Entry tags:

frugal living, health, parenting, politics, science

Infodump of interesting stories/links found recently:

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A bunch about craptastic US health care:

Doing a Volume Business in Liver Transplants - yet another example of why money and health care shouldn't mix, and this is even a so-called "non-profit" hospital (which should help illustrate why the "non-profit" status in the US can be very flimsy)

How our hospitals unleashed a MRSA epidemic - I think the lesson from this article is to refuse to undergo any kind of surgery unless you've checked for sure that the hospital does MRSA screenings first. And you can bet most insurance won't cover it, if the hospitals are whining that it's too costly for them to bother. You'd think the infections and amputations would be more expensive, but you just know that somewhere a bean counter has figured out that overall, no, it's slightly cheaper to just pay to fix the broken people (and then hey, you always get the chance to deny them anyway!). Yet another example of why profit doesn't mix with health care!

Many Arizonans skip health care due to cost - just in case there's anyone left dumb enough to think that US health care isn't in crisis, even for the insured.

Brains of autistic slower to react to sounds: study - I'm particularly interested in the new technology that could allow for autism screening even younger. Here's to hoping insurance will cover it as it becomes available without having the government step in to force it to be covered...*snicker*snort*HAHAHAHAHAHA* yeah okay I couldn't even type that with a straight face. US health insurance would never cover an expensive new test that would just make them have to cover autistic treatments sooner.

Little progress, many holes in kids' mental health system - this is about the fixing of a law a couple of weeks ago that had a loophole that was letting parents of older kids with mental health problems abandon them. It quite rightly questions the sorry state of US health care as applied to mental health, particularly for kids, that would get to the point where so many parents would need to abandon kids that they can't afford to treat. Again, US health care is screwed up and anyone who doesn't get that by now needs to smarten up.

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A bunch about food and other safety issues:

Children at risk in food roulette; Mislabeling, lax oversight threaten people with allergies - What bothers me more than the food manufacturers screwing up is the complete lack of concern by the USDA. I believe a lot of this self-regulation or self-testing crap in USDA policy came about during this Bush administration. I suppose my libertarian friends would complain about too much big government getting involved, but sheesh, if you label your product as "gluten free" and someone dies because, as the Tribune's tests show, it's SO NOT GLUTEN FREE, at that point I don't think it should be left to lawsuits to punish the company. No, this is what government is for: to protect people from dangerous companies.

Oh, and big strike against Whole Foods for not caring enough, given that it's a product exclusive to their store. No, it's not their job to have tested, but on the news they should have pulled every box off of their shelves. When I shop at Whole Foods, which is significantly more expensive than regular stores, I do so for higher quality goods and in the last year or so, I have heard too many stories and rumours like this about the overall decline in that quality.


Two stories about how the FDA is now allowing just a little bit of poison in infant formula. But don't be afraid, they say, because it really just a tiny bit. Weeee tiny bit. No worries, really. Mmmhm.
FDA Says Trace Amount of Melamine in Baby Formula Safe
FDA sets 'safe' levels for melamine in baby formula

Which is yet another good argument for breast feeding, for those who can (while the majority of women can breastfeed but choose not to for perceived convenience, about 5% of women have actual medical problems that prevent them from doing so). Mind you, Corran said he saw an article about melamine going into animal feed and coming out in cow's milk, so presumably if mothers eat food that's contaminated, their breast milk might have it as well, in which case breastfeeding wouldn't be any safer. Nice.


11th-hour rush to enact a rule Obama fought - it's going to be a fun couple of months until we get these asshats out of power! More toxins for everyone, wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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Two about the economy:

We Found the W.M.D. - Friedman opinion piece about the need to pay the proper kind of attention to the economy's problems right away. Oh, and I agree with him about ditching expensive inaugral parties. Now is not the time for the leaders of the empire to be seen wallowing in opulence, no matter how happy they are at being elected.


