So…I was watching the trailer of Ricki Lake’s new documentary on the maternity industry that was posted in the last post, and my COUSIN is in the trailer. That is SO WEIRD. I mean, I think it’s her; if not, it’s her twin. Anyway, she’s the one saying, “This is pitocin, which is the medicine given through the IV that causes contractions.” I’ll have to make a phone call to doublecheck, but Rachel, you’ve met Stacie; is that her?

Update: It is her. She’s a maternity physician’s assistant in Long Island. Weird.

I’ve seen a couple people ask about Ron Paul’s view on midwifery (being he is an OB-GYN). Rachael Companik linked this. He is all for non-intervention.

This is in no way support for Ron Paul; I am just pointing this out, as I would support his view of this issue.

(Note: I’m a state employee; I can’t support a candidate publicly.)

All the NBC Green Week commercials have got me thinking.

So, we’re not extremely green here, but we have been taking a few steps. All of our large appliances are now Energy Star efficient (refrigeration, laundry, dishwashing). So is our computer. Our TV definitely is not. I’m trying to convince Rachel on that one. We’ve been using energy saving light bulbs for a few years now. We switched to cloth diapering. Rachel, of course, breastfeeds. A tank of gas lasts about three weeks, and sometimes a month. We won’t be shelling out the cash for a hybrid any time soon.

We don’t recycle. I know. We’re bad people. But it’s difficult here. It’s not like Washington, where they pick your recyclables off the curb (maybe they do, but we haven’t put out the effort to find out). We use way too much plastic and get way too many things that are poorly packaged, but our trash can is usually only about 1/3 full by the end of the week. I have tried to be more thoughtful about what we buy though. When we buy Kyrie toys, we try to buy things that break down easily. We try to give away stuff rather than throw it away.

We’re considering biodegradable detergent. We drink organic milk (and other organic stuff). As Kermit says, “It’s not easy being green.” We have a long way to go, but we’re definitely trying to lead more sustainable lives.

Rachel and I just finished watching Sicko, and I must say it was interesting. While I think a lot of Moore is hype and manipulation, he does give some insights into the problems we have in our medical system.

We have private insurance. We pay a lot for it. Our premium is over $500 a month. I’m thankful for it, even though it’s a lot of money. I had to get a tetanus shot last week, and I watched two very obviously sick people (if I was diagnosing them, I would have said whooping cough and measles…but I’m paranoid) get kicked out of the doctor’s office within a 30 minute time period. A third person was on the phone trying to get a referral. It was pretty sad.

The whole system just makes me a bit sick. In one scene of Sicko, a patient gets meds for 5 cents in Cuba…meds she pays $120 for in the US. This reminded me of Paul Farmer’s work in reducing the cost of tuberculosis meds in Haiti. It’s just sickening how cheaply that stuff is produced and how expensive it is to buy.

In another scene, Cuban doctors take a lady off of five of her nine meds because half of her meds are useless. She’s paying a ridiculous amount of money for meds she doesn’t need. Welcome to America.

I don’t know what the answer to this problem is, but something has to change.