It is probably enough to have Milton Hershey rolling over in his grave.  Last year a number of chocolate manufacturer’s lobbied to attempt to get the definition of chocolate changed so that they could substitute cheap fats in place of cocoa butter when making chocolate.  This would have allowed them make the product cheaper, and to profit more by selling the cocoa butter at much higher profits to the cosmetics industry for use in lotions, soaps, etc.  This however failed, and the FDA re-iterated that ”Cacao fat, as one of the signature characteristics of the product, will remain a principal component of standardized chocolate” according to the update.

The part that was most galling (to me anyway) was a statement by Kirk Saville, a Hershey’s spokesman, who said (emphasis added by me):

There are high-quality oils available which are equal to or better than cocoa butter in taste, nutrition, texture and function, and are preferred by consumers.

Preferred by consumers?  Preferred? I don’t think so, Kirk.   Oh, yeah take out the Cocoa Butter which actually has some nutritional benefit, and lets replace it with hydrogenated corn oil instead.  Screw the fact that we take chocolate and actually make it unhealthy… it is healthy for profits.  What this really means is, I think we can get away with it, and nobody will notice.

In the Biography of Milton Hershey that can be found at hersheypa.com

He took great pride in the growth of the school, the town, and his business. For the rest of his life, he always placed the quality of his product and the well-being of his workers ahead of profits.

Well, obviously Milton is no longer in charge of the Heshey’s chocolate company.  Hershey has done an end run around the issue.  So, they can’t call their imitation chocolate “chocolate” but that didn’t stop them from making the change in a number of their products.  According the the post on CandyBlog, a number of Hershey’s products are no longer milk chocolate, but instead are now “chocolate flavored candy.”

Look at the list of ingredients from a package of the original “Milk Chocolate” Kissables.

Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, nonfat milk, milk fat, lactose, soy lecithin, PGPR & artificial flavors), sugar, red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1 & carnauba wax.

Now look at the “Chocolate Candy” Kissables:

Sugar, vegetable oil (palm, shea, sunflower and/or safflower oil), chocolate, nonfat milk, whey, cocoa butter, milk fat, gum arabic, soy lecithin, artificial colors (red 40, yellow 5, blue 2, blue 1, yellow 6), corn syrup, resinous glaze, salt, carnauba wax, pgpr and vanillin.

See anything missing? Yup, that is right, no Milk Chocolate in it any longer. The same is true for Whatchamacallits, Milk Duds, Mr. Goodbar and Krackle.  Why hasn’t anybody noticed?  Because Hershey went to great lengths to make it so that it is difficult to notice.  (And in part, thanks to a slight change in labeling law on what has to be called “imitation” ).  Products that once bore the words “Milk Chocolate” now instead are listed as “chocolate candy,” “made with chocolate” or “chocolatey.”

Actually, it seems in once case apparently it did get noticed, where Almond Joy was returned to Milk Chocolate after comsumers complained.

Fortunately (so far) Hershey Bars, Kisses, and Reese’s Peanut butter cups remain unaffected and are still Milk Chocolate products. Tell Hershey what you think of their faux chocolate, because messing with our chocolate is just plain wrong.

OK, not really… but now that I have your attention, let me tell you what happened this past weekend. It was Saturday, a relatively warm, cloudy day here in New Jersey. Like every Saturday for the past few months, my routine was the same, I would go out on my back deck, enjoy a cup of coffee and my morning cigarette (yes, I know… don’t go there), the dogs run around the yard, and then I get ready and head off to the gym. So like every other Saturday morning, I knew exactly what the condition of the yard was (mostly I note whether I will be mowing or doing yard work that day). Nothing was particularly amiss or out of the usual.

As I was coming home, TheWife calls me and says the our patio set is “broken” (I really must speak to her about her ability to understate a situation). I arrived home to find that the tempered glass top of our patio set had shattered into nothing but a chards of glass. I mean tiny. The pieces were so small that you could fit two or three of them on a dime. I found this quite baffling. Now granted tempered glass is supposed to break in a way that prevents thos huge sharp edges from forming, but in the past, I had only seen the tiny pieces at point of impact when something broke the glass, and the rest sort of hung together in a “sheet” of broken pieces. In this case the entire tabletop was completely in chards. I did my best Gil Grissom imitation (other than taking photos… dammit), looking for a cause. There were no rocks, sticks, branches from a tree or other projectiles within the rubble. The ring that protects the center hold where the umbrella goes had fallen straight down and landed on the leg of the table, so obviously the table came straight down, and not at some angle. There was no blood to indicate that a squirrel or other animal had landed on it crashing through. I even entertained the notion that since I live in the flight path of Newark Liberty International Airport that it was a case of “blue ice” and that in the midday sun, it had just melted… but even that would have left some sort of residue from the dye (and or contained waste…ewww). No, nothing seemed to fit.

The table, was one I had purchased from K-Mart a couple of years ago, one of their Martha Stewart line of tables. I was talking about it this week to somebody, and decided to look up some information on Tempered Glass, and at first found this article discussing how when tempered glass is compromised in some way that it can seem like it just “explodes.” Back into Google for a search of “Tempered Glass Exploding” and there… the first article up (at least at the time I did the search), was this little piece called, “Sounds of Summer: Martha Stewart Tables Shattering.” Turns out, this “phenomenon” that had struck our table was not at all uncommon.

There is apparently even a class action lawsuit that is in the works against Martha Stewart Living Omnipedia and JRA Funiture.  However, JRA Funiture filed Chapter 7 Bakruptcy (total liquidation) last year, so at least they are no longer the source (depending on inventories of course) of the tables, but it also means no recovery for the Class Action Lawsuit either.

