Medicare and Long Term Care

I saw this article the other day and meant to blog about it but didn’t have time.

Hundreds of hospice providers across the country are facing the catastrophic financial consequence of what would otherwise seem a positive development: their patients are living longer than expected.

 

Over the last eight years, the refusal of patients to die according to actuarial schedules has led the federal government to demand that hospices exceeding reimbursement limits repay hundreds of millions of dollars to Medicare.

Hospice provides palliative and non-curative care for people who are diagnosed as having only six or fewer months to live. Much of what is provided through hospice is indistinguishable from long term care – many of the particular services and supports look exactly the same as what is provided to people who are elderly or have disabilities but are not considered terminally ill. Some hospice is provided in facilities but much is provided in the home and community. Thus, for hospice patients who continue to live – and live in their own home or somewhere other than a nursing facility – their hospice services are long term care services.

Friday Random Ten

Its more exciting than hitting $1.00 in The Price Is Right’s Showcase Showdown. Let’s spin The Big Wheel!

1. Truth – Neil Finn (scroll down for a clip)
2. I Need More – Christina Milian
3. The Neighbor – Jason Falkner
4. Big Hot Monday – The Hanslick Rebellion
5. F-cking Boyfriend – the bird and the bee
6. Dancing With Myself – Nouvelle Vague (scroll down, its fourth on the list)
7. Any Day Now – Ronnie Milsap
8. The One You Love – Rufus Wainwright
9. Bye Bye Love – The Cars
10. Nite and Day – Al B. Sure

A Pornography of Regret

This made me laugh out loud.

The Lands’ End fall catalog is porn for the heartsick man. Who thought sixty pages of stylish-yet-practical clothing would employ models who are disturbing approximations of the lovely thirty-something woman who doesn’t want to put up with your shit anymore?

Thanks to Kirby (who totally needs his own blog) for forwarding the link (and for the clever title).

PEI at Burnin’ For Learnin’

Parent:Wise Magazine brings Austin the second annual Burnin’ For Learnin’ this Sunday from 11-4 at Palmer Events Center. The event showcases private schools and other educational resources in the area, along with music and fun kid activities.

If you go, be sure to check out booth #223 – Petite Ecole Internationale. PEI is a French-immersion Montessori preschool on North Loop Boulevard. Both my kids went there and I can’t say enough good things about our experience. I have become a huge fan of the Montessori approach, so much so that when it came time to find a kindergarten, I opted for a Montessori school that goes up through the lower elementary grades. (Not sure what I will do after that but Austin Montessori School is on the list to research.)

The other big reason I loved PEI was the language immersion aspect. I happen to know some French, but I would have sent them there regardless of which language was offered. Learning any second language has an impact on cognitive development:

Children who learn a foreign language beginning in early childhood demonstrate certain cognitive advantages over children who do not. Research conducted in Canada with young children shows that those who are bilingual develop the concept of “object permanence” at an earlier age. Bilingual students learn sooner that an object remains the same, even though the object has a different name in another language. For example, a foot remains a foot and performs the function of a foot, whether it is labeled a foot in English or un pied in French.

 

Additionally, foreign language learning is much more a cognitive problem solving activity than a linguistic activity, overall. Studies have shown repeatedly that foreign language learning increases critical thinking skills, creativity, and flexibility of mind in young children. Students who are learning a foreign language out-score their non-foreign language learning peers in the verbal and, surprisingly to some, the math sections of standardized tests. This relationship between foreign language study and increased mathematical skill development, particularly in the area of problem solving, points once again to the fact that second language learning is more of a cognitive than linguistic activity.

 

A 2007 study in Harwich, Massachusetts, showed that students who studied a foreign language in an articulated sequence outperformed their non-foreign language learning peers on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test after two-three years and significantly outperformed them after seven-eight years on all MCAS subtests.

 

Furthermore, there is research (Webb bibliography) that shows that children who study a foreign language, even when this second language study takes time away from the study of mathematics, outperform (on standardized tests of mathematics) students who do not study a foreign language and have more mathematical instruction during the school day. Again, this research upholds the notion that learning a second language is an exercise in cognitive problem solving and that the effects of second language instruction are directly transferable to the area of mathematical skill development.

