We're #1

We’re number 37! We’re number 37! We’re number 37! Every four years the U.S. is able to chant “We’re #1!” during the summer Olympics. Let’s face it: the U.S. dominates the summer Olympics. It is easy to get caught up in American’s need to always be number one. Despite the recession and poor economy the U.S. is still ranked one of the best economies. Despite a car bailout GM has re-taken the #1 car spot over Toyota.

But, despite always having to be number one the United State ranks 37th in life expectancy in the world. Regardless of what Fox News would probably say we did not go from #1 to #37 when “Obamacare” was put into law. In fact, the new healthcare law is trying to combat some of the very reasons why we are ranked number 37.

In truth the U.S. does have some of the best healthcare in the world. The only problem is that it isn’t for everyone. It is easy to find these disparities. A quick look at the decline in cancer deaths in the U.S. is one example. Although cancer deaths are declining inequalities persist. Elizabeth Ward of the American Cancer Society, states “‘People of a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to smoke and less likely to get access to care where they can get screened for early detection.*’" Without giving everyone access to healthcare, including preventative healthcare, these discrepancies will continue and we can continue to chant “we’re number 37!”

In the latest finding from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations at the University of Washington it was concluded that in many parts of the country life expectancy is declining. Two of the biggest factors? Obesity and smoking. Although the U.S. ranks #1 in spending on healthcare, the way healthcare is done now its not reaching everyone.

Some are less likely to get cancer. Some aren’t. Some life expectancy is going up. For others it is going down. If we really want to chant “We’re #1” we need to make healthcare more comprehensive, accessible, and affordable for everyone. Not just the rich.

*June 17, 2011 article from NPR
Also check out the report from the U. of Washington.

food wars

Is the next great political war food? It’s not an ongoing issue like the economy, jobs, or war, but it may be the next big thing. As we’ve found out in the past two years not everyone in the United States wants every citizen to have quality health insurance or any at all. The problem of course is that in the end our tax money that has to pay for the care of people that can’t afford health insurance or quality insurance ends up costing us more in the end. A fact sorely neglected by many people. This same idea has shifted to the food wars.

I first took notice of the food wars when the First Lady, Michelle Obama, began advocating for food change and policy. The changes: the basic idea is nutrition education. Other aspects are providing better school lunches, farm-to-school school programs, less deserts, more food security, etc. This all sounds good to me. Apparently though this is infringing on people’s “rights” to get fat and have more heart attacks and cases of diabetes, the first and sixth leading causes of death in the United States respectively.

Former half-term governor, tv star, book selling, motorcycling, history expert Sarah Palin retorts to the First Lady, “get off our backs” in response to the Let’s Move program. I guess moving is too much to ask.

I’m not surprised by Sarah Palin and millions of others like her who are upset about the idea of better food programs and education to help people eat healthier. I’m surprised, because in a time where it seems cigarettes, something that was widely celebrated in the United States at one point in time, is widely attacked by city, state, and federal laws. Of course cigarettes are not illegal, but in many places such as restaurants, schools, hospitals, public buildings, and now even parks, parking lots are even banning cigarette smoking. Cigarettes are heavily banned in many places, there is hardly any advertising, it is taxed enormously, and it has wiped out the tobacco industry. And people on both sides of the line seem okay with it. Cancer awareness advocates can be proud.

Even more surprisingly to me is the idea that someone like Ron Paul can advocate that a dangerous drug such as heroin should be legal. His logic? Well, if we made it legal no one would use it. The same logic could be used for murder but we wouldn’t make that legal, would we? The government makes a drug like heroin illegal not to infringe on people’s rights, but to protect people from a drug that has damaging effects to a person’s brain as well as possible dangerous effects to family, friends, and strangers.

Doritos, McDonald’s hamburgers, and fried foods are never going to stop being sold. But it would be nice to educate people that a slice of pizza does not have a serving of vegetables, or that drinking a bottomless amount of soda or sports drinks is not good for people, especially adults. If initiatives such as Let’s Move teach children to eat healthier and help small farms bring food to schools - in turn helping the next generation to have less heart disease and diabetes - I’m all for it. Nutrition and what we choose to eat is vital to a healthy life style and the ways it affects our body for good or bad.

closing time

There is something wrong when less than thirty minutes later after closing on a house you find that the kitchen faucet is broken and leaking everywhere. It’s even better to find out that even though the faucet looks fancy the sprayer design is the problem and the leak is easily fixed. That’s what happened to us on Thursday when we closed on the house. A stressful moment that was easily fixed.

I think for some closing on a house is easy. For others it must be extremely stressful, difficult, and downright not worth it. We had a little of each when closing on our house. Much of the process wasn’t stressful or difficult, especially for a short sale. I think this was in part because of realtor and mortgage broker who kept moving things along and had a positive attitude. (It also helps to have a competent lawyer working on the short sale too.) The short sale took about three months. That’s about as short as it gets, too. Many of them last six months to a year, and some even longer.

At the beginning we were told a closing date of May 13. Unfortunately, this number was more of a goal than anything concrete. Fortunately, the goal was not too far off. The paper work seemed to be going through, the banks approved the short sale. And at the end of April it looked like we might move on the 13. By the beginning of May we met with the mortgage broker again who said that we should have a closing by the end of the month. We moved our moving date to Memorial Day weekend. It was better this way. We had a long weekend; it didn’t coincide with work that I had the previous weekend. Then the title, the last part of the process, was found incorrectly processed from the previous sale of the house and it needed to be done correctly. We found this out the Tuesday before the Saturday move. There would be no way to move on the weekend.

Again we had to postpone our moving date. This time it was not a good change. All the help that we had before now couldn’t come. We were frantically looking for help. So much so that we begrudgingly used Facebook to ask for help. Not only that, but the change in date meant that we would be moving in a different month. We had told our landlord we would be out by the end of May. In the whole process we were blessed that the new renter wasn’t moving in until June 8, and we were able to stay in our rental for a few extra days.

We were told that the closing would be the Tuesday or Wednesday after Memorial Day at the latest. The closing? It was done the Thursday after Memorial Day. This brings us back to the beginning where after finally closing and getting to go in our new house – the first thing we find is the faucet broken.

Well, it’s all better now. And so is the house now that the main two rooms are painted. There are still boxes everywhere, and the lawn still isn’t mowed. The walls though, they look good.