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Wednesday, November 20, 2002 |
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News -- "Banryu" home security robot to hit the Japanese market next year. Why does it look like a Transformer?: http://www.banryu.jp/p2.html Comment - The text on this Website is Japanese, but watch the slide show and you'll get the general idea. It seems hilarious that the robot looks like something out of an Anime cartoon. But the idea is that it is a "guard dragon" (instead of a guard dog, get it?) This English language press release has more details (http://makeashorterlink.com/?V24851282 News - Astronomers believe two black holes in a distant galaxy will collide and merge (thanks to Jane and Rick for tipping me off about this story): http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/20/science/20ASTR.html Comment - But it won't happen for several million years. What's cool is how astronomers are finding something new and bizarre about the Universe almost every week. Dr. Horace Smith of the MSU Astronomy Department told our astronomy club that the Hubble Space Telescope has made more significant discoveries than all the other telescopes in history put together. Just imagine what the new space telescope will do when it flies in 2010 or so? News -- The National Academy of Sciences said today that the United States health care system was in crisis: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/20/health/20HEAL.html Comment - Can't disagree with that. Just look at how insurance premiums have skyrocketed for small business owners and their employees. The answer, I think, is figuring out a way to change the system so there are incentives for health care providers - everyone from doctors and hospitals to insurance companies - to compete for our business. Make them work hard to offer the best service at the best price. And break the stranglehold that monopoly health insurance providers have in this state, so that the best doctors and dentists are properly rewarded for their efforts. We as health care consumers have to be able to take more responsibility for making our own health care decisions. One way to do that may be by permitting people to set aside a pool of money for everyday expenses like doctor's visits and prescriptions. If you take care of yourself (and are lucky), and you shop around for the best doctor and prescription rates, you won't spend a lot out of your pool of money and you'll have some left over at the end of the year that you can spend on a vacation to Hawaii. You'd back-up this pool of cash with "catastrophic" insurance that would cover your care if you fall and break a leg and need to spend two weeks in the hospital. The whole idea is to put competition to work. Ideally, health care would be like the computer business: cheaper and faster every year. Click here to see current comments and add your own. 10:33:19 AM 
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