I’d like to think that with JRA Funiture out of business that this is the end of the situation, but to be honest, reading how Sears (and/or Kmart) and Martha Stewart Living have not even (so far as I can tell) acknowledged this as a problem, outside of saying they will work with consumers under warranty, leaves me a little ill at ease with them, leaving me doubting whether I want to trust them again.  Problem is, at least the old sets were also farmed out under different names to other chains as well.  JRA’s funiture was also sold under the Hampton Bay name at Home Depot, as well as being carried by Sam’s Club, Target and Safeway. (Only Home Depot has has a similar report of an exploding table that I have been able to find so far).

If you have (or had) one of these sets,  if your table is still under warranty you can call K-mart Customer Service about it at 866-562-7848 (though K-Mart has not specifically said they will honor the manufacturer’s warranty) or Home Depot (who will honor the warranty) at 800-585-9969.  Other than that you are probably out of luck.  So what does this all mean?  I guess, most of all be careful if you are going to buy a glass top patio set from a discount retailer.  In my case, I am thinking a nice teak set might be in our future instead of risking it with glass again.

I, like many people have battled weight issues a good part of my life. Despite what many “skinny” people will claim, it is not a “choice.” Is it something I can do something about? In my case, yes. At least I have managed to do it before, and with weight loss of almost 16 pounds since April 17th, I am making some progress again.

But this isn’t really about that fight. No, this is something that has been simmering since my Step-Father-In-Law passed away from Lung Cancer last year. It bothered me at the time, but I wasn’t completely sure why, but there was a gnawing at me about this. Mostly, I guess because I felt it was so unfair that by the time it was “discovered” he was given six-to-nine months and didn’t last that long, that I dismissed what was bothering me as just the sort of bitterness you have when you lose a loved one to illness.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, my uncle was diagnosed with Lung cancer. Fortunately, in his case, it is currently considered early enough that while the long term prognosis is not good (can it ever be?), there actually IS so far, a long term prognosis. Something, that my Step-Father-In-Law never “enjoyed.” I started rethinking it, and using “the Google” to seek some others information and similar type of incidents and stories. I probably shouldn’t be shocked in this day and age to actually find a Blog dedicated to the topic of fat prejudice in health care. This is exactly what was bothering me all this time, and a couple of delicately placed questions to my mother-in-law confirmed this.

He had complained of shortness-of-breath and several other symptoms for quite some time before his diagnosis. Every time his Primary Care Physicians “diagnosis” was that he needed to lose weight, and that then it would no longer be an issue. Symptoms overlooked, simply because, well if you are fat… that is the problem and the end of the effort by the physician (in these cases).

I would love to think that this is infrequent and isolated with a few “bad seeds,” but when you see things like, UNC-Chapel Hill: Obesity May Keep Some Women from Getting Screened for Breast, Cervical Cancer it seems clear that this is not the case, and Kate Harding has a excellent breakdown of this story and how (and why) this issue exists. (On a side note, Kate’s Shapely Prose blog is an excellent read.)  There are even studies published on the Stigma and Discrimination in Weight Mangement and Obesity.

Of course, the media is not much help in this regard either.  Yes, there are some articles that point properly at some causes and issues, but doing so is “too politcally correct” for some writers, and just a lifestyle choice for others.  Of course even some governments get involved as well when they do something like tell a person that they are ‘too fat to adopt.’

It is like continuing to get picked on by the school yard bully for being overweight.  Only the sonsequences to your health could be far more severe.

It was a bit more than a year ago that I was thrilled to see the release of a vaccine for HPV since this is the leading cause of cervical cancer, though I was completely dumbfounded by the controversy that it stirred up. Now in all fairness there were some excellent points brought up, such as this from Mr. Big Dubya over at Dadcentric, and I can certainly understand people feeling leery these days about drug companies and their rushing products to market. What I don’t get, is the religious nuts that try to claim that having a girl vaccinated is tantamount to giving her the green light for sex.

Now, I guess I was stupidly hoping that when I saw this report that stated 1 in 4 teens have a sexually transmitted disease, that perhaps people would wake up and realize that “Just Say No” didn’t cut it for Nancy Reagan and the war on drugs, and it isn’t working for this either. I was hoping, but of course I should have known better. I should know that there are clowns out there like Wendy Wright over at “Concerned Women for America” (no I am not linking to the hypocritical group of activist women, that somehow believe women don’t belong doing the things that they are doing… like being activists maybe). Anyway, apparently Ms. Wright (I can’t even type that without laughing) decided that the reason for this is because there are actually some programs out there that don’t strictly teach abstinence. Good Gravy, when are these people going to get a clue.

I guess the “concerned women” couldn’t be bothered reading things in the story like:

Blame is most often placed on inadequate sex education, from parents and from schools focusing too much on abstinence-only programs.

or maybe

“This is pretty shocking,” said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital in New York.

“To talk about abstinence is not a bad thing,” but teen girls — and boys too — need to be informed about how to protect themselves if they do have sex, Alderman said.

No, I guess that wouldn’t fit their agenda.  I just can’t help but wonder, if they aren’t concerned about young women and their health, just who are the Concerned Women for America really concerned about?

Yes, I realize I have wandered a bit, but it is these types of people that continue to defend the indefensible.  Of those girls that had contracted an STD in the study, the most prevalent was HPV!

Teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of girls studied; chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and genital herpes, 2 percent.

And this is the leading cause of cervical cancer, and 18% of the girls studied are infected?  I don’t like those “odds” at all.  Certainly not enough to take a flyer on my daughter’s health.  Sure, I HOPE she will save herself for marriage, and I HOPE that the man that she marries is ALSO saving himself, so that he can not give her the virus.  But you know what?  I am sure as hell not going to take a roll of the dice with her health and tell her that “Just Say No” is all she needs to know.  I will take any steps I can, and I will educate her for the steps that I can’t take for her, to give her the best chance possible.  To me, that is the only logical conclusion, and in my not so humble opinion, this studies shows that the odds are too great to play it any other way.

