Organic Panache

   

I do not live in one of Denver's toney neighborhoods, but visit upscale Cherry Creek occasionally, to shop. I like the Whole Foods store there. People like me do not  provide Whole Foods with its captive, well-to-do, customer base. Ordinarily I wouldn't give momentary notice to the price the wealthy pay for the panache of organic, gluten-free, grass fed baloney. 
     I shop at Whole Foods despite the "Whole Paycheck" reputation, not because my lifestyle must set me apart from elders shuffling down the aisles of Walmart. It is because Whole Foods spread itself all over Boulder, Colorado, like cage-free eggs on a frat house. Whole Foods promised, at the time, it would bring a more competitive marketplace for organics. In fact, like the invasion of Starbucks, it left virtually no alternatives for consumers.
     Change is upon us, people, and I am ready! Never a hard- core Whole Foods shopper, I welcome Trader Joe to Denver.  As for Whole Foods, its corporate management is determined to disenchant. Now the chain has been fined for cheating California consumers, and some of the price inflating methods have a familiar ring. Here's a link to the Reuters/CNBC coverage:  http://www.cnbc.com/id/101787636#.
     A fine of $80,000 is teensy for Whole Foods, but this incident adds itself to the revelation that Whole Foods uses producers in China for it's 365 Organic brand. Corporate protestations that Whole Foods carefully monitors its Chinese producers weren't comforting. 
       The days of organic exclusivity are numbered. Established companies are trying a new business model resulting in widespread availability of organics. Discount outlets will be carrying organic and some gluten-free cookies. Even better, these rise above the Sawdust Special of bygone years!
   

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Alan Watts

The Governor, Some Kids and Gun Control

 

     Colorado Governor Hickenlooper has dipped his big toe in pretty hot water. His vacillation and outright lying concerning gun control legislation do not elicit amazement on my part. I'll explain. Though unrelated to Colorado gun violence, this is not the first time I've been aware of the man's lack of integrity.
     How we do rely on image in electing public officials, and what boyishness John Hickenlooper exudes! He fits right into what I'd characterize as The Boulder Scene, geeky, bland, overly sincere, firmly planted on moral high ground.  
     Nonetheless our Gov can certainly astonish people. His decision to grant a reprieve in the case of Nathan Dunlap, the Chucky Cheese murderer, smarted. In one swell foop, as the saying goes, he snatched closure (not to mention justice for their dead) from families, friends and a community. Mr. Hickenlooper took the high ground, characterizing the death penalty as inherently flawed. Righto, Sir, and I'd characterize Nathan Dunlap as craven and deliberate. Although the Nathan Dunlap matter drew national attention, the uproar soon died down.

