Metric Moments

My Metric CD arrived in the mail today and it's as fabulous as I thought it might be. The one problem is that I had dropped my computer a few days ago. After a moment of shock (my life is in there!), I found out that everything is thankfully alright. Everything that is but one channel of output on the headphone jack. So because I lack a real CD player, I am forced to listen to music in one ear in stereo. Maybe this is karma for my promotion of file-sharing systems...I actually buy an album and look what happens.

Anyways I read this quote from Judge Richard Posner and I thought it quite cutting:

Individualism and a cult of originality go hand in hand. Each of us supposes that our contribution to society is unique rather than fungible and so deserves public recognition, which plagiarism clouds.

This is a modern view. We should be aware that the high value placed on originality is a specific cultural, and even field-specific, phenomenon, rather than an aspect of the universal moral law.

You too are replacable. I remember a debate about who would be more irreplacable if they never existed: famous scientists like Newton or Einstein or great artists like Shakespeare. Of course, it wasn't settled, but I tend to go with the argument that the theory that Newton or Einstein developed would have been done by someone else, and it in fact, almost was done by someone else, while although the artistic "movements" participated in by the artists may have continued the works of art themselves would not have been done.

Spit or Chew?

I was working today at my local starbucks, finishing a draft of a paper I'm writing on smokeless tobacco. After going through the evidence, I'm still at a loss for how I really feel about it. It's an interesting case because it involves some of the real divisions within tobacco control that aren't often highlighted. Here's the situation: smokeless tobacco is harmful--it gives you oral cancer, cavities, and possibly heart disease, but those risks pale in comparison with smoking. So if smokers decided to all switch to smokeless tobacco for their nicotine fix then that would remove about 90-99% of tobacco-related disease. Which is great, but no one really knows if people will switch. There's lots of cases of switching from smokeless to cigarettes--that's what every body did around the turn of the century (remember the spitoon) and there are plenty of people who tend to start on smokeless at about 12 years old and then switch to smoking when they're older. On the other hand, in Sweden where smokeless tobacco is widely accepted (Mats Sundin, for instance, is a smokeless user), there are claims that the dramatic drop in Sweden over the past 30 years has been assisted by a rise in smokeless tobacco consumption. So the proposals for what to do about it are either a full ban (it would be really easy, basically no one would notice, and you'd keep possession and even importation legal) or endeavouring on a full blown campaign to increase use (lowering taxes, running ads, telling doctors to recommend it, et c.).

So what do I think? I guess I think that having people switch would be a good idea theoretically, but the amount of resources required to change the perception of it would be enormous for potentially little gain. I also think that the people who would be motivated to switch to smokeless for health reasons would be the same people who would quit and essentially that it's an option that's not quite quitting, which may or may not be helpful.

***
Speaking of smokeless, I found out that Sossusvlei (a dune that I climbed-see my pictures--) was about 300 feet taller than Camp Fortune.

Electric Pornographers
A rave review of the New Pornographers album over at Slate. I'm not so enamoured by referencing in music, but NP do it well. And there's no question that Neko Case is the best-looking individual in indie rock.

Now We Are (Twenty) Six
A very happy birthday goes out to the esteemed Mr. Limmert, who is seeming to have an excellent series of birthday celebrations. It's always great when you can totally maximize birthday celebration potential. In honour of his advanced age, I have produced a slightly altered version of the A.A. Milne classic.

When I was (twenty) one, I'd just begun,
When I was (twenty) two I was nearly new,
When I was (twenty) three I was hardly me,
When I was (twenty) four I was not much more,
When I was (twenty) five I was barely alive,
But now I am (twenty) six! As clever as clever!
And I think I'll stay (twenty) six now for ever and ever!

It's amazing that a poem written for a six year old still feels relevant. Well, maybe it's just me.

Notes:
Some exciting things going on in my little world.

First, and most exciting, is that I have booked a ticket to go see Matt next month. Taking advantage of the Air Canada seat sales, I grabbed a deal ahead of the peak season. I was planning on going, but I still felt spontaneous doing it. Yay! It'll be great to see Matt and Fiona. I'm trying to plan a small trip out of Glasgow for a few days (I only have a week). This Haggis tour thing sounds about right, I might re-create it on my own.

Second, go Sens. I'm proud of those little buggers despite the heart attack they've given me.

Third, I passed my biostats course. I was a little nervous about it. I needed a 56% on the final to give me a satisfactory mark, and I squeeked by. It'll drop my average a little, but I think I was still ahead of the curve on the course.

I scanned my pictures. If you'd like to see some desert pics, they're up on the web (graphic intensive warning).

The Metric album is finally out, and I'm having it sent to me. You can preview it at www.cdbaby.com, which bills itself as the cutest cd store on the internet. They send you a confirmation email with the title "Cd baby loves you."

Both Manitoba and the Superfriendz are playing TO next week.

Christy's new project No Weapons in Space is up and running and taking it to the powers that be. She's also planning a "goodbye, ass" dance party. Excellent.

Poetry Generator

This is really cool. I'm not a big fan of generator-type things, but this one seems for the taking, especially if read with a friendly eye.

My own site was alright, but Andrew's was some fine reading, and even a little moving. Here's an edited version:

A project on and the
permanent cast
of intensity,
whether whispering or something in front of all
There
are lead to take care
of them got booed
and many, pieces we
are mine and I
ever get a in case Any way
to take it was my left hand open on Friday afternoon,
as apples and seemed embarrassed when he saw,
a small but this
past weekend for the rest!
the
web site been updated
by the seemingly
inconsequential actions of RAM
I am digits.com var img=
Leave! only get an upgrade as someone
so offended in
his Philosophy Masters program at the lake and seemed too cool.

