Working in Healthcare IT and actually on an EMR project for a fairly prominent hospital I'd like to comment on a few of your points:
1) There is HUGE need for developers but budget concerns are a real problem, the stimulus money is years away but the cost of implementation is immediate. This creates a real problem, the need is there but the budget isn't and the timeframe for implementation doesn't leave much room to adjust the budget to open new positions without cutting into development time.
2) I'm going to stay out of the pro/anti-Obama sentiment but I will agree that the government is being way too minimal. If they want to set the rules, they need to set the rules. Currently the vague nature of "meaningful use" is a major problem when trying to tie together multiple legacy systems in time. Obviously it would be nice to eventually merge everything into one flow, we simply don't have time for that, and no one can afford to miss the deadlines. Also, Google and MS are both making extreme pushes for their "single repository" systems. The very concept disturbs me even as I implement it.
3) Yes deadlines are good for driving the industry forward, but there are realistic problems with the deadlines that have been set. If you told every person in america that they had to switch to a hybrid car or half their pay would be garnished you would end up with a lot of people walking to work. Which ties directly into 4) the third party companies are backed up, the hospitals are trying to pick up the slack but are backed up by point 1 and everyone is just sort of holding their breath.
It's more than a carrot, there is also quite a large stick attached to this.
All ER/EDs treat any patient that comes in, regardless of insurance. They report to and receive money from Medicare based on treatment of these uninsured patients. If you do not meet the new standards set forth, the money you receive from Medicare will be drastically cut. For large city hospitals this is simply not an option.
I wonder if pointing that out as a dutiful employee gets me a bonus.
Also, considering the high number of foreign students and the relatively low number of US jobs, even if this was true it's not like companies are magically going to make thousands of positions available for foreign grads. I don't know of any of the foreign undergrads I went to Johns Hopkins with having an easier time getting a job as they have to beg/borrow/steal/jump through hoops getting a visa at the same time.
That makes sense, but there are a lot more than just salary involved in getting teachers to lower scoring schools. The _possibility_ of a higher salary weighed against working in a dangerous environment is, in my opinion of course, not likely to bring in better teachers. Working a cushy job in the suburbs for a moderate salary versus working in an inner city schools, in a dangerous area, where you are likely to see at least petty vandalism as a regular occurrence for the chance at making extra money, that's not a winning proposition to many people.
That said, I don't have a better idea. I attended a private school for K-8 and thne 9-12 (Catholic schools both) and barring an exceptionally boring Theology class, I've always felt I got much better education than my friends at public school. Mostly resulting from smaller class sizes and better parent-teacher interaction (it's much easier for a teacher to really work with parents when there are less kids, and parental involvement in education is key). I've never supported a voucher program though, I believe that public education is important and I wish I had a better idea of how to improve it.
but to say that it's difficult to track this due to an individual student's learning capacity, ability, and desire is just nonsense to me.
I absolutely disagree. My father spent 30 years working as a public school teacher at a vocational/technical school. If they managed to go a week without an evacuation for a bomb threat it was cause for a celebration. The majority of the students were cast offs from the surrounding 5 schools districts. I don't see how it would at all be possible to use merit-based pay on that student base. Apathetic, mentally handicapped, or simply dangerous students aren't going to magically become pro-active happy students no matter how much you bait/threaten the teachers with pay increases/decreases.
I just don't understand how merit-based pay is going to change let's say, inner city Baltimore schools into bastions of scientific learning. If anything it's going to further drive teachers away from those schools.
Since when does something being impractical make it untrue? I have the impression that your notion of impractical equates to useless, which I disagree with.
Ungh, whining about how everything is broken but you don't want to bother is the first step to being ignored, not change, I think you have confused whining with protest. Protest generally comes with the intent to actually do something, whining - as we have here - clearly states the intent to do nothing and have no change (but continue to whine).
Actually it's quite possible to build a small island in international water. I'm not really interested in revolting so I don't have any plans, but your lack of ability to plan doesn't make my point any less valid.
"And maybe I am lazy, but I don't want to spend my life campaigning, I have better things to do (like living it)." Wow, I mean, just wow. You think things are terribly wrong and awful but you can't be bothered to fix them, but you obviously want them to be fixed because otherwise you wouldn't be complaining.
While you are "having a quiet smoke", other people are actively campaigning for candidates/running for office themselves/getting things done while you just whine. If you truly and wholeheartedly believe the system is corrupt beyond measure than leave or revolt. Whining solves nothing. The whole argument "It's broken and everyone is dumb" is just a crutch for the lazy to fall back on when things don't go their way. Move somewhere else, found your own nation, or revolt. All are valid options for you, all have had historical success in allowing people to live lives more attune with what they want. Take a pick, just stop bitching.