 A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal. -Oscar Wilde    

     A minor scandal, while Hickenlooper was the Mayor of Denver, drew brief local attention. The mini-scandal did not involve the Mayor directly, 'though it did offer me a brief look into his character. Denver's Channel 7 aired a report in early 2005 concerning juvenile offenders in Denver County. It seemed the youngsters were being removed from school to perform community service projects. The projects, however, served no educational purpose. Conflict of interest came into play. The juvenile work crew cleaned up after a party, presumably a drunken affair, at an Elk's Club. Oooops, two Sheriff's deputies belonged to the Club. Although the Order of Elks is a non-profit, its members could easily have cleaned the club after themselves or afforded to have the work done.  
     A former Juvenile Probation Supervisor, I'd managed work crews in actual community service projects. Our clients were assigned, as a third-strike measure (i.e., each client had been convicted of two prior offenses. None was in school, because all had been suspended indefinitely, expelled or had dropped out of school.) Clients were paid to work. Pay not used for restitution went directly into individual trust accounts for future educational needs. Every assignment was dedicated to preparing clients to complete probation, and return to community. The program attempted to ready clients for work and further education, or both. It was, by no means, a perfect program, but considerably ahead of its time.
     When I wrote Mayor Hickenlooper, asking him to comment on the educational and remedial values of Denver's juvenile offender work crews, he couldn't be bothered. His reply was non-responsive. In any event the uproar was short-lived, although the Denver Sheriff took some flak. In spite of his indifference, the Mayor publicly sounded sincere in his desire to see the right thing done, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 
     Since Mr. Sincerity has become our Governor, I've written more than once to his Consumer Affairs people, and to the Governor himself, to no avail. Colorado and federal taxpayers continue to pay for the Department of Human Services computer system, which has been seriously flawed since its inception. Backdoor fixes do not work; the experts all agree. That fact has not staunched the money hemorrhage, nor has it improved the lives of Colorado's low income households.
     In recent years CDHS erroneously denied 68.7 per cent of applicant households food assistance, terminating or suspending them from benefits. People, that is nearly 70 per cent. Yet the funding requests keep rollin' in, unchecked, and Director Bicha is keeping his job. 
     Meanwhile no DDHS client initiates a call to a technician. One phone number is available to clients, that of the Customer Service Call Center. Wait times are outlandish, sometimes hours long (as are wait times for personal interviews.) People re-certifying for benefits or reporting changes to their households are routinely booted. Clients who receive "snail mail" from the Department, do not get notices timely, often finding the window for appeal expired, before the notice arrived. Worse yet, DDHS appears to use its processes to lighten client and budgetary loads. Whether this is true or not, Colorado has been aptly termed, draconian by struggling citizens.      
     Every one of these instances should have drawn a rapid response from the Mayor-turned-Governor and his staff. Doesn't it seem a bit late in the game for Colorado voters to catch on? 

No Bananas Today

For so many of America's elders, hunger already looms large. The fact is, the Cost of Living Indices, fail to accurately reflect rises in the cost of necessities, such as food. According to national news this morning, long-predicted spikes in the cost of food are real, and they are here. Nor is the high price of groceries restricted to luxury items like coffee, butter, steak and the like. Now for the double whammy. Low-income households throughout the country, have also seen SNAP benefits slashed, often, to less than half last year's allotment. Sooooo I would ask legislators, in light of the "spike" at check stands across America, "What is the plan?"

The Social Security Administration actually has a "public policy" branch. Who knew? Here is a link to the policy arguments surrounding the (so-called) annual Cost of Living Increase; do not be surprised, however, to find the dialogue unrealistic, in terms of what you are  experiencing in real time. http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v67n3/v67n3p73.html 

As we stagger to the grocery store check out lane along with other income-challenged folks, weeping as we pay, all "arguments" become irrelevant. Over the years of the economic downturn, our bunch of bananas shrank, until it would just feed a spider monkey. Imagine day-dreaming about banana pudding, reducing it to banana pudding without bananas, and you almost have it. Of course, there are no vanilla wafers or eggs, so you're stuck with powdered milk. So, now, envision a half-glass of powdered milk with one slice of banana floating, et voila, Chef!

The day hunger is eradicated from the earth there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world.- Federico Garcia Lorca

One only need glance at the history of Social Security COLA increases, to observe how bitter partisan politics and false priorities affect us all. Prior to 1975, COLA increases for Social Security recipients were legislated, so recent history begins in 1975. However, the decade beginning in the early 90s saw dramatic decreases in distributions. The most recent decade brought us to years of tiny and zero percentages in distributions. Call me crazy, but I would love to see policy-makers deal with shrinking budgets, enormous bills and greatly lowered government benefits, as do vulnerable citizens. http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaseries.html

One hears a great deal in social media about hunger abroad and childhood hunger here in the United States. No less tragic is the plight of older Americans, particularly, minorities, women and disabled or "frail" elderly. I want to ask the President of the United States why our government continues to give short shrift, wholesale, to older Americans. The presumption that charities are feeding elders nourishing food is hogwash. 