 

The notion of “earlier is better” in language learning seems to be upheld by the fact that longer sequences of foreign language instruction seem to lead to better academic achievement, overall.

Now that they don’t go to a French-speaking school anymore, both kids take French classes after school. I’ve told them they can quit soccer or dance or gymnastics or any other extracurricular they decide to pick up, but French is the one thing they are not allowed to quit. I tell them (with only the tiniest bit of irony and ignoring the terribly rude person laughing at me inside my head) that one day they will thank me for not letting them give it up.

Why Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting Are Ridiculous

I can’t even read all the examples he gives of hetero parents abusing and killing their own offspring, but Terrance’s point is so obvious that you hardly need the heartbreaking supporting details to understand it:

I don’t write about this story as an attempt to suggest that all, most, or even a significant number of heterosexuals do this to children, but to point out how low the bar is set when equal protections are conditional upon a pairing of functional, or even potentially functional gonads. Making babies, something only possible with sperm from the testicles and an egg from the ovaries, is thus privileged above the capacity to love a child, and the ability and desire to protect and raise that child into healthy adulthood, something same-sex couples are equally capable of doing.

In other words, privileging couples like Zeigler and Trenor above couples like the hubby and me, who’ve loved and raised our son into a happy, healthy little boy in the past five years. Because we did not and could not have conceived him. Conception, or the possibility thereof, trumps caring. It is unclear whether Trenor and Zeigler are married, believe it or not, but they could be as far as the Maryland Court of appeals is concerned, and would qualify before the hubby and I would, what they did to Riley Ann not withstanding. [...]

With each case I’m still trying to wrap my brain around what these parents have over us, besides the what they can (or could) do with their genitals and corresponding orgnans [sic].

What those parents have over Terrance and his partner is a religious belief enshrined in government policy.

Giving Government A Bad Name

Sometimes you have to wonder if the conspiracy theorists aren’t onto something. Governor Perry’s office is trying to avoid an open records request by charging the requester out the wazoo. Granted, the guy making the ask is asking for a lot of information in order to make a point – but its a damned good point. And in any case, limiting access to public information on the basis of ability to pay plays right into the notion that government is untrustworthy, trying to hide something and dismissive of the public’s right to know what’s going on. Surely someone in that office has better political sense than this. (Nora, please help these people!)

Do Republicans make their candidates for office take some secret oath that if elected, they will do their level best to make government look foolish, inept and otherwise untrustworthy?

Hat tip to Off The Kuff.

Muslim Girl Scouts

Its sad that these girls feel the need to ‘prove’ their American-ness, but the fact that they use their membership in Girl Scouts to move people past prejudice is a concrete example of what I like about the organization and its impact on girls.

Sometimes when Asma Haidara, a 12-year-old Somali immigrant, wants to shop at Target or ride the Minneapolis light-rail system, she puts her Girl Scout sash over her everyday clothes, which usually include a long skirt worn over pants as well as a swirling head scarf.

She has discovered that the trademark green sash — with its American flag, troop number (3009) and colorful merit badges — reduces the number of glowering looks she draws from people otherwise bothered by her traditional Muslim dress.

“When you say you are a girl scout, they say, ‘Oh, my daughter is a girl scout, too,’ and then they don’t think of you as a person from another planet,” said Asma, a slight, serious girl with a bright smile. “They are more comfortable about sitting next to me on the train.”

She isn’t hiding who she is and she isn’t avoiding things she wants or needs to do. Instead, she has found a way to quietly reach out to other people and make them re-think their assumptions. She’s helping them to see the similarities – not instead of the differences but in spite of them. How wonderful.

I am a big fan of Girl Scouting. I was a Girl Scout from second grade on, all the way through high school. I spent two weeks every summer at Girl Scout camp, and in college I spent a couple of summers working at Girl Scout camps. After I was out of grad school and working, I volunteered with a troop for a few years. And now I lead two troops, one for each daughter.

What I love about the organization is its focus on developing the potential within each girl, helping her see herself as a capable and valuable contributor in an interconnected world while fostering respect for others and the environment. And while the Girl Scout Promise mentions God:

On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout Law. 

the organization makes clear that any religious or spiritual aspect is ultimately to be determined by the girl and her family. The Girl Scout website says:

The word “God” can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one’s spiritual beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word “God” with whatever word your spiritual beliefs dictate.

