Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

This is an artical once published in a TIME special report.

A copy can be found here: http://livingwithmcl.com/BitterPill.pdf

Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us was written by Steven Brill and provides a sobering, disturbing, and slightly depressing view of our medical billing system in the USA as well as large amounts of evidence from individual cases as well as some more generalized figures.

I would not say this articles was particularly politically aligned, in fact it commends political parties for what they do write while at the same time chastising that which is done wrong.

The parties the article is least kind to are non-profit hospitals and medical industry lobbyists, while also doing its best to leave medical device providers and pharmaceutical companies in an unflattering light.

This article seeks to explain why health care costs so much in the USA and providing a contrast of showing where costs are reasonable and how even then there are flaws.

I would strongly encourage people to read the 28 page article.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

“The Girl Who Kicked the Horner’s Nest” is unfortunately the third and (thus far) final book in the “Millennium series” by Stieg Larsson who passed away before he could write a fourth (maybe someone will fill in for him someday).

By far this book has the most revelations regarding who Lizbeth Salander is, her past, her allies, her friends, and her enemies. While all of this is good what is really great regarding Salander’s character is that by the end of this book she has grown and matured some, and also seemingly realized that friends are not a terrible thing to have.

This book is heavily dedicated, from the perspective of many characters, the investigation of what happened at the end of “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and what led up to those events. I would argue that this book has the largest cast of characters from whose eyes we see the plot unfold. It is very heavily investigation driven and fantastic for it.

There is a section dedicated as a distraction regarding a vengeful stalker of Erika Berger which… I’m not convinced should have been in the book, but, whatever.

Also, the climax in the courtroom is phenomenal and was fantastic to read.

The falling action at the end of the book raises questions about what happened to Elizabeth Salander’s twin sister, which if a meeting took place between the two has been hinted throughout the “Millennium series” to pack explosive potential of disastrous proportions. It makes me really want to read a fourth book, but alas, there is not one (yet, maybe some author will take up the mantle).

I’m very glad I read the series though, it was a very different style and pace than I’m used to.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

The second book in the “Millennium series” was also quite enjoyable.

One part that bugged me though was that the beginning started out very slowly and almost completely off topic for the rest of the book for no apparent reason. It seemed unnecessary, especially because the main cast of characters, not including some that would become more important, were introduced in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. The real problem is this slow rolling introduction does not even introduce the new important characters. I would have preferred a more direct jump into the action.

“The Girl Who Played with Fire” concentrates a lot more on Elizabeth Salander and her past, while not revealing too much of it until the end, and a lot less on Mikael Blomkvist.

This book was more interesting as there did not necessarily appear to be a protagonist who was dominating the book from their viewpoint. In many ways I would say Salander was the protagonist in this book but we often learn about what may or may not be happening to her through the eyes and narration following other characters who are entangled in her story. I liked this aspect a lot.

I would definitely suggest that anyone who has read “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” should read “The Girl Who Played with Fire” as well.

Also, it should be noted that “The Girl Who Played with Fire” ends on such a strong note and cliffhanger that I really would strongly encourage having “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” on hand to read as soon as you finish the book.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Having read “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” coming up with terms how to describe it is a bit difficult. One could use words such as “gritty” or “raw” or “dark” and those words would fit but I’m not sure I would use them in a one or two word summary. I think I would go with “serious” and maybe “complicated”.

Structurally the novel jumps through a few perspectives, the protagonists ultimately being Blomkvist and Salander. I do appreciate that the names were not anglicanized and that many words stayed in (presumably) Swedish or another language as needed and usually later explained to the reader.

And I’m not really going to go into a plot summary, there’s a movie for that (which I enjoyed and got me interested in the books) and Wikipedia if one is so inclined.

The book starts off slowly, and I mean very very slowly. It picks up to a moderate pace, has a wonderful double climax of sorts, and then a few chapters coasting down to a not so sweet end, depending on which protagonist is your favorite. Not a bad end mind you, just not the happiest for Salander, which is okay, it would not have been very fitting if she got a “happily ever after” anyways.

