Possibly bogus prediction contest (via Gas station without pumps)

I liked the attitude here, a little anger, a lot of indignation and a skeptical attitude, all the things this country needs more of.

I’d give it a read if I were you.

James Pilant

The Heritage Provider Network (whoever they are) has announced a $3 million prize “to develop a breakthrough algorithm that uses available patient data, including health records and claims data, to predict and prevent unnecessary hospitalizations.”  They claim that they want this to benefit individual patients, but it seems to me that the most obvious use is to deny insurance or charge very high prices to those most at risk of hospitalization. I … Read More

via Gas station without pumps

Why Business Books Are Helplessly Helpless (via ringingtruenovel)

I enjoyed this essay. I have never been impressed by most business books. The ones I generally read are stories of business collapse, business crimes and business biographies.

I teach business law and I find most of the “how to get ahead in business books” to be mainly nonsense.

The author doesn’t like business book much either and writes about it well.

I recommend you read it.

James Pilant

I’ve had a few real jobs that required me to read extensively in the genre of business books. Correction: I’ve had a few real jobs that required me to skim business books. It’s impossible to actually read a business book, because there’s so little there there. When I have to read one, I skip to the end of a chapter and pray that th … Read More

via ringingtruenovel

Engineers fail to seal leak at Japan nuke plant (via AP and Yahoo News)

They were missing two workers since March 11th and didn’t realize they were gone? They are only reporting it now? Are there some other bodies they are not telling us about? Is the cycle of lies and evasions and pretended ignorance never to stop?

Do I need to discuss the ethics of this? This is pure corporate PR done badly. I imagine soon they will read the American newspapers and discover from pro-nuclear editorials that this is positive event since it will give us information that will help us prevent later disasters. In ten years they will be taking pictures of the wildlife in the restricted zone of radiation and explaining how these events made a nature preserve possible. With a few more accidents we can have the whole of Japan as a nature preserve. You will be able to pay to visit them for a few hours but don’t worry your exposure will only be equivalent to a chest x-ray.

James Pilant

From AP and Yahoo News -RYAN NAKASHIMA and MARI YAMAGUCHI -

Engineers failed to seal a crack where highly radioactive water was spilling into the Pacific from a Japanese nuclear power plant incapacitated by last month’s earthquake-spawned tsunami but said a search of the site found no other leaks Sunday.

The wave has carved a path of destruction up and down the coast and is believed to have killed 25,000 people. The first deaths at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant itself, though, were confirmed Sunday by the operator. A 21-year-old and a 24-year-old were believed to be conducting regular checks at the complex when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit March 11.

“It pains me that these two young workers were trying to protect the power plant while being hit by the earthquake and tsunami,” Tokyo Electric Power Co. Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement.

It was unclear why the men did not evacuate when the quake hit.

The bodies were not discovered until Wednesday and had to be decontaminated. The announcement was delayed out of respect for the victims’ families, TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda said.

Radiation has been spewing from the plant, leaking into the air, ground and sea. On Saturday, authorities discovered a crack from which radioactive water was spilling into the Pacific — the first time they identified a direct source of sea contamination.