This Mind Intentionally Left Blank

I’m a social democrat/democratic socialist, and I’m baffled by the health care system in the United States. I thought I’d jot down/brain dump my main arguments for public health care:

Everyone needs health care, but nobody seeks it out

Health care is a necessity in unpleasant circumstances. When you break your leg, you need health care. Very few people break their legs intentionally to stay at a nice hospital. Therefore, it is not a resource likely to be wasted once people are given free access to it. Given that everyone needs it when they need it and don’t when they don’t, paying it via the state budget is unlikely to cause waste.

Hospitals become badly run when run for profit

I think the point of motivation from the objective self-interest is overstated and harmfully over-emphasized, but the point bears making. For-profit hospitals are run… for profit. Fancy that. A for-profit institution has an interest in your using their services as much as possible, at the expense of who-ever is paying the bill, be it your health insurance, or your fifth mortgage. A public institution wants to get you out of the system as soon as possible – by curing you. So the self-interest of the patient aligns much better with a public hospital.

Although a certain measure of inefficiency is added when run by a governmental organization, I believe the inefficiency induced by the hospital’s profit motive is probably much greater, perhaps more so in countries without a “corporate culture” in the government that seems to accept ineptitude. “Close enough for government work” is *not* a phrase used in Norway – for a reason.

(Nevertheless, it bears mentioning that the most efficently-run hospital in the United States is the government-run Veteran’s Aid.)

Denying health care to people who need it is not nice

The justification that a system “has to be that way for the greater good” is dangerous and bad and wrong. People needing health care should have it under all circumstances, and I consider it a matter of elementary respect for the dignity of human life that health care should be a right of citizenship. What kind of society measures the worth of a human being by the size of their wallet?

Healthy people are more productive

If you’re the bean-counter sort, this point may appeal to you. I don’t think it very relevant, but it seems quite plausible. The societal cost of people calling in sick is probably greater than any potential cost in efficiency from nationalization.

One point specific to the US:

The current implementation in the US is, AFAICT, deeply flawed and needs Change (WCBI) anyway.

The US health care system is insanely flawed. It needs to change anyway – why not do so with a bang rather than a whimper. I think that the Democratic resurgency has given the party a mandate for quite a lot of bang. When a president wins on a single word, “change”, then… go change things.

Got any more points? Disagree? I’d love a conversation in the comments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TXE is the best Wikipedia article I have seen for a long, long time.

Cute meme du jour:

• Grab the nearest book.
• Open it to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Well, OK. Page 56, fifth sentence: 

“The functions of other software interrupt service routines are quite variable; The I/O postprocessing interrupt service routine has a specific function to perform but is data-driven by the I/O request packets (IRPs) in its work queue.”

I know at least one of the slightly more than one people (I count too, right?) who read my blog (Hi, Ian!) might well realize what book this came from: VAX/VMS Internals and Data Structures, by Ruth Goldenberg and Lawrence Kenah.

Yes, the book really was the closest to me – I have an overdesk shelf, and it was the furthest out. The book, by the way, is a fascinating read; I don’t know of any other book that lays out the design of an entire OS kernel in the really quite elegant way that this book does. I got mine signed by Ruth, too, which is pretty damn cool.

One highlight of this book are the quotes at the beginning of each chapter – sometimes funny, sometimes profound, frequently both. I decided to list those from the first part here, for the enjoyment of both my readers. 

For the fashion of Minas Tirith was such that it was built on seven levels, each delved into a hill, and about each was set a wall, and in each wall was a gate.

 - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

“By indirections find directions out.”

- Shakespeare, Hamlet, 2, i

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

And now I see with eye serene

The very pulse of the machine.

William Wordsworth, She Was A Phantom Of Delight

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Between the idea

And the reality

Between the motion

And the act

Falls the Shadow

T. S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

What you want, what you’re hanging around in the world

waiting for, is for something to occur to you.

Robert Frost

“Time,” said George, “why I can give you a definition of time. It’s what keeps everything from happening at once.”

Ray Cummings, The Man Who Mastered Time

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.

Abraham Lincoln, Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864

‘Tis in my memory lock’d

And you yourself shall keep the key of it.

Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1, iii

Love, all alike, no season knows, nor clime, 

Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

John Donne, The Sun Rising

It is equally bad when one speeds on the guest unwilling to go, and when he holds back one who is hastening. Rather one should befriend the guest who is there, but speed him when he wishes.

