from California, USA
A freelance writer, published author, and online since 1996.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
I’ve been bragging about my solar panels. I suppose it’s time that I show folks what they look like. By the way, those panels are from First Solar – note the frameless design, rack mount system. Very high geek factor. Solar City worked the installation – nice job guys.
Solar panels on my roof
CNN MONEY: How the profits stacked up – Nov. 2, 2009
SP500 profits are up
Good solid news for the economy. On other online venues, I’m known for my high optimism for the recovery of the US economy. As reported by CNN Money, the recovery is producing profits for key SP500 corporations – the companies that are in the best position to tell us if the economy is on the rebound. Apparently, this is the case.
For a little perspective, one should also note that only a year ago people were trembling in their boots that we were headed toward a 1930s style depression. Thanks to an unprecedented balancing act by two Presidential administrations and an uncharacteristically cooperative and speedy Congress, we ducked that bullet. Okay, we ended up with the Great Recession – but really, it cannot be understated how badly things could have gone.
Of course now comes the hard part… sustaining that growth and building back the jobs. Stay tuned! - HP
Posted using ShareThis
On the quiet, the US is legalising marijuana – Times Online.
I just read this article and commented elsewhere that the problem with the American “War on Drugs” was that it was more about controlling people than actually trying to control access. The only accomplishment was waste: billions of dollars and millions of lives. At some point, we must stop and seek out better ways to manage the American craving for marijuana.
I have always been a proponent of licensing pot sales and to use the money to fund diversion and vocational development programs for primary and secondary school kids. Others have suggested that taxes from pot sales alone could offer significant funding for health care. The bottom line is that the continued prohibition of this WEED makes about as much sense as the Prohibition of alcohol – and the result has been about the same.
Moreover, it seems unnecessarily cruel to keep this valuable herb away from people who could really benefit from its use. I know that there are people out there who are dubious about the medicinal qualities of marijuana, but I know from personal experience (my brother and my mother) that chemo patients find measurable and sustained relief from their disease and treatments. Several peer-reviewed medical studies seem to also bear this claim out.
Time for a change, folks. -HP
I received an email today announcing that a defunct magazine that I once edited has won the “2009 Best of Laguna Beach Award” in the graphic arts category.
Amazing.
The magazine – Laguna! Life and People – was not what I would call award winning material. The owner, Ford Design Group, had trouble pumping out issues even when the company was healthy. Add a messy divorce into the mix, a distracted art director, chaotic editorial control (never knew what the owner was going to do next), a kooky production setup … you get the idea. That was nearly three years ago. Katie Ford – the true brains of the Ford group – has gone on to rebuild her business. I’m back to my usual trouble-making. So, imagine my surprise when this weird little out-of-the-blue email showed up.
As it turns out, this is part of a wider nationwide email campaign. The Spokane, WA office of the Better Business Bureau tracked down the source in July 2009 and arrived at a simple conclusion: it’s a scam. Aside from the email announcements – which started several months ago – not much else is known about the company, the people or the awarding criteria, or even the recipients. Moreover, from what the BBB says, you really don’t want your name on one of their plaques. Seriously. The award designee – the U.S. Commerce Association – is also closely tied to another organization called the U.S. Local Business Association – a business that the BBB office in Washington DC gave an “F” for business practices among other things.
Here’s the bottom line – they want you to buy their $189.00 plaque or trophy, and that’s pretty much it. Not much else to say than SCAM BEGONE ! Then again, how tempting it is to have a pretty little trophy on my desk, even though I didn’t really earn it. Ah… but for the price, I’d just assume paint a rock blue and put it my desk. At least THAT would lead me chuckle from time to time. - HP
I’m not really a political man. I don’t join parties. I don’t like ideology. I take ‘political aptitude tests’ when I’m bored. One time I tested as a “Liberal Economic Libertarian.” Another test, I surfaced as a “Moderate Republican.” It really depends on the issues.
Take health care reform. I’ve actually done some research in this area – mostly in the service of clients but also in covering healthcare issues for OC Metro and Brentwood Magazine.
A friend of mine knows that I support the present legislative effort to reform healthcare. He does not. After some email sparring over our counter opinions, he sent me a link to an article written by a technologist named David Goldhill published this summer by Atlantic Monthly entitled How American Health Care Killed My Father. Almost as dramatic as my OC Metro article “How Men Die.”
Goldhill’s article reads well, but I found it filled with errors. Moreover, many of his assumptions are based on simple anecdotes and nary any serious research.
