Page A3

I don't read page A3 of the Strib much because it often features stories that have been beaten to death in other media (or are otherwise annoying). But I read it today, and have some thoughts to share.

Senate says no to drug imports (top story): I think federally-sanctioned drug "reimportation" is about the stupidest idea ever. And not just because people had to make up a word to describe it. So, leaders in other countries have the political will to reduce the cost of health care, including prescription drugs. Instead of endlessly debating an absurd plan to piggyback on the work of others, how about our political leaders devote energy to actually fixing the problem here? Perhaps efforts to change how we price and consume health care? Mayo has some ideas on achieving better quality at a lower cost. More of that, less of the absurd.

Astronomers awestruck by the most super supernova ever recorded (below the fold for obvious reasons): Ridiculous headline aside, articles about major scientific discoveries make me worry about how much our understanding of the world has changed since (for example) I slept through the astronomy unit in 8th grade science. Case in point: a few years ago two scientists won a Nobel for demonstrating that ulcers are caused by a certain bacterium rather than stress and coffee. Now, doesn't this seem like vital information--like it should be put on a billboard so that bunches of stressed out folks don't continue to be stressed out because they can't reduce the stress enough to get rid of a painful ulcer? Just like antivirus software provides periodic updates, I think each year the scientific community should produce a brief summary of all the discoveries that rendered obsolete a worldview shaped by grade-school science textbooks. Perhaps the December issue of Discover magazine could tackle this for me?

P. S. If you have a Strib handy, check out the great picture of the Queen looking askance at the Pres., also on page A3.

P. P. S. If you are unfamiliar with the ulcer discovery, check out the link. No one would believe them, so one swallowed some of the bacteria to prove it. Now that's worth a Nobel.