Homer, The Oddysey

I was alone and unable to comunicate with anyone. I did not know the names of anything. I did not even know things had names. Then one day, after she had tried a number of approaches, my teacher held my hand under the water pump on our farm. As the cool water ran over my hand and arm, she spelled the word water in my other hand. She spelled it over and over, and suddenly I knew there was a name for things and that I would never be completely alone again. 

Helen Keller

Dear majority of the United States of America,

Yes you could. You rock. 

The gravity of this event is difficult to describe. I’m at the official Oslo election wake. Watching elderly, dignified men in suits silently weep is a rare sight.

Significantly more love than previously,

Tore Sinding Bekkedal

Dear United States of America,

Please don’t fuck this up for everyone.

With loving regards,

Tore Sinding Bekkedal

UPDATE: This is fake, just so you know! Thanks, Arnt. Still funny, but not written by Heart, even though I wish it were. Now, wouldn’t ya, ba-ra-cu-daa-ah!

Due to Sarah Palin’s nickname, the Republican National Convention has been playing the tune “Barracuda” by a group named Heart.

Being very much not a child of the 1970s, I’d never heard of Heart. But after reading this hilarious letter, I took a listen, and it’s pretty good music. I think this fantastic letter is as good a reason as any to buy their album…

I thought this meme was a cute idea. Here goes:

1. Take a picture of yourself right now.
2. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.

(Playing Kraftwerk – The Telephone Call.)

Warning: This is a long-wound complaint post. The only reason this is going to the Planet is because I have no method yet of disabling individual posts for syndication. Please skip, with my apologees for the noise, if you don’t want to listen to complaining. May contain nuts. May drive you nuts. Drove me nuts. Mmm, pistachio.

When I was around 11, I got my first cellphone. I was very proud. This was back when being 11 and having a cellphone was a real novelty; pagers were still being sold, and the NMT network was still running. Like many things I appreciate, I found it in a dumpster. It was ancient, even then: a Motorola MicroTAC brick, missing its antenna. I borrowed one of my grandmother’s hairpins, and voila, working phone – as long as you didn’t leave Oslo. It had a certain cyberpunk look to it, even then: I loved it.

I remember that I first bought a NetCom pay-as-you-go card; I don’t quite remember the number, but it had “283″ in it at the end, if you want to wardial. For some reason, Dad needed a SIM card so I gave him mine. So I bought myself a new one, a Telenor card, pay-as-you-go, number 91 85 95 08. I must have been around 12 at the time. And that number served me very well.

Fast-forward 6 years, to late March, 2006. I had just turned 18, and one of the first things I wanted to do was get a massively cheaper, proper subscription. I’d been procrastinating it for a bit – as I am wont to – but when a nice gentleman at the subway station told me about a nice new company called SEA Norway and their wonderful prices, I accepted. Big mistake. Here begins the saga of woe…

For a good while, I was very happy with their service – even though GPRS data never worked, I never used it anyway. Their name changed to Vitel somewhere along the way. I received a phone call from an enthusiastic salesman who told me how much cheaper Vitel’s power subscription is. It seemed very reasonable, so I went for it.

One of the arguments he gave me was that I could collect all those utilities into one bill. I told him that I couldn’t have this: Since I’m a live-alone student, my power bill is covered entirely by the city council, so I need a proper bill to hand over every month. “Sure, that’s no problem”. I check and double-check that, and I stress it. Sure, no problem. OK, deal.

Big, big mistake. They draw 2700 Kroner from my account, using the automated pay system (AvtaleGiro) that I had set up for the phone bill. 2700 Kroner (530 US Dollars) is a lot of money, especially when your monthly income, 5000 Kroner (1000 US Dollars) barely covers the necessities. So I cancel the autopay system. (I still have not received that money!)

23rd of January, my subscription is cut, since I hadn’t paid the bill. They hadn’t mailed it to me, and I’d told them I’d cut the AvtaleGiro, but I simply did not receive the bill. So I call them up in February some time and try to figure out a solution. “You didn’t pay the bill, so the subscription is closed.” -”So if I pay the bill, will you reopen it?” -”No, sorry. It is closed now.” -”So then I’ll have to transfer the number to another provider?” -”No, you can’t do that; it’s closed now.” -”You can’t refuse to transfer the number, that’s simply not legal.” -”Sure it is, the subscription’s been closed.” Urgh.