My experience is that religion and spirituality enters into it only insofar as an individual girl elects to explore it OR in troops that are based in a religious institution (like troops comprised completely of girls from a single church). Girl Scouts do, admittedly, sing grace before meals many times although mentions of God are absolutely generic in all the ones I can recall. And there were some songs with religious lyrics at the camp I attended (although most, I believe, would be considered traditional American folk songs at this point – for example, the African American spiritual Sit Down), but I don’t hear those sung at Girl Scout events anymore.

I think since I was a kid, public awareness and acceptance of a variety of religions as well as atheism has increased so perhaps people intentionally don’t sing some of those songs anymore. I know that’s the case for me – I wouldn’t teach my troops a God song because I don’t feel its my role to raise the religion issue and in any case, some of my girls and their families wouldn’t appreciate it. I had a parent approach me this fall at the recruitment event, worried about the religious angle because their family is atheist. She was so relieved when I told her that all I say about it to the girls is that what God means vis-a-vis the Promise is something each girl should discuss with her family because it means different things to different people.

Girl Scouting does alot of good, but just in teaching girls to honor but also look beyond differences, religious and otherwise, it has a huge positive influence on the future.

Tuesday Tunes

Some songs I am listening to today -

• Al Eih (Samira Said). Said is an Arabic pop star. I think this song would give most any Britney tune a run for its money (and this is coming from someone who actually likes I’m A Slave 4 U and Toxic).

• Jungle (TAIJI/Toshihiko Okabe/Hide). I haven’t been able to find any information about the artists but this song is fantastic. I just found the CD with this on it last night while I was transferring some of my CDs to my computer. I did a belly dance choreography to the song awhile back. You can’t not dance to this one.

• Opa Cupa (Brass Menazeri). I have no idea what they lyrics say but they must be something along the lines of “you will be humming this melody all day and it will totally get stuck in your head.”

• Postcards From Italy (Beirut). When I told my stepdaughter I had been sampling Balkan/Eastern European flavored stuff lately, she got all excited and gave me her Beirut CD to listen to. This one is pretty.

• Evil Night Together (Jill Tracy). The whole album this song is from is just gorgeous. Sort of Goth Cabaret. When I launch my burlesque career, this is the music I will use.

Another CD I found last night while I was transferring music was Lewis Taylor’s Stoned Pt. 1, which is definitely one of my Top 10 Albums For When You Are Stranded On A Desert Island. Here are three (I couldn’t choose just one) -

• Shame
• Send Me An Angel
• sheneverdid

Hello Kitty Hell

Imagine you’re a guy married to a woman who is crazy for Hello Kitty stuff – like decorates-the-house-with-it crazy. Imagine how hilarious your blog would be.

Who knew they had Hello Kitty condoms and vibrators?

The Signification of Shopping

It may look like wasting time at Old Navy to you, but I am on an important mission whose meaning goes much deeper than the dye in that cute tank top:

In terms of Freudian theory, clothes shopping might be seen as a quest by women for a penis. Of course, if this were true, it would mitigate the need to have babies, which Freud said serves that function—though perhaps babies merely indulge a desire to shop for baby clothes.

In terms of postmodern psychoanalytic theory (which updates Freud into a more generalized, if obscure form), shopping may be a drive to grasp a sense of self that always eludes us. According to the theory, the mother’s gaze serves as a mirror for the infant, but a distorting mirror: the baby sees the mother reflected back. As a result of this misprision, the self is never fully accessible, always out of sync. Language is the abstract means of trying to fill the lack of existential wholeness. Shopping, I would argue, is a more concrete means. We take clothes from the racks, put them on our bodies, gaze at them in the mirror, trying to grasp and hold an always elusive self.

Yeah, that elusive, ten-pounds-lighter self that would look way better in that outfit.

The Toast of Netroots Nation

Via PinkDome, I learned Netroots Nation (formerly the YearlyKos convention) is coming to Austin. And its all thanks to the liberal Texas bloggers who have made an effort to get out from behind the keyboards and actually make a difference. Too many of us sit around complaining, either too lazy or too afraid we can’t make a difference to do anything. I particularly love that they started TexasBlog PAC. For better or for worse, there is a price of admission in politics – and it ain’t the cost of your computer.

