Cap and Trade

Image by adambowie via Flickr

If you have watched anything on television these days, you are well aware of the fact that many people believe the planet is heating up to self-destruction. Everyone wants us to recycle, grow our own food without the use of chemicals, turn off our lights, and ride a bicycle everywhere. Now, I personally think it is wasteful and indicative of a spoiled brat to use up and throw away resources as if they will last forever. However, I can't load up my kids on a bicycle to ride to the local farmer's market, which is 10 miles away, in 100 degree weather, toting my fabric grocery bag. I think there has to be a balance.

The government has decided that we are not doing enough to combat global warming. Evidently, when I set my thermostat higher this summer and mapped out my errands to conserve gas, it wasn't enough for Al Gore. Our government has decided to initiate a Cap and Trade Tax. This tax is based on a system that is already in use in Europe and hasn't lowered carbon emissions there at all. In fact, the emission levels have actually increased. Companies will have to buy permits to put out so many units of emissions in the air. The government will decide how many they are allowed to buy. Hypothetically, let's say that "Acme What-cha-ma-call-it Incorporated" needs to put out X amount of emissions to keep producing their goods. They will now have to buy permits for that X amount. The cost of those permits will trickle down into the goods they are selling, which means I pay more for their goods. But what if the government tells Acme that they can't have as many as X amount? Well, Acme has two choices: they can buy more permits privately from another company that didn't use up all of theirs or they will have to decrease the amount of goods they put on the market. If the supply of their goods decrease, then the demand for those goods will increase. (Remember this logic from your high school economics class?) With either, choice, the price I pay for Acme's goods will go up a second time. Goods and services that pass through several companies before finally making it to me, the consumer, will get a price increase through every set of those hands. This scenario doesn't sound so bad when you're talking about items that maybe I could live without, but what about things like my electricity, bread, milk, and city water? Keep in mind that though the price of Acme's goods is going up, Acme is not going to pay any more money to its employees. Basically, the cost of everything will go up, but my income will not.

How much will it go up? Republicans are reporting that it will cost the average family more than $3000 a year in expenses. This figure is based on a study done several years ago by MIT when Europe was putting together their Cap and Trade tax. Our government's committees (mainly made up of democrats) are giving out figures that are more like $300 a year. Either way, there are still other reasons not to have this tax. For starters, it is estimated to only decrease our damage to the environment by 4-6%. Well, "Kudos" to us! In spite of China walking around with surgical masks on all the time just so they can breath, when the earth heats up like an oven and we all fry to death, it won't be the Americans' fault. The second problem with this tax is that it is supposed to generate $6.7 trillion in revenue for our government to pay off our debt by 2050. Our debt, as I am writing this, is $11,551,980,875,404 and some change. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $3.96 billion per day since September 28, 2007! By 2050, when I'm 71 years old, this won't be a drop in the bucket. In the mean time, our politicians are planning to spend only a quarter of this revenue on the national debt. 75% of it will go to more pet projects.

I tried to be objective and look at all the view points on this topic. But from my humble, little south Alabama perspective, this looks like the government's way of getting more taxes out of me to spend on things that don't effect me.

So what can we do to stop this? The House of Representatives, note the irony of the name, has already approved this tax because they think it is the best thing for us. However, it is still waiting approval in the Senate. You can go to www.senate.gov, find your senator, click on his/her name to go directly to their website, and then hit the "contact me" button. If you're limited on time, I would contact the Senator who comes up for election next. There are tons of petitions floating all over the Internet, but who knows if anyone in Washington will actually look at them. You can go on Facebook or Twitter and add your Senators or Representatives as friends/followers; then, contact them directly. You can even contact the President, though it is concerning to me that while running the largest country in the free world he is finding time to maintain 8 different profiles on Facebook.

You can do this, even if you're not the "political" type. We may need to find a way to cause less damage to our environment, but this is not it. One voice in a crowd is hard to discern, but if everyone started singing the same tune at the same time, it would echo for miles.

Acetaminophen

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The FDA is attempting to regulate the sales of acetaminophen, better known as Tylenol. They already have their hands full regulating our sugar intake, alcohol consumption, tobacco products, and diet pills, but evidently they are convinced that the American public is too stupid to take care of themselves. This situation reminds me of the warnings on a cup of coffee that "it is hot."

