This Tapout T-Shirt at Hot Topic is one more sign that MMA has gone mainstream:
Get the ultimate gear for your no rules extreme fightin’ fix. This black T-shirt features a white front screen of the Tapout logo with a grey caged design. White eagle logo on back shoulder. In ya face! 100% cotton. Wash cold. Dry low. Imported.
Wait, Hot Topic isn’t mainstream!, you might exclaim. Well, Hot Topic is not punk rock either.
Milton Friedman wrote How to Cure Health Care in 2001:
Two simple observations are key to explaining both the high level of spending on medical care and the dissatisfaction with that spending. The first is that most payments to physicians or hospitals or other caregivers for medical care are made not by the patient but by a third party — an insurance company or employer or governmental body. The second is that nobody spends somebody else’s money as wisely or as frugally as he spends his own. These statements apply equally to other OECD countries. They do not by themselves explain why the United States spends so much more than other countries.No third party is involved when we shop at a supermarket. We pay the supermarket clerk directly: the same for gasoline for our car, clothes for our back, and so on down the line. Why, by contrast, are most medical payments made by third parties? The answer for the United States begins with the fact that medical care expenditures are exempt from the income tax if, and only if, medical care is provided by the employer. If an employee pays directly for medical care, the expenditure comes out of the employee’s after-tax income. If the employer pays for the employee’s medical care, the expenditure is treated as a tax-deductible expense for the employer and is not included as part of the employee’s income subject to income tax. That strong incentive explains why most consumers get their medical care through their employers or their spouses’ or their parents’ employer. In the next place, the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 made the government a third-party payer for persons and medical care covered by those measures.
We have become so accustomed to employer-provided medical care that we regard it as part of the natural order. Yet it is thoroughly illogical. Why single out medical care? Food is more essential to life than medical care. Why not exempt the cost of food from taxes if provided by the employer? Why not return to the much-reviled company store when workers were in effect paid in kind rather than in cash?
The revival of the company store for medicine has less to do with logic than pure chance. It is a wonderful example of how one bad government policy leads to another. During World War II, the government financed much wartime spending by printing money while, at the same time, imposing wage and price controls. The resulting repressed inflation produced shortages of many goods and services, including labor. Firms competing to acquire labor at government-controlled wages started to offer medical care as a fringe benefit. That benefit proved particularly attractive to workers and spread rapidly.
Initially, employers did not report the value of the fringe benefit to the Internal Revenue Service as part of their workers’ wages. It took some time before the IRS realized what was going on. When it did, it issued regulations requiring employers to include the value of medical care as part of reported employees’ wages. By this time, workers had become accustomed to the tax exemption of that particular fringe benefit and made a big fuss. Congress responded by legislating that medical care provided by employers should be tax-exempt.
This tax exemption amounts to a hidden subsidy of $100 billion a year.
Anyway, I recommend reading the whole article.
This story of doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, because it needs to be done won a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished reporting in 1942:
“It” was an acute appendix inside Dean Rector of Chautauqua, Kansas. The stabling pains had become unendurable the day before, which was Rector’s first birthday at sea. He was nineteen years old.The big depth gauge that looks like a factory clock and stands beside the “Christmas tree” of red and green gauges regulating the flooding chambers showed where they were. They were below the surface. And above them were enemy waters crossed and recrossed by whirring propellers of Japanese destroyers and transports.
The nearest naval surgeon competent to operate on the nineteen-year-old seaman was thousands of miles and many days away. There was just one way to prevent the appendix from bursting, and that was for the crew to operate upon their shipmate themselves.
[...]
The chief surgeon was a twenty-three-year-old pharmacist’s mate wearing a blue blouse with white-taped collar and squashy white duck cap. His name was Wheeler B. Lipes. He came from Newcastle near Roanoke, Virginia, and had taken the Navy hospital course in San Diego, thereafter serving three years in the naval hospital at Philadelphia, where his wife lives.Lipes’ specialty as laboratory technician was in operating a machine that registers heartbeats. He was classified as an electrocardiographer. But he had seen Navy doctors take out one or two appendixes and thought he could do it. Under the sea, he was given his first chance to operate.
