Robbing Peter to Pay Paul ... The Good Version

The economic crunch is hurting pretty much everyone. You can't help but feel your blood boil when you read about how the AIG execs are still getting their bonuses (after screwing up other people's life savings, thank you very much) and the President of the Royal Bank of Scotland keeping his USD 1 million pension (also after screwing up other people's life savings).

And then you read how the doctors at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston is giving up part of their pay to help support their departments and stave off lay-offs. It appears that each of the heads of department are willing to contribute $27,000 of their annual salary to the cause. I have no idea whether this would suffice to bolster the financial woes of the hospital, but I think a contribution of $350,000 would make a dent to reduce potential redundancy.

Your faith in human nature is restored.

Paging Dr No ...

Huh. Apparently in Sweden even convicted murderers can be accepted into medical school. I guess the 6 and a half years in prison gave him plenty of time to study and get awesome enough grades to get in.

But seriously, wouldn't you worry if your physician is a convicted felon? So he's smart, brilliant etc etc, but if he has race issues and you are definitely too coloured for his taste? A bit iffy, no? Vetting for entrance into medical school has always been a hotly debated issue, ranging from scholastic performance to extra curricular activities and even mental and psychological aptitude for the work. I guess now the Swedes will have to include query of legal issues in the application forms. In Malaysia, if you were ever in trouble with the law (say, you used to boost cars in your misspent youth or was busted during a nightclub raid), you can kiss your university entrance goodbye, much less the august medical schools.

So what makes good doctors? How do we make sure that the ones with the right stuff to become good doctors are given the chance to get into medical school? Should we allow a brilliant Nazi sympathiser (and every other colour of this sort) to get in because of his/her scholastic excellence?

*rubs chin thoughtfully*

Unwitting Participants of a Ponzi Scheme?

Man, I'll bet three months ago you would not know what is a Ponzi scheme. But thanks to Bernard Madoff, we understand that a Ponzi scheme is a "fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned." (per Wikipedia).

It seems that with the economic downturn afflicting the global economy, a great deal of attention has been placed on issues that previously are never really caught the limelight. One of them is the health insurance issues plaguing the United States. Physicians on the Medscape's Physician Connect have alleged that "commercial, for-profit health insurance is one of the greatest Ponzi schemes ever foisted on the public". As I understand it, patients do not pay directly to the doctors for treatments and prescription, but the insurance will handle it. Dubbed to be consumer driven health care, the American health insurance is a billion dollar industry. What this means? Read here.

I would like to believe that good health care should be the rights of all, especially in the self-dubbed greatest country on Earth. But it does look like the basic economic principle of "those who can afford, gets it; those who can't afford, forget it" is still at play here. Many have hung their hopes that the Obama administration will do their utmost to resolve this issue. I sympathise with the Americans who skimped on drugs that their insurance companies balked to cover or those who can't afford it, as they are the ones who are the greatest hit by the economic downturn and hope that Mr Obama and his crew will manage a miracle on this.

Malaysians should be grateful that they can get decent health care at Government hospitals with minimal payments for treatment and prescription. Even those who work in the private sector is still partially subsidised by the Government even though they pay more than civil servants. Those with diabetes and hypertension who needs long-term medication to control their condition, should they know the true price of the drugs they consume, would be a little more appreciative of the efforts of the Goverment.

Granted there is room for improvement, especially in terms of service delivery and time turnovers, but at the very least, you do get treated. Unless of course, if you decide to trust the medium/bomoh/tok dukun who promised you the cures of all ailments from cancer to baldness. Then, by all means, go to them. Let other people benefit from the Government hospitals.

Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

On days when you feel like this, do you ...

a. Snap everybody's head off.
b. Go about in a daze for the rest of the day.
c. Give your best zombie impression when your boss asked about the project.
d. Give the finger to the world and go back to sleep.
e. None of the above.

*ponders*

Alcohol is Not a Universal Sanitiser

I'm sure you've heard of people who said that alcohol will kill all the germs in your food. You won't get gastritis if you ate contaminated food and chase it down with hooch?

HAH.

Not happening. Note here that the Clostridium botulinum had happily gone forth to multiply and produce the toxin that made those inmates sick. Not quite the usual application of botox, no?

Everybody Dance Now!

I love the idea of dancing. I love it so much that I took ballet classes for seven years. Not that I was any good; I am too lazy and too afraid of pain to make a proper commitment to dance. But I love to move to music, even if the movements are unpolished and uncoordinated. After all, I'm not earning a living from it am I? (Thank God.) My odd forays into the clubbing scene cemented this love; I just never got into it much due to practical reasons. Oh yeah. And also I am afraid of losing my hearing.

Children have an innate sense of rhythm and feels free to enjoy their exuberance of music, but we bred the enjoyment of dance out of them, especially the boys. Young males are brought up with the idea that dancing is for poofters and that it is unmanly. WRONG. Being a dancer is harder than being an athlete; you have daily training and conditioning, more punishing than many athletic regiment. Male dancers often lift weights; their movements require a great deal of strength. I love watching men dance; the symphony of their body and the beauty that they can express because of their strength is marvelous to behold.

Who could watch the old Fred Astaire movies and not wish that they could move like him?

I saw this on anniehow's LJ. She is right in how rewatching the video just kept the smile on her face. I think we were all born to dance. As we grow older, we grow more inhibited; we are scared of expressing ourselves with our body. We are too afraid of being thought foolish, we are too self-conscious of how other people perceive us. Watch this and see how delicious dancing can be, even if you are a stiff-kneed seventy year old.