I would like to mention one rather annoying thing the author, Stieg Larsson, does on about three occasions in the middle of the book. He starts a scene of consensual adult foreplay and just as the characters are going to have sex swaps character perspective for a rape scene. He then plays out the rape scene and concludes by going back to the nice afterglow of the adult consensual relations. Put simply, it is rather twisted and messes with your head.

Overall though, quite an enjoyable novel and I’m looking forward to reading the others in the Millennium series.

Also, one more note, Stieg Larsson does an interesting job in blending his different character perspective, rather than having them accidentally collide later at least one of the disparate perspectives is always aware of the other and often has had an effect of some sort on the life of the other character. I contrast this the often separate yet colliding paths, or at least less directly connected paths as shown in Orson Scott Card’s and Aaron Johnson’s “The First Formic Wars” trilogy or in William Gibson’s “Sprawl Trilogy” in which most other characters are unaware of one another until their paths collide.

Earth Awakens

This book continues where “Earth Afire” left off. The Formics are having their way with China and doing a number on any attempts against them in space too.

Finally in this book we start to see some of the actions to make a more cohesive Earth, one more reflected in “Ender’s Game” or “Ender’s Shadow” play out. Things are finally coming together.

This book is probably the fastest paced and most action packed of the trilogy thus far. It provides a solid conclusion to the First Formic War.

The blending of the character perspectives and actually having the characters meet and interact is much better in this book than the prior two and much closer to the woven tapestry feel of William Gibson’s “Sprawl Trilogy”. I hope any subsequent books using these multiple character viewpoints by the Card / Johnson duo come across as well and fluidly.

Lastly the book ends on a properly ominous note, one that bodes as a good tie in for a series on the Second Formic War.

I would actually be happy to have some filler as to the formation of the International Fleet (IF) and the Hegemony. It would be great to read about the struggles and development of these institutions taken for a given in subsequent books.

Lastly, I’m going to express a bit of inner turmoil in purchasing and reading Orson Scott Card’s books. I get it, he’s a person with his own religious and political views. He’s also a Mormon and has on multiple occasions either denounced homosexuality or joined organizations that I would say are questionable in regards to their advocacy on how to treat part of the human population.
There’s a real aspect of cognitive dissonance that I see here. You have an author who is by far most famous for his science fiction, his most popular series heavily based in the triumphs of a united humanity and its children, and in theory one would expect that in a world moving toward such unity that racism, bigotry, and many other contributors to hate of those who are “different” would fall away. And yet, you have an author who while writing about this will publicly state and back beliefs that would harm chances at the acceptance necessary for such unity as the human race.

I guess in many ways I would implore Orson Scott Card, if I could, to view the world as his character Colonel Graff does and to value all of humanity and seek to protect everyone’s future.

The Art of War: The New Illustrated Edition

Authored by Sun Tzu

Translated by Samuel B. Griffith

“The Art of War” is a long time staple of tactics. It primarily focuses on the quality and manner of leadership for a general (head of forces). Some chapters are dedicated to discipline.

Other chapters focus on how to use land, weather, and other uncontrollable characteristics to your advantage and how one should treat each situation.

The last chapter is dedicated how to use espionage and intelligence, something the United States clearly strongly practices.

In many ways, what makes the book so interesting is how old it is and yet how applicable the verses are to modern warfare and tactics.

In terms of length and composition it is rather short. The book is written in short verses, usually all well grouped and on topic, though at times there are some jumps. The version I read had commentary from other ancient writers as well as footnotes.

Perhaps the part I found most interesting was in the end where there is a series of exchanges (not part of the main text but included as part of the compilation) that had the precepts of the book as a series of discussions between the emperor or king and their military adviser. This section was less dry and staccato and more organic in the delivery of the information and was very interesting in that regard.