Category Archives: sciences

the government you pay for

Posted on Monday, 2003 May 05 by Anton

Hey Hillary, it could be worse: Scotland now spends more of its national income on health than any other country in the developed world. While this has led to higher hospital staffing levels, Scotland’s life expectancy remains the lowest in … Continue reading →

Posted in medicine, politics | Leave a comment

QotD

Posted on Saturday, 2003 April 19 by Anton

G K Chesterton: The Uses of Diversity, 1921 Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists.

Posted in economics | Leave a comment

humanity sneezes with me

Posted on Thursday, 2003 April 10 by Anton

So it looks like the Chinese pneumonia may be the newest mutant of the common cold. Maybe a vaccine for the latter will emerge from efforts against the former.

Posted in medicine | Leave a comment

that symmetry guy

Posted on Friday, 2003 April 04 by Anton

The eminent geometer HSM (Donald) Coxeter of Toronto died a few days ago, aged 96 years. His book Regular Polytopes (1963) sits on my reference shelf. For you non-mathematical types, it was Coxeter who sent MC Escher an article on … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, mathematics | Leave a comment

my new drug habit

Posted on Wednesday, 2003 April 02 by Anton

I’m now taking Wellbutrin @ four dollars a day. Full dose since Friday. Sleep slightly disturbed. My housemate says I’m less irritable. I’ve had just one depressive episode since I started on half-dose (the previous Friday); normal average would be … Continue reading →

Posted in me!me!me!, medicine, psychology | 1 Comment

adieu

Posted on Saturday, 2003 March 29 by Anton

Joe Fuhrig – golfer, economist, teacher, swell guy – died suddenly on March 3. His ashes were scattered furtively on a golf course. At the memorial service today, his family may have been taken aback at the size of the … Continue reading →

Posted in California, economics | Leave a comment

externalities of farming

Posted on Monday, 2003 March 17 by Anton

Two brief articles from New Scientist about external costs of agriculture. Subsidies in the form of cash and irrigation are obvious, but I never thought of the cost of cleaning pesticides etc out of tap water.