Do you have an adorable pet? Do you think others would think so to? Enter a photo of you pet in the Bissel MVP (Most Valuable Pet) Pet Photo Contest. The winning pet’s picture will be put on the new Bissell Pet Hair Eraser vacuum , and donation of $10,000 will be made to the charity of the winner’s (well winner’s owner) choice. Plus the top vote getter each week will win one of the Pet Hair Eraser vacuums, and the top 5 vote getters (getters?) will move into the finalist group. Grab your camera, snap a picture of your pet and send it in.  (Contest ends 04/30/08)

Why I hate people from Alaska – You remember Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska), of “The Internet is a series of tubes” fame?  Well, he is at it again, along with apparently equally dimwitted Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) and Senator Olympia Snow (R-Washington), who have introduced a bill to outlaw the already illegal practice of phishing.  Sounds a bit like yet another Bridge to Nowhere.  Of course I can’t but wonder, if it doesn’t pass if Stevens will throw another one of his hissy fits and threaten to quit the Senate.  Of course, I can always dream.

Your rights trampled in the name of profits – It seems Monsanto is on a tear again, pushing for lawmakers to get rid of your right to select milk not tainted with synthetic growth hormones.  Whether or not you believe or care about the rBST/rBGH controvery or not, you should care about your rights, as this is not the only product that is being targeted by large companies to get labeling stripped to keep the consumer in the dark.  Contact your representatives, and tell them, you have a right to know.

Emeril going green – Emeril is coming to the Discovery Channel with a new eco-friendly food show.  The show reportedly will be set in Whole Foods Markets and will feature organic, free range and natural foods.

And how about now? – Yes, I know I can understand if you are tired of me mentioning TheMeatrix, and Sustainable Table, and other food “activist” type things, because how could farms possibly be as bad as it is show in that little animated movie… right?  Well what about this video?  That is not fiction!  That is not “a demonstration” or even a theoretical re-enactment.   No cute little animation here.  This is the actual goings on that lead to the single largest recall of beef (to date) in the United States. [Via Sustainable Table Blog]

I have always suffered from what is commonly known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (or S.A.D.)  In simple terms it is a form of depression that is basically believed to be brought on by a lack of sunlight, and a corresponding lack of serotonin.  In itself, it is a difficult thing to deal with, but the seeming lack of acknowledgment of its existence from far too many healthcare professionals makes it at time downright maddening.

But this isn’t about me.  I know I have it, I have my coping mechanisms, and when they don’t work, I now have people that I can go to that can help.  The reason I bring this up is more about the kids.  When I was young, S.A.D. wasn’t even a diagnosis that would come into play (at the time it was strictly considered a condition for places much closer to the Artic regions where sunlight becomes even more scarce or downright non-existant in the winter).  But just as bad, it is still overlooked often today.

As adults, we have more of a tendency to “know” when we are out of sorts and when we just don’t feel quite right.  Not necessarily always, but we do tend to know when something is at least out of the ordinary.  Kids do not have this mechanism (or perhaps experience) to recognize this or at least how to verbalize it.

Kidshealth.org has an excellent article which includes some things to look for in your child (this includes teens as well) and to be aware of.   These symptoms include:

• Changes in mood during winter months (admittedly, this can be a difficult one to recognize in teenagers, as their moods change often)
• Lack of enjoyment in activities that the child normally likes doing
• A lack of energy or unusual tiredness or fatigue
• Changes in eating habits (often associated with lots of simple carbs, and sugary “comfort foods”)
• Difficulty in concentrating  (Does your child tend to do better in the beginning and end of the year, but not so much so in the mid-year?)
• Less time socializing

This isn’t a checklist.  A child suffering from SAD doesn’t need to display all of these symptoms, nor do they need to obvious.  The changes can just as easily be subtle (depending of course on how severe the case is).  It may not simply be a case of “the blues.”

Since more than 50% of people are against animal cloning according to a study done by the International Food Information Council, I am confident that I am not alone when I say how disappointed I am at the FDA approving cloned animals to be used in our food supply. What bothers me more than that, is that the companies that lobbied the FDA to get this through, are aware (as I am sure the FDA is as well) at the negative response, and because of this have gone through the effort to hide it by refusing to require food derived from cloned animals to be marked as such. Sort of a Don’t Ask Don’t Tell for Clones.

This of course leads to the potential for labels from those that do not use cloned animals to mark their products as such. But let us look for a second at an issue that I have mentioned here before, the use of synthetic hormones in milk. Dairies that have chosen to not use Monsanto’s rBGH/rBST should under the same theory be “free” to let consumers know that they produce a product that does not use these hormones, giving consumers that would rather not use them a choice. Simple enough, right? Wrong! Monsanto tried the court route, with mixed results, certainly not good enough for them. Suddenly now there appears to be a genuine campaign to get these labels removed, so that consumers will not be allowed to chose for themselves.

Is this what the FDA means by “free to label or mark their products?”  The simple fact is, that they assume an uneducated consumer is the best consumer, because that means more profits at the expense of your health… not that you would know it, because the FDA… who is supposed to be watching out for the best interest of the people, are all too quickly giving in to pressure from politics and big business.

