Brian Day is hardly alone: Amen

This editorial correctly summarizes some of the implicit disadvantages of our current health care system. Yes, Jack Layton you love our current health care system, as long as you don't need it. And, NO, our current system is not fair, it's just not money that dictates the inequalities.

I can speak from personal experience. I had a referral to a specialist - despite repeated voice mails and faxes from me and my GP's office, the specialist's office DIDN'T even call
me back. Finally I was given an appointment by fax to my GP's office 2 days before the opening, and then it took over a day for my GP's office to let me know. By this time I was completely booked and could not attend. I finally just went to the clinic. The fellow glanced at my medical school bag and saw me right there.

I'm not saying privatization is the answer, but we need to somehow make our health care system service oriented. Imagine if a telephone company didn't call you back for a month? And this is your health care.

Goldman Sachs CEO gets $67.9 million bonus, $67.9 million too much

Goldman does not cause high profits but is merely associated with it.

Yes Goldman has done well in a credit crunch and put up big profits when the other banks have faltered, but is it because of him? No. In fact, it's not even the talent of those around him. All Goldman has to do is not screw up royally...and just ride on the brand recognition. It's sad really.

So much for a meritocracy and market efficiency.

Read a softball article here.

(Young) Canadian students top world rankings

Turns out Canadian 5th graders ranked 3rd in the world on an international test of science ability.

Yet, does this play out later on, such as in University and beyond? Are Canadians known for their intelligence by their global peers? I don't think so, though there's no reason why we shouldn't be. We are like the small quiet kid in the corner - noone dislikes us because we don't do anything to provoke them, yet noone really likes us either because we have minimal impact in the world (yes we are small, though our impact is less than 1/10th the impact of the US). Why aren't we forging ahead? We don't have political strife, wars to fight, or anything else to distract us other than some Anglo/Franco issues. Yes we came up with the Blackberry, but why can't we create google?

Getting googly and yes HIV is bad...but Hep C may be worse

Sad case...people infected with HIV (and hep C) from organ transplants.

Though c'mon media. Yes, it is definitely too bad that 4 people contracted HIV, but why did the author just mention the hepatitis C as an aside? If I had to choose one of these chronic diseases, I know which one I would choose...many co-infected patients are now dying from the Hep C complications (liver) not the HIV (antiretroviral treatments are getting better). HIV is bad, but let's not let it overshadow other contractable diseases. How many people know that there is only a 0.3% chance of contracting HIV from a infected needlestick injury versus a 3% and 30% chance from Hep C and B respectively?

And after my tough week last week, I saw this article:

I graduated university in 2005 - some of my friends went to work for Google. I think they made about 80K base (similar to investment banking base pay) and may have received a modest bonus. What's crazy is the value of their options now:


I won't lie...I'm jealous. Perhaps there is a certain amount of money for which I would forego becoming a doctor (hopefully not out of sheer greed, but rather to do cool charitable things with it).

Our future health...

Toddler struck by drug-resistant bug improving

These events are so much more real now when I spend time in the hospitals in which they are occuring. Parents make sure your children finish their antibiotic regimens!

Study Finds Carcinogens in Water Near Alberta Oil Sands Projects

Does anyone in Alberta (other than the residents directly affected) care? Perhaps someday the honeymoon in Alberta will be over.

Sextuplets - who's in charge?

Sextuplets born to devout Jehovah Witness couple in BC in need of blood transfusions

"The B.C. government got court orders in the past week to seize three of the surviving sextuplets born in Vancouver earlier in January and ensure they got blood transfusions if necessary. Two of the sextuplets have already died.
The babies were part of the group of of six born at B.C. Women's Hospital into a family of Jehovah's Witnesses, a religious group that prohibits blood transfusions."
-From B.C. intervened to save 3 sextuplets after 2 died

These are the kind of issues that really scare me. Makes me wish I had chosen my alternative career - doorman. That way I could still help people out, yet get much more reading done and not have to worry about such complex issues.

As a somewhat religious person myself, I am trying to be sympathetic to this couple. Yes, to me giving blood to these babies seems more of a gift than a violation, but can I not defend their position as well? Is mortal death really the worst thing that can happen? Obviously not - they could have aborted these babies days before birth, and may have been praised by some for protecting the mother's health and not biting off more than they could chew family size wise.

Rising income disparity

“…After making record profits, Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported that it will pay its workers an average of $622,000 this year.

That's more than three times the average salary of a Massachusetts surgeon; four times that of a Massachusetts chief executive; and nearly 12 times that of a Massachusetts high school teacher, according to the state's Department of Workforce Development…”

Read Article

Wow?! As a former Wall Street employee I just can’t comprehend why Goldman employees should make 12x a high school teacher. It’s too bad wages weren’t based on positive impact to society. How many of the deals these firms orchestrate are actually accretive in the med/long term (for shareholders, not the CEO and bankers that is)? And despite the increasingly commoditized nature of M&A deals and proliferation of M&A shops the lucrative 7% commission remains…

I was surprised with the B-School Prof’s justification of the excessive income. He said this despite knowing he’s probably smarter than a majority of the people at Goldman yet makes 1/5th what they do.

“…While the salaries on Wall Street can be outsized, they reflect risk that few other professions face, said S.P. Kothari, a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management. Traders and investment bankers constantly have to meet the bottom line: One year they can make $600,000, the next year, lose their jobs…”

What kind of risk is there to cashing in on $600K in one year (a cool $30K/year return in safe investments)? How about being laid off from the most prestigious financial firm in the world? Not exactly a CLM (career limiting move).