I can attest to the fact that Charity meals at senior centers are a nightmare, nutritionally, aesthetically, socially ... in every way. Food bank handouts, while they can save lives, are still severely impacted by the economic downturn in this country. (Not to mention, they were never meant to provide adequate nutrition.) Churches, hard-pressed hard-pressed to meet the needs of their own congregations, cannot pick up the slack. Any elder, who has received a monthly box of government commodities, can tell you, a box of powdered and steri-pack milk, canned pears and potatoes, a can of the world's worst chili or "beef stew," a bag of pinto beans, a bag of white rice and some variety of cold cereal, brings as little nutrition as it does joy. Meals on Wheels ... I won't even go there, except to say, school lunches, before reforms were imposed, weren't the only ugly lunches in America. 

Rachel Ray is one of the few celebrities I have ever heard mention hunger as an increasing specter for senior citizens, and I'd like to acknowledge her for paying attention. Often, if we have families, they help pick up the slack, but to the detriment of our self-esteem and their budgets. When families must see after the basic needs of their elder members, they put their, their children's and grandchildren's futures on the line. How can this be right for America? If you agree, please put your money, literally, where your mouth is. 

Speak up, create and join the dialog, contact your legislators directly, and vote, vote, vote! Don't just click on a petition (that's like just standing with your mouth open.) Get doing!

Speaking of Pain

Fibromyalgia is, by all accounts, a punishing disorder. Here, though, is a dilemma. To doubt a another woman who suffers from fibromyalgia, is not merely unkind; it has become politically incorrect. You may well wonder why anyone would doubt or minimize another woman's painful disorder. I admit it is an attitude toward fibromyalgia that stems from recent experience. I have become acquainted with two women, who say they suffer from the ailment. It has not been a pleasant acquaintance. One woman, 50, has been ill with fibromyalgia for a decade. I'll call her Becky. An individual whose illness is her life, Becky is self-involved, entitled and demanding. She's a devout church goer, however, having turned to religion to ease her psychological pain. It is extremely difficult to have a conversation with Becky; although she appears to be a bright woman, her 'fibro' and her church are her sole interests.

The second woman is Becky's friend and my neighbor, Mona. The two have become fast friends. Mona loves to discuss ill health, hers and others'. If you are in pain, however, do not enter the fray. Your drama will never earn the spotlight. If another person has an ingrown toenail, Mona has gas gangrene, and will have to have her foot amputated. Unlike Becky, Mona has interests other than  fibromyalgia. A food fanatic, Mona always has nutritional advice to offer. She is an organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, high fiber, low salt, no sugar, low fat kinda gal. Once Mona befriended Becky, fibromyalgia seemed inevitable.

So, what is the truth, is this shared ailing psychosomatic or sympathetic, or both? I neither choose to speculate, nor to share their pain dialog. I'm not the best at empathizing with these women, but will try to offer kindness, rather than judgement. Others in these women's lives have to stay the course and try to keep sane themselves, but, not me (at least, not me all the time.) In the interests of better understanding of fibromyalgia, however, here is a link to the May Clinic I found helpful:  http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia/basics/definition/con-20019243

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself. -Walter AndersonWe have talked about chronic pain and stress management in prior posts, and, in the case of fibromyalgia, it seems particularly important to find and maintain both emotional and physical support. If you suffer the widespread pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia, make a conscious effort not to speak your pain, not in body language, facial expression and not in your conversation. At least try not to speak your pain constantly. The first benefit will be perspective; pain tends to recede with the importance we give it. The second will be a change in our ownership of pain; we can decline to own our pain, in favor of creativity, for example. Relationships will bloom with others who seek, speak and manifest wellness. A pain journal may help; it will not only help you to manage your chronic pain, but, also for care providers, family and friends who need greater understanding: http://pain.about.com/od/livingwithchronicpain/f/pain_journal.htm

Finally I offer a link to a site with practical advice and support for sufferers of fibromyalgia: http://www.cfidsselfhelp.org