Don't that look like fun? Next time you find your feet tapping to some beat, let your body flow along with the music. Who cares if you look like a reject from Dancing with the Stars? Just enjoy the endorphins.

A Little Less Conversation

Tagged by Sweet Eve. Hee!

The rules:
1. Put your music on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. NO CHEATING! (yeah, right)
5. Tag others (only if you wanna)


IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Help Me I'm Falling in Love (Again) (kd lang)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Make it Mine (Jason Mraz) ..... Covetous we are, precious ....

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Run Baby Run (Sheryl Crow) ..... the hell? my ankle hurts!

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Never Miss a Beat (Kaiser Chief) ..... Well, since it is the anthem of every ignorant git of an adolescent boy ... yeah. This is right.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Your Body is a Wonderland (John Mayer) .....Oh yez...

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
A Pain that I'm Used To (Depeche Mode) ..... Gee, and I thought we're pals ...

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) (Robert Palmer) ..... Will it never be out of my mind? *snerk*

WHAT IS 2+2?
Time is On My Side (Rolling Stones) ... I flunked add maths, though I adore Numb3rs.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
I'll Remember (Madonna) ..... Will store all our shananigans together, yup ...

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Take a Bow (Madonna)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Carbon (Tori Amos) ..... Need to plant a tree to offset ... or maybe a forest.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Addicted to Love (Robert Palmer) ..... Yez! Wants ...

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Paint it Black (Rolling Stone) ..... and then eat, drink and be merry ...

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac) ..... kinda bittersweet, no?

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
3.45 No Sleep (The Cardigans) ..... Your snoring ... *smirks*

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
You'll See (Madonna) ..... You know what it is ...

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Jesus Doesn't Love Me Anymore (Dragonette) ..... how appropriate...

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
All I Wanna Do (Sheryl Crow) .....Yez! Let's go! *wink wink*

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Sweet Sangria (Tori Amos) .....the need to drown one's sorrow...

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Your Cloud (Tori Amos) ..... this song really does... sweet and a little melancholic ...

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Don't Stop Me Now (Queen) ..... belting this out with Freddy at 100 km an hour ...

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
And I Love Her (The Beatles) ... that I should be omnivorous?

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard) ..... what a way to go!...

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon (Urge Overkill) ..... Hee! you tell me ...

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Scarlet's Walk (Tori Amos) .....pretty true considering the path I tread ...

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac) .. uh ...

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
A Place Called Home (Kim Richey) ..... the fear of hurting the nearest and dearest to me ...

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Heads Will Roll (Marion Raven) ..... ver royal like, what?...

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY, WHEN YOU MEET YOUR BOSS?
I'm Going Slightly Mad (Queen) ..... Literally.

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
A Little Less Conversation (Elvis Presley) .. it's all about the aurgasm, baby!

Eggs for Sale?

Women are oftentimes the first and hardest hit during economic downturns. They can act as the barometer of financial weather: look for numbers of women getting the pink slip and pay cuts. Believe it or not, there are still employers who do so with the draconian idea that women always have a man to look after them; hence, it is okay to lay off the female workers first.

However, for many single parent households, it is the women who are the sole breadwinners. Married women contribute to the financial health of their family. Often times, you hear daughters setting aside money for their parents, but quite often you hear that sons do not do the same: they have their own nuclear family to support and cannot afford to do so.

There are reports that in this time of economic crisis, women are resorting to selling parts of their body. No, not the oldest profession (although motherhood is the oldest job, and to this day, still no hazard pay, pension or days off), but selling their eggs. Egg harvesting is risky, painful and financially rewarding. A sperm donation is worth only USD 60 at fertility clinics, but eggs can fetch up to USD 10,000. Many young college women have been lured with the promise of paying back student loans with something that their body discard monthly anyway. They put not just their future fertility on the table, but also their health and life. Stimulating ovulation puts undue stress on the body and the long term effect is not known, as the practice of egg donation started as recent as 14 years ago.

But seriously, what a tempting offer.

Can We Afford to be Moral?

In times of painful economy, it appears that ethics is about to take a flying leap out the window. In New Zealand, at least.

Oh, boy.

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

If you are a Net addict (or someone who spends roughly 1/3 of his/her waking hours online), I'll bet you never said or even thought that you are lonely. After all, you are not: you have over a zillion friends on Facebook, people leave you messages on your wall, leave gifts, send music etc.

For some people, admitting loneliness is akin to telling your Boss that you're schizophrenic. It is something terrible and embarrassing. There has to be something wrong with you if you are lonely: don't you know how to make friends? What happened to the best mates in uni/school/last hell hole (aka workplace) that you were so tight with? And if you are not married, then it's your fault for being lonely; so choosy one lah ... and so on.

The thing is, you can have people leaving messages on your Facebook wall every day and be lonely. You could lie in bed with the love of your life (or so you thought when you married him/her) and ache with loneliness. You can work in an environment filled with people who talk to you and still be miserably alone.

Is it a state of mind or a state of being? Can one grimly resolve to not be lonely and fill one's life with activities and people? Does that work? Or do you accept that it is your fate, down all the painkiller in your medicine cabinet and slit your wrist for good measure?

Apparently, loneliness is not something you can pooh-pooh at and sweep under the carpet. It affects you,: body, mind and soul. This article definitely makes you contemplate your state of aloneness.

But like Sartre (I think) said, "Hell is other people."

*snerk*