A Spoonful of Sugar

I want to shed some "lyte" on health insurance today.  My family and I have been on COBRA for almost a year.  We spent over $8,000.00 to keep our insurance last year.  We can't get private insurance because one of my kids gets allergy shots and no one will insure them.  We can't just have them on the COBRA coverage because the coverage is through my husband.  I could split us up, my husband and one kid on COBRA, myself and our other child on private insurance.  But it would only save us a little money and I would still need to keep myself and our other kid on COBRA for our dental insurance.

I never thought about insurance much until my husband experienced his layoff last year.  Until then, insurance was pretty much a given.  We had it and we used it.  Now I am scrapping up the cash to make our $600 plus payment each month.  It is scary.  And we don't qualify for the COBRA reduction because our coverage is from 5/08 and the start date for the reductions is 9/08.  

I want universal healthcare.  I am sick of this crap.  It slays me that Republican congressmen and women have the balls to say that we don't want government run healthcare, when they are on f*@#ing government run healthcare.  They'll give you the argument that private businesses are more cost efficient.  Bull.  Medicare's administrative costs are about 3%, the most efficient private healthcare provider is around 15%.  They'll tell you that if we have "socialized" medicine, you'll have to wait for care.  Bull.  If you want elective surgery, sure.  But if you need treatment, you get it.  Period.

We are the only industrialized nation to not have universal coverage.  How can we compete with Japan, Germany, China, India, etc., when our companies have to shoulder the increasing crippling costs of their employees healthcare?  And if our free market system is so great, why are our infant mortality rates higher and life expectancies lower?

And President Obama isn't trying to take away your healthcare.  If you like your coverage, fine, stay with it.  What he wants is for the government to provide an alternative to private insurers.  And free market advocates are afraid to have private insurers compete with the government.  Why?  Because there is a good chance more of us will opt for that nasty government run insurance.  Apparently competition is only good when it benefits business, not individuals.

What we have in this country is a for-profit medical complex.  It isn't healthcare, because there is no profit in health, only in sickness.  If you're healthy, you don't see your doctor that often, and you don't take any pharmaceuticals.  Doctors and drug companies make money off of treating symptoms of chronic conditions.  Now, don't get me wrong, if your appendix is infected, you need a doctor.  But if you have, say, high cholesterol, you need to first change your diet, exercise, and check out natural remedies.  If you go to your doctor, you are put on a statin.  FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.  You become a virtual ATM for the doctor and the drug company, needing regular check-ups, lab tests for liver enzymes, and paying for the statin itself.  This is just one example.  Doctors have no incentive to cure you, but they huge monetary incentive to treat your symptoms with prescribed medicines.

So we need healthcare reform.  The quicker, the better.  It will stimulate our economy, lowering operating costs for businesses.  More importantly, it will encourage us to take care of ourselves better.  And that's medicine anyone can swallow.   

Are We There Yet?

Today I am shedding "lyte" on anticipation.  You know how it is on road trip with your kids?  And like every 10 seconds, one of them asks,"Are we there yet?"  You have to stop yourself from reaching back and smacking them repeatedly while yelling, "We'll get there when we get there!  Now shut up and let me drive!"  Right now the media's theme is that the recovery is taking too long.  And I am afraid we as a society will buy into this crap.

President Obama has been office 8 weeks as of today.  That's 56 days for those of you who forgot how to multiply.  And the rumblings are starting.  "Why don't we have a bank bailout plan yet?"  "When is the stimulus going to work?"  "The Dow has dropped like a rock since inauguration, it must be Obama's fault!"  Now if I recall, the Dow dropped like a rock when George W. Bush came into office, courtesy of the dot com bubble bursting, and no one blamed the new president.  Oh no, that was all President Clinton's fault.  

Why are we holding President Obama to such a high standard?  Heck, when 9/11 happened, people said we couldn't hold President Bush accountable since he "just got into office."  So why are we expecting our current president to fix the worst economy since the Great Depression in just a few weeks? 

This economic fix we're in was decades in the making.  It started in the 80's when the "Great Deregulator" (my nickname) Ronald Reagan came into office and systematically began the process of dismantling a lot of oversight and regulation of financial markets.  President Bush and President Clinton helped the process along.  But it really took off under George Bush.  