I think his point was that the drivers are a known issue just like disk access is a known issue and both should be noted equally. Instead of one being noted, and the other not which implies a mysterious and general terribleness.
Obviously you're not a teacher who has to deal with parents/PTA/school boards who are jumping after the teachers about not jumping after the students about things that have NOTHING to do with teaching to begin with.
<quote> My fiance decided to go vegetarian after about 3 years of being together</quote>
I'm in a similar situation and it's worked out just fine. We make sure that if I'm making something meaty there is something else for her and everyone is happy (and meat-filled in my case). I don't pester her, she doesn't wail and gnash her teeth and we just get along. We like to buy at the local farmer's market, it's just so much better, and you can get all the facts about how the animals live if you're concerned.
You absolutely are arguing about what happens to those who break the law. My whole point was that you are admitting to breaking the law, and THEN point out that you thinks the law is harmful. It ruins your case. It immediately makes me assume that you wants the law to be changed simply because you are ignoring it already and it would be easier for you. That's an insane way to live. I can't choose to drive on the wrong side of the road cause that's where my destination is and I would rather be closer.
Also, where was your strong argument?
The intense violence and total terror you see, is the result not of drugs, but of a black market run rampant. ?? I don't see either. Possibly because I don't engage the black market, thus putting myself in a position to see those. What's that? By choosing not to put myself in danger, I'm not in danger?! Who would have thought?
I grew up next to plenty of shitty (PA is not your home for intelligent dealers) drug dealers, I giggled when the cops came by to arrest them, there was no terror or danger.
Nobody has a right to decide what does and doesn't go into my body except for me.
Well hopefully no one is putting anything in your body besides you already.
Anyway, the major fallacy of the "noble drug user" is that there is some mystical force preventing them from using drugs. You are, without a doubt, absolutely free to use whatever drug you want. The first and only step is go somewhere that you own, or that is not owned by anyone else.
See, this is the real rub, we live in this place called a "country" and this country has "rules" and in order to continue to live in this country without punishment, the "rule makers" expect you to follow those rules. Now no one is stopping you from leaving the country, making your own, living on a boat in international waters or moving to Canada (I hear the maple syrup is divine there.)
Hell, if you ask for it, you might even be able to get exile as your punishment. What you want, to live here and to do whatever you want, is just silly. If you want the rules changed, that's fine, you lobby, you protest, you elect different "rule makers", you attempt violent revolution even, what you don't do, is disobey the rules and then whine about how you think the rules are unfair.
Yes, the rest of the world is different than America, congrats on redundantly pointing that out.
A story about an American newspaper, dealing with American politics, and an American scale of liberal/conservative bias has nothing to do with the rest of the world. I don't understand why people keep pointing out that what we consider liberal isn't to them. That's fantastic, totally off topic, but fantastic. There are probably many differences between Europe and America, and while that is just jolly, it's not relevant.
Well I didn't say this is "hardly even a dead soldier." Death is death, it happens often, everywhere.
I definitely agree that if you are in some bombed-out shell of an Iraqi town, it probably sucks balls.
But it's not 'war or not', was it war every time we bombed Iraq in the 90's? Was it war every time we sent cruise missiles into red cross building (are we at war with them yet?). This is our current obsession with aggrandizement and sensationalism. We had a small war where two armies had actual conflict, that didn't last long, now because we no longer have the stomach to loot and pillage and leave nothing but rubble (which I'm wholeheartedly for) we are stuck as babysitters.
The Battle of Antietam (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South), fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties.
------
Casualty estimates from the battle vary widely. The official U.S. account lists 80,987 American casualties, while other estimates range from 70,000 to 104,000. Most of the American casualties occurred within the first three days of battle, when two of the U.S. 106th Infantry Divisionâ(TM)s three regiments were forced to surrender. The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest of the battles that U.S. forces experienced in World War II; the 19,000 American dead were unsurpassed by those of any other engagement
------------
4,119 dead as of July 15th 2008. As of March 2008 there were 8,914 wounded requiring medical air transport. 20,416 wounded did not require medical air transport. Of all the wounded 13,109 were unable to return to duty within 72 hours. Medical air transport was required for an additional 8,273 for non-hostile injuries, and for 23,052 for diseases or other medical conditions.
That last one is from the current FOUR YEARS in Iraq.
Slashdot Mirror
And those two shall continue in pointless vandalism that no one beyond their twitter followers and the people cleaning up after them care about.
I love that you use puerile to show your fancy vocabulary and then fail basic grammar throughout the rest of your post.
Biting the head off of a live chicken is a key component to functioning in society.