Evil Computer

System Evil

Americans are constantly bombarded by blather regarding public assistance funding. The noise takes precedence over the dismal performance of the states in administering programs such as SNAP and Medicaid. I'll avoid the term, "broken system." It would just fall on deaf ears. In any event, broken implies reparable (not to mention, the will to repair.)
     Let's begin with Colorado, my state of residence.  A March 3, 2014 headline in "The Denver Post" read: OFFICIALS WANT MILLIONS TO KEEP UPGRADING TROUBLED COMPUTER SYSTEM. The Colorado Benefits Management System has been and remains, faulty, per Colorado Human Services Executive Director, Reggie Bicha. I'll give him that and, oh, so much more. 
     Here are the findings of the most recent state audit, which found Department of Human Services errors on the rise. The errors include: 1) inappropriate approval of approximately $26 million in food assistance benefits (2012 fiscal year;) 2) Erroneous denial of $11 million in food assistance to deserving applicants/clients, during the same period. This translates to erroneous denial, termination or suspension of benefits to 68.7% of Colorado households found ineligible for food assistance, beginning in fiscal year 2012.
     Here's the bottom line with regard to CMBS and the training to use it. It has cost the State of Colorado $300 million to operate, repair and update CMBS. The most recent state investment of $11 million (coupled with federal funds) resulted in increased system efficiency. This is according to the Governor's Information Technology expert, Kristin Russell. (In the interests of fairness, part of the states investment was used to prepare the State for Affordable Health Care and the associated Connect for Health Colorado.) Meanwhile errors continue to plague the system. More important these errors result in suffering, even, death.
     There is a concept in computer technology about faulty systems. Backdoor repairs do not work. In other words, to repair and update a fundamentally bad system is considered by most computer scientists to be futile. This is particularly true in government. California, for example, has been forced to examine the issue of chronic failures of government information technology projects. http://www.pe.com/opinion/editorials-headlines/20130212-editorial-determine-why-state-computer-projects-fail-routinely.ece   

Failure is not an option. -Confucius 

     Considering the audit error outcomes for the State of Colorado Department of Human services, the problem must go deeper than CMBS. I'll back this statement with personal experience as a client of the Denver Department of Human Services over a decade of misery. I do not use the term consumer, because beneficiaries are not treated as either "underserved" or "consumers." 
     From experience, it is impossible to reach a caseworker at DDHS. Supervisory personnel do not respond to calls from clients. It is nearly impossible, with wait times of an hour, to reach the Customer Service Call Center. There is no telephone number or e-mail listing, by means of which the client may communicate directly with a caseworker. Everything and everyone goes through the overburdened central system. 
The Department requires routine paperwork from clients. I have sent certified mail via USPS that failed to be acknowledged, resulting in the denial of benefits. Faxes have failed. Hand delivered documents with the DDHS date stamp prominently displayed, have gone astray. The most recent hand delivery resulted in February 2014 denials and the disappearance of a SNAP (EBT) distribution February 7. 
     By now, you're wondering whether I saved the documentation with receipts. Yes, without fail. DDHS has reluctantly rectified its errors, in my case, for a decade. Herein lies the second part of the problem. Outgoing mail from the Department is not merely slow; it often reaches recipients after the appeal window has closed, denying the household's right to appeal. Next benefits are seemingly cut forthwith.
     If I sound like a whiner, here's what happened following last year's fiasco. I was denied SNAP benefits, admittedly, due to my own error. I received the letter after my benefits were cut. The appeal window had closed by the time I received the notice. Unaware of the cancelation, got to the cashier at a local Safeway store, could not pay for my groceries with food stamps, nor by another means. A friend bailed me out, and, subsequently waived the debt. Anyone for a dose of extreme humiliation and angst? The popular term is "food insecure."  
This year it has happened again. I walked, waited and took a bus and train to DDHS, to hand-deliver my recertification documents in a blizzard. After I obtained a date stamp, I submitted the documents.
     A week later I receive the accusation and denial. In checking my SNAP benefits, I'd been cut off, before the letter arrived. The issue was subsequently resolved online. When I received a demand for yet another change report in March, I made corrections to some ancient expense information, and noted a $4.00 reduction in my rent, due to a reduction in the energy costs for the tax credit building, where I live. Within another week or so, I received a drastic reduction in food stamps and denial of my Medicaid program. Now I am scheduled to make the commute to DDHS and wait three or four hours to, hopefully meet with a case worker. 
     I lost my medical coverage on a similar occasion. The ground is constantly shifting under my feet, and, I must turn either to family or friends occasionally to cover bare essentials. American citizens and politicians actually believe food banks are the place to turn. That's another myth altogether, one I will not try to rectify today. Add this to a persistent attitude on the part of DDHS management and staff that beneficiaries are cheating, unworthy, ungrateful ... undeserving.
     Fix the attitudes and train people to do more than operate their computers. From the tonnage of paper I receive, generated by DDHS computers, the button pushers are certainly winning the paper war. Make the entire system accessible to clients, not just online, Mr. Bicha! Otherwise, even slaying your computer monster will not help. 
      If the latest round of funding is not approved, will Coloradans be worse off? It is hard to conceive, but we know what runs downhill. As for me, I intend to file a federal complaint for five years of denials relating to Medicaid SHIP.  For me, Colorado SHIP repairs have sailed.

