Well, I was going to put this up two weeks ago when I first read the book, but hey better late than never right? Also you will note that I have not let the Internet dampen my slacker spirit.
So, anyway. About two weeks ago, I read Atul Gawande's Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, which from the title sounds like a sequel to Complications but, really, is so much more. For starters, it's much more globally encompassing.
And it presents certain issues from the doctors' side.
Seriously, I did not realize how badly screwed doctors were by insurance. I mean, yeah, I've never been a fan of the more outrageous malpractice suits (emotional damages? really?), but at the least I thought that the outrageous rates insurance companies take mean that doctors get paid, every time. Now...the classification system of conditions means that insurance companies can pull all sorts of tricks to pay less, or avoid paying entirely. Which, shockingly enough, makes doctors reluctant to do everything they can--and this doesn't even address how bad Medicare is.
So, yeah. The healthcare system needs an overhaul. It's ridiculous how bogged down this is getting when we could, at the very least, make sure insurance companies aren't owning everyone's asses.
Democrats: drop the public option for now. Republicans: get used to it, big government is as "in" as "going green" these days.
9.30.2009
9.18.2009
Informant!
So..."The Informant!" is as amusing as I'd expected. Not, like, a laugh-a-second funny (which I'm totally hoping "Holmes" will be, and thank god they're not keeping true to the original personality but letting Downey (Jr.? Do I have to add that?) take liberties), but, like, this is amusing oh holy SHIT did he really just do/say that.
And yet it still manages to be a tiny bit horrifying. I knew food in America was fucked up...I just didn't realize how much of it had to do with the other end--not the factory farmer end, but the o hai processing end. Also, mental disorders totally suck hard! And they can suck hard on a federal level!
But anyway yeah entertainment, go see it if you want the amusement (although it does drag a little at points...not shocking considering the plot) and the sheer astonishment of seeing Matt Damon not being intensely fit. (Maybe I just tend to only watch one category of movies normally.) Definitely worth the matinee ticket...full price? Possibly without a student discount, I can't decide. How much do full tickets cost, anyway?
So. People talk about corporate culture and how bad it is, but it's amazing how little it's changed since the events of this movie (14 years ago...holy shit I am old; it takes place in the early to mid-'90s). I mean, scandals keep coming up, but how much can the government do about it, especially with opposition from the people who want a limited government? It really does make me think that I was right to consider that the future of the world, the balance of power, will be defined not by politics but by economies. (Yes, I actually got published on this one, so I'm allowed to quote myself. Maybe I will follow this up with a complete nervous breakdown when my genius remains unappreciated.)
Unless we all learn to really, really appreciate small business, and small businesses learn not to raise their prices just because they have the word 'organic' stuck on front of them, nothing's going to change. The President can demand transparency, but that makes it even easier to hide the really dirty secrets--just give people a little bit to feed on and they won't even look up.
And yet it still manages to be a tiny bit horrifying. I knew food in America was fucked up...I just didn't realize how much of it had to do with the other end--not the factory farmer end, but the o hai processing end. Also, mental disorders totally suck hard! And they can suck hard on a federal level!
But anyway yeah entertainment, go see it if you want the amusement (although it does drag a little at points...not shocking considering the plot) and the sheer astonishment of seeing Matt Damon not being intensely fit. (Maybe I just tend to only watch one category of movies normally.) Definitely worth the matinee ticket...full price? Possibly without a student discount, I can't decide. How much do full tickets cost, anyway?
So. People talk about corporate culture and how bad it is, but it's amazing how little it's changed since the events of this movie (14 years ago...holy shit I am old; it takes place in the early to mid-'90s). I mean, scandals keep coming up, but how much can the government do about it, especially with opposition from the people who want a limited government? It really does make me think that I was right to consider that the future of the world, the balance of power, will be defined not by politics but by economies. (Yes, I actually got published on this one, so I'm allowed to quote myself. Maybe I will follow this up with a complete nervous breakdown when my genius remains unappreciated.)