Legendary lake ‘monster’ is captured on camera in China:
China’s Loch Ness monster has been sighted. Or so Chinese state-run television says. Not just one, but more than a dozen huge creatures can be seen churning across Lake Kanasi in remote western China, leaving a foamy wake more like an enormous motorboat than a big fish.A rare video filmed by a tourist at the lake in the Heavenly Mountains of the wild Xinjiang region, has reignited debate over the existence of an underwater creature that can compete with the Loch Ness monster in both mass and mystery.
The grainy film shows about 15 objects moving at high speed just beneath the surface of the lake and whipping the smooth blue water into a bubbling white frenzy. Chinese Central Television broadcast the video on its news channel, describing the footage shot by a passing tourist on July 5 as the clearest ever seen of a legendary beast that has been rumoured for centuries to live in the depths of Lake Kanasi.
The truth about why we walk on two legs: it saves energy:
Scientists compared the amount of energy expended by humans and chimps when walking on a treadmill and found that a two-legged gait is about 75 per cent less costly compared with walking on all fours.The results provide powerful evidence in support of the idea that the bipedal gait of humans became established because it was more energy efficient and so required less food.
Rival Theories:
Gina Kolata looks at The Bicycling Paradox and how fit doesn’t have to mean thin:
He came to realize, he said, that cycling is a lot more forgiving of body type and age than running. The best cyclists going up hills are those with the best weight-to-strength ratio, which generally means being thin and strong. But heavier cyclists go faster downhill. And being light does not help much on flat roads.James Hagberg, a kinesiology professor at the University of Maryland, explains that the difference between running on a flat road and cycling on a flat road has to do with the movement of the athlete’s center of gravity.
“In running, when you see someone who is obviously overweight, they will be in trouble,” Dr. Hagberg said. “The more you weigh, the more the center of gravity moves and the more energy it costs. But in cycling, there are different aerodynamics — your center of gravity is not moving up and down.”
Water find ‘may end Darfur war’ — or give them something more to fight over:
A huge underground lake has been found in Sudan’s Darfur region, scientists say, which they believe could help end the conflict in the arid region.Some 1,000 wells will be drilled in the region, with the agreement of Sudan’s government, the Boston University researchers say.
[...]
The team used radar data to find the ancient lake, which was 30,750 km2 — the size of Lake Erie in the US — the 10th largest lake in the world.A similar discovery was made in Sudan’s neighbour Egypt, where wells have been used to irrigate 150,000 acres of farmland, the researchers say.
Today’s dose of cute comes from Tika the baby elephant:
Animal keeper Filipe von Gilsa, left, refreshes a baby elephant named Tika at the zoo in Wuppertal, Germany, Monday, July 16, 2007. Tika was born last Friday July 13.
I could not make this up. Rugby player finds rival’s tooth buried in forehead:
An Australian rugby player who went to his doctor with severe headaches was amazed to find he’d been living with an opponent’s tooth embedded in his forehead for months, it was reported Tuesday.Ben Czislowski clashed heads with an opponent during a game in the Queensland Cup competition in early April, slicing open his forehead and leaving his opponent with a broken jaw and several missing teeth.
Czislowski told Brisbane’s Courier Mail newspaper that his wound was stitched up after the match and since then he had suffered shooting headaches, lethargy and an eye infection.
After trying to ignore the symptoms, the 24-year-old went to his doctor when he became concerned the constant pain and listlessness would force him to quit rugby league.
Czislowski said he was shocked when doctors told him the problem stemmed from a tooth that had been buried in his forehead just above his left eye.
I didn’t think I could be convinced that rugby players were any crazier…
Getting a lesson in retail inside world’s busiest Costco looks at one of their Hawaiian stores:
While the average Costco warehouse rings up a staggering $129 million annually, one stands out for its sheer volume of business:The Iwilei (pronounced ee-VEE-lay) Costco — the largest among the company’s three Oahu locations — posted $300 million in sales last year.
[...]
Nearly one in every four island residents — more than 190,000 — joined the club at this store. Tack on the other two locations — Waipio and Hawaii Kai — and half the residents carry a Costco card.Iwilei is so busy, in fact, that it turns its entire inventory every two-and-a-half to three weeks — a logistical wonder considering most everything comes in by water.