Sex Talk

With so many Baby Boomers single again, do you wonder how (or whether) we should approach dating and marriage? I am, personally, neither elderly nor a female boomer. My elder daughter is too young to be a Boomer, but, in her fifties, she is an extraordinary woman, a ferocious, hard-working single mother. My daughter has raised a handsome, gifted, loyal man without support. So, when she met a nice man recently, I thought, "What a joy. She will have a little light-hearted company." Her newfound friend, however, made classic errors. He rushed her into romance. He began to demand her full attention. He insisted she would learn to change, and accommodate his lifestyle. Three proved to be the charm. She wished him the best, while wishing him gone.

I am profoundly relieved by my daughter's astute reaction. Dating and marriage are distinctly tempting at any age. However, divorce and domestic violence are on the rise among Baby Boomers. Later in life domestic violence is closely related to other potential elder abuse, and the question is one of cooperation among entities that address domestic and elder abuse. In any event, thinking about the potential for things to go right in a relationship goes hand-in-glove with considering the chances things will go amiss.
http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Resources/Publication/docs/nceaissuebrief.agingnetworkguideDV.pdf

“Impertinent submissive,” Raoul snapped, and his dark brown eyes turned mean. “Nothing new for this one. You're doing a lousy job of bringing her to heel, Marcus.”
“Bring me to heel? Like I'm a dog?” Without thinking, Gabi instinctively yanked away and snapped out, “Bite me.” --Cherise Sinclair, Make Me, Sir

Let me be clear. Sexually transmitted disease is also a significant, growing, issue among people who should know better than to have multiple partners or unprotected sex. Absent the fear of pregnancy, however, many older Americans have multiple partners, and are ignoring the dangers. Have we forgotten about HIV/AIDS and treatment-resistant strains of Syphilis and Gonorrhea? Or, do we choose to believe these are unlikely outcomes among people ostensibly sadder and wiser? Boy, do I have news: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/emanuel-sex-and-the-single-senior.html?_r=0

Spring is here, my dear, so be smart. Most boomers are too smart to participate in the club scene, unless I'm mistaken. If not, it goes without saying; remember the harsh lessons of youth. Do not think about online dating or personal ads. Take your time; meet people in correct contexts, and know who people are. Be extremely cautious about social media. Never trade personal information from the get go ... no exchanging personal addresses. Agree to a luncheon, a cup of coffee. Meet at a public event, by all means, but meet there. See a person long enough to become actual, not virtual, friends, before dating. Once you are dating, take a long think, before taking steps toward combining your life with a partner's life, whether or not this means rushing toward the altar. There is absolutely no such thing as Internet privacy. Everything you post or write online (including your personal e-mails) is public information. We don't have to talk about sexting, I'm reasonably confident, but anything at all you don't want public, do not share in the name of love and romance.

