Author: Nate

OK, I’ve read “Deathly hallows” (no spoilers but may be spoilers in comments)

Finished reading at a bit after midnight last night… since I started a bit after noon, and given about a three hour break for dinner “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” provided about 9 hours of solid entertainment. Not bad.

Overall, liked it. A very few bits reverted to the “whiny/angry Harry” of Order of the Phoenix (OotP/Book 5) but fortunately that part didn’t last TOO long. Solid action sequences, and a nice resolution although a few questions left unsanswered.

I’m going to keep the body of this spoiler free and add a few of the latter to a comment. If you have complaints about unanswered questions or other comments/reviews, please add them there 🙂

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Is out… although my copy won’t be here until later today (/tomorrow, subjective to sleep time)… and in light of my earlier suggestion for Harry Potter fanfic (“Book 7 ends with Harry and Voldemort, the way Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards ended”) here’s a youtube clip out of Wizards.

Catch it quick, as I don’t plan to leave this up indefinitely.

In other reading this month, I’ve read “The Disunited States of America” by Harry Turtledove, the latest softcover in his Crosstime Traffic series (#4 in the series; 5 is out in hardback, but I’m not quite that addicted to those, unlike one of his others) and have “Settling Accounts: In At The Death” also by Turtledove (said other series) and Michael Stackpole’s “A New World” (last in his Age of Discover trilogy) coming in the next 10 or so days, and then the softback of the latest (last?) Honor Harrington novel (“At All Costs”) comes out in Sept I think so overall it is being a good period for my reading.

eBay, where the sellers pay YOU.

UK teen buys PS2 on eBay, receives box stuffed with £44,000

A young man in the UK got a serious shock when the PS2 that he’d won on eBay arrived at his home in Aylsham, Norfolk. The game system — which he’d paid £95 for — arrived without the two games promised by the seller, but with £44,000, or about $90,378. The boy and his family turned the money over to police, who are holding it until late September under the UK’s “Proceeds of Crime Act” while they investigate the case. A spokesman for eBay described the situation as “somewhat unusual,”

Sicko, and an interesting article…

I saw Sicko over the weekend, and thought it was an excellent, if thoroughly depressing, film. I thought it was an excellent piece of polemic for those of us who basically agreed with him. It’s much harder me to tell what impact it would have for those who don’t already agree that the US health care system is fundamentally broken… or for those who think that moving things to a more laissez-faire free market is the solution.

I’d be curious what other folks think.

On a board I read, someone posted the link to this article where an EM physician responds to the film. The person posted it as a disagreement, but while he does take Moore to task for issues he doesn’t address, by and large I think it’s more of a valuable addendum:

Article is at: I Treat the Patients Michael Moore Forgot

In order to keep the length of my quoting reasonable, let me grab the part from the middle where I think he and Moore basically are saying the same thing:

Many Americans oppose a single-payer health care system. My support of this initiative has grown from witnessing inequities daily through years in an emergency room.

I hear the concern about such a system; people worry that they won’t get what they need, that the government will ration health care. But in fact, that’s exactly what we have right now. It’s just a little more subtle, a form of rationing that’s based on a person’s ability to endure hours of anxiety in the ER, to wait for the next medical appointment, to afford high-quality insurance.

So how can we have a public discussion about this subject? This country has limited resources to devote to health care. But it also is saddled with an inefficient health care system that gives advantages to the privileged and well-off while ignoring preventive care and abandoning those most in need.

—
And in a separate note, Marie found a response from Kaiser Permanente to the film:
Kaiser Permanente’s Prominent Role in American Health Care Reform

In this context, Kaiser Permanente’s portrayal in a new movie, “Sicko,” must be corrected. While Kaiser Permanente has always (and will always) welcome new voices to the incredibly important discussion of health care reform, Kaiser Permanente’s 8.7 million members, the communities Kaiser Permanente serves, and the country as a whole, deserve to hear facts that should help clear up misconceptions created by the movie.

California == France?

Go have a look.

US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a convenient way of measuring and comparing the size of national economies. Annual GDP represents the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year. Put differently:

GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + (exports – imports)

Although the economies of countries like China and India are growing at an incredible rate, the US remains the nation with the highest GDP in the world – and by far: US GDP is projected to be $13,22 trillion (or $13.220 billion) in 2007, according to this source. That’s almost as much as the economies of the next four (Japan, Germany, China, UK) combined.

The creator of this map has had the interesting idea to break down that gigantic US GDP into the GDPs of individual states, and compare those to other countries’ GDP.

“The Redistricting Game” and a few minor round-up items.

No, not metaphorical … this time it’s literal, via Slashdot:

An anonymous reader writes
“This is a cool redistricting game that was launched out of the capitol building in Washington DC last week. It was created by the USC Game Innovation Lab and has been getting lots of press. It’s about time someone took on a tough issue like redistricting reform using the power of the internet.”
It’s crazy that gerrymandering is actually good fodder for a video game.

Worth checking out.

Also of note, lately:
1) Not much here, sorry.
2) I’m starting a class.
3) I’m not traveling anywhere soon, except back east for a family friend’s wedding. Bummer.
4) Today’s big news story seems to have been Mayor Bloomberg leaving the Republican party. Does anyone else think he and Lieberman deserve each other?

An “Arnold Republican” = a “Gore Democrat”???

I don’t buy this rehabilitation of the Governator, but via DailyKos we get this quote from Meet The Press

MR. RUSSERT: What’s an Arnold Republican?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, it’s basically being fiscally conservative, being socially moderate and you know, being environmentally progressive

Which is pretty much where I see Gore. Not that he seems to be running in 2008 any more than Schwarzenegger can, but… *lol* …let’s face it, while I *am* a Gore fan it’s for gravitas that’s otherwise lacking in the Democratic field, and for his single-issue leadership on environmental issues.

It would be great to see someone with a more broadly progressive line, and the chops to be a president. Heck, it would be great to see one of the more experienced 2008 contenders take a strong progressive line on a single issue.

Woof? or Baaaa? or time to check Snopes?

Dog-sheep swap scam or sham?

By staff writers
April 27, 2007 12:30pm

Sheep sold as poodles in scam, report claims
Couple alarmed to learn their dog had hooves
Killjoy bloggers say yarn is just an urban myth

THOUSANDS of Japanese pet owners were swindled into buying half-price “poodles” that were actually sheep, it was reported today.

It wasn’t until a film star appeared on a talk-show program and wondered why her new poodle wouldn’t bark that the swindle was uncovered, the story said.