It is coming to a point, where regardless of how careful you are or try to be with what you feed your family, these corporations have the money to take away your right to know what it is that you are eating.  If this all sounds “anti-business” it isn’t.  It is about anti-corrupt-businesses.  Businesses like Monsanto that have no ethics and cheat and lie to the public and try to buy off politicians.  Heck, I have all the respect in the world for companies like Burger King.  Are they selling products that are, well questionable in nutritional value and awful in regards to fat?  Of course.  And they make no bones about it.  They tell you simply the way it is.  We cater to fat people with big appetites.  Sure, a bacon cheeseburger is loaded with fat.  But if you are a big person, with a big appetite, and want something that has 5 layers of cheese, burger and bacon, and want to consume all that fat in one sitting, then we are happy to serve you.  It is not healthy.  It is not smart.  But they aren’t trying to get lawmakers to ban health food stores for “misleading customers by claiming that their tofu is a better choice” as their defense.  It is disgusting… but it is honest.   You want to eat that… you know what you are getting and are making a choice.

Unfortunately, when it comes to cloning (and unless we can stop it soon milk as well), you can’t make such a choice.

Kristen from Motherhood Uncensored was looking for feedback, on kids and computer/video games. This started out as a comment, but when my comment started developing into paragraphs, I thought perhaps it would be better addressed here. (nobody has ever accused me of being short winded)

First of all, she asks the question(s),”Is your tot a gamer yet? Ever? Never?” and in there is I think some of the problem. Commenters also played along and went with the same language and theory. However, “gamer” certainly draws a certain connotation to it (whether you believe that connotation is good or bad is wholly dependant on your POV) that I don’t think applies to kids. They play a game. In the case of some games like V.Smile or Leapster, they even LEARN while they are “playing” (not “gaming”).

I think the fear that every kid that knows how to use a computer is going to turn into some sort of computer zombie slayer is quite overblown. If anything, my bet would be that the exact opposite would often play out to be the truth.  Much the same way that kids that are completely denied sugar are the ones that often hit the candy racks the hardest when they are able to do so, the kid that is denied the opportunity to use computers, whether purely for learning, or even for some amount of entertainment, would be the ones that I would be on to become gaming addicts later as they attempt to make up for lost time.   Not to mention the fact that in this day and age, you are putting your child at a distinct disadvantage if you do not introduce them to technology in a society that whether you like it or not is technology driven.

Of course, like everything else, there needs to be limits.  Limits on the amount of time spent on the computer.  Limits to what they are allowed to play or use, and other common sense rules apply here as well as with anything else.  The fact of the matter is, if you keep it age appropriate, at a young age, whether they realize it or not, while they are playing these games they are learning something… colors, numbers, associations… there is learning going on there, interactive, touch and work with it learning.  Even Seasame Street can’t compete with that, let alone anything else that they might happen to watch on the “idiot box.”

Of course, TV has been outed for the most part as not necessarily the best baby sitter in the world, but most parents do employ it as least once in a while in an effort to get something done, or to find a couple of minutes to get in the shower, maybe get dinner ready without somebody hanging at your heels crying “I booooored.”  And to be honest, again if you keep it smart, and within limits I don’t thing there is anything wrong with that.  And “computer time” could simply be used as another way to not only teach but entertain.  Given a choice, I would rather my daughter grab her Reader Rabbit game, or log on to Playhouse Disney and play some games that teach her something that to give in to another hour or even half hour in front of the TV.

In the second grade, this has already paid off dividends for me and LatteGirl.  She had a science project last week (Don’t get me started on already having week long projects in the second grade), where she needed to look up different types of animals and find out facts about them.  With no help (but WITH supervision), she logged into Encarta, pulled up facts on each animal, and even copy and pasted the URL for each animal and pasted it into notepad so she could print out her bibliography.  I don’t know if I tasked TheWife with this project, if she could have completed the reseach any better or any faster than our seven year old.  That is not a knock on TheWife, but it is a telling scenario of just how proficient LatteGirl has gotten at using her PC.

Sure, when we were in school, we had to walk uphill both ways in the snow, get permission from Mrs. Shushman to go and dust off a seventy pound Encycolpedia to do our research.  But those days are gone.  Your not protecting anybody by keeping technology out of your kids hands.  If anything, you may be hurting them.  If they are going to turn into a gamer (not that there is anything wrong with that), they are going to do it whether or not you let them play an interactive game when they are young.  Our society is to technologically advanced to sit back and try and deny it is there.

Most people (except those that work weekends), are usually happy when Friday rolls around.  But in our household this is definitely a week we would like to put behind us and not look back at.

It started with me getting a new laptop with Microsoft Vista.  I guess I am getting old, because this “cool new interface”  (some of course claim it is nothing but a Mac ripoff), is nothing short of annoying, and instead of making my life easier has slowed me down dramatically.  Now from a sneak peek I had gotten, I already knew that I hated Office 2007, but until I started to actually use Vista, I had no idea how dumbed down they made it, which is slowing me and my production down immensely.  Microsoft is very lucky that I am too invested in Windows to switch.  Of course, as this week went along, it turned out my Vista issues were the least of my worries.

As I had already mentioned we had the the discovery that my step father-in-law has advanced Lung Cancer which has already spread, and was given “6 to 9 months.”  What I have been avoiding talking about to this point was the TheWife had to go in for a biopsy on a “surpising large” lump that was found during her last breast exam.  It was thought because of the size and speed it had grown that perhaps it was just a puss filled cyst.  Well that was not the case, and it is a solid mass, so now we get the joy of sitting around a week waiting for results.  In most cases this would not be a big deal, but considering the news we got earlier in the week, nerves are to say the least frazzled.

OK, perhaps it isn’t really all that much, but I still am quite happy to put this week “in the books” and move on.  So let’s go to some less serous things shall we.

