Frugality Essay I- What We Eat and Public Health

You want to save money? Then take care of yourself. There is a relationship between private health, and private wealth. Given this reality, there is a relationship between public health and wealth as well. We as a country spend an enormous amount of money on medical care. Can we as a country reduce this cost? What is our role as individuals? This is an enormously broad subject, but the implications are significant enough where I think we should at least begin the conversation. There are a few ideas that I would like to explore and discuss regarding frugality and health, but this essay will focus on frugal eating and personal health.

Some people erroneously believe that eating healthy means eating expensive. I would like to challenge that notion and give some examples of frugal and healthy eating choices.

1- On Obi’s frugal list of healthy foods are whole grains. As a recovering Mormon, I remember well people with cans of wheat in their basement (two years supply). You want to save money and improve your health, open the cans and use them as a surprisingly inexpensive and filling food. But don’t think wheat is all there is. I’ve come to really appreciate rye, barley, oats, triticale, spelt and other grains. And you would be surprised how adaptable whole grains are for inclusion in your diet.

Everyone knows that oatmeal is a healthy breakfast alternative. There are a wide range of choices that are relatively inexpensive. This morning, I had rolled rye that I purchased at Whole Foods. I estimate the cost of a good sized serving, including soymilk and berries, at $.1.05. Compare this to something from the drive-thru at McDonalds. Another favorite of mine is 7-grain mix either from Whole Food’s bulk bin or Bob’s Red mill. You save money if you can find it at Whole Foods.

I boil whole grains and use it in yogurt, as a substitute for hamburger, and as a filling addition to canned soups. I also make whole grain bread. For a Democrat in Utah, pounding whole wheat bread dough can be very therapeutic. And the smell you get from home made whole grain bread is well worth the effort.

2- Anyone who has read my blogs know I’m full of beans. And that, is a good thing. Yeah, I’ve been known to rattle the neighbor’s windows a time or two, but in so doing, I’ve got sound nutrition in an inexpensive package. Beans are extremely adaptable and you can add all kinds of home grown veggies into them, such as tomatoes, spinach, corn, peppers, onion, etc. Also, add some boiled rye or barley (see item 1) and you’ll get a very complete protein without the addition of expensive and fatty meat products.

As a Mormon missionary, I had $250/month to live off of. That included rent. A favorite we came up with was “slumgraten”, which was beans mixed with anything else you had left in the kitchen. It was filling, nutritious, and cheap. You want to save money, stay full, and eat healthy, open a can of beans, whether black, pinto, garbanzo, etc.

3- Don’t read the leaves, drink them, and tea-leave me, you won’t be sorry (pretty weak, I know). I admit, this is an uncomfortable subject to bring up with the Mormon crowd, but if D & C 89 were to be re-written today, it would probably say, drink tea, and ban the soda. Tea is loaded with anti-oxidants and both black and green tea are rightly viewed as healthy drinks. Add a little fresh citrus, and it is even better for you. But let’s do some comparison shopping.

Obi wan loves his diet coke. However, when times are tough, an area I can save a lot of money is by shunning the cola for tea. Here is how it plays out. I can get a 44 oz. refill at Maverik for $.95 or get a 12 oz. bottle for $1.25. Let’s compare to tea. I recently bought 100 Lipton tea bags on sale for $2.50. So a cup of tea costs a whopping $.025. Well, since I like my tea strong, I steep two bags for a whopping $.05. Now admittedly, I got a good price, and you might prefer one of the premium teas. Let’s say you found a really expensive tea with 20 bags for $4. That is still only $.20/cup. That is still over six cups for the price of one bottle of soda. Now admittedly, you may want to sweeten your tea, but even so, the cost of the sweetener is insignificant compared to what you would pay for soda.

Green tea, arguably the most healthy tea, is a bit more. I paid $3.45 for a box of 40 tea bags. That is still much more inexpensive than soda. Just remember, that steeping your own tea is the only way to save money here. Bottled teas will cost you as much or more than soda. But making tea is not rocket science. A cup of water and a microwave is all you need.