Here’s the real Costco secret:
For an annual fee, members buy the right to purchase items in bulk at steep discounts. But beyond the 1-gallon jugs of canola oil and 30-pound bags of rice, at the heart of this model is the treasure hunt — the discovery of that thingamajig that you never knew you needed until just now.Each warehouse carries roughly 4,000 SKUs, or stock keeping units. Each SKU represents an item at the most granular level of style, color and size.
A pair of Burberry Ladies Golf Slacks, size 8 in Surfer Blue, is one SKU. The same pair, in size 10, is another.
Of the 4,000 SKUs at a typical store, 3,000 are staple items that never change, from eggs to bread to milk. The other 1,000 represent the treasure hunt for which Costco has become known.
In fact, some people see Costco as their personal shopper.
The use of LSD in Psychotherapy is about to be studied for the first time in 35 years:
A trial to determine whether patients with anxiety relating to advanced-stage illnesses can be safely given LSD-assisted psychotherapy and whether it improves their anxiety symptoms has been approved by a Swiss ethics committee.The trial will be a randomised, active placebo controlled double-blind dose-response, Phase II pilot study with 12 subjects, conducted in Switzerland by Peter Gasser, psychiatrist, psychotherapist and president of the Swiss Medical Association for Psycholytic Therapy.
U.S. brothers recovering from gory run:
A bull that broke from the pack seriously gored two American brothers, catching one on each of its horns during the running of the bulls festival in Pamplona, where both were recovering Friday in the hospital.Lawrence and Michael Lenahan were gored simultaneously by the bull, which also injured 11 other people Thursday. It was the worst day for injuries in the nine-day festival.
“I started yelling at my brother to show him I was bleeding everywhere but he showed me he was bleeding everywhere,” said Lawrence Lenahan, a 26-year-old Air Force captain from Hermosa Beach, Calif., in a telephone interview from his hospital bed.
He was gored in the buttocks, while Michael Lenahan, 23, of Philadelphia, was injured in his leg and was recovering well from surgery at the same hospital.
Michael Lenahan had recently overcome testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen and the brothers were celebrating.
“He decided he wanted to live life to the fullest. He said ‘Once a year I’ll do something exciting.’ And he did,” their father, Larry Lenahan of Westlake, Ohio, told WEWS-TV in Cleveland.
The brothers had watched one bull run before taking part. Thursday’s run — the sixth day of the festival — was their first.
The pack of six 1,300-pound bulls and six steers — intended to keep the bulls running in a single pack — disintegrated shortly after the animals set off on the course through the narrow, cobblestone streets of Pamplona.
The run lasted 6 minutes, 9 seconds, compared with the usual length of 2 minutes because one bull separated — the most dangerous thing that can happen.
“I remember looking back and thinking I was in trouble,” Lawrence Lenahan said.
As he sat in his hospital bed, Lawrence Lenahan posed holding the front page of a Spanish newspaper that showed both him and his brother on the horns of the same bull.
He said he remembered using his shirt to help wrap his brother’s leg as medical service staff arrived to help them.
“I think my brother and I underestimated the speed and danger of it,” Lawrence Lenahan said.
Here’s a gory injury that probably wasn’t too bad really:
Another participant, Christopher Neiff, 24, of Norway, had the bull’s horn tear into his shin and slide under the skin right up to his knee. Festival organizers said Neiff had a nearly 5-inch wound, but that the bone was not affected.
I don’t know how much I trust the New York Post Gossip column, but this is a crazy story that nonetheless rings true:
Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, who witnessed the assault, said, “Jon picked Andy up by the head and smashed him into the bar four or five times, and blood started pouring out of his nose.” Lovitz told Page Six, “All the comedians are glad I did it because this guy is a [bleep]hole.”Lovitz and Dick have been at loggerheads since a 1997 Christmas party at Hartman’s house, five months before his troubled wife Brynn flipped out, fatally shooting Hartman, then killing herself. “Andy was doing cocaine, and he gave Brynn some after she had been sober for 10 years. Phil was furious about it – and then five months later he’s dead,” said Lovitz, adding that when he filled in on Hartman’s “Newsradio” sitcom, “I told Andy, ‘I wouldn’t be here now if you hadn’t given Brynn that cocaine.’ “
Last year, Lovitz related, a drunken Dick strolled up to his table at Ago in West Hollywood, rudely downed his guests’ peach liqueur drinks, and “looked at me and said, ‘I put the “Phil Hartman hex” on you – you’re the next one to die.’ I said, ‘What did you say?’ and he repeated it. I wanted to punch his face in, but I don’t hit women.”