The article mentions Austin Political Report. I’ve been disappointed with that site.  Given that name, I was expecting either an Austin-focused Pink Dome or BurkaBlog or at the very least something along the lines of InFact Daily. You know – whether for humor or analysis, your go-to site for all things Austin politics. But the posting is inconsistent, as is the ‘voice’, and I was hoping it would be more informative.

Austin Rail

I know exactly squat about transit policy. I don’t even know if that’s what its called, that’s how little I know. But the plan to kick off passenger rail in Austin with a rail line from Leander into Austin seems rather cart-before-the-horse to me.

Don’t you need a central-city (or at least downtown) rail system going first so that people coming in from the suburbs can actually get around without their cars once they get here? I know they are talking about doing a streetcar downtown, and perhaps that will be more comprehensive than it sounds. But when I think of streetcars, I don’t think of reliable daily transportation for people working and running errands – instead, I think of tourists with time to kill and a few well-known destinations.

While the how would admittedly be a challenge, it seems like the first step would be good light rail downtown and into some close-in areas like UT, Barton Springs/Zilker, Mueller, and even the airport. Once people start riding the thing and word gets out that its a good substitute for driving, then you could expand it farther out. I could be all wrong. But it just seems shortsighted for the first step to be hauling people in from way out when there’s no way for them to get around once they’re here. If fewer people in town needed to use their cars, then the folks from Leander could drive in easily. Besides, isn’t the Leander line sort of subsidizing the people who move to the burbs, rather than subsidizing the much higher cost of living central?

What Would Jesus Buy

My sister is going to make the whole family go see this for Christmas. Actually, I think it looks pretty good. I like Reverend Billy, although I am skeptical that his schtick can carry a whole movie. I’m afraid it will be like a Saturday Night Live skit…the funny runs out well before it ends.

I struggle with the consumerist thing. I remind myself that with every purchase I am contributing to the ultimate downfall of humanity and the degradation of the environment, I try to reign it in, I try to be an aware consumer – but the lemming is undeniably in there. Just take one look at my yard at Christmas – strewn with those tacky giant inflatables and other cheap holiday decorations, probably coated with lead paint and made by child slaves in some third world country. Talk about cognitive dissonance…on one hand, my political views and on the other my lovelovelove of inexpensive sparkly stuff. Its enough to make my head spin. No wonder Americans like to break out the booze during the holidays. At least that way, you can write off the spinning head to overspiked eggnog.

Anyway, about three years ago I thought I would do something different at Christmas. I bought my family “gifts” from Alternative Gifts International. It was a good idea, they seemed to appreciate it and it took the edge off my seasonal guilt. But I still bought them actual gifts as well so I’m not sure I really accomplished anything.

I would defend myself by saying I am far from extravagant in my buying habits and that we carry very little consumer debt. But I don’t know that I am doing the world any favors by buying cheap stuff, even if I’m not going into debt for it.

World’s Worst Book Title

Cooking With Pooh.

I $h!t you not. Umm…so to speak.

Link via Crooked Timber.

Songs for a Lazy, Dreary Sunday

Still cool and rainy here. I’ve spent the better part of the holiday weekend lazing around the house in worn out comfy clothes, ignoring the laundry and the mess and intermittently putting Christmas decorations up. Blogging, obviously. But very little productive activity. It has been heavenly, and I’m in no hurry for Monday to arrive and usher in the return of Regular Life.

Here are some songs that go nicely with today -

Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us (Robert Plant & Alison Krause)

Tell Her This (Del Amitri)

When I’m Thinking About You (The Sundays)

Waiting For A Dream (Rufus Wainwright)

And here’s one I will listen to when I need to get off my heinie and whip this place into shape.

Kids These Days

Parents have bemoaned the immorality of the kids’ music and dancing since at least the jazz era and probably even before that. So this, while perhaps a common view, just seems like the latest re-make of Footloose.

Was I doing my era’s version of dirty dancing when I was a teenager? Hahaha. Yes. I suspect my mom didn’t chaperone high school dances in order to maintain her sanity.