So some time in the middle of March, before The Gathering, I call NetCom up: I want to transfer my number to them, please. Sure, no problem. No, this number is registered as active in our system. All is well. We’ll make the switchover on March 28th, and you will get your SIM card in the mail: It should be in your box by then. Fantastic!

The 28th of March came and went with no great ceremony, not even a SIM card. No switchover occurred. I give them the benefit of the doubt for more than a fortnight. Some time in April, then, I get sufficiently annoyed to call them up and ask what had happened. “Oh, no, it seems Vitel is using the old transferral system”. -”OK?” -”Yes, you will have to send us a form with your signature by fax to carry this transfer out.” -”Sigh, alright. Where can I get this form?” -”I’ll email it to you.” Great. So I get the form.

May was very busy, so I didn’t get an opportunity to fill the form out,  and by now I was getting fairly tired of the whole thing anyway!  The thing that finally got me, however, was a bill from Vitel – on the “closed” subscription – for not only the monthly fee, but also several kroner of SMS “content services” (Read: ring tones) and GPRS data (Which never even worked even when the subscription did!)

So last Tuesday, June 3rd, I send them the damned fax. Wednesday, June 4th, I call NetCom up and ask what the status is of my subscription. “Oh, yes, this is now active with us.” -”Really?!” (I was happy in the way that only someone who’s gone 5 months without a working phone could be.) -”Sure, we’ve sent the SIM card to Bekkeveien (something).” -”…Bekkeveien? But I’ve never lived at any Bekkeveien. My last name is Bekkedal, but..” -”Alright, then that’s probably a mistake. What you can do, though, is go to a NetCom dealer and pick up a new SIM card.” -”Perfect! I’ll do that, then.” (I stress “pick up” for a reason which will later become apparent.)

Goodie. I’ll get a working phone! I was very happy as I took the tram down to Aker Brygge and looked everywhere for the damned NetCom dealer. Having finally found it, I happily stride inside and ask for a SIM card for my subscription. “Sure. That’ll be 200 Kroner.” Argh! I hadn’t brought enough money! She did say pick up. Oh well. Aker Brygge is a center of business, I’m sure there are other shops. So I ask to use one of their phones to call NetCom. Sorry, no phones you can use. Sigh. Fine. Do you know of any phone booths around?

They didn’t, but I found one anyway, finally. I deposit the necessary $1 for a local call (See, this is the problem with having a cellphone company run the phone booths!)  and dial NetCom customer service. They take my number and – Sorry, that number isn’t yet active, it’s still registered to Vitel. ARGH! Fine. So what’s standing in the way? Well, Vitel can’t refuse it – (thanks, I know that already) – but the form that I was sent wasn’t the right form. The form I need to send is from Vitel to Vitel, authorizing the transfer.While I’m trying to hold a conversation with the customer support guy, some drunk guy is accusing me of stealing phones, and begins reading out loud the sponsor company names on the back of my DebConf T-shirt.

But Vitel has already told me that I cannot transfer this number, under any circumstance! They consider it closed! “Yes, but you have to talk to Vitel.” -”I have!” -”Well, we can’t really do anything…” Alright. So I hang up and I try to call Vitel. But that doesn’t work: They closed at 3 PM!.  So finally tired of Netcom failing to port my number for a while, I call Telenor.

I talk to a very cheerful and helpful lady who admits to not knowing about the particulars of that situation. Fantastic! At least she isn’t going to fib it! She says that she has a vacation Thursday, but she can call me back on Friday after discussing the matter with the number transfers department. Wow! She’s actually going to confer with the relevant expertise! This is too good to be true! So she said she’d call me back Friday at 1PM with a status update. As I am writing, it is Friday at 11:01, I am anxiously awaiting the telephone call.

But now I get a funny SMS message:

From: NetCom 

Message from NetCom: Your number has been ordered by another operator. We would like to remind you that violation of the commitment period will be billed to the order of 1500 kroner. For questions, call 05050.

My subscription with Vitel was made in 2006, more than the 12 months I and knowledgeable friends believe to be the maximum legal commitment period (I doubt I would have agreed to more anyway!). Besides, the text message keeps saying that it’s from NetCom. So my deduction is: It’s from NetCom, who I have registered an active subscription and are now complaining that I’ve moved the subscription I’ve opened with them (but which they have not successfully moved from Vitel), over to Telenor. I don’t think this is an unfair conclusion.