Date for months, not days, before being intimate. Have "the talk" about sexual histories and protection, beforehand. You knew all this as a dating greenhorn, so how come you don't know it now? If you are a woman who finds it awkward to carry, offer and apply condoms get over it! Broach the subjects of sexual history and protection without hemming and hawing. It is a brave new world, ladies and gentlemen. Nobody will care for us, if we do not care for ourselves.

Shared responsibility is a good thing. Individual Responsibility is everything.

Dangerous, Dangerous Places

Empty Too Soon?

     Patient safety, as much as it is discussed in this country, appears to be foundering. What is your take on the progress and enforcement of patient rights? What is working and what is not working? Personally the possibility of surgery does not frighten me nearly much as the possibility of a hospital stay. It is a grim prospect to have even more federal support for hospital services disappear: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/28/184476/looming-federal-spending-cuts.html 
The price tag will be preventable deaths, a disproportionate number of which will be deaths of elder patients. Three years ago the HHS Inspector General estimated 180,000 patients per year die as a result of poor hospital care; this estimate is three years old and was conservative in 2010. 
      However, if a close friend or family member requires skilled care outside of home, the risk is magnified by receiving care in a skilled nursing facility. One out of every three of patients will be injured or will die in such a facility. The number is staggering, considering there are 15,000 skilled nursing facilities in this country. Here is a link to the Pro Publica website. The following article concerns skilled nursing facilities. By all accounts, including the estimate of Medicare's Inspector General, 22, 000 injuries per month will occur (more than 1,500 fatal.) According to Medicare nearly sixty per cent of these cases could be prevented:
http://www.propublica.org/article/one-third-of-skilled-nursing-patients-harmed-in-treatment
     Predictably representatives of America's huge, growing, nursing home industry answer by protesting any suggestion that insufficient light shines on the quality of care patients receive in their facilities. They claim government inspection is vigorous. Clearly annual inspections, however vigorous, are ineffectual. One suggestion by Johns Hopkins makes sense. It is to develop metrics to track improvement, as an adjunct or alternative to annual inspection.

 "...a system of long-term care that’s trying to retrofit to be a system for post-acute care. The resources to care for (these patients) and commitment from those sending them from one facility to another haven’t kept pace." -Dr. Jonathan Evans, president of the American Medical Directors Association

     Consumers know nursing facilities have to deal with Medicare itself; it is a given. Medicare payment is a significant part of the problem; it is both insufficient and slow. However, this has not slowed industry growth, so skilled nursing facilities must be profitable. Are nursing homes beleaguered by underpay and overwork? I believe it is likely. Are they places where people work purely for love and concern for their patients? I think this is a gross exaggeration. In any event, it is no consolation to injured or dead patients or their loved ones.
     In addition industry representatives decry abbreviated hospital stays, alluding to the original intent of nursing homes. Their facilities were intended to provide care for medically stable patients, but they currently admit many patients whose hospital stays have been cut short, too short. Assuming this is not buck-passing, the healthcare system is failing miserably to assign joint accountability in what it calls the continuum of care.
      Richard Mallot, Executive Director of New York’s Long Term Care Community Coalition characterizes skilled nursing facilities as "dangerous, dangerous places. " He believes the industry entirely capable of addressing the staggering numbers of medication errors, bedsores (infections) and falls experienced by patients. He does not fault Medicare's standards of care, stating standards of care are poorly enforced.
     As families and friends of patients, we are on our own, left to advocate for people we love. To begin be certain the condition of the patient warrants dismissal from the hospital. Before choosing a care facility, check Pro Publica's Nursing Home Inspect, for information about available skilled nursing facilities: http://projects.propublica.org/nursing-homes/
Once a patient has been admitted to a skilled nursing facility, keep a close watch on the patient, If necessary, enlist a team to be present randomly and regularly for the patient. Never dismiss anything a patient says. Advocate with medical staff, the patient's primary care physician, and nursing home management. Promptly contact an ombudsman, as well as your state's oversight agency, if you deem a problem to be ongoing.