Why do they think that this common pain killer that has been on the market for over 50 years needs to be taken off the shelves? In recent years, the pharmaceutical companies have been adding acetaminophen to more and more of their drugs, like Darvocet, Percocet, Loratab, and Vicodin. The fear is that people who take these prescription drugs will overdose on acetaminophen when they take the prescription with an over-the-counter product, or take the two medicines in too short of a time span. Last year several infant's and children's medicines were pulled from the shelves for this same concern. Last year the sale of acetaminophen was well over $2.6 billion with about 80% of those sales being products that contain the pain killer, so the pharmaceutical companies are definitely against this regulation.

But Tylenol is harmless! What is the worst that could happen? Well, for starters it causes liver damage. The FDA believes that 56,000 people a year go to the emergency room with liver failure brought on by acetaminophen overdose. It increases the liver enzymes which can cause the damage. Common sense dictates that this increase over long periods of time will cause more and more damage and that individuals with a damaged liver will suffer even more. There are other myths that it may cause gastrointestinal problems or even contribute to asthma, but I found no reputable documentation to back these claims.

So, how much can I take? Well, 325 mg every 4 hours is the limit. That means you can take 2 regular strength Tylenol every 6 hours, not to exceed 8 tablets in a 24 hour day. You should check all over-the-counter medicine labels to see how much acetaminophen they contain before taking them, and most especially before taking combinations of drugs. Ask your pharmacist about your prescriptions. A good rule of thumb is "If the pain is so bad that a dose of acetaminophen doesn't help, then see your doctor to find out what the problem is." Don't just take more of it!

Is it safe for my kids? Sure, within reason. I rarely give Tylenol to my boys, because quite frankly, I don't want them growing up to be pill poppers who have no stamina for the general aches and pains of life. However, when I do give it to them, I have a handy-dandy little chart (provided by their pediatrician) taped to the inside of my medicine cabinet so that I know exactly how much to give them. It reads as follows:

Infants' Concentrated Drops (80mg/0.8mL = 1 dropperful):
0-3 mths (6-11 lbs) - 0.4 mL
4-11 mths (12-17 lbs) - 0.8 mL
12-23 mths (18-23 lbs) - 0.8 + 0.4 mL
2-3 years (24-35 lbs0 - 0.8 + 0.8 mL

Children's Suspension Liquid (5 mL = 1 teaspoon):
4-11 mths (12-17 lbs) - 1/2 tsp
12-23 mths (18-23 lbs) - 3/4 tsp
2-3 years (24-35 lbs) - 1 tsp
4-5 years (36-47 lbs) - 1-1/2 tsp
6-8 years (48-59 lbs) - 2 tsp
9-10 years (60-71 lbs) - 2-1/2 tsp
11 years (72-95 lbs) - 3 tsp

Children's Soft Chews Chewable Tablets (80 mg each):
2-3 years (24-35 lbs) - 2
4-5 years (36-47 lbs) - 3
6-8 years (48-59 lbs) - 4
9-10 years (60-71 lbs) - 5
11 years (72-95 lbs) - 6

Junior Strength Chewable Tablets (160 mg each):
6-8 years (48-59 lbs) - 2
9-10 years (60-71 lbs) - 2-1/2
11 years (72-95 lbs) - 3
12 years (96 lbs & over) - 4

According to our pediatrician, it is far more important to go by the weight than the child's age. Don't estimate the measurements. Use the droppers or measuring cups included in the packaging.

The Point: Too much of a good thing is never good. I don't need the government to read a label for me. Knowledge is power and those who insist on going through life in a blissful ignorance deserve whatever consequences they face. I want the option to give my son some moderately inexpensive medicine occasionally rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a doctor's visit every, single time he has a mild ache. Our government says they are so concerned with the rising cost of health care, but how much more will it rise if we cannot self-medicate for minor, temporary health problems?

Imagination Movers

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If you don't know who the Imagination Movers are, then you must be living in a deep, dark, childless hole. This group of four guys appear on their own show each weekday morning on the Disney Channel. The concept is that they "move their imaginations" to solve problems, a/k/a "idea emergencies."

These four men come from every walk of life: an elementary teacher, an architect, an outdoorsy English Literature graduate, and an ex-rocker. They developed the concept of a children's hip-hop band in 2003, based on the inspiration of strong male role models like Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. Based out of New Orleans, they were picked up by Disney to originally only complete 22 episodes (or was it 24?). Their rise to wee-folk "rock idols" includes singing the National Anthem at a New Orleans' Saints game last September, numerous awards, and finally an Emmy Nomination just last month.