When you reduce the capital gains tax, allow financial institutions to leverage themselves at 30 to 1, keep interest rates artificially low so there's lots of cheap money available, and expect the market to regulate itself, is it any wonder that our entire financial system implodes?  When you lend money to people with no provable income, no down payment, and low credit scores, to buy homes that are beyond their means, then take those loans, chop them up, rename them "securities", give them AAA bond ratings based on no due diligence, should we be surprised when the whole scheme tanks as these people predictably default on their loans?

But never mind that.  We are addicted to instant gratification and we want our recovery and we want it NOW.  Sorry folks, this going to take awhile.  And not everything is going to work.  This isn't a day trip to the wine country.  More like a cross-country slog to the "whine" country.  And we have more than one driver for this bus.  The President proposes, Congress disposes.  This ride is going to be a long one and it is only going to seem longer if we continue to sigh and ask every mile, "Are we there yet?"  We'll get there when we get there.  So shut up before I reach back there and smack ya'.    

The Most Horrible Day of The Year

Today I want to shed a little "lyte" on outdated traditions.  Yesterday marked the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.  Or as we call it around my house "The Most Horrible Day of The Year."  

I love to sleep.  When my kids were little, I would crave sleep like a heroin junkie craves their next fix.  My favorite fantasy was to run away to hotel, not for an illicit encounter, but for a night or two of uninterrupted rest.  So I hate Daylight Savings Time.

You would think losing an hour of sleep would be no big deal.  Ha!  It throws me off for flipping weeks.  All I think about when I look at the clock in the morning is "If not for DST, I would still be in bed."  I constantly calculate what the "real" time is.  I could move to Arizona, they don't follow Daylight Savings Time.  But I love where I live, so I deal with it; albeit badly and with a lot of whining.

And the whole reason we have stupid Daylight Savings Time is for farming.  Yes, farming.  To give farmers an extra hour of daylight to sow their crops.  Know any farmers?  This whole deal was created when a majority of our citizens were farmers.  News flash, farmers are a frickin' minority.  Slightly less than 2% of the total US population live on farms.  So 98% of us get to lose an hour's sleep for a handful of people who get up early anyway, so why couldn't they just sow their crops in morning?

Ever wonder why we have a 9 month schedule for schools?  Those frickin' farmers again!  This time it's so their kids can work the farm in summer.  Do you know any children who work on a farm other than migrant workers?  Most states would prosecute you under child labor laws if you made your kid bale hay.  Not mention that the Department of Child and Family Services would be investigating.  You would probably have to go on Dr. Phil and apologize.  And your kid would write a memoir and get invited to be on "Oprah".

And as if you need another reason to despise George W. Bush, he lengthened Daylight Savings Time!  To save energy, he claimed.  As far as I am concerned, it is another Katrina.  So I am calling on President Obama to abolish Daylight Savings Time.  He is changing everything else, so why not this?  And let's go on a 12 month school schedule, most working parents would cheer this move.  Wake up America!  We are no longer a nation of farmers.  Now go back to bed America and enjoy that extra hour sleep.  I need a nap.    

 

"Pretty Scary It Is"

So today I am shedding a little "lyte" on attention spans.  Specifically, our lack of attention to what is important and our laser-like focus on what is not.  

This has been rough week in our economy.  Stocks are down, unemployment is up, it seems like there is nothing but bad news everywhere you turn.  And what makes the cover of the New York Times?  The fact that President Obama's hair is turning gray.  I wish I was kidding, but I am not.  What is wrong with this country?  We are facing some of the most serious problems in my lifetime and the paper of record is obsessed with the color of our president's hair.  Sweet weeping Jesus.   Remember what we were obsessing about this time last year?  The primaries; and were Hillary's tears genuine or not.  And about flag lapel pins.  Or are you supposed to put your hand over your heart when you pledge allegiance or when the national anthem is played?  These discussions were eating up some serious air time on our cable new networks and our collective attention span.  Seems like so long ago.

But the truth is that there were plenty of red flags waving last year.  The thing was, we were too busy trying to figure out if Obama really was referring to Sarah Palin when he made that "lipstick on pig" comment.  I was thankful when the economy started tanking in September because it refocused the campaign on actual issues.  Everybody got real serious real fast.  

