One of the common criticisms levelled against a national health care system is increased taxes. Let’s look at the public cost of national health care in a few of the nations with better overall service than the US.
The Canadian government pays 69.9% of the $2,222 per capita cost of health care. That’s $1553.18 per capita [...]

continue reading.....

A recent article in Discover magazine prompted me to check out some statistics on the World Health Organization website. I was very surprised to find out how easy it was to demonstrate that the US health system is sorely inefficient when compared to that of other first world nations.
The 13 nations in the following table [...]

continue reading.....

The Forge is discussion forum for, and a source of much insightful theory on roleplaying games. You know, four of five people sit around a table with pencils and dice and pretend to be warriors and wizards (at least that’s the stereotype). These days, games inspired by the Forge have widened the concept [...]

continue reading.....

Robert Sawyer’s article on research (http://www.sfwriter.com/ow03.htm ) may hale from the early ages of the web, but the advice is good. I discovered that my library card gives me access, through the Seattle Public Library website, to magazine databases, I might otherwise have to pay for. Also, Science News is now a weekly free webzine [...]

continue reading.....

Recently, France has undergone an increase of riots and car-burnings. Impoverished immigrants, many from the former French colonies of North Africa, now find themselves discriminated against in hiring practices and ghetto-ized. I have to admire the democratic spirit of the French people–their government has (so far) gone easy on this unrest.
Imagine [...]

continue reading.....

Over the weekend, Anne and I visited my parents in Canada. Several years ago, we made the trip by car–it took 12 hours. Since then, we fly. Theoretically, flying is faster and more convenient. Flying from Seattle WA to Vernon BC takes about 1 hour. Yet, with wait time in [...]

continue reading.....