Pill Popping Party!

Yea! We are having a party! Not just any party, we are having a pill popping party! In case you have not noticed the myriad of commercials that are on TV, we are encouraged to take pills from everything from ED to toenail fungus. And if the pills cannot be purchased over the counter, you are also encouraged to talk to your doctor to write you a prescription for the "cure all" pills.

So what is my beef? Don't pills give us health, longer and better life? Yes, to a degree I do. I have been taking hypertension pills for some time now (three pills a day), cholesterol pills (one a day), 81 Mg aspirin (one a day), multi vitamin (one a day) and calcium pills (two a day). My wife also take some of the same and some different pills every day. We are prisoners to our medicine cabinet and the mail order company for getting us the pills we need to keep the supply going. We have become addicted to the pills we take.

Earlier this week I was in a small repair shop for a tire repair. As I was talking to the owner, I noticed he had his five pills that we was going to take at noon time lined up all in a row. They were different colors and different sizes. I had no idea what they were for nor did I ask him. We all seem to have the unique "cocktail" mix of pills that we take.

I read in the ads now that taking a multi vitamin is not enough - now we have specialized vitamins for men, women, cholesterol and so on. Also, lets not forget about the epidemic of ADD, ADHD, depression, manic-depression disorders and so on. So if you are an adult with hypertension, borderline diabetes, high cholesterol, depression, ED, and so on, think of how many pills you would have to take just to maintain. Now consider going into your local health store because you are feeling a bit run down. Maybe a vitamin D deficiency? Take two a day and call me in the morning. Not wanting to catch an early cold, vitamin C every morning should help. Lets not forget about the wonder vitamin, B12 and fish oil, omega 3 supplements and on and on and on.

Now for one more pet peeve. One of the local radio personalities a few years ago had a one man campaign again all of the ED pills being advertised during prime time on TV. I agreed him. By the time the advertising blitz really began, my two girls were old enough to know better. However, if one had small children, is it really necessary to go into embarrassing detail on what ED is and why it is important to take pills to fix it. Also, why is having an erection for four hours bad for you, and by the way dad, what is an erection? With the non stop advertising for pills that will "keep you ready whenever the moment is ready", we get the message. Enough already!

So the next time you take your morning meds or vitamins, think about what you are doing. Are you taking pills to really extend or enhance your quality of life, or are we all slaves to the pharmaceutical industry. I don't know. I just know this - I am tired of popping pills every day and just wish there was a shot I could take once a year that would give me the same benefit.

Obesity: Who is Really to Blame?

There is an old expression that goes "Success is always a father whereas failure is most surely an orphan." Most of us have heard in the current health care debate various opinions on what the drivers are for the skyrocketing cost of health care. Smoking, alcohol, sedentary lifestyles and obesity are the most common lifestyle causes I have heard. For the purpose of this posting, I will address only obesity.

One of the many things the CDC (Center for Disease Control) is currently investigating is why obesity is epidemic among our population in general. Some racial subgroups are more prone to affliction from this disease and our children have shown the greatest increase in the last 30 years. For example, over the last 30 years, the obesity rate for Americans has risen from 10% to 20%. Some experts predict if we do nothing to curb this problem, the number could climb as high as 40%. In addition, 30 years ago, our children had an obesity rate of 4% - it is now 20%. African Americans have a slightly higher propensity for obesity than Caucasians so their overall numbers are higher.

We live in a society that gravitates towards food. Listen to the radio, watch TV, drive around town and all you see are temptations for eating. We now live to eat rather than eat to live. We have all you can eat buffets, happy hours (snacks included), two for one specials, Wednesday freebies and so on. The temptation to stuff our pie holes is with us 24/7. Many people blame McDonald's - they deserve part of it for sure. However, it goes much beyond Micky Dee's. It goes to our grocery stores, restaurants, other fast food establishments and so on. There is plenty of blame to go around, including us. If we did not crave over indulgence, there would be no market for it - period.

