Well, it looks like the politicians in Washington DC have lost all touch with reality, in order to reach a compromise on the income tax breaks. Seems the compromise includes the worst ideas from both parties. A year-long cut in Social Security taxes will cost $120 billion, but somehow President Obama said there would be no effect on Social Security benefits nor long-term solvency. How could that possibly be?
Another problem is the extension of unemployment benefits, being financed by borrowing, instead of spending cuts. When will the politicians learn that they must stop spending money that they don't have?
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, October 19, 2009
Oracle JDBC NullPointerException
Got an interesting Oracle JDBC error with Oracle 10.2.0.4 database and thin JDBC driver. I invoked the method
Well I tried setting the value to be 1000 for the parameter:
and problem solved!
java.sql.Statement.setFetchSize(20000) on a java.sql.PreparedStatement object, and when I invoked the executeQuery() method on the object, I got the following stack trace:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at oracle.jdbc.driver.DBConversion._CHARBytesToJavaChars(DBConversion.java:974)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.DBConversion.CHARBytesToJavaChars(DBConversion.java:892)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CCharAccessor.unmarshalOneRow(T4CCharAccessor.java:199)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CTTIrxd.unmarshal(T4CTTIrxd.java:919)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CTTIrxd.unmarshal(T4CTTIrxd.java:843)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4C8Oall.receive(T4C8Oall.java:630)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CPreparedStatement.doOall8(T4CPreparedStatement.java:219)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CPreparedStatement.executeForRows(T4CPreparedStatement.java:970)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleStatement.executeMaybeDescribe(OracleStatement.java:1072)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.T4CPreparedStatement.executeMaybeDescribe(T4CPreparedStatement.java:854)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleStatement.doExecuteWithTimeout(OracleStatement.java:1154)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.OraclePreparedStatement.executeInternal(OraclePreparedStatement.java:3370)
at oracle.jdbc.driver.OraclePreparedStatement.executeQuery(OraclePreparedStatement.java:3415)
at MyOracleProgram.invokeQuery(MyOracleProgram.java:682)
Well I tried setting the value to be 1000 for the parameter:
setFetchSize(1000)and problem solved!
The default FetchSize for this version of Oracle appears to be 10, and if you know you will usually be getting back more than 10 rows, by all means set it to to a higher value, but if you try something bigger than 1,000 be careful!
Judging from the name of the method oracle.jdbc.driver.DBConversion._CHARBytesToJavaChars(DBConversion.java:974) in the stack trace, I bet there is a array for the result set with a hard-coded maximum array size of something bigger than 1000, but less than 20000. It would be nice if the oracle jdbc driver would catch this.
Update: Oracle support noticed I was using the ojdbc14.jar file and using Java JDK 1.6; I had to get the ojdbc6.jar file from the Oracle 11.2 JDBC distribution which is certified for JDK 1.6. Works just fine now, with Oracle 10.2 database, and JDK 1.6.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Health care costs out of control: Solution 3: Don't rush
In the rush to get a health care bill into law, a single amendment to it by Senator Debbie Stabenow was passed by a voice vote. Then later the Only after the amendment passed did the Congressional Budget Office realize it made a mistake in the scoring and under counted the one amendment to the tune of $600 million.
Quoting from the above link "It took Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to point it out. And now he is offering an amendment of his own to make sure this does not happen again." Basically he suggested congress couldn't vote on something until it had been publicly available for a certain amount of time. His amendment was defeated. Where is the transparency at that the leaders claim this health care reform will have, if no one can look at the proposed law?
Even more telling, is that senators are willing to force Medicaid on those who can't afford it, but are unwilling to accept the same coverage themselves if this bill passes! The New York Times details this unwillingness to be subject to themselves, what they think is good for all us.
Quoting from the above link "It took Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to point it out. And now he is offering an amendment of his own to make sure this does not happen again." Basically he suggested congress couldn't vote on something until it had been publicly available for a certain amount of time. His amendment was defeated. Where is the transparency at that the leaders claim this health care reform will have, if no one can look at the proposed law?
Even more telling, is that senators are willing to force Medicaid on those who can't afford it, but are unwilling to accept the same coverage themselves if this bill passes! The New York Times details this unwillingness to be subject to themselves, what they think is good for all us.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Health care costs out of control: Solution 2: Be informed
Read both sides of the issue.
Senator John Cornyn asks some good questions in this commentary on Forbes.com. He mentions everyday Americans are reading the proposed bill H.R. 3200 (text) (PDF), so hey, before I make brash statements about what it will or won't do, I have some light reading to do.
And for a good book on President Obama's health care reform, check out the book Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform (and glance at my review). I learned a lot about some of the advantages of the proposed reform.
Update: Here's a good starting place to look at the most recent proposals of the Senate version, at a Wall Street Journal blog on health care. 564 amendments to it already! Who could possibly keep up with all this? And what is scary is that this bill will be a long-term change to everything; good or bad; so I think that we need to put more thought into fixing something that took 40 years to go bad, and not try to fix it in 40 days.
The economy is currently far too fragile to risk something this big and costly.
Senator John Cornyn asks some good questions in this commentary on Forbes.com. He mentions everyday Americans are reading the proposed bill H.R. 3200 (text) (PDF), so hey, before I make brash statements about what it will or won't do, I have some light reading to do.