So I call NetCom customer service – which to NetComs infinite credit is a number you always can call, almost like 112 (technically it’s accomplished completely differently, but you get my point. The number is never blocked in a blocked subscription.) And they say it’s not from NetCom, even though it says it’s from NetCom.

So I’ll keep both of my readers posted on the developing situation. At least the text message indicates that something is happening with my subscription.

I just want the dialtone!

Those of you who know me might be aware that I have a fondness for cool and neato hardware which is possibly a tiny bit above that of the average geek. I have more nodes on my ThinNet than on my TP network, for example.

Back in February, I had the random idea to call SGI Norway and ask them if they had anything they were about to throw out. I knew that they were working hard on moving from MIPS to Itanium, so perhaps some hardware was disappearing along the way.

Oslo didn’t have anything, but when I called Bergen I found out that  they were about to throw out a large amount of hardware, including some really nice boxes like an Onyx2 deskside workstation, and some Origin systems. For those of you who aren’t into SGI machines, I can sum it up by saying that these are really cool computers: Big, noisy as hell, heavy, and in terms of performance, nearly on par with a normal desktop nowadays. In short, fantastic educational toys.

So, this was in February, and we were making arrangements for transport to Oslo, until one day I stopped receiving mail. I didn’t think much of it; email is asynchronous, and I figured he was busy doing something else. I was certainly very eager to get at the machines, but didn’t feel like nagging at him either. Finally, recently I sent him a polite reminder, and I get the rather rude response:

Diagnostic code: smtp;550 cuda_nsu 5.7.1 <****@sgi.com>: Recipient address rejected: THIS USER IS NO LONGER WITH SGI. CONTACT help@sgi.com IF YOU NEED INFO.

I tried calling the Bergen office, but the number was out of service. So I call the Oslo office – and I am told the Bergen office has been shut down, and all the equipment has been thrown out.

This is the bummer of the century, for two main reasons:

1. I’m not getting cool hardware that I was totally looking forward to getting,
2. Great hardware has now been ground up for use in car tires.

For some odd reason, the second reason is infinitely more grating than the first. I feel like a museum curator being forced to watch someone feed a Picasso painting to a paper shredder. This really, really screwed up my day.

When I code, one of the tools I use which I like the most is GNU screen. My current project involves the editing of a bunch of different source files, and often jumping frequently between them. I was spawning windows and trying to edit files that I had already opened in a previous screen, and often ending up with a bunch of windows with files I wasn’t using much at the time.

So I did some research on how to optimize use of vim and screen together. The first thing I came up with was getting screen to display a nice bar at the bottom by adding this to my .screenrc: (Thanks, Red Hat Magazine!)

hardstatus alwayslastline
hardstatus string '%{= kG}[ %{G}%H %{g}][%= %{= kw}%?%-Lw%?%{r}(%{W}%n*%f %t%?(%u)%?%{r})%{w}%?%+Lw%?%?%= %{g}][%{B} %Y-%m-%d %{W}%c %{g}]'

This gives you a neat and coloured (mmmm… colours…) status bar at the bottom of your screen display, including some info on whether other terminals are attached to that window and such.

One thing which would vastly improve the usefulness of this would be if I could get vim to set the screen window title. The escape sequence for doing this is the same as for other terminals, but vim’s terminal information database does not include the relevant entry for the “screen” termtype. So (with help from “frogonwheels” and “godlygeek” in #vim) I put an entry in my .vimrc specifying the escape codes for setting screen’s window title. In addition, I abbreviated the window title string to contain only the file. Here is the relevant snippet from my .vimrc:

if $TERM=='screen'
exe "set title titlestring=vim:%f"
exe "set title t_ts=\<ESC>k t_fs=\<ESC>\\"
endif

A casual glance at my school grades chart will immediately reveal that I am not a structured learner; I’m not the type of user who will, when adopting a tool, begin by reading the manuals. I’m more of a gradual, ad-hoc learner, and I tend to prefer to stick to the defaults whenever possible. Since vim and screen are probably my primary tools for doing work, I should probably do some more research on things like this.

These suggestions may be somewhat trivial, but I’ve found them to be quite useful, so I thought it might be useful to someone. Please leave a comment if it was, or if you have any comments (duh!) or suggestions.