A Take on Health Care Reform

I'm sure pretty much everyone has heard the news by now that congress passed the new healthcare  reform bill here in the United States. I'm not really sure how I feel about it yet since I don't know all the details, but I am interested to see what happens. I know there are a lot of varying opinions, and that many of them are uninformed ones.

Capital Building, Madison, Wisconsin 2010

First of all lets get this straight, it is not "FREE" health care like the systems set up in other countries where everyone is taxed a fair amount and everyone is entitled to receive the same quality of health care. It is still going to be private insurance, it's just that government is trying to take more control over it. From what I understand it will be beneficial to many, and in basic theory it sounds like a mostly good idea, but I still think there are going to be people that will lose out, especially after going over some of the details that have been released.

Sunblock or not?

Reader request: The harms of sunblock

2010 Eastern Wisconsin

My first thought was as with most issues, to weigh the facts and take the lesser of two evils. It's common knowledge the negative effects of sun exposure can cause painful burns, premature aging and even worse, cancer. It's hard to measure at what level is safe exposure. Some people can overdo it and never have a negative effect, while others can spend fifteen minutes outside and be sent running for some aloe relief or to the doctor getting a strange spot removed and biopsied. We know we do need some sun exposure to soak up that wonderful vitamin D, that helps with essential body functions, regulate our mood, and so on, and that only supplementing isn't always as effective at it. However it is believed you can still get your vitamin D with sunblock on. Unless you can avoid ever leaving the house during daylight hours, avoiding sun exposure completely is impossible, and why would you want to either.