So obesity is caused by over and incorrect eating. It is also caused by sitting on our butts from sun up to sun down. We get in a car to go to work, sit at a desk for hours at end (usually only getting up to go to lunch and eating something that is unhealthy) get in a car to get home, finally watching the telly until we fall asleep. The next day it starts all over again. Groundhog Day.

For our kids it is worse. Take the bus to school, sit in class all day (PE has become an elective in many schools) eat some government subsidized crap for lunch, talk the bus home and sit in front of the computer or TV screen until it is time for bed. We are hurting our kids, sentencing them to shorter, unhealthier life style by allowing this to go on.

So what to do. It is easy to see the problem and complain about it, but are there some simple things we can do right now? I believe there are. First and foremost, this has got to be a cooperative effort between government, industry and us. Every workplace should allow 1 1/2 hours for lunch and exercise. Schools should have mandatory PE, even if it means extending the school day to fit it in. All companies and institutions should encourage flex time, telecommuting, flex days to keep us from being stationary in our cars for the extended time periods we are now.

We need to stop buying Big Macs, fries, shakes and so on with the regularity we do. The market will prevail - companies like McDonald's will start offering more healthy (yet tasty) alternatives. We all need to walk more. Mark Twain, a voracious walker, use to say he had two doctors - his right leg and his left leg. Walking, bike riding, treadmills need to become a mandatory part of our daily regimen rather than something we will get around to eventually.

We need to buy healthier at the grocery store. The stores could continue to put up nutritional guides and suggestions for shoppers on what to buy for maximum health benefits yet minimal costs. As obesity is also a poverty issue, encourage through the food stamp program healthier choices and more restrictions on foods which are high is starch, sodium and empty calories.

This problem started with us and will end with us. There is no evil company that started this and made many of us fat. We just have companys that are reacting to supply and demand. Good habit are like bad habits - both take a while to develop. Lets start with the good habits to fix this problem once and for all.

Texas or Tax Us

Once upon a time in America, there were two kingdoms. One was named Texas and the other was named, well lets say New York or California or one of many other kingdoms that exist in America.

Recently someone who lives in Texas was asked how she was weathering the recession. She answered the question with a question - "What Recession?". Texas it seems, has dodged the bullet whereas many of the rest of us have not. To add insult to injury, Texas does not even have a state income tax. Finally, the unemployment rate in Texas (as of July 2009) is 2% behind the national average (7.5% compared to 9.5%).

Coming from a "blue state" as I do, I cannot understand why my state and many or the other blue states are struggling. In fact, many have unemployment rates either by state measures, or major city measures that are higher than the national average. The solution in most blue states is to become more like "tax us" than Texas. In other words, where Texas believed that a state tax would be regressive, California has a state tax of 10.5%. New York is close and might even surpass California by the end of the year.

How did we get this disparity between a state like Texas and many other progressive states in the union. Simple - all of us (but the most radical liberals) have learned a long time ago there is no such thing as a free lunch. In other words, someone always has to pay the bill, pick up the tab. States that are really in hot water such as California and New York, seemed to have forgotten that lesson. The solution always is to tax the producers and let more and more non-producers have a free ride. To quote a prominent politician in Washington, " When we have more people riding in the wagon than pulling the wagon, it is hard to go forward". The producers in high tax states understand what is going on - they are now voting with their feet. For example, last year California lost 10,000 millionaires to lower taxed states. Simple math - the number of producers decreases, the number of non-producers increases and the net result in California is a $20B deficit and growing.

What I find the most interesting is this problem has become endemic - it is in most states as well as the Federal Government. Dr. Art Laffer who advised President Reagan as part of this Economic Team, has written and spoken out many times on how much taxes drag on the economy. There comes a point in diminishing returns when the marginal rate becomes so high that the producers simply stop producing. They either take their business elsewhere (out of the high tax state or even the country) or cash in. When taxes are low, productivity and innovation flourish; when they are high, the opposite occurs. This has been proven over and over throughout time.