When the two ran into each other at the Laugh Factory last Wednesday, “I wanted him to say he was sorry for the ‘Phil Hartman hex,’” Lovitz told us. “First he says, ‘I don’t remember saying that.’ Then he leans in and says, ‘You know why I said it? Because you said I killed Phil Hartman.’ Which I never said. Then he asked me to be in his new movie.
“I grabbed him by the shirt and leaned him over and said, ‘I don’t want to be in your movie! I don’t want to be in your life!’ I pushed him against the rail. Then I pushed him again really hard. A security guard broke it up. I’m not proud of it … but he’s a disgusting human being.” Dick’s rep said he had no comment.
Dick’s weirdness has been well documented. Last year, he licked the faces of Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher and Patton Oswalt, then groped and bit the hand of Post reporter Mandy Stadtmiller at a comedy-festival taping.
I’d like to think there’s a special place in hell for a guy who offers coke to a recovered addict.
Jesse Walker of Reason compares The Ron Paul Movement to, well, I’ll let him explain:
Among the other firsts of his campaign, Ron Paul is probably the only presidential contender to be compared to a Samuel L. Jackson movie. The Texas congressman, a dark horse candidate for the Republican nomination, was being lightly grilled by Kevin Pereira, a host on the videogame-oriented cable channel G4. “Young people online, they were really psyched about Snakes on a Plane, but that didn’t translate into big ticket sales for Sam Jackson,” Pereira said. “Are you worried that page views on a MySpace page might not translate to primary votes?”The reference was to the Internet sensation of 2006, an action movie whose cheesy title and premise had sparked a burst of online creativity: mash-ups, mock trailers, parody films, blogger in-jokes. Hollywood interpreted this activity as “buzz,” and New Line Cinema inflated its hopes for the movie’s box office take. When the film instead did about as well as you’d expect from a picture called Snakes on a Plane, the keepers of the conventional wisdom declared that this was proof of the great gulf between what’s popular on the Internet and what sells in the material world.
Ron Paul is popular on the Internet, too, with more YouTube subscribers than any other candidate, the fastest-growing political presence in MySpace, a constant perch atop the Technorati rankings, and a near-Olympian record at winning unscientific Web polls. Like Snakes, he is the subject of scads of homemade videos and passionate blog posts. When Pereira mentioned the movie, he was making a clear comparison: Yes, your online fans are noisy, but will their enthusiasm actually translate into electoral success?
In Broken China, Business Week asserts that “Beijing can’t clean up the environment, rein in stock speculation, or police its companies”:
A more intractable problem is China’s power structure itself. Although Beijing holds a monopoly on politics, local Communist Party officials enjoy wide latitude over social and economic affairs. They also have huge professional and financial incentives to spur GDP growth, which they often do by ignoring regulations or lavishing companies with perks. As a result, China has built a bureaucratic machine that at times seems almost impervious to reform. Even if Beijing has the best intentions of fixing problems such as undrinkable water and unbreathable air, it is often thwarted by hundreds of thousands of party officials with vested interests in the current system.
[...]
The roots of China’s ersatz capitalism go back to devil’s bargains made in the 1980s and ’90s to accelerate China’s takeoff. Late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping declared it was O.K. to “get rich,” a green light for legions of cadres to discard their Mao suits and rush into business, often by setting themselves up as middlemen or grabbing stakes in communal assets. Beijing also granted great latitude to provincial and local officials to manage development and social services such as education and health care. The two requirements: Remain loyal to the party and meet high economic-growth targets.The system spans China’s 657 municipalities, 2,862 counties, and 41,636 townships. Because roughly 70% of a typical official’s annual performance assessment is based on GDP growth, says University of Michigan Sinologist Kenneth G. Lieberthal, the cadres shower local businesses with perks. These can include access to cheap credit, land, licenses, protection from competitors, and exemptions from regulations. The opportunities for graft are staggering. “What is unsaid, but understood, is that if your locality becomes wealthy, so do you,” Lieberthal says. “Instead of the Chinese Communist Party, it ought to be called the Chinese Bureaucratic Capitalist Party.”