Wordless Wednesday: Venus Williams, Last American Woman Standing at Australian Open

Health Care Facts vs. John McCain's Fiction

The United States ranked last in terms of efficiency among five other nations with universal health care, according to a Common Wealth study. The government-run health care system in Great Britain ranked first.

Compared with five other nations — Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom — the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives.

Efficiency: On indicators of efficiency, the U.S. ranks last among the six countries, with the U.K. and New Zealand ranking first and second, respectively. The U.S. has poor performance on measures of national health expenditures and administrative costs as well as on measures of the use of information technology and multidisciplinary teams. Also, of sicker respondents who visited the emergency room, those in Germany and New Zealand are less likely to have done so for a condition that could have been treated by a regular doctor, had one been available.

John McCain never did let the facts get in the way of his arguments. Am I the only villager who feels blessed that McCain is not currently living in the White House? Check him out as he talks nonsense about health care reform in the United States:




I'm looking for feedback. Share your village voice with us on the issue of health care reform. What are you thinking as you listen to McCain, Obama and others?

SBS Dateline on LaVena Johnson

Drumbeats from Philip Barron let us know that the story of Pfc. LaVena Johnson is being told on Australian network television this month. A news magazine show, SBS Dateline, brings its focus to the controversial death of Pfc. LaVena Johnson and the issue of sexual assault in the US military.

The feature, “Dark Secrets,” is scheduled to air on May 29, but a preview is available now to watch online. The preview shares some heart-wrenching comments from LaVena's parents. Please let me know if you find the complete airing of the segment someplace online.

The prayers of our entire village are with Pfc. Johnson's family.

Venus and Serena Williams Win Australian Open Doubles Championship

Serena and Venus Williams teamed to win their eighth Grand Slam doubles title in the Australian Open, a day before Serena's bid for a 10th major singles crown. They beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3 for their third doubles championship in Australia.

Kenneth Ransom as McReele

Lloyd Ransom was one of my father's best friends from his boyhood days in Tulsa. After college they both ended up working in the aeronautics industry out in southern California. He became my godfather when I was born.

Uncle Lloyd and his wife, Archie had three children. One of them was a little runt named Kenny. When I was young, Uncle Lloyd and his family moved to Denver CO. Anyhow, none of us are runts any longer ... and Kenny is now Kenneth. He is a working actor living in Australia.

Anyhow villagers, I'm proud of my godbrother ... he plays the title character in a play called, 'McReele'. Darius McReele is a death-row inmate when the play begins. He is exonerated from a sixteen-year murder conviction. Darius' sympathetic past and magnetic personality make him a darling of the lecture circuit, leading to national attention and political viability.

It sounds like a great play ... however, it goes with out saying that I'm touting it on my blog because Kenny ... uhhh ... Kenneth is in the flick. Here is the preview of the play that was filmed for an Australian television audience:



We have the Tony Awards for outstanding work in a Broadway play. I wonder what the Aussie award is called for similiar work Down Under?