I seem to be most alert in the wee hours of the morning...either that or I'm less distracted now than at other times. Just a few quick updates: I picked a room for next year; it's a hundred square foot single on the third floor. Decent enough; it'll hold me and my things, which is the important thing. A few friends are moving in next year, so it'll be a fun time. Scheduling for the fall semester is over until I find out whether or not I got into the Sparta course. The Red Sox lost again...swept by the Devil Rays. My fantasy baseball team is collapsing into a smoking pile of rubble, and due to some restrictions on which players can and can't be dropped from the team I'm forced to hold on to some unwanted luggage.
Apparently Mars (the candy maker, not the planet) is about to close a deal to buy Wrigley. Is it just me, or are giant mergers becoming the next big thing? Delta merges/takes over United; Northwest and Continental try to make a deal but fail. Are we nearing a consolidated market, where a few giants (fewer than right now, at least) control each sector? I wonder. There's a possibility that mergers could stimulate the economy (don't ask me to explain, economics to me is a vague concept in the back of my mind).
Colby hosted a debate on health care tonight, between Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute (obviously unbiased) and Hugh Waters from John Hopkins. To sum up: Cannon supported competition between public insurance companies to improve care and lower prices; Waters had a scheme called, cleverly enough, Medicare Part E (the E stands for Everyone). Brilliant. The only problem is that Waters lauded Medicare as a bastion of efficiency, and when asked questions equivocated and didn't answer. Cannon had some problems of his own, mostly with the presentation of his argument. Another problem with Waters was his insistence on linking a lower life expectancy in the US than in Japan with worse health care. Um...no. Sorry.
Anyhow, I should probably get to sleep and get the five hours of sleep I still have left. I'll leave you with the thought of a beautiful spring day in Maine, which is exactly what we had for the past week, and exactly what we will not have for the next couple days, as the rain moves in. Taking advantage of the wonderful weather last Friday I went down to the bottom of the quad with a few friends and played cricket. It's a fantastic thing to do on a warm and sunny afternoon.
I'm going to try to share some music.
And:
1 comment:
The health situation in Japan after World War II was extremely poor. However, in less than 35 years the country's life expectancy was the highest in the world. Japan's continuing health gains are linked to policies established at the end of World War II by the Allied occupation force that established a democratic government. The Confucian principles that existed in Japan long before the occupation but were preempted during the war years were reestablished after the war, facilitating subsequent health improvements. Japan's good health status today is not primarily the result of individual health behaviors or the country's health care system; rather, it is the result of the continuing economic equality that is the legacy of dismantling the prewar hierarchy.
Interplay of politics and law to promote health: improving economic equality and health: the case of postwar Japan.
Bezruchka S, Namekata T, Sistrom MG.
Am J Public Health. 2008 Apr;98(4):589-94.
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