You can click on the title to this post to read more about them on their website. However, to really appreciate them, you have to watch them through the eyes of a toddler. My son dances and sings to them constantly at our house. Thank goodness, the Imagination Movers incorporate a little adult humor to keep my intellect moving on adult levels. The music is so reminiscent of the music I listened to in the '80's and 90's that I seem to already know all the tunes. If you have a child, know a child, want a child, have ever seen a child, or were once a child you are going to want to be up to speed on these guys. I'm hoping someone will give me an "Imagination Movers" t-shirt in pink with a "Smitty" cowboy hat for Christmas this year!

"Tired From Monday" Tuesday

On Tuesdays I am extremely tired. I always over-work myself on Mondays trying to get a jump on the week. So every Tuesday you can expect something short, sweet, and relaxing. Here is one of my favorite songs:


Dave Matthews Band - Stay (Wasting Time) (Live At Folsom Field) (Official Music Video) - Click here for the most popular videos

This Generation's Music

I admit it: I barely know what my pre-teen son is listening to these days. I try to be a good parent and keep up, but there are a couple of forces working against me. For starters, I can no longer understand all the words to the songs. This hearing disability began about the time I turned 30 years old. My son says that it is the beginning stages of "oldness." I've explained to him that when I was a kid, our favorite bands, like Guns 'N Roses and Jon Bon Jovi, sang with a lot more clarity than the bands today. Yeah, I don't buy it either, but it sounds good when I say it.

The second problem I'm having is that MTV doesn't play music videos anymore. When I was his age they played non-stop, 24 hours of the "coolest" videos. My mother put a block on MTV in our house just like many of the other good mothers did at the time, but you see how effective that was. I don't know what radio station to listen to because they are all so specialized these days. He seems to be watching a lot of the Disney Channel, so I keep up with the happenings of the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, and Demi Lovato. He recently informed me, though, that he just watches it because there is nothing else on. And this shocking, latest update came just as I was beginning to warm up to the Jonas Brothers!

I get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I find out that he has downloaded a song on his IPod that I actually know. However, that feeling is quickly snuffed out when I discover that the song was listed under a category like "classic rock." Classic? That's for music like Buddy Holly or Chuck Berry! Just because Bon Jovi cut all his hair off and has more kids than me doesn't mean he is "classic".
(Be sure to go down to the bottom of my blog and pause "My Music" so that you can hear this video.)


Bowling For Soup - 1985 (Official Music Video) - The funniest movie is here. Find it

So what is a parent to do? Well, for starters I listen and listen and listen some more. I listen to the songs that he seems to know the words to and the songs that he downloads on his IPod. Next, against my initial, motherly instinct I try not to judge what he is listening to. The music I listened to as a teenager did not send me on a straight path to hell, paved with drugs and promiscuity, so hopefully his music won't either. This is where I have to trust that I instilled a few morals in him in the first few years that I can rely on now. Lastly, I fake it. I may not recognize the lyrics or can tell the difference between the artists' voices, but I can recognize a tune and bob my head to the beat like I completely "get it." Am I a cool parent? No, and I have no intention of being one. He's got plenty of friends, but only one mother. I'm just trying to get to know my "baby" again.

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Left-handed People

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I am right-handed. So is my husband, my mother, my grandparents, and most of the people I know. In fact, I only remember knowing one kid in school that was left-handed. Supposedly, only about 12-15% of the population is left-handed, and this is an increase from a few generations ago when it was believed that only 10% were left-handed. I was always fascinated by the one "lefty" that I knew. She got to buy special notebooks that had the spiral on the right side of the paper, special scissors, and even her handwriting was perfectly straight, unlike my angled cursive that was drilled into me by my second grade teacher. She was unique just for this one feature. A teacher explained to me somewhere around the fifth grade that each side of our brain controlled the opposite side of our body, and each side was responsible for different functions, like creativity. Immediately, I began to imagine how different this girl's brain was and what unique things she must be able to do because her brain was wired differently.

Society did label left-handed people as being mentally slow and physically uncoordinated. It is true that the number of left-handed people seems to rise among those with Down Syndrome and other special needs, but the number also rises among those with ulcerative colitis, so there goes that theory. MENSA boasts that 20% of their membership is made up of left-handed people, and some of the greatest musicians, like Jimi Hendrix, are a part of the "lefty club." Left-handed people appear clumsy, but wouldn't you if the zipper on your pants was backwards, your back pocket was on the opposite side, and the pen at the bank teller window was attached on the wrong side? They're living in a butt-backwards world! There are huge athletic advantages to being a "lefty." As my eleven-year old son will tell you, a left-handed batter is actually one step closer to first base and a left handed pitcher is better at keeping the runner from stealing second. The athletic advantage goes all the way back to the cavemen who could win a fight with a right-handed neanderthal just with a surprise left-hook.