Working in Healthcare IT and actually on an EMR project for a fairly prominent hospital I'd like to comment on a few of your points:
1) There is HUGE need for developers but budget concerns are a real problem, the stimulus money is years away but the cost of implementation is immediate. This creates a real problem, the need is there but the budget isn't and the timeframe for implementation doesn't leave much room to adjust the budget to open new positions without cutting into development time.
2) I'm going to stay out of the pro/anti-Obama sentiment but I will agree that the government is being way too minimal. If they want to set the rules, they need to set the rules. Currently the vague nature of "meaningful use" is a major problem when trying to tie together multiple legacy systems in time. Obviously it would be nice to eventually merge everything into one flow, we simply don't have time for that, and no one can afford to miss the deadlines. Also, Google and MS are both making extreme pushes for their "single repository" systems. The very concept disturbs me even as I implement it.
3) Yes deadlines are good for driving the industry forward, but there are realistic problems with the deadlines that have been set. If you told every person in america that they had to switch to a hybrid car or half their pay would be garnished you would end up with a lot of people walking to work. Which ties directly into 4) the third party companies are backed up, the hospitals are trying to pick up the slack but are backed up by point 1 and everyone is just sort of holding their breath.
It's more than a carrot, there is also quite a large stick attached to this.
All ER/EDs treat any patient that comes in, regardless of insurance. They report to and receive money from Medicare based on treatment of these uninsured patients. If you do not meet the new standards set forth, the money you receive from Medicare will be drastically cut. For large city hospitals this is simply not an option.
I wonder if pointing that out as a dutiful employee gets me a bonus.
Also, considering the high number of foreign students and the relatively low number of US jobs, even if this was true it's not like companies are magically going to make thousands of positions available for foreign grads. I don't know of any of the foreign undergrads I went to Johns Hopkins with having an easier time getting a job as they have to beg/borrow/steal/jump through hoops getting a visa at the same time.
I'll love you forever for calling swine flu captain tripps.
That makes sense, but there are a lot more than just salary involved in getting teachers to lower scoring schools. The _possibility_ of a higher salary weighed against working in a dangerous environment is, in my opinion of course, not likely to bring in better teachers. Working a cushy job in the suburbs for a moderate salary versus working in an inner city schools, in a dangerous area, where you are likely to see at least petty vandalism as a regular occurrence for the chance at making extra money, that's not a winning proposition to many people.
That said, I don't have a better idea. I attended a private school for K-8 and thne 9-12 (Catholic schools both) and barring an exceptionally boring Theology class, I've always felt I got much better education than my friends at public school. Mostly resulting from smaller class sizes and better parent-teacher interaction (it's much easier for a teacher to really work with parents when there are less kids, and parental involvement in education is key). I've never supported a voucher program though, I believe that public education is important and I wish I had a better idea of how to improve it.
but to say that it's difficult to track this due to an individual student's learning capacity, ability, and desire is just nonsense to me.
I absolutely disagree. My father spent 30 years working as a public school teacher at a vocational/technical school. If they managed to go a week without an evacuation for a bomb threat it was cause for a celebration. The majority of the students were cast offs from the surrounding 5 schools districts. I don't see how it would at all be possible to use merit-based pay on that student base. Apathetic, mentally handicapped, or simply dangerous students aren't going to magically become pro-active happy students no matter how much you bait/threaten the teachers with pay increases/decreases.
I just don't understand how merit-based pay is going to change let's say, inner city Baltimore schools into bastions of scientific learning. If anything it's going to further drive teachers away from those schools.
I could use my moderate points to mod down everyone who promotes use of the word "cloud"
Since when does something being impractical make it untrue? I have the impression that your notion of impractical equates to useless, which I disagree with.
Ungh, whining about how everything is broken but you don't want to bother is the first step to being ignored, not change, I think you have confused whining with protest. Protest generally comes with the intent to actually do something, whining - as we have here - clearly states the intent to do nothing and have no change (but continue to whine).
Actually it's quite possible to build a small island in international water. I'm not really interested in revolting so I don't have any plans, but your lack of ability to plan doesn't make my point any less valid.
"And maybe I am lazy, but I don't want to spend my life campaigning, I have better things to do (like living it)." Wow, I mean, just wow. You think things are terribly wrong and awful but you can't be bothered to fix them, but you obviously want them to be fixed because otherwise you wouldn't be complaining.
What utter bullshit.
While you are "having a quiet smoke", other people are actively campaigning for candidates/running for office themselves/getting things done while you just whine. If you truly and wholeheartedly believe the system is corrupt beyond measure than leave or revolt. Whining solves nothing. The whole argument "It's broken and everyone is dumb" is just a crutch for the lazy to fall back on when things don't go their way. Move somewhere else, found your own nation, or revolt. All are valid options for you, all have had historical success in allowing people to live lives more attune with what they want. Take a pick, just stop bitching.