Do I look forward to watching my own daughters freaking and grinding on the dance floor when they are teens? No. But I recognize that the deep breath I have to take when I consider that spectacle is due to having absorbed the cultural ick relating to contemplating the sexuality of one’s children. The fact is, social dancing has an implicit connection to sex. My job as a parent is not to ensure their dancing is G rated. My job is to raise them to be self-aware, confident and knowledgeable enough that they make good choices about sex. How they dance is a separate issue…except to the extent that their ability to handle potentially sexual situations helps them confidently enjoy a little bump and grind with a hottie, which – let’s face it – is way fun and something everyone should get to do at least once while they’re young.

Acknowledge Me

One of many events I’m sure I would enjoy if i didn’t have little kids who would find it boring. Its being billed as “a celebration of all things indie” in Austin.

A Bit of Belly Dance

Belly dance, like most things, comes in a variety of styles. Most people who don’t take classes or attend shows tend to think of the Egyptian or cabaret style as what belly dance is. That style is generally considered ‘traditional’ belly dance, but there are others. One style that has gotten quite popular is American Tribal Style (ATS), sometimes called tribal fusion (although I consider ATS a subset of tribal fusion).

I’m not an expert on different belly dance styles by any means, but the way I understand it is that ATS can be characterized fundamentally as group improvisation based on cuing. As far as I can tell, the costuming is always tribal but wouldn’t necessarily have to be. The movement may or may not incorporate other dance styles (hence, fusion). Its the group improv and shared cuing system that seems to be the defining characteristic of ATS. Its a neat idea, but the ATS performances I’ve seen have been pretty dull – very basic, repetitive movement. Maybe if I saw Fat Chance Belly Dance I would have a different opinion.

Tribal costuming I’ve seen has either been mostly folkloric or else what I think of as Modern Primitive/Goth. I prefer the latter to the former, but I like dancers who bring some creativity to their costuming and at this point the neo-goth tribal look is pretty standard.

I am a big fan of fusing in other styles. My teacher is a fusion dancer so it could be that’s just what I’ve learned. But its interesting to see what a dancer can pull in from other dance styles while still showing you something that is clearly belly dance. I choreographed and performed a belly dance/hip-hop fusion piece this past year for the Austin Bellydance Association’s Year and A Day of Bellydance project. (Yes, I have it on DVD and no, I am not posting it here.) It was my first real attempt at choreography, which was its own unique challenge, and my exposure to hip-hop is limited but some of the ways the two styles approach movement are similar so it was an interesting exercise.

I saw The Indigo in September when their Serpent Rouge tour brought them to Austin. I loved them. They are tribal fusion but their costuming and music pushed past what I’ve seen of that style (I certainly haven’t seen so much that I can presume I’ve seen it all, but new to me is good enough). They also incorporate different dance styles and yoga. The show was sort of vaudeville vintage, a fun change from the typical Arabian Nights or Turkish Gypsy themes you often see at belly dance shows.

This is a clip of Mardi, then Zoe and then Rachel dancing to a song called Opa Cupa. Zoe did a great solo and the Tobias/Rachel drum solo piece just about brought the house down. Very fun.

Disagreeing Agreeably

I like to argue. This may reflect a personal shortcoming or psychological defect of some sort, but at this point in life, I view it as a way that I manifest my desire to engage people, while in the process learning more about them and other ways of viewing an issue. I sometimes will argue a position that I’m not sure I agree with, just as an exercise in feeling it out and seeing where it goes (or where I can take it). And of course, sometimes I just argue the opposite of whatever the other person said, just to be contrary.

There are certain types of unpleasant arguments I am not referencing here – such as “Argument with Spouse Regarding Whose Turn It Is To ____”. The rest are, in the main, enjoyable, providing everyone involved plays nice. No personal attacks (unless they are really intended as humor), no being mean (ditto), fundamentally respecting everyone’s right to whatever dumbass opinion they choose to have. As this guy says:

Disagreement has to be good-humored. The alternative is it gets ugly, and that’s unfortunate. Quite often people don’t discuss anything because they’re afraid of offending—or if they do discuss something, they’re screaming.

You can’t have fun if people are screaming at each other, much less actually come to an agreement (when there is purpose to the exchange beyond simple enjoyment).

