Wheels on the Bus go round and round

The post about Blair and the Labor party will have to wait. I have too many random thoughts revolving in my head.

I’ve noticed a trend in the expansion of knowledge in the world that I’m sure is readily apparent: the increasing specialization of information. Whereas in generations past, scientists and scholars were “inventing the wheel” by simply proving things like atoms exist; now they are getting deeper and deeper into their chosen field of study. What sparked this not so insightful observation? Well, yesterday I read about a recently released study conducted by a University of Maryland economist on health care consolidation.

Just as with most big businesses, the trend in the health care industry is to “get bigger” – small organizations link with others until you have a health care conglomerate (like Emory HealthCare in Atlanta). The study sought to investigate the effect of consolidation on patients. Does consolidation help or hurt care? What effect is there on costs?

Not surprisingly, the results show that consolidation increases patient costs and reduces the quality of care. This should not be any surprise. The US has a long history of breaking up monopolies because they inhibit competition and negatively affect the consumer base.

What is my point? Simply, I live in the UK with a National Health Service that everyone uniformly complains about as being too cumbersome, unwieldy, and in some cases, dangerous to patients. The UK is a curious place. Out of the fountain of good intentions, they create policies that would never have a chance of passing in the US. NHS is one of those policies. I don’t know if the Maryland study will have an affect on policy in the US, but it does demonstrate quite clearly that competition is good in the health care sector. I have actively avoided hospitals and GPs over here (not that I’ve needed any medical attention) and will continue to do so…

…In other news, most Americans probably don’t understand just how much trouble the Prince is in for dressing up like a Nazi the other night. Then again, most Brits don’t seem to really understand how significant the event was either. Let me explain, Prince Harry is 20, he gets into frequent troubles, and he has a penchant to apparently not give a shit. This time, however, he made a huge mistake. Dressing up as one of Rummel’s finest is a bad idea for the general public, but it’s a huge mistake for the person 3rd in line for the English throne. The result? A typed apology by his PR man faxed to the media. That doesn’t cut it. Of course, the British public appears very forgiving and are willing to overlook it as a “youthful” prank as evidenced by the roughly 60% of the public who think his faxed apology was enough.

To me, the Prince needs a spanking. Ok, not really, but he needs to understand that there are things you just don't joke about if you're a public figure. What he must do, in my opinion, is give a PUBLIC apology. None of this faxing BS. Of course, as my neighbor said (who is British), they probably faxed a statement because he was out getting pissed and wouldn't be presentable on TV...

...This weekend features several Class A NFL Playoff matchups. I'm primarily interested in the Colts-Patriots game. I'm rooting for the Colts for a couple reasons:

- Pats fans have become annoyingly arrogant over the last few years and they need to be humbled;
- I'm tired of hearing how Pats Head Coach Bill Belichick is a "genious", even if he doesn't subscribe to the label;
- I abhor Corey Dillon and wish him no further success;
- The Pats intentionally left the field uncovered during an ice storm on Wednesday because they know it will slow down Indy's receivers - something that I think it pretty much cheating;
- The Patriots are boring to watch and the Colts are damn exciting; and lastly,
- I think that after the World Series, that the entirety of New England is dangerously close to turning into the next New York Sports Fan something that leads to an unprecedented level of arrogance that must be smacked down with the utmost contempt. New England was much more fun when they didn't have this much success.

At any rate, here are my picks:

Sure Things:
Eagles over Vikings
Steelers over Jets

Close Win:
Colts over Patriots

Toss Up:
Rams over Falcons