Most children begin showing a preference for one hand at about 7-9 months, but it is not unusual for them to continue to use either hand even as late as 4-5 years. Genetics play a big part, as well as any preference in their environment. My youngest son is 21 months old and still shows no preference. It is fascinating to watch him begin eating with one hand, and then switch hands for no apparent reason. He may switch hands during a meal half a dozen times. He draws, throws toys, and kicks you when he is mad with either side. This seems to be a huge advantage for him now that he is in the "Terrible Two's", as I cannot just grab one hand to stop him; I have to grab both hands. For all the new challenges that his talent has brought into our house, I cannot help but hope that this is some glimpse into a unique intelligence that will turn him into a famous artist or scientist one day. Then again, maybe tomorrow he will just start using his right hand exclusively and he'll still have a unique intelligence just because he is my son.

Sleep

Every night we go to our beds to engage in "the other half" of our lives. Most of the time we think very little about it, with each person having his or her own routine. Ten years ago when I went to bed at night, there was no routine. I collapsed on top of the covers, still fully clothed, from sheer exhaustion. Now, I agonize each night over maintaining a bed-time routine for my children that includes a bath and brushing their teeth, as I have heard that this will help them sleep better. However, my eleven-year old son has already decided to reject this idea, going to bed in whatever he has been wearing such as jeans or even his baseball slide shorts.
I recently heard on the news (Fox, of course) that Americans sleep less than the rest of the world and work longer hours because we view sleep as laziness. I have no doubt that this is true since I know very few people who actually work 40 hours or less a week, and I read every Sunday how my friends on Facebook revel in the extra couple of hours' sleep they get on Sunday morning. It's ironic that they post this news of their laziness by 8:00 in the morning. I've noticed in the past couple of years that the number of advertisements for sleep-aids has gone up quite a bit. My son's baseball coaches plan practices that last well past 10:00 at night and some that have started as early as 8:00 in the morning. We have become obsessed with staying up as much as possible.
We are the first society to do this, though. The ancient Greeks believed that a son of Apollo, with a ridiculously long and very Greek name I might add, would visit you in your sleep to heal your body of any ailments. The ancient Hebrews believed that God appeared to them and gave them wisdom in their sleep. "God grants sleep to those he loves." (Psalm 127:2) In the middle ages, people believed that sleep was their window into the spiritual world. It was possible for them to be visited by holy or demonic spirits. My theory is that this was a compromise belief that stemmed from previous cultures' conflicting views of either being visited by a deity or being able to leave one's body to go visit a deity. Sigmund Freud decided that all of this was a bunch of bologna, and that during your sleep you revealed "the royal road to the unconscious." I've read a little of his studies on dreams and sleep. I'm certainly no expert but I read enough to figure out that I don't quite buy it. I like Carl Jung's theories a little better; he believed that our dreams, and thus our sleep, were a way of us wishing and hoping in order to settle our own emotional and mental conflicts. Has anyone ever told you that you were "dreaming" when you said that you wished for something very extraordinary? That's a Jung theory. In the 1950's all the scientists began not just studying the dreams but the bodies reaction to the sleep itself, the effects of certain depths of sleep, and how our physical was changing our dreaming.
So, if for centuries we have valued the power of sleep so much, why are we not getting in more of it now? Over 74% of Americans are sleep deprived, with the average night's sleep being only 6.9 hours. Statistics show that a parent with an infant automatically loses one hour of sleep a night. As a parent, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard; it is at least two hours of lost sleep a night. According to CNN ten years ago, sleep deprivation was the number one health related problem in the U.S. When you are sleep deprived your body shuts down. You actually shorten your life, are more susceptible to illness, and kill brain cells. I think we don't sleep because of our immaturity. Yep, you read that right. When I was a kid I wanted to stay up all night because I was convinced that my parents watched the very best shows after I went to bed. I just knew they were having a great big party with lots of fun without me! Now as a parent, I know just how true this is. I get to watch the good shows and have a glass of wine after my kids go to bed. It's great! It is totally worth having to work, pay bills, and shave my legs. I know it sounds crazy that I would rather watch another re-run of Law and Order than get the sleep that my body needs, but I guess I just haven't completely grown up yet.