When I was in college, I was a member of an extemporaneous debate society that attracts highly-opinionated students with widely-varied opinions. The main thing I learned there – other than how to do off-the-cuff public speaking – was how to be friends (or at least friendly) with people whose opinions I find silly, wrong or even downright repugnant. This lesson came in handy when I was working at the Texas Legislature many years later. In addition to making differences easier to work through, being friends or friendly with your opponents is good for one’s overall happiness. Think about it – doesn’t it make you less happy if you have to spend time with people you don’t get along with? Life is simply too short not to try to enjoy the people you meet. Granted, just as the Utne Reader interview notes, there is a line beyond which it just isn’t possible. But the vast majority of people fall well inside that line, in my experience.

The bonus is, the more people you get along with regardless of differences of opinion, the more people you have to carry on with over drinks. Also, the more people who will link to your blog rather than (or at least, in addition to) hurling curses at you.

Black Friday

My husband would rather gouge out his own eyes than go shopping today (or most days, truth be told). The only thing he doesn’t like about Buy Nothing Day is that it only targets one day a year. For the most part, I prefer this Black Friday to actual attempts on the day after Thanksgiving to find things I need to purchase, although I do sometimes enjoy going out and watching people and browsing.

No window shopping today, though. I’ve had something wrong with my shoulder/collarbone for a week and finally decided I was tired of it hurting. My own PCP’s office is closed until Monday so I went to Mike’s doctor. One of his first questions is what I do for a living. When I told him what I do (freelance health policy/programs consultant), it initiated a very pleasant conversation. Turns out he sometimes teaches at the LBJ School (where I went) and his wife went there, and he knows folks in the indigent care community that I know and we have similar views of the US health system and…well, we had alot to talk about. If he’s that chatty with all his patients its no wonder I had to wait an hour past my appointment time for him to finally get to me! I kept thinking I should stop talking so all the people who came in after me would get a shot at some medical attention.

Anyway, now I’m dosed up on muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory meds, with some lovely hydrocodone waiting for me before bedtime so I can sleep without the pain bothering me. (And don’t ask me for any unless you are having a migraine…you know who you are.)

Globalization and Labor

Organized labor is not typically a subject I read about much. But this article on the global efforts of unions is interesting.

The offshoring of jobs is a huge issue and my impression is that even Democrats – the supposed champions of the little guy against Corporate Evil – generally take the view that we need to protect American workers. Which sounds totally reasonable and patriotic and all that, except that the slow-but-sure redistribution of global income that results (or could result) from corporations seeking ever-poorer labor forces to manufacture their goods and provide their services strikes me as a good thing. Not good, certainly, for the individual American (or other Western, developed world denizen) who loses a job to offshoring. But to my (admittedly non-knowledgeable about this stuff) mind, it seems eventually you would start closing the extreme income gap between developed and developing worlds. And that would be a good thing overall. So limiting the discussion to how to protect American workers from globalization overlooks what I think is a pretty important point: offshoring American jobs may hurt people here, but it potentially helps alot of people in places with alot less opportunity and money than here.

Of course, the corporations seeking cheaper labor are not doing it to improve the lives of the world’s poor. They’re not doing it to hurt the comparatively rich Americans they are laying off. They’re just seeking to be more profitable, which is, you know, what corporations do. And that’s OK. But it wouldn’t be right to permit a corporation to exploit workers in order to make more money – regardless of where the workers are from – so efforts to standardize health, safety and other worker protections internationally are important. This has been pitched as leveling the playing field for the American worker (ie, protecting the American worker from the effects of globalization), but I think the more important aspect is that all workers deserve those protections. It just has the additional effect of making it somewhat less profitable for corporations to offshore jobs.

So I support unions going global since all workers deserve protections. Plus, American unions are more likely to have the resources needed to effectively organize on such a massive scale than are unions or groups in poorer countries. But even with consistent international standards for worker protection, there will still be places where the labor is cheaper than here so companies will continue to offshore and I would think the income gap would slowly begin to close. And I wonder how long American workers will maintain solidarity with those in other parts of the world when income starts to equalize.

Friday Random Ten

For the unfamiliar – you turn your iPod to shuffle and blog the first ten songs that come up.

