but I am generally bad, okay, seriously bad, at getting rid of things. I am particularly attached to my collection of spare computer and electronics cables. Paul Graham has no sympathy for me.

http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html