Idiot Savant – Week after week, I continue to be amazed that Helen Popkin continues to be employed as a columnist with MSNBC.  What I can’t figure out is if this is MSNBC’s way of trying to be hip, to have a “blog like” column written by a complete idiot, or if they are trying to pick on bloggers in general by having such trash highlighted.  Her latest piece, “How Technology has ruined life for our kids” really highlights her intellectual level as she laments that thanks to technology kids don’t have the joy of making crank calls anymore, or that thanks to “nannycams”, your poor babysitter won’t know the joys of being able to rifle through everything in your home while you are out.  She does point out some more meaningful stuff such as that fall or embarassing momment that my have just gone unnoticed or at least forgotten relatively quickly in years gone by can now live in infamy on You Tube.  But overall, this article is more proof than anything that she listed, since in today’s technology age, this is what can pass for news.  I feel sorry for the kids of tomorrow.

Propaganda as News – Then there is this other brilliant story that the Associated Press picked up (but I guess I can’t blame them as they are just reporting it).  According to a report to be published, a panel of “Medical Experts” concluded that Pot smokers are at a higher risk of psychosis.  Now let me point out up front just to be clear, I do not nor do I condone smoking pot, so you can not say, “Well it is because he is ‘pro-pot’” as that is not the case.  But this isn’t even a complete study.  This is a panel reviewing other studies and pulling out what they want to “prove” a point.  Now deep in the article it is admitted that they can not say if there are any “pre-existing conditions” that perhaps led to this.  They can’t even rule out that this is because a certain number of people happened to go on to other drugs.  They can’t even tell you what came first.  Perhaps people that are at risk of psychosis are more likely to seek out pot as a way of dealing with their condition.  None of these facts though was enough to keep them from making their declarative conclusion.   Would anybody be surprised when I say that the study was funded by the British Health Deparment, which (like the U.S. health department) has a vested interest in “Just Say No”?

 When does it happen too often to be called news? – After her lastest fiasco with a former Personal Assistant, I just officially give up on reading anything that contains the words Lindsay Lohan.  She needs to be hospitalized, incarcerated or both.  Not only for her own good, but for the good of the population in general.  She really has just become a public menace, and she is going to kill somebody if they don’t put a leash on that animal.

 News you can’t tell anybody - It has been a good year cheering the New Jersey Supreme Court, with the decisions that they have come down with (Abuse of Eminant Domain, Forcing equal rights for same sex couples), but that came crashing down yesterday when they declared unanimously that homeowners in “private communities” are NOT protected by 1st Amendment Rights, and things such as signs or displays on the lawn can be banned by the homeowners association of the community.  It is widely believed that the New Jersey case will have implications throughout the country.

WTF News – Couple denied adoption of a child for being too fat. (CNN Video story can be seen here.  News.com.au report can be read here.)  Look, I understand obesity is a problem, but is bias against fat people the answer?  This is actually becoming more of a problem (and not with just adoption) as people and officials seem to be developing definite discriminating tactics in dealing with overweight people.

OK, so I know I am not the only person who has had to face the following situation, so I could really use some advise on dealing with the situation.   You see, up until now, I have been “fortunate” in that dealing with the death of a friend or a family member up to this point has been relatively simple.

I have my mother, and my uncle, who when confronted with death have somehow managed to beat it back and lived well beyond even many doctors expectations.  And then on the other side, normally when dealing with death it has been a relatively short ride from “fine” to “ill” to “deceased.”  While is may sound cruel in some ways (I did call it “fortunate” earlier), the effects on those left behind tend to be less dramatic.

I found out over the weekend that TheWife’s step father was diagnosed with lung cancer.  But apparently this was overlooked by both himself and his doctors for so long, that not only is the lung cancer at an advanced stage, it has already metastasized to other parts of his body.  (I have a long rant I am working on as to why I believe this happened, but I will save that for another day).

Now of course, is it possible for him to beat the odds?  Sure, but with lung cancer, and the fact that it has already spread, it is certainly not looking good at this point, and his prognosis at this point is 6 – 9 months.

My mother-in-law had already arranged a family get together, and plans to keep it, so to me it feels like we are having a wake for the poor guy while he is still alive.  To say, I am uncomfortable would be an understatement.

I just don’t know what to do or say with anybody in this situation.  TheWife is still in a bit of shock, and trying to “distance herself” right now to keep her wits about her and to be able to start planning ahead.  But I don’t know what to say to her.  Or to my mother-in-law.  I don’t know how much his illness is affecting his outward appearance, so I can’t even decide (thank goodness I have a bit of time to do so) what if anything I should say to LatteGirl.  Being at a loss for words is not something I am used to suffering from, but right now, I’m stumped.

Who the hell am I to write about healthcare?  I have by most standards, excellent insurance coverage provided by my wife’s employer.  Before that, I was able to insure through the same company with a small business policy, and before that I had insurance coverage that was (partially) paid for by an employer.

My only real problem came with some “in between” times, where I learned the perils of Cobra coverage (which is supposedly designed to take care of those specific times), as well as the dreaded, “pre-existing condition” issues that arise (more on that as we go along).

So yes, I am fortunate enough to have “good” coverage, and lucky enough that my family has no “factors” that render them “uninsurable.”  But it is just that.  Lucky.  And as with anything else, it worries me that it is only a matter of time until my luck runs out, and I find myself in a position, like so many others, either unable to afford, or unable to get (at any price) insurance because somebody has some condition that blackballs us because some statistician has determined that a particular condition is “too risky” for them to cover at all.

Now let me state up front that I am in no way a fan of Michael Moore.  I find that unfortunately, as much as he wants to make a good point (as with the recently released, “Sicko”) that his showmanship is a bit too much, and that the message that he is trying to get across gets lost because of his overboard tactics.  That being said, his timing and topics are often right on, and that is certainly the case with the healthcare in this country.

If you think health care in this country is not a problem, then either you are a major stockholder in one of the Health Insurance Companies,  are being paid off by the or are just not paying attention.  Because even if you have insurance, you almost have to be forcibly ignorant not to see what is going on.  How many valid claims do you have to resubmit, explain, or challenge to get paid because they seem to be almost randomly denied.  I say randomly, because at a glance there is most likely no obvious and legitimate reason for it be denied.  And even trying to ascertain the actual reason for the denial can be a challenge as it is cloaked behind codes, and asterisks and run-on sentence explanations that seem to say completely different things within the same sentence.

