Jason's Notes About Stuff

What are the facts? Total health care spending per person / year: USA: $ 6,717 USD (46% government = $3,089 ) Canada: $3,678 USD (70% government = $2,574 ) Fact: Americans pay almost twice as much per capita for health care even though 1/6 of their population lacks coverage . Fact: The US government already subsidizes health care, and already spends more per person than Canada. Fact: Of the 27 richest nations on the planet, the US is the only country without universal health coverage. Fact: 16% of the US population (45 million people and growing) have no health insurance at all and are basically screwed if they incur a critical injury or sickness they can't sue for. What's up for debate? The overall quality of health care in the two countries has been widely debated, but the overall consensus -- of all scientific studies based on measurable data and facts -- is that the quality is roughly comparable. I've written an article over at Google Knol exploring some of t...

I've recently been looking for an apartment to rent this summer, and have been amazed to find how useless the local newspapers have become! In the days of old, classified ads were the only place you'd ever look if you were renting an apartment. This also used to be a major revenue source for papers. I remember back when the Internet was all shiny and new. Smart people said that newspapers would either have to embrace it or be made obsolete. Well, it took over a decade, but it looks like the matter has been decided. Some papers have been able to transition to the online world, but a lot haven't. Their classifieds business has been taken over by sites like Craigslist and Kijiji. There are probably blogs out there getting better advertising revenue than the average local newspaper. (I have no stats to back that up, but I'd still bet on it) Newspapers will probably be around for as long as the Baby Boomers are, but I can't see Gen-X and younger having much need for ...