hallettj

Also the Social Security Administration, despite being a huge operation, runs with less than 1% overhead. And they get those checks out month after month. Medicare’s overhead is under 2%, compared to an average of 12% for private insurance, and polls seem to show people are more satisfied with Medicare than with private insurance.

I know the complaint that government is ineffective and inefficient is a classic - but it makes me wonder what programs that refers to? Maybe something in the Defense Department?

A big part of the problem is that we don’t measure externalities well. Like teachers and artists produce way more value than they’re paid for. Instead we only reward value that can be directly measured by your boss, and that value is compensated at as low a level as the boss can get away with.

My god - the villainy!

I’ve heard something about juggling exercising brain hemisphere connection. Maybe try spending a bit of time regularly juggling, or doing something else that requires bilateral coordination. I mean, besides typing

Hospitals are required to provide emergency treatment - what we call ED or ER visits - regardless of ability to pay. Patients are expected to pay for that treatment. It’s just that the hospital isn’t supposed to deny treatment based on whether they think patients will or won’t pay the bill. This is getting-stabilized treatment.

This is an important point in arguing for universal healthcare: if people can’t afford treatment, they’re more likely to go to the ED where they won’t be turned away. ED visits tend to cost more than non-emergency, so that drives costs up.

Our decisions are heavily influenced by emotion. We have the sense of empathy, which is an adaptation that makes communal living work. Empathy motivates us to do things for other people sometimes. You can say, “you do helpful things to satisfy your own emotional needs.” But that’s pretty much saying, “you do helpful things because you want to.” I think self-interest is a big factor in how we act, but I don’t think it’s the only factor.

Oh good!

Bloom County! I loved reading the anthologies. Did they ever find Cutter John? Or is he a fallen hero in the fight against apartheid?

Seeds have been planted. Even if a lot of them don’t grow, some will

Oh… oh dear!

Linux on ARM is getting better all the time!

I sometimes tell my kids about things I was taught, and survival habits I picked up in the “dad qualification program”. I based the idea of the program on a brief description of air force officer survival training in the book The Hatchet, and a generous dose of imagination. The kids have never questioned it.

Good point! We should only use date formats that are allowed by both standards! https://ijmacd.github.io/rfc3339-iso8601/

Don’t say “acronym” when you mean “abbreviation”!

“Acronym” specifically refers to an initialism that forms a new word. For example,

• scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus)
• NASA (pronounced like a word - you don’t say “ehn eh ess eh”).

It’s acro- (height) -nym (word) - a word that exists on top of / above other words.

In contrast “NIH” is not an acronym because it isn’t pronounced or read as a word. It’s appropriate to say, “‘NIH’ is an abbreviation” or “‘NIH’ is an initialism”. But saying “‘NIH’ is an acronym” is wrong!

Yes, I meant miles, but I forgot about the abbreviation collision

I raised my kids using metric temperature for weather. Now that they’re older they hold me to it!

1 cm is about the width of the tip of your pinky finger.

1 m is about the distance from your nose to your fingertips if you hold your arm out, and extend your fingers.

100 m is the length of the straight section of an athletic track, which is about the same length as a football field.

1 mL is about the volume of the tip of your pinky finger.

1 L is about 1 quart, which is half a carton of milk (unless you get milk in the smaller 1 quart size).

The mile-to-km conversion is pretty close to 1½.

The kg-to-pound conversion is two-and-a-bit.

A difference of 1°C is close to a difference of 2°F.

Edit: My milk comparison was wrong - I’ve corrected it.

Edit: Of course by “m” I meant “mile”

This advice is also golden!

Here’s a thread with basically the same question that has references to some specific laws: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/1cbyw91/can_my_employer_mandate_where_i_shop_as_a/

That thread is in reference to Ohio. Replies call out Ohio labor provisions, and laws regarding rebate.

Here’s someone on Bluesky who does regular “three wins today” posts. But those are mixed with less positive news. https://bsky.app/profile/ariellaelm.bsky.social