Not much comment here, but Slate has a good article explaining how it is that Germany manages to provide university education free of charge, which spending, in per-capita government outlays, no more than the U.S. (OK, I can’t source the latter statement — it was in an Economist quite a while back.) The bottom line: no frills. I mean, really no frills. But I’d still love it if one of my kids wants to go this route! Read more
Here’s a nice interactive table on causes of death – specify the age range and sex, and see the sorted data. Commentary later . . . UPDATE: As a follow-up on my “breast cancer awareness” rant from this morning, here’s a summary of the top causes for individuals under age 75 (because, as you know from Zeke Emmanuel, 75s and up are just useless eaters anyway; and you’ve got to die of something, so “75 and under” seems like a... Read more
Every October, I get annoyed at all the breast cancer-awareness promotions and the constant fundraising. Maybe it’s just because I’m flat-chested, but I don’t identify at all with these commercials that tell us that women have a special connetion to their breasts. Sorry. And I don’t go through life worrying about getting breast cancer. Instead, I’m frustrated that all the “awareness” means that people overestimate their risk of dying of breast cancer vs. other causes — and that, as a... Read more
In the sentence, “I picked out a new color of paint for the wall,” what part of speech is the word “out”? Read more
but I wish there were. Simultaneously I’m irritated by the massive increase in the employee share of the healthcare premiums at work (68% for us, 95% for one of my colleagues), and trying to push back on a medical charge from this summer. The premium increases are particularly irritating because the company likes to promote itself as an expert in advising its clients on how to reduce their healthcare expenses. But apparently (I can say this because this is an... Read more
In most of the world, students start learning English early. In Germany, English class starts in the late elementary years, not as a “special” or an enrichment class once a week, but as a standard part of the curriculum, which means that by the time they graduate high school, their English is quite good, if they’re in the gymnasium, or at least passable, for other levels. Are Americans deficient because we don’t study a foreign language until high school? (In... Read more
OK, that makes for a pretty short post. But once I tell you what I’m talking about, you will want to know more — and it’ll make for a nice little topic for small talk at your next cocktail party. Child support, in German, is “Kindesunterhalt.” And if I tell you that “Eltern” in German means “parents,” you’ll be able to draw the conclusion that Elternunterhalt means “parent support,” and you’ll be correct. (All of the following actually comes from... Read more
Finally saw this on DVD over the weekend, and I’m not going to give you a movie review here (standard Marvel fare). But here’s a minor, fun element to it: due to a product-placement deal with General Motors, the movie existed in an alternate reality in which, not only did a international spy organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. exist, and a Nazi rogue group called HYDRA, but the American car industry never lost market share to imports. Bow ties everywhere! (Except for... Read more
Boy, this is a downer of a book — because the subtitle isn’t really accurate. Howard tells us what’s wrong, in depressing detail, but doesn’t really have believable solutions. Oh, sure, he tells us what should be done to fix things, but doesn’t inspire confidence that those fixes will happen — because too many people benefit from the status quo. Here’s his basic argument: America is broken, because we have moved from legislating and regulating based on general principles to... Read more
This comes out of recent personal experience as a employee, or rather, as the spouse of an employee with employer-sponsored healthcare, as well as regular training sessions at work. Open enrollment is coming around, and initial announcements are beginning — no actual pricetags, yet, but the statement that our company has had higher-than-average claims for the last several years, and that, once again, it’s going to lead to a change in the cost-sharing. That is, rather than continuing to pay,... Read more
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