When Minnesota had a very liberal senator years ago, the standing joke was, "Don't worry, the good news is we are only going to tax the rich. The bad news is that you are rich". What that means is if we cannot control the appetite of government, and once the producers start to disappear, then the unsustainable tax burden will fall on each of us and that will be the beginning of the end for prosperity in America.

To Infinity and Beyond.....

During my working career I have been a long distance runner. Not the exercise type of runner - the commutes that I have had. Since I have been in the Twin Cities workforce for over 30 years, I have really seen the changes in the traffic flow, particularly from the Northwest part (in which I live) to just about anywhere south, east or west of here.

In particular, the last job I had (which I really liked) was in St. Paul. Getting from my driveway to plugging in my computer at my desk in St. Paul took 1 1/2 hours on a good day. If it was raining, snowing or if there was an accident on the freeway, the time could easily go over 2 hours (one way). The bus service was no better. There were only four express routes that went to St. Paul in the morning and four that came home in the late afternoon. If the last bus was missed (left at 5:05) one needed to take a bus to Minneapolis and transfer to another bus which would travel (with many stops) to the area in which I live. Many times as I was sitting in traffic going nowhere, I thought about how we got here and what we (as a society) were doing to fix it. I could think of many reasons for the first part of the question, but sadly, nothing for the last part. As much as I liked my job in St. Paul, the commute became a real stopper and I left in July of 2008.

As I pondered the state of commuting in the Twin Cities many time as I was immobilized in gridlock, I thought more of my children than of myself. I knew this was a "sunset" tour for me and my days of putting up with this mess were coming to an end. My kids however, had decades left to endure.

How did we get here? By doing the same thing that we are doing now - nothing. Last year when the price of gas went up to almost $4.00/gallon, everybody was talking about our "energy problem". Some ideas were floating around on how to maximize our mass transit, different fuels to use, maybe enhanced telecommuting and so on. Nothing came out of it. This year, with a new crowd occupying the house on the Potomac, we are concerned with the economy, banks, health care and carbon tax. Meanwhile, as the expression goes, "the band played on...".

We are still using the old playbook that everyone should work 8:00-5:00, M-F. Everybody leaves home or work at the same time and jump on the freeway system which is inadequate at best. Our mass transit system is a mess and not equipped for the 21st century. When I worked at the Control Data Corporation in the 1980's, if I left work at 4:30 (from Bloomington) I could beat the traffic bubble. Now the traffic bubble starts at 3:00 every day. After the energy crunch of the late 1970's and early 1980's, companies encouraged employees to van pool or car pool. Now they don't give a damn how you get to work, just as long as you get there and give your pound of flesh.

So the world we are leaving our kids is no advances in fuel cells, coal gassification, oil shale, efficient bio fuels, improved mass transit and on and on and on. No, the future we are leaving our kids is sitting in their cars, wasting gas, wasting time, thinking of Buzz Lightyear...."to infinity and beyond..."

Game On!

As they say in sports, "Game On!". The yearly battle is in full swing with two of the biggest perps in the neighborhood - Jeff "Sticky Fingers" Squirrel and Blue "Bandit" Jay. Every year my wife Susan and I try to be good stewards of nature and feed the ever growing number of birds which visit us. We buy copious amounts of bird seed, suet, grape jelly, thistle and so on. We spare no effort nor expense in taking care of our fine feathered friends.

In the midst of all this goodness comes an evil - it comes from the forest. The evil is familiar as it comes cloaked in stealth and deception and invades the yard every daylight minute of every day. This evil comes either by land (traveling from tree to tree), by air (swooping down from the tree tops), or both. It is insidious. This evil (in the form of Sticky Fingers and Bandit) comes for one purpose only - to strip every seed, every morsel that we have put out to feed our non-offending birds. This is war and victory must be claimed at all costs. I have used every weapon in my arsenal. I have yelled, chased, chained my loyal dog in the back yard and yes, even resorted to using my single pump BB gun. I have the tools, they have the numbers. Game on.

