Mischievous Ramblings II

Common Carriage and Networks: Dispelling a Myth

Roughly speaking (I am Not a Lawyer), a "common carrier" was a transportation company (we're talking horses, buggies, trains, etc.) which offered services to everyone, as opposed to a "contract carrier" which made individual agreements with specific individuals for transport.  The usage has been vulgarly (that is, by the "common people", as opposed to lawyers) extended to telcos (sometimes specified as TCCs -- Telecommunications Common Carriers) implying that TCCs offer services (network, phone, etc.) to all comers.

US Medical System Worst In 19 Industrialized Nations

Reuters reports on a study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, authored by Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee, published in Health Affairs, a peer reviewed journal:

France, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on preventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations, researchers said on Tuesday.