The webpage from beyond the grave

I've heard stories of high end cemeteries like Beverly Hills whereby you can embed a computer screen in your headstone that plays a video of you upon request. Sounds like science fiction but very doable (the hardest part would be power and weather proofing).

A much simpler solution of leaving a message that survives you is Facebook and other social networking sites where your personal page might remain long after your death. For some this is comforting, for others disturbing. Family members will sometimes ask Facebook for the password of a deceased loved-one so they can update the page with a death notice. Facebook does not have to comply with this request. Ditto for personal websites hosted by Google. There are few laws about passwords and death.

Our helpful government at USA.gov offers some suggestions: add a social media section to your will  (you do have a will, right?)

• appoint someone you trust as an online executor
• State how you would like your profiles to be handled. You may want to completely cancel your profile or keep it up for friends and family to visit. Some sites allow users to create a memorial profile where other users can still see your profile but can’t post anything new.
• Give the social media executor a document that lists all the websites where you have a profile, along with your usernames and passwords.
• Stipulate in your will that the online executor should have a copy of your death certificate. The online executor may need this as proof in order for websites to take any actions on your behalf.

You can't take it with you when you go?

For the ultimate do-it-yourself project, how about making your own coffin? ABC news KSAX tells this story of Patrick Kilby in New York Mills, Minn....

Patrick has been a woodworker all his life. When his mother passed away, the family found that a nice, simple coffin started at $3,500 and went up quickly with extras. So, "My sister ... volunteered me to make a casket for my mother."

He found "solice" in the experience and now teaches others how to make coffins and offers a simple pine box through his new company website with prices starting at $1,200.

Some customers have bought a coffin as furniture!  I'm reminded of a Japanese Manga (comic book), where the main character traveled the world with his own coffin strapped to his back.

Binge drinking is bigger problem than previously thought

“It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can't remember if it's the thirteenth or the fourteenth.”
-George Burns

Anyone who has attended college has most likely observed (or even participated in) binge drinking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines binge drinking as consuming at least four drinks for women (five+ for men) on one occasion. More than 38 million U.S. adults binge drink an average of four times a month and frequently they don't stop at the 4-5 drink threshold. The binge average is now eight drinks according to a new Vital Signs report.  And it's not just the young adults (ages 18–34). There are drinkers age 65 and older who binge on average five to six times a month.

The CDC reports binge drinking is more common among household incomes of $75,000 or more, but households earning less than $25,000 drink more in one sitting (eight to nine drinks). Adult binge drinking is most common in the Midwest, New England, the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii, the report said. However, binge drinkers consume more drinks in the southern part of the Mountain states (Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah), the Midwest, and some states where binge drinking is less common – including Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.

Binge drinkers put themselves and others at risk for many health and social problems, including car crashes, other unintentional injuries, violence, liver disease, certain cancers, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and both unintended and alcohol–exposed pregnancies.

Drinking too much causes more than 80,000 deaths in the United States each year, making it the third leading preventable cause of death. Over half of these deaths result from injuries that disproportionately involve young people.

“Binge drinking by adults has a huge public health impact, and influences the drinking behavior of underage youth by the example it sets,” said Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “We need to reduce binge drinking by adults to prevent the immediate and long–term effects it has on the health of adults and youth.”

Bottom Line

For more information about binge drinking and how to prevent this dangerous behavior, visit the CDC’s Alcohol and Public Health website at http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/index.htm. Members of the public who are concerned about their own or someone else's binge drinking can call 1–800–662–HELP to receive assistance from the national Drug and Alcohol Treatment Referral Routing Service.

For state–specific estimates of alcohol–related deaths and years of potential life lost by condition, visit the Alcohol–Related Disease Impact system at https://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ardi/HomePage.aspx.

Death and Taxes

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes"
-Ben Franklin

Today I'll discuss that very sad time when a family must deal with death AND taxes.

When a spouse dies it can take time and effort to transfer legal authority over family accounts to the surviving spouse or other heirs. To avoid cutting off all family access to funds during the transition, consider registering some (or all) accounts with both spouses jointly. Brokerage accounts call this JTWROS, Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship. This can also apply to credit cards and utilities which may refuse to cooperate with a spouse unless authorized in advance.

If you die without a valid will an "Intestate" Administrator may be appointed by a judge to act as Executor to divide up your assets according to the distribution laws of your state. Some "heirs" might not be recognized, such as step-children that you never legally adopted. If you die without heirs, the state will keep your money and property.