The Ethics of Being a Tightwad; Amid the economic slump, don't feel bad about putting saving ahead of spending. In fact, it's unethical to squander money you can't afford to spend - I love this article and agree with it, especially this great bit:

There is something fundamentally wrong with an economic philosophy that requires people to spend money so that the economy will remain strong. Not only does such an outlook weaken our ability to save, but it is tied to the false idea that happiness is to be found in the acquisition of material goods

There are few people I buy presents for at all. I make things for lots of people, including baking and knitting, and it has occasionally, but rarely, happened that I've been harshly judged for such (at one particular birthday party from hell, the knitted bear I gave the birthday boy was literally tossed aside by the parents when he tried to play with it in his expensive, battery-powered, plastic truck that another attendee gave him). Those aren't people I care to associate with again. I never judge anyone for giving me an inexpensive gift, nor do I expect gifts from anyone. More often than not I'm embarassed by it, since I see gift-giving as a pretty personal thing to be mostly kept amongst very close friends and family. I just don't see the need to throw money around to impress everyone I know, and I'm not impressed by having it thrown at me.

Plus, seriously, I don't need much. The occasional craft book, DVD, or CD is nice, but I never feel like I have to get them from anyone. We decided the easiest way for me to listen to music and podcasts while doing dishes (which I used to do through our DVR and TV on the house's network in Vegas, but doesn't work well in the Austin house) was to get an iPod and speakers, so Corran got me that for my birthday. We also decided that there's lots our Oster mixer can't do, and we've drooled over the Kitchenaids for years, so when we saw that Costco was going to have them on deep discount last weekend, I got one for Corran for Christmas (he knows, but the colour is the big secret). So really, our gifts are things we have carefully evaluted and decided we need/want and we're using the holiday as an excuse. Neither of us is going to go hog wild getting piles of other stuff for each other; a thing of interest here and there, that's it.

Even Peo this year will not be getting tons of stuff. I've still got some FPLP stuff in reserve, so she'll get the castle and all of its bits and pieces this year. That money was spent over a year ago. I'm going to pop out to a store I know sells resale toys and see if there's anything else cool and inexpensive, and they also sell egg shakers (basically a little maraca shaped like an egg, Peo loves these at places like the children's museum), so I'll get her one as a stocking stuffer. Maybe some other books. But no pile of battery-operated plastic junk, thanks. She doesn't need it, we don't have room for it, we don't want to waste money on it.

I agree with this article and others I've seen that this economy is the best excuse in a long time for the orgy of holiday spending to be cut back down to size. You don't have to be miserly about it; just stay within a sensible budget. Don't attach so much emotional value to the volume of STUFF. If you can't afford the toy your kid is desperate for, don't put your entire living situation at risk just to get it for them. I totally get the thrill of giving your kid something that delights them; I found that after Peo was born, I was just so happy to have my precious baby at last that I wanted to give her EVERYTHING. The toy aisles that were so painful to see when I couldn't get pregnant now beckoned and I wanted to spend and spend and spend for her. But I've calmed down. I've had to evaluate her pile of toys (which is still by far over 50% hand-knitted), see how the stuff accumulates and never gets played with, and come to the realization that less is more. Too many toys is overwhelming.

I'm no fan of the other side that pines away for the days of Laura Ingalls being happy with her one and only corncob doll (that's easy to examine with such dreamy eyes when you conveniently disregard that Laura was a breakout for her generation in becoming a writer, when most girls in her day only had a corncob doll because all they were expected to do with their lives was to become mothers and housewives...I'd like to give my daughter some toys that open up possibilities like research, creativity, engineering, math, physics, etc., thanks muchly). Excessive deprivation just turns kids into adults who'll go nuts overspending for themselves in order to feel better about everything they felt left out of as a kid.

But seriously, folks...chill out on the spending. None of us knows what's coming next year. Any of us could suddenly end up jobless. Any of us in the US could suddenly lose health insurance and be forced to pile up debt for basic care. Save now for the uncertain tomorrow; that's a far better gift to you and yours than a pile of presents under the tree.

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Misc:

W00t! Merriam-Webster's past 'Words of the Year'

Cool half time show with marching band making classic video game shapes from indomitability.

Study: Women's hands hold more bacteria - That's all I need, just when over the last few years I'd finally started to get my obsessive hand-washing under control (mostly because one day, after great efforts to wash my hands after changing Peo's barely-peed-on diaper, she then sneezed into my mouth while I was carrying her downstairs and yawning). I'm resisting washing now!

Anti-Land Mine Campaign Says Britain Isn’t Abiding by Treaty - Well that's just swell. Nice. Oh, and before any Americans get uppity, the US didn't even sigh the treaty. I admit to having fallen behind on this issue, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I do know that in the late 1990s, Canada was considered a global leader in the landmine ban. I would be deeply ashamed if I found out they were renegging on that now.