Czech Health Care System in Numbers

According to the recent statistics, socialized health care system in Czech Republic spent 17493 CZK on curing the patients and 74 CZK on preventing the diseases, per insured, for the last year.

No, there (probably) is no error in the magnitude of these numbers...

Sweet deals

Sweet deals at Wal-Mart suddenly turned bitter. For those in a hurry

JACKSON, Mo. -- A collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved. After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Mrs. Shank's care.

Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Mrs. Shank's former employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The rule of law is such a wonderful thing.

Drugs for happiness

People say that half of the people in the US is using some kind of mental health drugs. I'm quite sure it is not that many, but it certainly is a lot. Especially people who are middle-aged and older, divorced,...
Often, one considers these people inferior, "puppets" without free will because of the influence of drugs on the mind of the user. I used to agree - my mind is the most (the only?) useful thing I have and I do not want to damage it or alter it any way (yeah, I don't do drugs).
However, I don't agree anymore. Many drugs are designed to minimize negative consequences and many are not addictive. And they make their users happy. Why not to use them? If somebody had a difficult life, uncountable tragic experiences and memories, doesn't it make sense to suppress them a little? What's wrong with being simply happy? Who cares that it is not "natural" happiness? The drug user cannot tell and why should people around him care?
I won't start taking them myself, not now anyway. But I think it is an option one should consider. There is just one happiness. And it feels great.

Magic pill

Finally, there is a FDA-approved weight loss pill. It has one small glitch that make it VERY effective indeed. The pill works by blocking absorption of fat in your intestine. The glitch? The lower part of your intestine does not expect the fat to come, because it should have been absorbed in the upper part. This has seemingly unpleasant effects like "oily gas" and "uncontrollable oily discharge" which is exactly as bad as it sounds.
This makes the pill the ultimate treatment: to suppress the negative effects which follow the blocking fat, you need to stop eating fat.Thus, you will loose weight. Problem solved. In fact, at the end, you do not even need the pill! Just stop eating that fat!

Wow, I wish I figured that out first... Unfortunately, the idea that not eating fat helps is, as experience showed, ridiculous. The fat is substituted with corn syrup and starch, which add calories. But hey, it is fat FREE!