In many families one parent is the treasurer who pays the bills and manages accounts. But if that person dies, will the surviving spouse or heirs know what to pay and where the money is? Be sure both spouses can locate the following: previous year’s Tax Returns (in case audited), Bank/Credit Union statements, Credit/Debit Card statements, Retirement Accounts, Brokerage Accounts, Mortgage or Lease Statement, Utility Bills, Car Payments, and Insurance payments.

 

Give the gift of peace of mind to your family by making copies of legal documents and storing them in a safe place outside the home (in case of fire). Birth Certificates/Adoption papers, Marriage/Divorce papers, Insurance coverage, Social Security cards, Passport/Green Card, Naturalization documents, Will, Power of Attorney, Mortgage or Real Estate Deeds of Trust, Car Registration/Ownership Papers, Military ID or Military Discharge papers.

 

Bottom Line

 

The death of a loved one is trying enough but is often made more stressful from lack of planning. A Will is very important and can help prevent heirs from fighting over and even suing over the family property. My Grandmother preassigned most of her belongings to her two children and six grandchildren so everyone knew who got what. She did not have a rich estate but she did have a LOT of stuff collected over 90 years on an Idaho farm. My portion was a salt & pepper shaker collection which is proudly on display in our home.

 

It can take time to "probate" a will and transfer ownership of bank accounts, etc. During this period a family could be blocked from accessing funds needed to pay bills. Hence the importance of sharing Joint Ownership with Right of Suvivorship with a spouse or trustworthy heir.

 

Here is what Wikipedia says about Probate:

 

"Probate is a process by which a will of a deceased person is proved to be valid, such that their property can in due course be retitled or transferred to beneficiaries of the will.

• Creditors need to be notified and legal notices published.
• Executors of the Will need to be guided in how and when to distribute assets and how to take creditors' rights into account.
• A Petition to appoint a personal representative may need to be filed and Letters of Administration obtained.
• Homestead property, which follows its own set of unique rules in states like Florida, must be dealt with separately from other assets. In common law jurisdictions jointly owned property will pass automatically to the surviving joint owner separately from any will, unless the equitable title is held as tenants in common.
• There are time factors involved in filing and objecting to claims against the estate.
• There may be a lawsuit pending over the decedent's death or there may have been pending suits that are now continuing. There may be separate procedures required in contentious probate cases.
• Real estate or other property may need to be sold to effect correct distribution of assets pursuant to the will or merely to pay debts.
• Estate taxes, gift taxes or inheritance taxes must be considered if the estate exceeds certain thresholds.
• Costs of the administration including ordinary taxation such as income tax on interest and property taxation will be deducted from assets in the estate before distribution by the executors of the will.
• Other assets may simply need to be transferred from the deceased to his or her beneficiaries."

This is a sad and painful topic but needs to be bravely faced for the sake of surviving heirs.

When a loved one dies...

And when I die, and when I'm gone
There'll be, one child born, in this world
To carry on.
- lyrics from "And When I Die" by Laura Nyro, sung by Blood, Sweat & Tears

When a loved one dies, there's many lose ends that need to be resolved. Most of them are not fun but they are necessary. The Consumerist recommends the following step to Close Up Loved One's Accounts After They Pass Away

1. Immediately request a credit report for the deceased. This will tell you about most accounts and credit cards.

2. Get many "Letters of Testamentary", a court document showing that you are the executor of the estate. [The deceased did leave a will naming an executor, right?]

3. Get a death certificate for every utility and every financial account and then get at least a dozen more. With my mother-in-law, one bank asked for 3 death certs because different departments did not share or they were too lazy to search their files.

4. File a request to close every account as soon as possible.

5. File an obituary with a newspaper that also publishes online. This can help "prove" someone is really dead. Just point them to the URL of the obituary.

6. If the deceased have voice mail through their phone company, politely ask that the message be changed. Some find it disturbing to hear the voice of the recently departed.

7. Debts live on after death. But debts to NOT get inherited by the children. All debt is paid out of the estate. This does not mean the kids can take the money and leave nothing for debts, the debtors will sue and win; debt payment comes first and what remains of the estate (if anything) can then be distributed.

8. If the estate has sizable assets, get a lawyer. Lawyers are also useful if debtors or other companies give you a difficult time closing accounts.