Unless we all learn to really, really appreciate small business, and small businesses learn not to raise their prices just because they have the word 'organic' stuck on front of them, nothing's going to change. The President can demand transparency, but that makes it even easier to hide the really dirty secrets--just give people a little bit to feed on and they won't even look up.
9.17.2009
Indignity
So dinner conversation with a friend.... America is really, really big on personal freedoms. Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and the correlated right to say what you want without fear of persecution. The thing is, though, that other countries don't really have this. Which is what leads to organizations like Amnesty International, and if you don't know it then they organize massive letter-writing campaigns to officials in countries where activists are being held prisoner and, yes, do have a record of successes.
But anyway. Anyone from here would be totally horrified to go to a place like, say, Iran and try and understand how they deal with what's going on. (Read "Persepolis" and "Persepolis 2" if you want to see what the worst of it is like.) The thing is, though, that other countries simply don't see these things the way we do.
And vice versa.
For instance, a public holiday in Greece equals strike. You can't use the transportation; and even in supposedly enlightened countries like France, you have to be ready for the possibility of a random strike. Which does not happen here. The trains run on time in America, and they're run by happy free-to-speak-but-maybe-not-to-go-see-a-doctor conductors.
I guess it's just a matter of what you're used to. America was founded on the principles of life, liberty, and being a whiny bitch. European citizens, with barely any peace until recent times and autocratic rulers, have different expectations--namely, a guarantee of personal safety with the expectation that change happens through riot; and the Third World, which had to deal with the horror of colonization, is oddly content with whatever it can get. The day they realize that they can ask for any freedom they want and Team America will do its very best to invade and screw around until they've got a perversion of it....
But it's hard to imagine it any other way. I like being able to say and read whatever I want.
But anyway. Anyone from here would be totally horrified to go to a place like, say, Iran and try and understand how they deal with what's going on. (Read "Persepolis" and "Persepolis 2" if you want to see what the worst of it is like.) The thing is, though, that other countries simply don't see these things the way we do.
And vice versa.
For instance, a public holiday in Greece equals strike. You can't use the transportation; and even in supposedly enlightened countries like France, you have to be ready for the possibility of a random strike. Which does not happen here. The trains run on time in America, and they're run by happy free-to-speak-but-maybe-not-to-go-see-a-doctor conductors.
I guess it's just a matter of what you're used to. America was founded on the principles of life, liberty, and being a whiny bitch. European citizens, with barely any peace until recent times and autocratic rulers, have different expectations--namely, a guarantee of personal safety with the expectation that change happens through riot; and the Third World, which had to deal with the horror of colonization, is oddly content with whatever it can get. The day they realize that they can ask for any freedom they want and Team America will do its very best to invade and screw around until they've got a perversion of it....
But it's hard to imagine it any other way. I like being able to say and read whatever I want.
9.14.2009
In Touch
I think it's safe to say that we've reached the apex of computer-based communications. The netbook is everywhere, reasonable countries and cities (cough, cough) are providing free wi-fi, social networking sites have never been in greater demand, even the blogosphere isn't as dead as we thought it was....
And now this revolution is moving over to phones. Which is cool, because now all this stuff is mobile. You don't just have to be talking to your friends about that movie you just watched, you can also be looking up the stats on the actors, watching the original clips that inspired the movie while...I don't know, all sorts of things. (I mean, I just got the most limited text messaging plan available. Seriously, not into Web 3.0.)
Well, it's cool because you're always connected, but there's gotta be a tradeoff somewhere.
I think this comes in the form of the personal connection.
Instead of talking to your friends, you can now just tell them to read a blog! (Maybe I have done this. Maybe.) I mean, sure, there are certain points you don't want to repeat again and again, but what happened to telling people what they would actually want to hear? And what about secrets...I mean, people post a ton of dumb shit on Facebook. You'd think reading fmylife would teach them to, well, keep private stuff private...but no. It's easier to post something on Facebook and lock it down than it is to track down your friends at acceptable, non-awkward times of day.