4- My last suggestion for now, is to rethink your landscape. Many edible plants are also quite attractive and can be used in your yard. Herbs such as basil, oregano, chives, and many others both add flavors to dishes while looking good mixed with flowers. Fruit trees are a great idea (excepts out on your curb or near paved areas) and often look very attractive in the spring. Apricot, peach, cherry, as well as less common trees and shrubs like serviceberry, look good while also providing fruit. In the right location, grapes also provide an adaptable and edible vine.

Teach your kids early and often which plants are edible and which ones are not. Some flower’s leaves actually taste good and are edible like agastache foeniculum and other members of the mint family. Asparagus is an attractive plant when it isn’t producing succulent spears. Experiment with different edible plants and give your children space and opportunity to grow their own food.

I hope this is a good start on our journey towards practical frugality. Eating healthy won’t eliminate trips to the doctor’s office, but will reduce the risks associated with chronic ailments. Medical costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy in our economy. Let’s take care of ourselves and teach our children good principles in nutrition as well as frugal living.

Frugality: A New Paradigm for Life

There are certain parallels in history that provide lessons for us. One of those lessons is the need for frugality, no matter what your circumstances. As this decade winds down, I’ve been thinking what defines the last decade. I recognize the risks involved in defining a period, because there are exceptions and inconsistencies that need to be given their due weight. But when I think of this decade, I think of entitlement and excess.

We saw this at both the personal level, as well as the government, a sense of over-reaching that was careless and costly to our long-term future as a people and Republic. To some extent, I don’t know whether to attribute this to excessive optimism, or pathological delusion. One of the books which so categorized the period, and influenced to a great extent, neocon economic and social policy was “Dow 36,000.” In this book, the notion exists that the markets are on an upward trend and it is best to get on board. There is no underlying growth in productive capacity or production behind these phenomena, just an increase in the value of existing assets as bid up by a public with greater access to markets and with a demographic population bubble desperately saving for a retirement (baby boomers) that is looming in the near future.

This in retrospect was faith-based economics. Ultimately what creates wealth is productivity and production, not the bidding up of existing assets well above what their return on investment suggests. Economic faith, without a foundation in works, creates a soufflé, ready to collapse under the weight of any shock or crisis in the kitchen. So was it with this paradigm during 2008. Both at the government level, as well as the personal level, Americans lived beyond their means. Cuts in taxes were made without any plan to lower spending. Americans racked up credit card debt in order to keep up with the ever increasing variety of electronic toys available. Much of it was financed on the basis of rising home prices, unrealized gain on existing assets (people's home values). People sought to catch the wave of outer rim of the bubble, Using equity gained from their old home, to buy a bigger new home, with the intention of using ever increasing equity to build their future. POP!! You know how that went.

So where do we go from here? Conventional wisdom suggests that we “stimulate” the economy in a most Keynesian of fashion. It is true, that demand will stimulate production, but we must be cautious where the benefits of that production go. Is it to retail employees at Walmart, or to manufacturers in China or the Philippines? Is it to provide second or third homes for the wealthy, or is it to update sewage systems, water systems, and roads?

Ultimately, what I’ve concluded is that Americans have become somewhat spoiled and entitled. The time has come for the resetting of priorities in our personal lives and as a government. This doesn’t mean we have an inactive government. Our strength as a country comes both from the public and private sectors. But we need to think strategically as a people, and prioritize wisely where we deploy our finite resources.

To some, this may sounds like retrenchment. I rather like to think of it as realignment. It is a realignment of our objectives and our culture. Whether it will work or not, I have my doubts, but I am going to explore this paradigm and discuss ways that we can as individuals, and as a nation, restore our foundation in the areas of economics, health and quality of life. It may be an interesting voyage, but I’m willing to see where the trade-winds take us.