I think his point was that the drivers are a known issue just like disk access is a known issue and both should be noted equally. Instead of one being noted, and the other not which implies a mysterious and general terribleness.
Obviously you're not a teacher who has to deal with parents/PTA/school boards who are jumping after the teachers about not jumping after the students about things that have NOTHING to do with teaching to begin with.
<quote> My fiance decided to go vegetarian after about 3 years of being together</quote>
I'm in a similar situation and it's worked out just fine. We make sure that if I'm making something meaty there is something else for her and everyone is happy (and meat-filled in my case). I don't pester her, she doesn't wail and gnash her teeth and we just get along. We like to buy at the local farmer's market, it's just so much better, and you can get all the facts about how the animals live if you're concerned.
You absolutely are arguing about what happens to those who break the law. My whole point was that you are admitting to breaking the law, and THEN point out that you thinks the law is harmful. It ruins your case. It immediately makes me assume that you wants the law to be changed simply because you are ignoring it already and it would be easier for you. That's an insane way to live. I can't choose to drive on the wrong side of the road cause that's where my destination is and I would rather be closer.
Also, where was your strong argument?
The intense violence and total terror you see, is the result not of drugs, but of a black market run rampant. ?? I don't see either. Possibly because I don't engage the black market, thus putting myself in a position to see those. What's that? By choosing not to put myself in danger, I'm not in danger?! Who would have thought?
I grew up next to plenty of shitty (PA is not your home for intelligent dealers) drug dealers, I giggled when the cops came by to arrest them, there was no terror or danger.
Nobody has a right to decide what does and doesn't go into my body except for me.
Well hopefully no one is putting anything in your body besides you already.
Anyway, the major fallacy of the "noble drug user" is that there is some mystical force preventing them from using drugs. You are, without a doubt, absolutely free to use whatever drug you want. The first and only step is go somewhere that you own, or that is not owned by anyone else.
See, this is the real rub, we live in this place called a "country" and this country has "rules" and in order to continue to live in this country without punishment, the "rule makers" expect you to follow those rules. Now no one is stopping you from leaving the country, making your own, living on a boat in international waters or moving to Canada (I hear the maple syrup is divine there.)
Hell, if you ask for it, you might even be able to get exile as your punishment. What you want, to live here and to do whatever you want, is just silly. If you want the rules changed, that's fine, you lobby, you protest, you elect different "rule makers", you attempt violent revolution even, what you don't do, is disobey the rules and then whine about how you think the rules are unfair.
Yes, the rest of the world is different than America, congrats on redundantly pointing that out.
A story about an American newspaper, dealing with American politics, and an American scale of liberal/conservative bias has nothing to do with the rest of the world. I don't understand why people keep pointing out that what we consider liberal isn't to them. That's fantastic, totally off topic, but fantastic. There are probably many differences between Europe and America, and while that is just jolly, it's not relevant.
He must have thought up a replacement by now.
Only now it takes more skill POINTS to succeed
You Maybe next time you'll meet :(
Well I didn't say this is "hardly even a dead soldier." Death is death, it happens often, everywhere. I definitely agree that if you are in some bombed-out shell of an Iraqi town, it probably sucks balls. But it's not 'war or not', was it war every time we bombed Iraq in the 90's? Was it war every time we sent cruise missiles into red cross building (are we at war with them yet?). This is our current obsession with aggrandizement and sensationalism. We had a small war where two armies had actual conflict, that didn't last long, now because we no longer have the stomach to loot and pillage and leave nothing but rubble (which I'm wholeheartedly for) we are stuck as babysitters.
The Battle of Antietam (also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the South), fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties. ------ Casualty estimates from the battle vary widely. The official U.S. account lists 80,987 American casualties, while other estimates range from 70,000 to 104,000. Most of the American casualties occurred within the first three days of battle, when two of the U.S. 106th Infantry Divisionâ(TM)s three regiments were forced to surrender. The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest of the battles that U.S. forces experienced in World War II; the 19,000 American dead were unsurpassed by those of any other engagement ------------ 4,119 dead as of July 15th 2008. As of March 2008 there were 8,914 wounded requiring medical air transport. 20,416 wounded did not require medical air transport. Of all the wounded 13,109 were unable to return to duty within 72 hours. Medical air transport was required for an additional 8,273 for non-hostile injuries, and for 23,052 for diseases or other medical conditions. That last one is from the current FOUR YEARS in Iraq.