1. Make My Heart Stop – The Hanslick Rebellion
2. Call Me When You Get This – Corinne Bailey Rae
3. Protection – Massive Attack
4. Walk On Me – Ben Kweller
5. Evil Angel – Rufus Wainwright
6. In Da Club – 50 Cent
7. Fantasy – Aldo Nova
8. Losing My Way – Justin Timberlake
9. No One Like You – Scorpions
10. Birds and the Bees – the bird and the bee

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Happy National Pig-Out Day! The kids are watching the Macy’s parade, the turkey is ready to pop into the oven and the temperature in Austin has finally dropped low enough to wear long sleeves. Life is good.

I did most of my food prep last night – cooked the potatoes we will mash today, made the dressing and have it in a pan ready to bake, prepared the pumpkin pie filling so all I have to do is pour it into the crust and bake, even made some brownies for the girls since they aren’t pumpkin pie fans (yet). I’m going to steam some asparagus, but that’s easy. The turkey is prepped and ready. My mother-in-law makes the gravy and my husband makes the “toybok” – which is how his family tortures the word “zwieback” (his mother’s family is Mennonite, Russian via Holland and Germany. Or something like that.) We’re aiming to serve The Big Meal around 5pm, so I’m putting out a variety of cheeses and crackers and fruit in lieu of lunch. Oh, and ruffled potato chips with store-brand french onion dip, which I think is nasty but Mike insisted upon. Today’s wine selection is Barnwood “Untamed” Tempranillo, which is my current favorite red – nice and spicy, which I particularly like with heavy food.

So you’ll note I mentioned dressing…I know alot of people use the term stuffing instead. But in my view, dressing is baked in a pan, while stuffing is cooked inside the turkey. I also make a distinction on the basis of the grain involved (bread made with wheat is what you make stuffing with, while dressing can only properly be made with cornbread) but that is probably a quirk of my family’s recipe preferences. I have observed that people who did not grow up in the South use stuffing for both, and have no clue what you are talking about if you mention dressing. Apparently the term dressing came into favor during the Victorian era when the term stuffing seemed too coarse for polite company (oooh, baby, stuff that turkey…yeah, that’s hot).

Things I am thankful for:

1. My Crazy Family
2. My friends
3. Frozen margaritas with chips and salsa
4. iTunes
5. Re-runs of Star Trek Enterprise on the Sci-Fi Channel (oh, Lord, the shame)
6. All the people I know who work so hard to make the world a better place
7. OK, sure, this too

Happy happy, y’all!

Austin’s City Council

I wouldn’t have said it – or at least, I wouldn’t have said it in this particular way – but sadly, I mostly agree with this comment (on this post):

Why is it that, in a city with as many brilliant, creative people as we have living here from all political points of view, we have a city council as bad as this one? This is the single most undistinguished group of elected officials I have ever seen. You could literally pick seven people at random waiting for their bags at the Continental luggage kiosk at Barbara Jordan and get a better, more democratic, more intelligent group to represent the city.

Health Care

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran an article about subrogation – when a company that has paid health care claims related to an accident seeks to recoup those costs by going after money paid to the accident victim in an injury lawsuit.

A collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved. After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Mrs. Shank’s care.
Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Mrs. Shank’s former employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Two years ago, the retail giant’s health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart’s favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, her family has to rely on Medicaid and Mrs. Shank’s social-security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.

This practice is hardly unique to Wal-Mart, an easy target for criticism in most things related to how the company treats people. But in this case at least, the mega-retailer can’t rightly be singled out. As companies, and their health plans in turn, seek ways to reduce costs, any source of third party funds for medical care is going to be a target.

What’s interesting to me is how this particular example reflects so many current issues in our health care system – the effects of tort reform (especially caps on awards for such catastrophic cases), the financial interests of for-profit payors and how they conflict with the health and quality of life interests of insureds with significant medical needs, the need for a strong public safety net for people who have significant medical needs, the additional administrative costs associated with a piecemeal system…

It doesn’t appear to me that health reform proposals from the presidential candidates will address many of those issues. If we get mandatory universal coverage, then at least we take care of the safety net issue. However, as long as we continue to have insurance company middlemen, issues around conflicts of interest and additional administrative costs remain. Health savings accounts just undermine the concept of spreading risk through insurance, which will hurt people with significant medical needs the most. Tax breaks for purchasing insurance and permitting purchase of insurance in another state would have so little effect on anything that those proposals don’t rate mentioning, IMO.

