Gen Y: Footing a Bill This Big Requires Massive Dr. Scholl's Insoles. Are You Gellin'?

Deficit-related health care article of the day, a few days late:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/22/AR2009112201237.html

Entitlements are the main cause of inevitable future budgetary collapse. Politicians are afraid to touch these "third rails of politics" because of the voting and lobbying power of seniors. I wish I could say that the current health care reform bills under debate truly address reigning-in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security costs, but I have no idea whether they do. Congress isn't capable of presenting their intentions to the American public in a clear, concise way and I don't have time to read thousands of pages of legal babble. I suppose I am forced to trust in the White House, OMB, and CBO, but something tells me they aren't too reliable.

Innovation: Altruistic and Profitable

Popular Science recently named the Xhale HyGreen one of the top scientific products of 2009. The device was developed by doctors at my alma mater, the University of Florida. UF has had an absurd amount of spin-off technology companies that result from the work of professors and researchers. This practical device ranks near the top of that list, in my opinion.

The HyGreen will have a profound impact on the health care industry, and perhaps the restaurant industry, too. Basically, it senses the cleanliness of doctors' and nurses' hands. According to Popular Science, this is how it works:

"The HyGreen system reminds them to scrub—and keeps a record of who doesn’t. After cleaning their hands with alcohol-based sanitizers, doctors and nurses place them under the HyGreen sensor that sniffs for alcohol, which kills 99.99 percent of germs, and sends a wireless “all clean” message to a badge worn on the person’s shirt pocket. A wireless monitor on patient beds searches for the message—if it’s absent, the badge vibrates, reminding the wearer to sanitize his hands. During a five-month field test of HyGreen at the University of Florida’s medical center, infection rates dropped to zero."

This system is certain to catch on at hospitals around the country. Statistics from Xhale state that health care-acquired infections account for the deaths of nearly 270 people in the U.S. daily and about $40 billion in health care costs annually. If you want to find a health care reform issue that save money and lives, and spurs private sector profit, this may be it.

I wish I had thought of this. Unfortunately, I have no scientific background and not a lick of relevant experience. One day this device could be ubiquitous in hospitals and clinics. It could even make its way into the restaurant industry. Wouldn't you be happy to know that the person making your dinner actually complied with the "Employees must wash hands before returning to work" sign in the restroom?

Common Since: HyGreen is a practical solution to some of the problems associated with the quality and cost of health care. Better yet, it will save lives through preventing negligent infections. I hope that hospitals around the country place these devices into use. My only regret is that I hadn't invested in this technology a couple of years ago. Those venture capitalists will be taking this one to the bank.

Things I Love: Country Music Edition

I 100% genuinely love country music and everything about it. But over the years I have made some peculiar observations. Yes, country music is hokey and corny, but that is part of what makes it great. So here are a couple things I love about country. God bless 'Merica!

1) Unapologetic Patriotism. WQYK plays the National Anthem every day at 12 noon, on-the-dot. And always a different country version of it. It seems as if every country singer has recorded a version of the anthem and each one is glorious. Additionally, US 103.5's tagline is "America's Music. Country Music." So basically, if you don't love country music, you don't love America. End of discussion.

2)Pandering to the Local Market. After 50% of all country songs become a top hit, they change certain phrases to pander to specific regional sports teams. For instance, in Eric Church's "Love Your Love the Most", 'I love college football games' becomes 'I love Bucs (or Bulldogs, etc.) football games'. If they were to record a new line for every major market in the U.S., that'd be at least 50 versions. Now that's commitment to pandering. If only politicians put in as much effort...

3) Christmas Albums. No other genre of music puts out as many X-Mas albums per year as country does. Every country musician and their mother has a country album, and most of them butcher timeless classics. But since I personally do not like Christmas music, country versions are generally an improvement upon them. Best country X-Mas song: "Leroy the Redneck Reindeer" by Joe Diffie. Have a listen, try to disagree with me. God bless that man's mullet.

Defeat the Debt

I heard about the organization called "Defeat the Debt" from this Economist article a few weeks back. In my opinion, their website is sitting on the fence between information source and scare tactic. I am not typically one to sign onto or endorse viral internet political movements, but this one has a decent amount of useful and accurate information. Make sure to watch the Pledge of Allegiance commercial, it's pretty entertaining.