Which is ridiculous.
I'm not just saying this because I'm a) pointlessly old-fashioned (ha, ha) and b) horribly lazy (well, maybe a little...). A lot of communication still comes from visual cues: eyes, facial tics, positioning. If you don't learn how to read people, then how are you going to manage the real world? I can just imagine the president in 200 years: completely monotone, no gestures, but totally text-convertable. "Oh, oops. That missile crisis happened because I did not realise you were being sarcastic. I grew up on the Internet. Sarcasm DOES NOT WORK there."
:/
And now this revolution is moving over to phones. Which is cool, because now all this stuff is mobile. You don't just have to be talking to your friends about that movie you just watched, you can also be looking up the stats on the actors, watching the original clips that inspired the movie while...I don't know, all sorts of things. (I mean, I just got the most limited text messaging plan available. Seriously, not into Web 3.0.)
Well, it's cool because you're always connected, but there's gotta be a tradeoff somewhere.
I think this comes in the form of the personal connection.
Instead of talking to your friends, you can now just tell them to read a blog! (Maybe I have done this. Maybe.) I mean, sure, there are certain points you don't want to repeat again and again, but what happened to telling people what they would actually want to hear? And what about secrets...I mean, people post a ton of dumb shit on Facebook. You'd think reading fmylife would teach them to, well, keep private stuff private...but no. It's easier to post something on Facebook and lock it down than it is to track down your friends at acceptable, non-awkward times of day.
Which is ridiculous.
I'm not just saying this because I'm a) pointlessly old-fashioned (ha, ha) and b) horribly lazy (well, maybe a little...). A lot of communication still comes from visual cues: eyes, facial tics, positioning. If you don't learn how to read people, then how are you going to manage the real world? I can just imagine the president in 200 years: completely monotone, no gestures, but totally text-convertable. "Oh, oops. That missile crisis happened because I did not realise you were being sarcastic. I grew up on the Internet. Sarcasm DOES NOT WORK there."
:/
9.10.2009
Prima Donnas at Home
So...Oprah is evidently filming the first week of her new season here in Chicago. The kickoff party yesterday blocked off part of Michigan Avenue...which, especially considering what the pattern is already like in the city, must have been a complete fucking nightmare for anyone who had to go through that. On the other hand, this is the same person who thought that poor people would benefit from shiny new cars and who built a $40 million school only for a small number of females in the middle of Africa. If you can show me that these are more practical and honest acts of altruism than gimmicky, feel-good things for Oprah herself, I'll change my mind. (At the same time, has she ever put herself forth as the new Mother Teresa? I mean, it's her money, she can spend it how she wants.)
Anyway. Real issue at hand: the city totally allowed this. And they'll allow it for anyone who wants to film here, or any star who's returning here--basically, Chicago is on this huge publicity...beast that means that the people who actually live here, who haven't spent most of their lives out on tour or in Hollywood. I wonder if other cities that are this large do this kind of thing? On the other hand, it's the closest Chicago's come to cleaning up its act....
In other news, health care reform won't kill you/the President hasn't forgotten his campaign promises. I like the referral to something intelligent done by Bush's team--strong play for bipartisanship, especially considering the most popular rumor about our finally ex-president.
Anyway. Real issue at hand: the city totally allowed this. And they'll allow it for anyone who wants to film here, or any star who's returning here--basically, Chicago is on this huge publicity...beast that means that the people who actually live here, who haven't spent most of their lives out on tour or in Hollywood. I wonder if other cities that are this large do this kind of thing? On the other hand, it's the closest Chicago's come to cleaning up its act....
In other news, health care reform won't kill you/the President hasn't forgotten his campaign promises. I like the referral to something intelligent done by Bush's team--strong play for bipartisanship, especially considering the most popular rumor about our finally ex-president.
9.01.2009
Epiphany
Directly relates to earlier post.
It's because everyone gets it out on the Internet!
This is not a good thing.