But apparently not serious enough.  Now we want a recovery and we want it now.  Obama has been in office six weeks and he hasn't fixed it yet.  Is that why his hair is turning gray?  Look, destruction is a faster process than creation.  And right now we need a lot of creation:  job creation, idea creation, capital creation.  This creative process needs money and since we rid ourselves of that pesky budget surplus with a stroke of the pen back in 2000, we have to borrow the money.  That's reality, not some liberal conspiracy to "grow government".  

Any business person will tell you, it takes money to make money.  The government is the only body capable of stepping into this morass and put us on the right course.  A runaway free market got us into this mess, responsible governance will help get us out.  

But suddenly, the Republicans are now against wasteful spending.  No more earmarks!  Never mind that earmarks only constitute 1% of the federal budget.  Or that over 40% of the earmarks in the omnibus spending bill that they have stalled in the Senate are earmarks that they put in.  Don't confuse them with the facts.  As Stephen Colbert said, "Facts have a well-known liberal bias."

So what should we be paying attention to?  What is truly important?  Our relationships, our health, and our peace of mind.  Don't be led; pay attention, decide what is important to you and align your life accordingly.  Don't panic, panic only leads to fear and as Yoda said, "Fear leads to the dark side."  And it is dark enough already.  

 

 

Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Today I want to shed a little "lyte" on marriage.  A loaded topic for sure, and one I will probably revisit again and again.  In the interest of full disclosure, I have been married for almost 25 years and am in what would be considered a "happy" marriage.  Thank goodness, because a recent study done by doctoral candidate Nancy Henry of the University of Utah shows that an unhappy marriage could be fatal.

I am not talking about domestic violence.  I am talking about women's cardiovascular health.  One in two women will develop heart disease in their lifetime.  Heart disease kills more women that all the cancers combined.  A woman's first heart attack is often her last, since a women is more likely to die from her first heart attack.  

So what's the link between marriage and heart disease?  Women in unhappy marriages are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome; a deadly combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugars.  The trigger for the development of this syndrome?  An atmosphere of negativity that leads to depression.  Studies have shown that women are more likely to suffer from depression from men.  Now it seems that the strains of living in a contentious marriage weigh more heavily on the wife than on the husband.  This can lead to depression which can contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome, greatly increasing the wife's chances of getting heart disease and suffering a heart attach or stroke.

Why does negativity hurt wives more than husbands?  The theory is that women may ruminate on the negative more than a man.  Another study done to measure gender differences in reaction to relationship conflict bears this out.  The study showed that women's blood pressure rates stayed elevated longer than men's after an argument.  I know this is true in my own marriage.  I have often marveled at my husband's ability to get over a fight so much faster than me.  I get mad and stay mad.  Even after we make up, I'll replay the fight in all it's technicolor details...for days.  Well, I better get better at getting over it or it might kill me.

I have known for years that marriage is better for men that it is for women.  Actuary tables bear out this little-publicized truth.  Unmarried men have the shortest life span, followed by married men, than married women.  Single women live the longest.  No one talks about this, our society is predicated on the belief that women "need" companionship like we need air, water and food.  Just like dirty air, unclean water, and unhealthy food can kill us, apparently so can an unsatisfactory marriage.  

 Scores of novels, poems, movies and songs have been based on the agony of a broken heart.  Now science is showing that love really can break a women's heart.  Be careful out there ladies.  Better no marriage than a bad one.

Gaia Will Thank Me

So today I am shedding "lyte" on conscious consumption.  Specifically, how small changes can have big impacts on our environment.  

Last night after dinner, I was asking one of kids if they were enjoying these cereal bars that I had scored for free from one of my jobs.  They told me that they were at lunch, telling the other kids about the awesome cereal bars that they had in their lunch.  When the other kids saw them, they were mocked.  Now, these bars claim to mimic, albeit badly, cinnamon toast.  But according to my child's peers, they are lame and taste like crap.

My child then explained to the table at large, "My mom is a nut job who only gives us organic stuff to eat."   This child then froze, realizing that the story was being told to the aforementioned "nut job".  I was stung; here I was, merely trying to extend my child's life span and I was being summed up in terms used to describe people who wear tinfoil hats and worship pyramids.  