Some Thoughts On Torture

Let's face it, our nation under the previous administration had a systematic program that encouraged the use of torture for intelligence purposes against individuals deemed to be our enemy. What amazes me is the silence of so many Americans regarding this practice. And even among those who are appalled, it amazes me how easily they turn into apologists for those who committed these acts, giving credence to their motives, as a way of justifying a desire to let them off the hook for crimes committed against humanity.

How often have we heard criminals justify their actions with best of intentions? Some were trying to feed their family or their habit. How many murders were "misunderstandings" gone awry. How many went along with a friend who committed atrocious acts and rather than having the courage to intervene, allowed friendship or devotion to supercede any sound moral code?

First of all, let me say, that the decision of whom to prosecute and whether to prosecute is not the President's. That should fall to the Attorney General. However, the complicated thing here, is that the A.G.'s office, though under a different administration, was a party to the criminal violations for which the evidence is ample and overwhelming. Because of the past role of his office, the legally ethical thing to do is to call a special prosecutor, someone beyond rapproach, to investigate who did what and what criminal culpability they have.

This is not a political or a partisan issue. It is a legal matter of the utmost importance in a nation that other nations look to as a role model for fair and impartial administration of the law. Politics of all kind need to be separated from this issue. The evidence of wrong-doing is public, and there are plenty of witnesses who have publicly said what happened. If our nation does not come clean on this, we'll have no moral authority in the world to combat other nations who engage in the torture of those they decide to detain.

There are maybe 6 or 7 (depending on your point of view) defining moments in our nation's history when people made the right decisions for the right reasons which defines our greatness as a nation. Failure to separate political realities on the torture issue and the war crimes that have been committed, from the legal necessities of enforcing the statutes, treaties and constitutional provisions that have been violated will either help us cement our greatness, or set a precedent that will haunt us for generations.

RIP Bill Orton

I just heard the news that former Congressman Bill Orton had lost his life in an ATV accident at Little Sahara. Bill Orton came to the Congress via one of the worst political mistakes in recent memory, when Karl Snow's campaign to replace Howard Nielson produced an add showing Karl Snow and his family, and a single Bill Orton and his. Even in conservative Republican land, that add was offensive enough to land Bill Orton a job as a Democratic Congressman in one of the most conservative districts in the country.

And Bill Orton took advantage of the situation. He worked hard and did his homework. I remember watching him at meetings discuss in detail issues that were complex. He took his job seriously, and served his constituents well. He was a bit conservative for my taste, but given his district, I was willing to cut him some slack.

After losing his Congressional seat to Chris Cannon, he remained active in the Democratic party and ran a very respectable race for Governor, I believe, in 2000. Bill continued to speak out on issues important to him and remain involved. And all Utahns owe him a debt of gratitude for his service to our state.

I very much appreciated the times I was able to work with Bill over the years. I didn't always agree with him, but always respected him and I wish the most sincere condolensces to his wonderful family.

Ode to the Tea Party

I have been inspired to come out of retirement. I owe it all to the "grass-roots" tea parties that dotted out nation yesterday. I may have to limit my scope in what I post, but I think I've worked it out so I can atleast post periodically.

Here is my Ode to the Tea Parties

Obi’s Ode to the Tea Parties

Black tea, grean tea, tea, tea, tea,
I heard it from Sean Hannity,
Damn those taxes damn Obama,
Damn his wife, his dad and mama,
Just like patriots boarding ships,
Let’s chuck the bags and shun the sips,
And fight our cause for God and nation,
This thing called taxes from representation,

Our cause is just our brain cells few,
We’re mad at those who voted blue,
We’ll yell “let’s take our nation back”,
“Let’s storm the dam, let’s make it crack,”
Eight years of Bush just ain’t enough,
Of runaway spending and talking tough,
There’s so much more that we can trash,
In our economy that we helped to crash,

And never mind the Constitution,
Let’s overthrow the institution,
Let’s protest loud, they’ll hear our plea,
With help from Beck and Hannity,
We’ll party on with bags and strings,
We’ll see if Glenn Beck cries or sings,
Let’s protest this Obamanation,
Taxes left from the Bush Administration,