Things are extreme out here on the world wide interwebs. People are a lot meaner, but in response the other people are excessively nice. So, imagine EmoBoy13. Bitching about his parents on LiveJournal. Someone comes along and completely disses on him, even if his complaint is more legitimate than 'my parents don't want me to get a lip piercing.' Twenty other EmoBoys come along and attack the dude who was attacking EmoBoy13 in the first place.
Where, in any of this nonsense, is there a place for rationality?
In reality, a friend of EmoBoy13, who probably knows him as Jake or whatever his name really is, would point out the good along with the bad (well, one could hope). And there wouldn't be a giant pile of 'tards hanging out just waiting to jump on one bandwagon or another! Because that is not...exactly...how reality works.
Let's face it, people love following. But people love apathy even more.
Bring back apathy on the Internet! Feelings are for reality (in limited doses).
It's because everyone gets it out on the Internet!
This is not a good thing.
Things are extreme out here on the world wide interwebs. People are a lot meaner, but in response the other people are excessively nice. So, imagine EmoBoy13. Bitching about his parents on LiveJournal. Someone comes along and completely disses on him, even if his complaint is more legitimate than 'my parents don't want me to get a lip piercing.' Twenty other EmoBoys come along and attack the dude who was attacking EmoBoy13 in the first place.
Where, in any of this nonsense, is there a place for rationality?
In reality, a friend of EmoBoy13, who probably knows him as Jake or whatever his name really is, would point out the good along with the bad (well, one could hope). And there wouldn't be a giant pile of 'tards hanging out just waiting to jump on one bandwagon or another! Because that is not...exactly...how reality works.
Let's face it, people love following. But people love apathy even more.
Bring back apathy on the Internet! Feelings are for reality (in limited doses).
Get Over It.
And by 'it' I mean 'yourself,' of course.
They just don't say this enough in modern America. I mean, everyone is so obsessed with making sure everyone's happy....
School districts end up dropping money on bullshit award ceremonies. Who the fuck celebrates graduating third grade? Districts that are already god knows how much in debt, that's who. It's like giving out a gold star every time someone doesn't shit themselves. Wow! You did the minimum expected requirement! And then--what's really funny to me--is that they can't figure out why we're so far behind other countries in terms of education. Gee, maybe it's because no one else feels the need to pander to feeeeeelings.
People are fat, and we're not allowed to point it out. I mean, there is a certain standard of social decency to be expected, but when someone is eating their way into diabetes and a heart attack before the age of 30, you aren't supposed to tell them to be happy with their body! Granted, anorexia is not really an acceptable alternative, but if people were more used to hearing criticism, then maybe they'd be better at taking it. (Also, exercise seriously ftw.)
I don't know, this mollycoddling is getting out of control. Especially in schools.
Oh, I'm sorry, did this make you feel sad?
On "Dexter" (the HBO show): only in America could a serial killer find it a problem to not have feelings. (First season's good, check it out.)
They just don't say this enough in modern America. I mean, everyone is so obsessed with making sure everyone's happy....
School districts end up dropping money on bullshit award ceremonies. Who the fuck celebrates graduating third grade? Districts that are already god knows how much in debt, that's who. It's like giving out a gold star every time someone doesn't shit themselves. Wow! You did the minimum expected requirement! And then--what's really funny to me--is that they can't figure out why we're so far behind other countries in terms of education. Gee, maybe it's because no one else feels the need to pander to feeeeeelings.
People are fat, and we're not allowed to point it out. I mean, there is a certain standard of social decency to be expected, but when someone is eating their way into diabetes and a heart attack before the age of 30, you aren't supposed to tell them to be happy with their body! Granted, anorexia is not really an acceptable alternative, but if people were more used to hearing criticism, then maybe they'd be better at taking it. (Also, exercise seriously ftw.)
I don't know, this mollycoddling is getting out of control. Especially in schools.
Oh, I'm sorry, did this make you feel sad?
On "Dexter" (the HBO show): only in America could a serial killer find it a problem to not have feelings. (First season's good, check it out.)
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