Despite having continuous coverage that dates back to somewhere in the early 90′s (the last time both TheWife and I had employers that didn’t provide coverage at the same time), we have more times than I can count, had to battle with “pre-existing conditions” issues.  I’ll give you a few personal examples.

The first is  my own, and one that can be arugued either way.  Back in the early 80′s I was working as an EMT with an ambulance company (that ironically did not offer health insurance).  While on the job one day, I got caught in gunfire in a not very good neighborhood, and got hit in the head.  The bullet (fortunately) did not penetrate my skull, but was embeded below my scalp.  The insurance company that handled my workman’s compensation claim decided that since there was nothing life threatening about the bullet, they denied the hospital the ability to perform surgery to remove it.

Fast forward 20 years, I still have that projectile embedded there, however now a doctor I have gone to says that it really should not have been allowed to remain considering that many projectiles are made from (or contain) lead, and that it would be wise to have it removed.  So, we send the paperwork in to my insurance company now.  Denied.  Pre-existing condition.  Which, by technicality is true, but it is only now that the actual “risk” is being determined.  Worse, anything that I may develop later because of it, would also be denied. So, really it comes down to whether or not I am willing to pay for it myself.

Less arguable is the situation with LatteGirl.  She was born with the unfortunate circumstance of being the child of a mother that has both allergies and asthma, and a father that also had major allergy problems as a kid.  But in her case, she has not been without insurance basically since the day she was born.  A “Pre-existing” condition clause on a chronic condition is normally done to deny claims within the first 6 months of new insurance, where none existed before (presumably to avoid people buying insurance only when they find out that they have something serious that needs immediate attention, and then not staying with the company long enough for them to make up in premiums what they have laid out in coverage). But since LatteGirl has not had any lapses in coverage, this should not apply.  And in actuality doesn’t.  But that doesn’t stop them from denying claims made for both doctors appointments and denying prescription coverage on a routine basis.  I then have to spend hours (and a few times days) on the phone with Customer Service Reps, and their supervisors, before I (once again) have to fax over proof of previous coverage to once again get coverage reinstated.  Only to have to play the same game a few months later (you would think that this stuff would be “on file” eventually wouldn’t you).

Finally, and what may be the dumbest of examples.  My mother has cancer.  She has thus far outlived all projections, and has been doing quite well on a chemotherapy regiment, that has been keeping the tumors at bay.  Not improving her situation, but actually keeping it from getting worse for the past three years now.  Of course, as most are aware, the drawback to chemotherapy is, severe nausea.  So her physician prescribed medication that helps deal with this.  However, the medication is supposed to be for “short term” use only, and thus since she does not have a “medical condition” that warrants the continued use of the drug (“side effect” is not a medical condition apparently), every month we have to challenge the ruling and justify the use.  You would think that at some point it would be cheaper to actually keep the previous rulings (again) on-file rather than having to repeat the same process ad nauseum.   But it goes back to what I said earlier about them seemingly doing this randomly in hopes that people get too tired or just give up fighting so that they don’t have to pay.

We have these kinds of issues, and we have health insurance.  I can’t imagine the nightmare that those without have to deal with.  Or worse (I think), not being able to get insurance because a spouse or child has a condition that they don’t want to cover. Something like 1 in 150 children every year are now diagnosed somewhere along the Autism Disorder Spectrum (Based on prevalence statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007)).  I am not going to debate, nor is this about whether something belongs in that “Spectrum” but the fact is that most of these kids (and or their parents) will have problems with insurance at some point.

It is easy to sit back and say, “There but for the grace of god go I.”  But that solves nothing.  And what happens if unfortunately at some point you are not so “graced” and find yourself in that position?  It is a serious problem that needs serious solutions.  Now.  Not eventually.  Not when it is a “critical problem.”  Because, if you run into one of these issues… your perspective on what is critical, will suddenly and drastically change.

I had to go in to the dentist for some “minor oral surgery” yesterday.  First  let me put on the record, that they should just stop using the word “minor” when it comes to things like oral surgery. (We could also dispose of “discomfort” as that really doesn’t capture it either.)

Mostly because, while it may be trivial to the man with the scalpel in his hand, there is nothing minor about the pain inflicted.  I am not, for the record a whimp when it comes to pain.  (Not necessarily by choice)  When I was a kid, my parents had an “old school” dentist that was not a big fan of Novocaine for anything short of multiple extractions.  So, by those standards, today’s dentistry is a dream.

Unfortunately for me, the oral surgeon made all three of the classic telltale signs that let me know that this was not going to go well for me.

Sign One – As he is rooting around, you hear him mutter the words, “Oh damn.”  This lets you know that either this is worse than he thought, or that he made a mistake.  Neither is generally good for you.

Sign Two – You suddenly feel a breeze across exposed areas in your mouth, and you can suddenly feel work being done.  After some frantic hand waving and mumbling the best you can do with four hands and a whole bunch of sharp metal objects in your mouth, the surgeon grasps at the obvious, “You shouldn’t be feeling this.  Is the Novocaine wearing off?”

Sign Three – Not long after the utterance of words from Sign One, you glance up when you feel a pause in the action (a time-out if you will), only to notice him looking quite surprised, and then he looks up and out of the room to call in another dentist saying, “You have GOT to see this!”  This is one of those situations where I do not want to be unique.  I would like it to be as textbook as routine as possible.  But unfortunately, this phrase lets you know that there is something unusal.  Unusual is rarely good under these circumstances.