We’re born again we’ve seen the light,
Deficit spending is our fight,
Ok for Bush but shame on Obama,
Let’s foam at the mouth as we ramp up the drama,
Our grass-roots movement pimped by Fox,
Buy some Lipton by the box,
As we who’ve always voted red,
A movement given up for dead,

We’re still around our cause is proud,
With Rush and Plumber guy leading our crowd,
As Glenn Beck’s gets all misty-eyed,
Waving the flag and filling his pride,
With angry words from Atlantic to Pacific,
Rhetorically lame no proposals specific,
Our tea party may not make much sense,
But at least we’ve got anti-oxidants.

My Last Post

For reasons I won't get into, it has become apparent to me that it is no longer in my best interests to post under this synonym or under any other addressing political issues. My tentacles are way to wound into the corporate and governmental fabric of our state for me to continue to host a personal blog of this sort. I have enjoyed speaking my mind under the guise of an anonymous cyber-jedi, but circumstances have made it so that I must retreat from this medium for the mean-time. I have deeply enjoyed the comments and feedback from others who have provided me with additional knowledge that has been invaluable.

At my discretion, I may respond to some of my favorite bloggers. But I don't feel I can currently post my own material for the next little while, which may be months or years. I will take down this blog after archiving the posts I find were some of my best on my personal storage apparatus.

But let me say, how much I appreciate those who have followed my political blog and have provided your insights. This has been a great experience for me, given I'm a newbie to things such as blogs. So to those whom I have the greatest respect and admiration such as bekkianne, David Miller, Richard Warnick, Frank Staheli, the Jason, Bob Aagard, Rob Miller and many others, I say adieu and thanks for putting up with this middle-aged exmormon atheist who used to have too much time on his hands.

Someday when the time is right, I hope to meet each of you IRL. Best regards.

The Schwartzeneger Plan and It's Implications

In California, Gov. Schwartzeneger is contemplating forcing state employees to take a de facto pay cut, by requiring them to take a certain amount of pay without leave. Laying off employees is also being considered. I understand that there are shortfalls, but I wonder how state employees of California feel about them taking the hit because others made bad economic decisions.

I'm sure this will also come to Utah. The past several years, with budget surpluses and a booming economy, our legislature has cut taxes, primarily to the well to do, but not entirely, also reducing the sales tax on food. When revenues are down, does the legislature restore the old tax structure, or do they decide to put the burden of the economic downturn upon Utah's public employees?

Let me get this out of the way first, and it is a perception I get from talking to so many conservative legislators over the years, that they consider public employees as inherently lazy, with bureaucracies that are top-heavy and inefficient, with plenty of fat that can be cut if they can be prodded through accross the board budget cuts.

I have spent some time around those in state government, and I can say unequivocably, that this perception is grossly exaggerated. My wife worked for the state for some time, and found herself overwhelmed with a caseload she couldn't possibly handle, and when there was a failure to meet all the impossible legislatively mandated requirements, that were inadequately funded, the blame never fell upon the legislature, but upon "those evil bureaucrats."

My wife works for the state, and so my position is biased. I'll admit that. But putting the full burden of budget shortfalls upon state employees, who are only trying to do their jobs the best they can seems short-sighted. Also consider, that state employees who are laid off, will take their accrued leave with them, creating a short-term cash-flow problem, increase the cost of their unemployment insurance, as well as further exacerbate our economic problems by increasing the unemployment rate and causing fewer people to be able to spend money to buy cars, houses, appliances, etc.

Utah legislators would be wise, to find solutions to their budget woes short of layoffs or reductions in the effective pay to their employees, many of whom have made sacrifices to remain in their jobs when better opportunities were available to them. Many came to believe strongly in the efficacy of the services they were providing and felt a considerable degree of job satisfaction in serving the public and making a difference in their lives.

Anyway, something to consider.