The Continuing Decline Of Western Civilization ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lollerskates UPDATE: Forget that RSS crap, I've just been told that if you txt to googl (the representative numbers, not the letters) with the name of a place and a reasonably close zip code, Google will reply with the address and phone number. No longer will 411 get my dollar! Holy crap, I think my gmail account has acquired an RSS feed! Add that to the SI World Cup 'widget' on my personalized home page, and I do believe I like this thing. Hell, if they start doing blogs I may have to move over just to keep up the integration. Synergy people. Synergy. Of course, since I have the personalized home page set up with my gmail in a little 'widget', this RSS feed does me no good. Alas. Also, I wanted to send you to my good friend over in Dakkar whose blog pretends that having pictures makes up for the lack of amazing insight that you find in other places. But then I recalled that the damn thing is password protected. Probably something to do with 'security' or something equally yellow (imagine that the preceding word is colored yellow, thus heightening the insult). Also, before I forget, the rumors of Fafblog's demise were a wee bit exaggerated. posted by tcdowc - 11:40 pm - 06.09.06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Their Houses Appeared To Already Be Poxed Is that how poxed is spelled? I've no idea, perhaps there are two exes. There may have been a problem there too. Anyway, I recommend the Operagami skin for Opera, I'm actually quite enjoying it coupled with the Gold color. Also, do check out the Opera 9 beta. I recently saw a thing where someone had done speed tests, and Opera 9 is by far the fastest thing on Windows. In a surprising outcome, while Opera 9 was also the faster browser on Macs (even faster on ICBMs), Safari was incredibly quick rendering CSS. In fact, it was by far the fastest at this task regardless of platform. Sorry, no link, I saw this several days ago and only just recalled it. In fact, I didn't come here to talk about that. I came to talk about medical malpractice. Sebastian Holsclaw over at ObWi has posted a nice article on a new study which, ah, studies medical malpractice litigation to a depth here-to-fore never reached. As always with ObWi, the articles (while informative) are often stepping stones to the discussion, where thing get hashed out. I'm not actually going to quote, because it's impossible to render something meaningful in a couple of sentences from something that dense. Couple of observations though. Tort-reform that caps damages is pointless, and only hurts those already injured. Most cases don't have high-payouts and most have merit. The study used experts from specific fields and had them rate the certainty of error (i.e., doctor/hospital/etc. error leading to damage) on a scale of 1 to 6, and rated cases with a classification below four as being 'meritless', meaning that there was no doctor error apparent; conversly, 4 to 6 means that doctor error was apparent. This classification was based on hospital records. So assuming that those records told a complete and accurate story, 28% of claims that were meritless received compensation, and 27% of claims with merit did not receive compensation. Both are disturbing, but the unpaid claims are more disturbing, because most claims brought were judged to indeed have merit. Meritless claims that were paid accounted for 10% of total claims, while claims with merit that went unpaid accounted for 16% of the total. The study also delves into the little reseached area of how much the lawyers cost per case. And what this shows is that these fees are not insubstantial. In fact, it is relatively clear that the most directed and effective measure that could be taken in reducing the cost of these types of litigation to our (severely broken) medical system would be aimed at shortening the length of these court cases. With an average length of five years, the legal costs are contributing significantly to the overall costs. Another solution would be to train more doctors and nurses, the levels of which have been kept artificially level by the schools, while the population increases. I have other thoughts, but my hands have become weary. You may ask me questions if you like. add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 10:41 pm - 06.09.06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nicking from others who are benefiting off of others hard work So I'm stealing from B3ta, but at least I said so, which is better than the paper which nicks their photochops fairly often. The newsletter is great this week and I just wanted to share the following: That's enough for now. add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 10:02 pm - 06.02.06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe in Chinese manufacturing I'm very proud of the fact that I have no comments here. I think that this makes tcdowc seem very elite. I should probably password protect the comments, run up the numbers myself, not give out the password to anyone, then reference witty things written in the comments without actually copying them out. But I'm lazy, so I won't. I need to know where the old Chinese ladies that sell umbrellas come from. They aren't anywhere to be seen if it isn't raining yet. Two minutes later in the middle of a downpour, and there's one on each corner and a couple trundling up and down the street capturing the standing under the awning market. I think it's a city service, and that these women rent out small cupboards around the city where they wait for the rain to come. Jennifer says that we should be able to txt a location to 311 to order an old Chinese woman selling cheap umbrellas. One day that girl will be head of the Mayor's Office Of Old Chinese Ladies Who Sell Umbrellas In The Rain But Are Otherwise Invisible. This is probably proof that magic is real. add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 9:13 pm - 06.02.06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Giblets Is Dead, Long Live Giblets Fafblog appears to have passed into the murky waters of electronic neglect. Fafnir and the crew have abandoned their posts without word - a mystery on a par with whatever that first English settlement in Virginia was called. This is especially potent, as no one knows who typed up the entries for Fafnir, Giblets, and The Medium Lobster. This is my excuse for not posting anything. Piss off. And now, to old news. Adrift and supporterless, Tom DeLay's legal defense fund has turned to Stephen Colbert and their sole source of inspiration. Yes, they are that stupid. Krugman's column (I'm sure that's spelled wrong) on Gore's new film. You know, I like the idea of Gore '08. As others have mentioned, he's got the right politics and he's demonstratably electable. Seeing as how he's already won the popular vote once. And McCain is a dirty, dirty whore who killed my dog and raped my cat. The PBS schedule for last Friday, helpfully annotated by the Editors at The Poorman Institute. Submitted as a methadone sort of substitute for Fafblog. You no longer have free speech if you are a public servant. This apparently includes all public servants, so school teachers, be sure not to piss off your boss. Read the whole damn thing, don't be lazy. [As an added LGM bonus: The Patriarchy Is Bad For Everyone. Which I am pissed about, because I really could have used that post on Friday. Fucking slackers. Other methadone sites: Hemlock's Diary, great fun; even better if you know anything about Hong Kong politics. Chase Me Ladies, I'm In The Cavalry, also great fun, probably more fun. Knowledge of British politics and Colombian politics useful, but not required. add to the discussion - 0 entriesposted by tcdowc - 10:41 pm - 05.31.06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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