Bonus Sign – The Surgeon tells me he is going to write me a prescription for Vicodin.  I (mildly) protest, and ask for something not quite as… debilitating… in its effects.  He replies, “No, you are going to WANT the Vicodin.”

So there you have it.  Keep this list with you when you go to the dentist, and you will be able to calculate how long you will feel pain after the shot wears off by adding up the number of phrases you hear from that list.

I know I have harped on this before, and some of you may be sick of hearing about it.  However, I think it really worth repeating, and besides, I have this awesome picture of cows taken by Erin over at Family Circus and I can’t see letting it go to waste.  Here we see cows and newborn calves.  They are happy, healthy and free to roam and graze in the field.  This is of course how we imagine all the cows that provide us with milk and meat comes from.  But that is of course just simply not true.

If you haven’t done so yet, Go over and Check out The Meatrix I.

Back?  Good.

The fact of the matter is, that in many instances, what is depicted here is not how it is done today thank to Big Agri-Business over-running the local farms, raising animals in deplorable conditions, using (at best) questionable practices such as debeaking chickens, over use of anitbiotics, keeping animals in cages where they simply cannot move, using rBGH/rBST in cows to increase production despite the potential health effects to both the cows and humans that consume the milk produced by cows injected with these synthetic hormones.

I will once again be raising money for Farm Aid, which helps small farmers survive (and try to thrive) in this world that is sadly slanted towards the Big Corporate Entities.  Hopefully, the wonderful people, (and perhaps a few new ones) will again join me in attempting to raise money for this worthwhile cause.

It really can’t be stressed enough, when you want to take into consideration your health, the health of your family, and even the health of your community and the world, supporting your local farmers is good way to get good tasting food, get it from a source your know, keep the money in your local area, and all while helping to reduce carbon emmission that are inevitable when food is shipped from around the world.  Now of course not everybody has everything naturally grown close to home.  I know I am sure as heck not giving up my coffee and other products that aren’t grown around here.  But when it comes to the things, the fruits, the vegetables and where possible even some meat, I will find a local source or shop at the local farmers market.

We will all be happier and healthier… even the cows.

I have spoken before about the benefits of supporting a sustainable culture when it comes to food.  I am not talking (necessarily) about Organic.  Because while yes, certainly buying organic has virtues also, they do not (necessarily) always translate well into sustainable.

As a matter of fact, if you check your area, you will probably find farmers that practice good sustainable (and “nearly” organic… the big problem being the the expense and paperwork involved in getting that seal which can be prohibitive to a small local farmer).

Now of course we all know that it benefits the planet if your fruits, vegetables, and so on do not need to be trucked or steam shipped thousands of miles to your grocer.  Few will argue the benefits to the local economy of keeping those dollars closer to home that you spend.

But until it becomes news, few really pay attention all that closely to the fact that regulations and laws governing food, are lax or non-exitent in many of these countries that many big agri-business source from for cheap goods.   And even then, most of it goes by the wayside.

I mean, most people are(were) aware of the e.coli outbreak as laid out in this  SF Chronicle article,  and I certainly hope everybody paid attention to the Peanut Butter recall, but how many people started thinking twice about where their bananas came from, even after Chiquita Bananas was fined $25 million dollars for paying known terrorists protection money to guard their farms in Columbia?  And while, unless you have been living under a rock, you have no doubt at least heard about the recall of Pet Food, but how many paid enough attention to the story to stick around and hear that animal feed has caused a quarantine of at least one farm where melamine was found in the urine of animals meant for human consumption?

With the warm weather upon us, we are going to try and make an effort to not only shop locally and sustainably, but even hopefully visit a few farms, where not only can we get some great fresh food, but we can actually talk to the farmers, and hopefully teach a lesson or two to LatteGirl about where are food comes from (or should).

Want to find sustainable farmers in your area?  Then check out the Eat Well Guide over at Sustainable Table. Visit your local Farmer’s Markets when and where available.
Ask questions.  Build a better relationship with the food you eat, and your body just may thank you for it.

LatteGirl had the day off from school yesterday thanks to all the rain flooding areas around her school.  Having the opportunity, TheWife took her in to our pediatrician to look at a rash that had developed on her face and arms.

When TheWife called me later, she informed me that LatteGirl has Fifth Disease.

She has WHAT?!?  Fisk Disease?

No, Fifth Disease?

Fist Disease?

No! “Fifth” as in after fourth.

What the Hell is Fifth Disease?

Well, as it turns out, Fifth Disease is really not a big deal.  It is a viral infection, and by the time the rash shows up that LatteGirl had, you are basically almost done with it already.

But what the hell kind of name for a little virus is “Fifth Disease?”  Sure it has some historical reference to “5 childhood Rashes” (one of which, “fourth desease” is not even known today as to what it really was), but honestly couldn’t they just rename it something a bit more benign?  If TheWife called and said, she had the “blotchy face virus” I don’t think my heart would have skipped a beat the way it did during our inital exchange.

If you have seen the news today, you are probably aware that Elizabeth Edward breast cancer has returned.  Now, I am not writing about this because she is the wife of former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards.  Unlike some bloggers I read, I probably wouldn’t recognize the Presidential Candidate in aisle 2 at Durham Target (though I have to admit that the fact that they shop at Target only endears them more to me). So this might be a bit opportunistic of me to use her personal problems as a vault to a personal agenda, but since she is a relatively high profile, I decided that rather than having my own little PPT story here, I would use this opportunity to remind everybody about the importance of Early Detection and testing in the fight against breast cancer. (Please forgive me Elizabeth, I do of course wish you well).
When you look at them, the statistics are staggering, and really quite frightening.  Because both my wife’s family and my own family have had to contend with this, I have always assumed that everybody was so aware of the risks and the importance of self-exams, Mammograms and the like that I always thought that the only”real problem” left was finding a cure.  Unfortunately this seems to not be the case.

