Huh - random. Flea playing trumpet tonight with the Caltech Jazz Band.

I really thought you meant our flea for a minute, there.

That would possibly have upped the random-quotient.

I think there is a thing as too much bling.

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OMG. I'm listening to yesterday's Dave Ramsey podcast and a woman just called in worried that with "the new administration" there will be universal health care and her physician husband's income will be "greatly affected"

How is physician pay in countries that have some form of Universal health care? I have no idea. Not that we're going to have UHC in the U.S. anytime soon.

389 Years Ago.

That's the second paper thing in a dozen or so posts that I desperately WANT.

389 Years Ago.

Oh that is entirely too awesome for words.

New Castro Photo Released, Reveals Will Not Survive Next 4 Years

HAVANA — A new photograph released Friday shows Fidel Castro looking less gaunt than in his last image two months ago, but the ailing Cuban leader said he doubts he'll make it to the end of Barack Obama's four-year term.

...

Castro, 82, hasn't been seen in public since undergoing abdominal surgery in July 2006, and he formally turned over the presidency to his brother Raul last year. On Thursday night, he instructed Cuban officials to start making decisions without taking him into account.

In a column titled "Reflections of Comrade Fidel," he suggested his days are numbered, saying Cuban officials "shouldn't feel bound by my occasional 'Reflections,' my state of health or my death."

"I have had the rare privilege of observing events over such a long time. I receive information and meditate calmly on those events," he wrote. "I expect I won't enjoy that privilege in four years, when Obama's first presidential term has ended.

It's amazing when you consider how many US presidents he's outlived....

How is physician pay in countries that have some form of Universal health care? I have no idea. Not that we're going to have UHC in the U.S. anytime soon.

I think it's pretty low in Canada vs. the US. In Canada, doctors are considered contractors to the provincial health authorities, but are responsible for all the overhead of their offices. They bill the gov't on a per visit basis, and anything not covered by provincial health insurance they can charge for. One problem is that doctors, to have a reasonable amount of money coming in, book appointments in 15 minute blocks and most patients need much more time than that, which causes delays. Also doctors are not paid for all the time to do paperwork outside those office visits. There was a lot of migration of doctors to the US in the 1990's saying that they were working too hard, the overhead was too great and they were barely making decent wages, but you don't hear about that very often anymore.

It's amazing when you consider how many US presidents he's outlived

I hope he's written his memoirs: "American Leaders I Have Frustrated."

I think part of the argument for doctors' salaries is the crushing amount of debt most people go into during the lengthy training process. How does that work in other places? The whole thing feels a little chicken-and-egg to me, and then I start thinking about social workers, who, granted, only need a master's degree, but who make really minimal salaries to start, and only reasonable ones later.

Also, specialists would make more.

I found this blog post here, which is mostly about the confusion of the average salaries in Canada, but there are a few posts in the comments from Cdn. specialists that make it seem like they make more in Canada than they've been offered for jobs in the US.

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