And for a good book on President Obama's health care reform, check out the book Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform (and glance at my review). I learned a lot about some of the advantages of the proposed reform.
Update: Here's a good starting place to look at the most recent proposals of the Senate version, at a Wall Street Journal blog on health care. 564 amendments to it already! Who could possibly keep up with all this? And what is scary is that this bill will be a long-term change to everything; good or bad; so I think that we need to put more thought into fixing something that took 40 years to go bad, and not try to fix it in 40 days.
The economy is currently far too fragile to risk something this big and costly.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Health care costs out of control: Solution 1
Wash your hands. And ensure your health-care professionals do too.
One of the most dreaded and dangerous staph infection is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. It is difficult to kill this bacteria, and infections can be deadly. And often it is transmitted by health care workers who don't wash their hands between patients.
Treating such infections is extremely costly; often requiring a return hospital visit. A recent study showed a 50% drop in the number of cases of MRSA simply by having what amounts to "hand-washing cops" reminding any staff members of the rules to wash their hands if they were seen leaving a patient room without washing their hands. Compliance rates went up from 50% to 90%.
One of the most dreaded and dangerous staph infection is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. It is difficult to kill this bacteria, and infections can be deadly. And often it is transmitted by health care workers who don't wash their hands between patients.
Treating such infections is extremely costly; often requiring a return hospital visit. A recent study showed a 50% drop in the number of cases of MRSA simply by having what amounts to "hand-washing cops" reminding any staff members of the rules to wash their hands if they were seen leaving a patient room without washing their hands. Compliance rates went up from 50% to 90%.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Health care costs out of control: Symptom 1
Here is a symptom of our health care crisis. The U.S. government wants to expand health care coverage with a government program. It will undoubtedly will be similar to Medicare; and Medicare is rife with cost overruns and problems. President Obama's first quick "fix" was to suggest cutting reimbursement amounts to doctors. Gee, that would cut costs, but how many more doctors will stop accepting Medicare patients? At least he is also proposing cuts on procedures, and increase payments to primary care physicians. But cutting payments to specialists will limit access to those specialists
My mother fell when visiting me a couple years ago, and cracked her pelvis. She had Medicare. The hospital did a fine job, and recommended a followup visit with an orthopedic doctor. I had to call around to finally find one that accepted Medicare. I was less than impressed with the doctor. He asked how she was doing, and asked her to move her legs, but that was it. No physical exam, no x-rays taken, and I'm not sure he even looked at the x-rays taken at the hospital. He probably didn't have time. And when the doctor was asking my mom some questions, at one point, she didn't respond. He repeated the question louder; still no response. Again he asked, then she answered. He didn't ask if she had heard him, and didn't ask me if that had happened before. In hindsight, it appears she was having a transient ischemic attack (TIA - a mini-stroke) or maybe an absence seizure. But he was too busy to worry about that!
So the solution to health care is to cut reimbursements to doctors?
My mother fell when visiting me a couple years ago, and cracked her pelvis. She had Medicare. The hospital did a fine job, and recommended a followup visit with an orthopedic doctor. I had to call around to finally find one that accepted Medicare. I was less than impressed with the doctor. He asked how she was doing, and asked her to move her legs, but that was it. No physical exam, no x-rays taken, and I'm not sure he even looked at the x-rays taken at the hospital. He probably didn't have time. And when the doctor was asking my mom some questions, at one point, she didn't respond. He repeated the question louder; still no response. Again he asked, then she answered. He didn't ask if she had heard him, and didn't ask me if that had happened before. In hindsight, it appears she was having a transient ischemic attack (TIA - a mini-stroke) or maybe an absence seizure. But he was too busy to worry about that!
So the solution to health care is to cut reimbursements to doctors?
Friday, July 24, 2009
Health care costs out of control: Reason 1.
I plan on listing some things that cause health care costs to be out of control.
This first one is just a minor thing, but I'm sure it happens a lot; adding up to significant waste. I ordered a refill for a prescription through the mail-order pharmacy my company has contracted with. I printed off the order number. A few days later, the refill order disappeared. So I had to call them, and they resubmitted the refill. So what's the waste?
Only problem is, is that I will run out of medicine before the refill arrives. The pharmacy phone rep's solution? Call the doctor and ask for a prescription for a temporary supply! So I will
This first one is just a minor thing, but I'm sure it happens a lot; adding up to significant waste. I ordered a refill for a prescription through the mail-order pharmacy my company has contracted with. I printed off the order number. A few days later, the refill order disappeared. So I had to call them, and they resubmitted the refill. So what's the waste?
Only problem is, is that I will run out of medicine before the refill arrives. The pharmacy phone rep's solution? Call the doctor and ask for a prescription for a temporary supply! So I will
- Have to call the doctor's office, tie up the receptionist for 5 minutes
- Then the doctor has to take 10 minutes to pull the chart, and possibly call me, to ask why I need a temporary supply, assuming the receptionist didn't bother to write down why I need the prescription.
- Then the doctor's office staff has to fax the prescription to the local pharmacy.
- The local pharmacy will probably need to call the mail-order pharmacy for an override code, since I've had the mail-order refill order placed.
- The local pharmacy files an on-line claim
- The local pharmacy fills the prescription
- I have to drive to the pharmacy, burning fossil fuel on the way
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