At the time of this writing, the battle continues to rage. Both sides are tired and are licking their wounds. My dog goes to bed every night so tired she can hardly walk up the steps. I am running out of ammunition and I search the seed catalogs for more food as the attrition by the enemy is high. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. Both the Bandit and Sticky Fingers gangs are adept and resilient. I will fight the good fight and hold on as long as possible. However, in the end I might have to say what the Minnesota Twins say annually....."wait til next year..." Until then I will continue the fight and continue my yearly battle cry.."GAME ON!".....

The Real Neverland

I am a bit upset that the late Michael Jackson used the name Neverland for his amusement park. I thought the name Neverland which was used for the magical land that J. M. Barrie created in his infamous book, Peter Pan had the place down pat. In the novel as well as the subsequent Walt Disney film adaptation, had Neverland as a place where the inhabitants were known as the "lost boys" whose credo was they would never grow up.

Believe it or not, we have a real life Neverland today - and it is not the Michael Jackson amusement park. No, this Neverland is much more real and you don't need pixie dust to get there. In this Neverland the "lost boys" have become just the "lost". The lost will eschew all authority, rebuke religion, embrace nihilism and adopt hedonism. In short, this is today's Neverland.

From someone growing up in the 60's I fully understand young people in a counter culture environment. There was vigorous rebellion against the war (Viet Nam), against government( mostly Nixon), and against authority in general. Oh, don't forget this one - "Never trust someone over 30.". The difference between today and the 60's, is back then the Hippies, even the "Yippies", believed in something. They knew they existed for a purpose greater than themselves. I have seen how today's counter culture young people live - what they read, the music listened to, the shows attended. The life style defies logic or understanding. Cynically and deliberately, they live on the edge without margin. Filth permeates everyone and everything. Sleep all day, party all night, listen to music whose negativity becomes a tool to attack the very soul of joy and optimism. Wear all black, have numerous piercings and have tattoos adorning most of the body.

For those in the faith, the enemy has taken up a major encampment in that environment. There are enormous ministry opportunities that beacon. However, the battle will not be easy as the ground will not be given up easily. Most churches that I know of do not even bother with the lost and tattered that dwell here.

The next time you see one of the "lost" walking the streets of Uptown (or just there about) think of how lost they really are.

The Higher Education Quiz

Every now and again my wife tells me I say the words "I wonder" too much. I hear things, read things or see things about topical items and I think about them afterwards. One of the things I have thought about, and wondered about for years is why the cost of higher education is so out of control. When I say out of control, I mean that the yearly increases in higher education is much higher than the cost of living increases we all experience.

What really got me thinking this time was an article I recently read which stated that due to the recessed economy, many private colleges are holding down their tuition increases to somewhere between 4 and 5 percent. Wow - what a savings! However, the cost of living increase is projected to be nowhere near that amount. So the question I ask this year is the same I ask every year - what are the cost drivers? It seems that I have to ask this question because the "lap dog" media we have never asks this question - they just blame certain groups for not giving more tax dollars to support education "for the children".

With the CPI (which includes lots of items) averaging slightly less than 2.8% during the decade of the 2000 - 2007, it is hard to fathom why higher education goes up so steeply every year. We all know the reported cost drivers for why health care goes up faster than everything else, but education?

My solution to how to fix this problem is not to play the game the way it is presented. In other words, if private colleges cannot control their costs, avoid them like the plague. Use the state university system instead. If their increases are unsustainable, use the community college system. If those too are out of control, find some online, easily transferable classes to take. It is all about supply and demand. If we tell our higher education institutions that we are not going to support them anymore until they get their costs under control, one of two things will happen. They will cease to exist or they will be better stewards of the money that we (privately) or we (publicly) send them. This is a quiz they must be able to pass.