Of course we do also still have that problem of finding a cure.  Though we are making strides, there is still so much we need to learn to help eradicate this problem.  Now places such as the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, have done a great deal to both raise awareness and help raise money for research, but we are not there yet.

If you are a woman and at “that age” or are a “high risk” person, then please take the time to get tested.  If you are aman, talk to your spouse, your girlfriend, you significant other about it.  If you can donate, please do so.  You never know, the person who benefits most someday could be you or somebody your love.

If you have a dog or a cat, and haven’t checked this story yet, I suggest you do so.

This recall covers a LOT of different brands of dog and cat food, as the company Menu Foods, apparently is the supplier of something like 17 of the top 20 brands.

If you have questions, you can also contact Menu Foods at 1-866-895-2708

Or just go directly to their list of Recalled Dog Food and/or Recalled Cat Food.

I have always considered myself a diligent parent. I read about information and trends, check toys I have bought for my daughter against the Consumer Product Safety Commission Recall List, buy organic and/or sustainable food, use rBGH free milk and so on.

So when an article appeared recently in Good Housekeeping (shut up, my wife showed it to me) about the dangers of CCA Lumber, I was disappointed in myself for not knowing about this. However, in researching it further now, I have noticed something that I consider not only disturbing but downright wrong. Yes, I can find some information out there. Some of it actually fairly old, including this excellent article from Parents’ Press, that give a broad overview of the problem, focusing primarily on children’s wooden playsets. Although they do not go much further than repeating the EPA’s suggestion of make sure your children wash their hands after exposure, and to retreat the wood. Which is of course correct, but really de-emphasizes the problems and risks involved, and seems to take them too lightly.

Let me go back a bit for those that like me, may have been a bit lacking on information on this. CCA treated lumber (known as Chromated Copper Arsenate or “Pressure Treated” Lumber) up until 2003, was treated with a chemical compound of Chromium Copper and Arsenic (the phase out began at the end of 2003, but already existing lumber, playsets, etc were allowed to continue to be sold well into 2004 and beyond). CCA lumber is identifiable by its green (when new) or dull gray (older) coloring. When you see green coloring leeching out of the wood (as you can see at the bottom of the fence post in the picture), that is the toxic compound leeching out of the wood. Despite the deal between the EPA and the lumber industry that ultimately led to the “voluntary” removal of CCA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission REFUSED to ban the sale of CCA treated playsets. Of course these are the same people that did not think lead in children’s lunch boxes was a big deal.

This lumber, besides being the lumber that makes up wooden swingsets and playsets. It is also the foundation of many backyard fences and outdoor decks, and picnic tables. Now I am not saying that if you have any of these things that you need to throw them out or replace them immediately. But if you are going to use them and allow your child to play and or eat on or near these things, please make sure you have treated them with penetrating stains. Not paints, not top coatings, but penetrating stains (One that comes to mind is Thompson’s Water Sealer and Stain, but I am not advocating any particular brand, so long as it is the type that penetrates and seals the wood to keep the toxic compounds in the wood). Previously it had been suggested you usually only needed to do this “every few years”, but to be safe should probably be done annually. Understand Arsenic can be absorbed through the skin, inhaled or ingested. One-tenth of a gram accumulated over a two month period can produce death, and arsenic is carcinogenic at much lower levels.

To make this story even a bit more disconcerting that it already is, while reading up on this, I found two more stories that made the situation potentially worse. The first being that, while most of the focus on CCA lumber has been focused on the arsenic, it turns out the chromium may also cause lung cancer. And worse that that, the chromium industry knew and withheld that information. The second adds something else to the list to worry about. It seems that many mulches, used to decorate your landscaping, since it is usually made from recycled lumber is also showing a problem of Arsenic Leaching.

You would think that a something this significant wold have garnered much more attention than it has up until now, and probably would have if the CPSC was doing their job of protecting consumers. But in the meantime, if you have some of this wood used in your yard or around your house, please take the time to ensure it is sealed.

Update: As one commenter pointed out, there is an excellent gathering of information available at http://www.bancca.org, which has quite a list of information and articles (including mainstream media articles and news stories on it), and some awful stories of people that were victims of CCA poisoning.

Update II: Check out Ten safety steps to reduce your family’s exposure to arsenic from arsenic-treated wood. (Hat Tip to Dr. Lynne Eldridge M.D. author of “Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time”)

I have often pondered what it is that makes people so desperately sad that the decision to end their own life seems like a viable option. Of course those ponderings came forward again with the announcement that Richard Jeni dies in apparent suicide.

In Jeni’s case the suicide has not been confirmed, but it is still troubling to contemplate. I mean nobody (or very few) were all that surprised when Brittney reportedly tried it recently (though those claims are now being questioned). As parent’s we are always concerned for our children’s safety… usually from outside dangers. Those dangers are easier to quantify and in most cases guard against. And a quick look at the numbers put out by the National Institute of Mental Health do nothing to alleviate my concerns. In this report, it shows suicide as the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. overall, the 5th leading cause in 5 – 14 year olds, and 3rd in 15-24 year olds. and the third leading cause of death in the age groups that range from 10 to 24. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, A person dies by suicide about every 16 minutes in the U.S. An attempt is estimated to be made once every minute.

Stop and look at those numbers again. They have statistics for children as young as 5 years old that are victims of suicide. I admittedly find that hard to believe myself, as I question the mental capacity of a 5 year old to fully understand the ramifications of suicide, and would tend to believe that deaths at that age are more of an accident than actual suicide. But I have no knowledge or expertise to back that up, so I will defer to those that do.

Do you know how to recognize warning signs, and how to respond to them? To be honest, I didn’t. I do now though, and am glad. Because this is not information you would like to receive in retrospect.