There's a couple of good lines I think in there: "The website been updated by the seeming inconsequential actions of RAM." How true.

Boy, I've been a rambling

I've never met a run-on sentence I didn't like, it seems, so in that spirit: Go sens, Go.

I've made my peace with them though. They have met my expectations for success this year. Anything further is gravy. Last year was very emotionally draining on me in a way that I regret now. I remember when the Leafs were eliminated by Carolina, I think, and my only thought was, "I'm glad the Senators had lost, otherwise I would still have had to care about this."

Moving

Yes, I've already moved. I made a blog for my friend who has left us for Uganda this week in return for a promise to post her pictures while she's there (although she hasn't posted yet, it's just been a few days). Anyway, to put up pictures properly on a blog you need your own webspace, so I finally got around to tapping into my own webspace that I get through rogers. I'm not sure if the benefits beyond having an awkward URL will be worth it, but I'm giving it a try nevertheless. I'm thinking of scanning a few of the pictures I took in Namibia and putting them up. They really are quite amazing and there the only set of pictures I took in Africa of which I don't have at least some in digital form.

A little shameless self-promotion

I was working on my application to get access to the database I need for my thesis project, and so I and my committee had to fill out this very messy SSHRC CV form. I felt extremely bad for them because each publication they had, had to be annotated, which can become quite a list after a few years. Especially compare to the single article that I have. Then I thought "Hey, I have an article"--single author too--if that means anything.

Feeling bad now?

Ever wanted strep throat? Now you can buy it! Only$5.95! Also available, the flu.

Some people

Somebody forgot to give David Warren of the Ottawa Citizen his pills and so he went off half-cocked on Salam Pax. He claims that Salam is a great Baathist conspiracy designed to suck us Westerners in. How does he know this? It's obvious, he says, because he can use a computer and says some bad things about the Americans. Makes me sick.

Jane Galt, a noted blogger, was getting herself involved in the debate about the uninsured in the US. Wendy had previously weighed in on the subject as well. As a Canadian, it's really easy to tell anecotes about dying children left outside hospital because of lack of insurance, but are things really that bad?
I did a quick and dirty Pubmed search for uninsured cohort studies. I haven't read the actual studies but there does seem to be a substantial body of research on the question of uninsured patients. That uninsured patients receive less care than insured patients seems to be an uncontroversial conclusion.
One thing that I would note is that the lack of insurance is only part of the problem: Medicare/Medicaid is also bad compared to private insurance. This could be seen as a vote of confidence for private insurance and a blow to government-funded care. Remember though that deciding between government and private insurance is a different question than insurance vs. no insurance. When we're sick or hurt, medical care is a need, not a choice, and someone has to pay for it. As Wendy had said, people will get the care, if they show up without money. The U.S. model seems to allow people to get insurance after they get sick, which strikes me as being about as cost-effective as allowing people to get car insurance only after they've had an accident.
From the conclusions of the studies:

We found uninsured children to have consistently poorer quality of care than insured patients.
Socioeconomic status and breast cancer survival were directly associated in the US cohort, but not in the Canadian cohort. Compared with similar patients in Des Moines, residents of the lowest fifth of income areas in Winnipeg experienced a significant 5-year survival advantage (survival rate ratio [SRR] = 1.14). In these lowest income areas, the Canadian survival advantage was larger among women aged 25 to 64 years (SRR = 1.23), and this was observed in the middle fifth of income areas among this younger cohort (SRR = 1.11). The Canadian survival advantage even seemed apparent in the poorest neighborhoods with relatively high representations of Aboriginal people (SRR = 1.16).
Significant differences in types and costs of care were observed across differing insurance types, which may suggest an "insurance effect" on asthma-related treatment in the ED and/or hospital.
Incident cases were more likely than prevalent cases to be women (35.4% vs 15.3%, P =.001), African American (45.4% vs 20.4%, P =.002), and uninsured (29.6% vs 7.6%, P <.001). [AIDS related infections]
The lack of health insurance is associated with an increased risk of a decline in overall health among adults 51 to 61 years old.
Uninsured patients with one of three common chief complaints appear to be less frequently admitted to the hospital than are insured patients, although health status does not appear to be affected. Whether these results reflect underutilization among uninsured patients or overutilization among insured patients remains to be determined.
After adjusting for clinical factors, race and insurance status may independently influence the use of cesarean delivery. The higher rates in nonwhites and lower rates in the uninsured may reflect differences in patient preferences or expectations, differences in physician practice, or unmeasured risk factors. The lower odds of cesarean delivery in uninsured women, particularly women at high risk, may raise the issue of underutilization of services and warrants further study.
Payor status is associated with the use and appropriateness of invasive cardiac procedures but not length of hospital stay after myocardial infarction.
With adjustment for age and income, persons without insurance had higher mortality than those with employer-provided insurance, with relative risks of 1.2 for white men and 1.5 for white women. These relationships held after adjustment for employment status, with the working uninsured showing mortality between 1.2 and 1.3 times higher than that of the working insured.
Lacking health insurance is associated with an increased risk of subsequent mortality, an effect that is evident in all sociodemographic health insurance and mortality groups examined.

Music notes
Listening to the new radiohead album, which is very exciting, if not bound to be ultimately disappointing. The whinniness factor may get to me. So far I can recommend 2+2=5 as one of the best radiohead songs I've heard in a long time.

Metric's (Emily Haines of Broken Social Scene and ex-Stars) long awaited album (at least for some of us) looks like it'll be available soon too!

Home, Sweet, Home

Although the Senators lost it's still nice to be home.