I’ve always said that as long as we get to universal coverage, I can figure out how to be OK with however we manage to get there. That’s still true. I would rather everyone have at least a decent chance at getting the health care services they need than have the most efficient, effective system possible. And unfortunately, I don’t think the American public would approve construction of the most efficient, effective system possible because in our culture, health care is viewed largely as a commodity and not so much as the responsibility of society to provide or a right of the individual to obtain. But if we could get past the ideas that everything has to be profitable, that the right of insurance companies to continue making money trumps the social responsibility to take care of people, that the private sector is always a better option than government – there is a much better way to do health care.

Wolves In Feminist Clothing

You’ve gotta hand it to abstinence-only proponents. They have really “feministed” up their pitch. I mean, who (except the athiests among us) could possibly disagree with any of this?

What i want is for young women to feel that they’re so special and important, they are a creature made by god. They do not have to be a commodity for boys. They are beautiful for who they are on the inside, not the outside.

Its like those polls where the response is crafted to read like Mom and apple pie – who could possibly argue against Mom and apple pie, right? Except there’s also cherry pie, pumpkin pie, you’ve got chicken pot pie…and some people really prefer cake to pie. There’s a huge part of the relevant universe that isn’t even referenced.

Of course no one wants girls to feel like they have to be a commodity for boys. But they paint it as if the only choices are:

1. Be a sexually-active commodity for boys with terrible self-esteem; or
2. Be abstinent until you are married

when in fact there are numerous choices that occupy the space between #1 and #2.

Scaring and shaming and manipulating girls into abstinence disrespects their humanity. But then, that’s really the whole point.

Song of the Day

This just popped up on my iTunes playlist. Love the bass, and the handclaps in the middle are a nice touch.

Camille – Au Port

Evil Conservatives

This seems so obviously a parody site. But if you read some of the comments, you start to wonder.

So either it is a parody and conservatives really don’t get humor, or it isn’t a parody and their sense of humor is completely twisted.

Or else even the comments are manufactured and I just missed it, thus calling my own sense of humor into question. Dang.

Love, Young and Old

Sandra Day O’Connor is my new hero.

Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s husband, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, has a romance with another woman, and the former justice is thrilled — even visits with the new couple while they hold hands on the porch swing — because it is a relief to see her husband of 55 years so content.

Someone in the article says young love is about wanting to be happy, and old love is about wanting someone else to be happy. I’m not sure its so cut and dried, but I do think there is something to that. While I can’t honestly say I am never selfish in my marriage, I can honestly say that my spouse’s happiness has grown increasingly important to me over time and I am more aware of the two of us as equally important parts of a whole. Another of the things in life that (at least in my experience) you know in your head but don’t really know until you’re well into it.

Anyway, I hope that when I have Alzheimer’s, my husband is selfless enough to hang out with me and my new boyfriend. OH – SNAP!

What is it with me and Alzheimer’s stuff today?

Music and the Brain

I love reading about the effects of music on the human brain. Totally fascinating. Today the NYT ran a review of a book about music and the brain focused on disorders or unusual processing.

…[M]usic can help orient and anchor patients with advanced dementia because “musical perception, musical sensibility, musical emotion and musical memory can survive long after other forms of memory have disappeared.”

My memory isn’t the greatest, but I do pretty well remembering lyrics and music to songs I hear alot. And if I initially forget the lyrics, humming the tune is usually all it takes to start remembering the words, even of songs that I haven’t heard in many years. I can’t wait to see how well I am able to recall songs when I am really old – and it will be interesting to see which ones I recall. I can just see it now…I will be the life of the nursing home…my Alzheimer’s in full effect, not even remembering my own name but belting out every word of “Ice Ice Baby” as I shuffle rhythmically down the corridor.

Back in Blog

A bit more than a year after Appalachia Alumni Association was shut down due to the server-crippling amount of spam the site was attracting (and my being too busy to find another webhost), I have finally decided to give blogging another go.
It remains to be seen whether I can do this regularly again. But at least this way, my friends will catch a break from all those pontificating or “hey look at this cool thing!” emails I tend to send when I don’t have a blog to absorb my musings.