For instance, while he decries any government involvement in health care delivery, he concedes that a ‘single-payer’ system – e.g., a public insurance system – might provide a better solution (but doesn’t state why). Then he goes on to make the very common mistake of using Medicare and Canada care as examples of how costs will increase and care will decline under single-payer. It’s a bad assumption because it assumes that upward trend for demand will be constant.
While he correctly describes the cause of the present crisis – distorted demand – he fails to identify where the distortion came from. If he had, he wouldn’t have come to the conclusion that he makes (i.e., no government involvement, let the markets decide). For that lesson, you have to roll back the calendar to the early 1970s when “managed” healthcare took over the doctor-patient relationship. Instead of a personal relationship with your doctor (ala “Marcus Welby MD”) – there was a switchboard, an appointment desk, a patient timeline and productivity quotas. Doctors who wanted to participate in the new system were DISCOURAGED from offering preventative healthcare advice because the Managers said that such interactions were off task and wasteful (Greenfield, Kaplan, et al, 2003).
That’s how the two errors are related – when Goldhill notes the benefits of good patient-doctor relationships but fails to mention that every patient care research conducted for the last twenty years has found that good doctor-patient relationships (as opposed to cost-containment measures) tend to curtail demand (Gerteis, Edgman-Levitan, et al, 1993). Moreover, improved patient-doctor communication also produces measurable improvement in clinical outcomes (Greenfield, Kaplan, et al, 1985; 1988; 1989) – thereby reducing demand again.
And as most of us know, when demand goes down, overall cost to the system goes down.
That’s why I’m engaged in the present debate – working with a handful of non-partisan physicians and researchers to ensure that any meaningful reform includes provisions that removes the distortions created by managed care in the first place. Our assertion is that not only should we encourage greater doctor-patient interaction, but reward doctors for dispensing wellness advice and resources. I also believe that American health care is due for some ‘deprofessionalization’ – especially in areas of dispensing wellness services, treatment maintenance, non-critical care (Ehrenreich, 1978; “The Social Economics of Health Care” Davis, 2001).
By the way, variations of this concept are found under “Wellness Programs” or “Patient Wellness” in one proposal now circulating in the House and in the current draft of the so-called “Baucus Reform Proposal.”
Clearly, this is not an issue for laissez-faire capitalism to solve – yet many people have been hoodwinked into believing that it is. Just remember that we’ve tried that experiment already and look where it has left us. Universal greed makes the private sector ill equipped to provide a fair and timely solution for Universal Care. That’s why we need to support the current legislative effort and engage Congress and the President – to make sure that old mistakes are not repeated. - HP
A million kids groaned when researchers from the University of Nebraska announced their finding earlier this month: homework is good for you, the more the better.
"Awww, man!"
Contrary to popular mythology (perpetrated mainly by teary-eyed anti-homework pundits, but also by aforementioned students), there’s no such thing as "too much homework." And here’s a newsflash: most parents are actually happy with heavy homework loads. Apparently "heavy homework" parents know what the research has revealed: heavy homework does not produce a negative impact on either child or family life.
This new finding flies in the face of "de-educators" who say that heavy homework gobbles up free time that could be spent with family, friends and extra-curricular activities, they say.
The caveat, of course, is that while parents stay the course (no matter how many complaints they hear), they should always be involved and supportive. As students increase time completing homework, parents are should follow up their effort by showing their support for good study habits – e.g., a quiet home with minimal distraction (television, video games). This and past studies show that no matter how much time a student spends on homework, parental involvement is essential.
Ken Kiewra, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Nebraska and an expert on learning strategies, homework and study methods, observes that the findings should ease parent’s sense that homework robs children of free time. "Parents [in the study] generally report that children spend ample time playing and socializing and report that homework workloads are reasonable," says Kiewra.
The study, which involved nearly 400 parents of middle school scholars, was published in the latest issue of Scholarlypartnerships.edu. Researchers examined four key issues: how long it takes students to complete their daily homework, how parents feel about their child’s amount of homework, how much parents are involved in it, and how well schools communicate with parents about homework levels and expectations.
The key results :
Says Kiewra, "although findings cast a softer light on the homework battle that has raged between families and schools, it does not extinguish it. Twenty-five percent of parents still contend that excessive homework practices infringe on family life."
He also observes that although most parents help children with homework in positive ways, about one-quarter sometimes completes assignments for their children who they feel are overburdened. Moreover, homework communication between schools and parents is a dead-end street.
"With better communication, homework loads are more likely to be manageable and parental assistance more likely positive," he says.
In short, load ‘em up – but make it a family effort. -HP
Mixx
TwitterA freelance writer and publisher living and working in California. Go to About for a summary and go to Communicate to get more info.