A "nut job"; I'll own it.  I had a friend who moved to the West Coast after high school.  When she came home for a visit she told me, "I've found a whole state of people just like you, it's called California."  I started recycling decades ago.  I once had a party in the early 90's  and used all reusable plastic dinnerware and recycled all the cans & bottles, I was trying to demonstrate to my father-in-law that it was possible to have fun without overloading our landfills.  I showed my skeptical father-in-law that at the end of the evening I had only one bag of garbage as opposed to several.  He was underwhelmed and told me knew he was at a "yuppie" party because there was a vegetable tray.  This from a man who thinks global warming is a Democratic conspiracy.

I have used cloth grocery bags for years.  I used to have remind myself to use them, so I taped a piece of paper with a sketch of a bag and the words "Don't Forget The Bags" to my steering wheel.  One time we valet parked our car.  When the valet brought our car up at the end of our stay, he said,"I just have to ask, why did you need to remind yourself to bring your luggage?"  When I explained that all I was doing was trying to save the earth.  Thinking globally, acting locally.  He smirked, shook his head, but he took my tip.  I guess he was thinking green too.

I replaced most of our light bulbs with compact fluorescents.  When we have the money, I want to switch out our standard power surge protectors for the smart ones that let you turn off certain devices and leave others on.  Now I am not doing this to feel smug and superior.  I am far from perfect, I drive an SUV.  Though I will admit, I thought about, in more prosperous times, of purchasing carbon offsets for it.  When gas was sky high last summer, I rode my bike to work.  In 100 degree heat.

If being a "nut job" means caring for mother earth, so be it.  If being a "nut job" means feeding my family healthy and organic, so be it.  If being a "nut job" means thinking about what I buy, and what to do with it when I am done, so be it.  Now, I gotta go, my tinfoil hat design class starts in ten minutes.           

 

A Bitter Harvest

Today I want to shed a little "lyte" on reaping what you sow.  My family has been a victim of this economic downturn.  My husband is unemployed, I had to cash out my kid's college fund to pay our bills, and I watch the value of our home go down with each passing day.

I am pissed.  The policies pursued by the previous administration has broken my country and it is going to take time to fix it.  I never voted for the former President, hell, I never supported the clown, even after 9/11, I knew he was an idiot before he even got the nomination in 1999.  He is a trust-fund baby who never succeeded at a single business venture.  He couldn't find oil in Texas for crying out loud.  

He was a C student, a faux cowboy with a serious Oedipus complex.  I couldn't bear to hear his voice or watch him on TV.  It chaps my butt that Clinton got impeached for lying about having consensual sex with an adult, but W lied about WMDs and as a result, over 4000 Americans are dead, countless Iraqis are dead and displaced, but W will never probably have to answer for his crimes.

And let's not forget that until this year, the Iraqi invasion and occupation were off the books.  Always treated as an "emergency appropriation" in order to hide the true cost of the whole mess.  Do you know how they are trying to track how much money we sent over there?  By how much the planes weighed!  I wish I was kidding, but since no one bothered with any type of oversight, the only record we have is the plane's manifest and they are comparing the weight of the plane empty versus the weight of the plane once the money was loaded onto it.  They can then extrapolate how much money was on it, of course we have no idea what denominations were used since a $1 bill weighs the same as a $100 bill.  And Jesus wept.

Can we even calculate the human cost?  Thousands of Americans dead, and tens of thousands of Americans wounded.  Hundreds of thousands of dead or missing Iraqis and over 20% of the country's population has either left or been displaced.  Not to mention the price of our shame over Abu Gharib.  A single picture can recruit ten thousand terrorists.

This is just the Iraqi invasion and occupation.  I haven't even started on Bush's domestic policies.  That's a topic for another post.  I can only handle so much vitriol in one day.  My issue is that the former president doesn't even have the courage to own his mistakes.  "Mistakes were made."  That is the mantra of the previous administration.  Like mistakes don't have faces attached to them.  Or consequences.  W won't have to pay the price for his choices.  Unfortunately, we the people get to reap this bitter harvest.