You may wish you were uninsured

[Haven't looked into SimpleCare in any great depth, but seems like an interesting organization.]

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/bsmith/2003/08/01?

You may wish you were uninsured

Yesterday, I described some of the problems with our health care systems, and the fact that one major reason costs have risen so much is the enormous amount of paperwork required by Medicare and ever-larger managed care systems that have been spawned because of government programs and regulations.

( Read more... )

I for one, welcome our new robot masters...

Courtesy of cixel

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/08/01/leisure.mcdonalds.reut/index.html

McDonald's new high-tech burger flipper
Automated grill being tested

Friday, August 1, 2003 Posted: 12:56 PM EDT (1656 GMT)

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BIG MAC ATTACK
The jury is still out on whether McDonald's, which only recently began to overcome more than a year of sluggish sales, can revitalize its business. In recent months, it has battled everything from weak foreign economies to SARS in Asia.
We want to be contemporary, hip and today. We believe innovation is one of the fundamental engines for growth.
-- Charlie Bell, Chief Operating Officer of McDonald's

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- High-tech jobs may be moving overseas but one low-tech job Americans could always fall back on was flipping burgers at McDonald's.

That could change in the not-too-distant future. Later this year, a Chicago-area McDonald's restaurant will fry up hamburgers with an automated grill that dispenses patties directly onto the griddle from a separate freezer compartment, reducing labor and promising fresher sandwiches.

( Read more... )

Hustler porn magnate announces bid for CA governorship

Also courtesy of cixel

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030801/ap_on_el_gu/davis_recall_flynt

Hustler Publisher Files in Calif. Recall
1 hour, 34 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Porn king Larry Flynt wants to rule California.

The Hustler magazine publisher has filed initial paperwork to run in the gubernatorial recall election and says he may spend a large amount of his own money if people take his candidacy seriously.

The registered Democrat, civil libertarian and free speech advocate said he'd solve California's budget woes by expanding slot machine gambling. His holdings include several casinos.

"California is the most progressive state in the union," said Flynt, 61. "I don't think anyone here will have a problem with a smut peddler as governor."

Flynt had not yet paid the $3,500 filing fee by Thursday afternoon, according to the California Secretary of State Web site.

More than 250 people statewide have taken the very first step of filing the paperwork with county registrars, according to the site. Other quirky candidates include several men named Gray Davis and Angelyne, the blonde, buxom artist made famous by her depiction on numerous Hollywood billboards.

To get on the Oct. 7 ballot, declared candidates also need at least 65 signatures from voters registered in their party.

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