machine501

This is unbelievable.  I just got a UPS package from Babies R’ Us because we’re about to have a baby (like, today or tomorrow!)  We didn’t know what was in it because we’ve been getting gifts from our friends and family from our registry.

The box is maybe 2 feet by 3 feet by 6 inches.

Then I open it up and see that it’s mostly that air packaging stuff.

And here’s the one, and only, item that was in it!  A tiny baby blanket!!!!

WTF is the huge box and all the padding for?  In case the blanket, uh … breaks?  Does it expand if you add water?  Did something fall out along the way?  This is an incredible waste of resources.  I’ve contacted Toys R Us corporate to let them know.

I was reading an article in this week’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association that looked into the perceived quality of care of patients in medicare and per-capita spending. Basically they wanted to see if people in regions with lower spending were more or less satisfied than Medicare beneficiaries in regions with higher spending. To put it into perspective, per-capita medicare expenditures in Miami, Florida was nearly $12,000 compared to $5,700 in Minneapolis.

The result was that there’s not a significant difference in an individual’s satisfaction with their medical care. The “oh, snap. no you did’n” moment came when I read the last paragraph in the study:

This study suggests that, should fundamental changes in the structure of the US health care system occur so that the lowest expenditure quintile is viewed as the benchmark, the fraction of patients who view their care as inadequate or constrained will not, in the long term, increase above current levels. Instead, we suspect that the limiting factor in restraining cost growth or in fundamental reform will be the extent to which the medical community will be able to adjust to new standards for what constitutes appropriate medical practice.

(my emphasis) So, doctors, stop performing expensive, sometimes unnecessary procedures.

What drives costs up? A commentary in the same issue points out that direct-to-consumer advertising, and procedure specialties in particular regions that increases the likelyhood of having that procedure performed on you than if you lived somewhere where procedure was not in vogue.

WASHINGTON - A nationwide left turn ban was drafted by an overwhelming majority of 51 to 49 in the Republican controlled senate this evening. It is now at the President’s desk where he is expected to sign it into law.

Like the nationwide law mandating that all French fries be renamed Freedom fries, and the steroids in baseball investigation that took place during President Bush’s terms in office, “this new law was enacted to keep Americans on the right path”, said President Stephen Baldwin. President Baldwin, brother of noted actor Alec Baldwin, rose to power after co-starring in Celebrity Apprentice and successfully running The Breaktrough Ministry and other projects aimed at evangelizing young people using skateboarding, extreme sports, Christian rock concerts, laser light shows, and other activities.

“Left turns invariable take the country, and your car, in the wrong direction,” said minister of Transportation Dan Rodriguez. “This law will save us billions of dollars; it saves UPS millions so why shouldn’t we try the same thing?” he added.

California, with its high number of motorists, is likely to be severely affected by the law. Vice president Schwarzenegger, former governor of that state, dismissed the problem saying: “Left turns are for the wimps. Besides, I’d take a hot latina over a left turn any time”.

Religious groups welcomed the law. A spoke-person for Focus on the Family said: “Now we will have moral certitude about our commute. No more flip-flopping on which way to go: It’s three right turns and you’re in the right direction.” He stated the law would benefit more than just drivers, saying that this law will help stem the “the penetration of homosexuality into the brains of our nation’s youth.” Adding, “now our nation’s kids know that there is only one way, the Right way.”

John Do-over, frequent contributor to Reason Magazine, a libertarian publication, opposed the ban and decried the current endorsement by the federal government about which way one is allowed to turn their car. “In nature, there are no left or right turns,” he said. When asked how libertarians would deal with turns at traffic intersections he said the solution would be a set of symbols denoting which way man, in His natural state, would turn. To maintain impartiality and a level playing field, the system “would be enhanced with automated, cold fusion-powered mechanisms deployed on heavily traffic intersection that allowed some people to turn safe across on-coming traffic.” He said this was not at all like the current left turn signal because, in his proposal, libertarians had come up with it and not you.