Bottom Line

9. Keep calm. The paperwork will be tedious and sometimes maddening. Keep your humor.

A Fatal Cantaloupe?

"Acting in 'Star Wars' I felt like a raisin in a giant fruit salad, and I didn't even know who the cantaloupes were."
- Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker)

Who knew that cantaloupes could be deadly? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says 72 people across 18 states have fallen ill with listeriosis, traced back to contaminated cantaloupes. The fruits come from Colorado's Rocky Ford region and were shipped between July 29 and Sept. 10. Thirteen people have died.

The illness and death were caused by the bacteria listeria which causes diarrhea, muscle aches and fever. The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems. Listeria monocytogenes is found in soil and water. Animals can carry the bacterium without appearing ill and can contaminate meats and dairy products. When Listeria bacteria get into a food processing factory (like the cantaloupe factory), they can live there for years.

Listeria is killed by pasteurization and cooking so you're most likely to catch it from ready-to-eat foods like hot dogs and deli meats which were contaminated after factory cooking but before packaging. Unlike most bacteria, Listeria bacteria can grow and multiply in some foods in the refrigerator so it's recommended that you eat your sliced deli meats within a few days of purchasing - old meat could make you sick.

Bottom Line

How can you protect yourself from listeria?

• Thoroughly cook raw food, such as beef, pork, or poultry to a safe internal temperature. See http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2011/09/is-it-done-yet.html
• Rinse raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running tap water before eating.
• Keep uncooked meats separate from cooked foods and ready-to-eat foods. Avoid cross-contamination by washing hands, knives, counter tops, and cutting boards after handling and preparing uncooked foods.
• Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk.
• Consume perishable and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible. Don't assume the fridge will keep it safe for weeks.

112 years ago a man died in New York City

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

112 years ago (yesterday) a man died in New York City. That's not so unusual you might say. NYC is a big town and people die there all the time. But on Sept. 13 of 1899, Henry Bliss, a Manhattan real estate salesman, stepped off a streetcar at West 74th Street and Central Park West and was struck by a passing taxicab. It crushed his skull and chest and he died the following morning making Bliss the very first pedestrian-automobile fatality in America. {I'm sure pedistrians were killed by horses and street cars before 1899 but Bliss is the first American killed by a car.} He may have been the 3rd person in the World killed by a car, the first was Mary Ward in 1869 in Ireland. {Who knew they even had cars, electric even!, back then?}

In 2003 4,749 pedestrians were reported killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. An estimated 70,000 pedestrians were injured by motor vehicles. The statistics have improved slightly since then but experts think this is only because fewer Americans are walking.

Most at risk for being hit is young boys, ages 5-9, who dart into the street after a ball or just no reason at all. The most at risk for death is the elderly, ages 65 and over, who have a 20% of dieing when hit. 65 percent of crashes involve pedestrians at non-intersections.

Bottom Line

To see how common pedestrian death is in your town, check out http://t4america.org/resources/dangerousbydesign2011/map/
Type in a city and it will show a map of nearby pedestrians who died. Click on the death icon (!) to learn more about the victim. I found the nearest to my house was an elderly man killed in 2003.

Kids Can't Fly

Beyond the door
There's peace I'm sure.
And I know there'll be no more...
Tears in heaven
- Eric Clapton lyrics

A few years back a family friend bought a two-story home in the country. Within days of moving in the youngest child leaned against a window screen and fell from the top story. Fortunately she was not injured by the fall.

In cities with tall buildings, windows falls can be fatal. Today's quote is from the song, "Tears in Heaven", written by Eric Clapton over the grief of losing his 4-yr-old son from 53-story window fall at a friend's apartment. According to Time, over 5,200 children each year fall out of windows and end up in the emergency room. Some big cities like New York have window guard regulations; horizontal bars that cover the bottom half of a window to form a barrier that prevents kids from crawling out. In NYC the window guard program is called, "Children Can't Fly"; Boston has a similar program called "Kids Can't Fly" in an attempt to increase public awareness of easy safety measures.

Bottom Line

A simple window safety measure is a window stop; e.g a bar or piece of wood that prevents the window from opening completely. (A window stop is also a good theft deterrence to keep criminals from climbing in.) Other safety measures include keeping dressers, beds and other climbable furniture away from windows. In warm weather when windows are open, pay close attention to children under 5 who are the most likely to tumble from windows. And as my friend learned, screens won't prevent a fall in most cases.

Surviving a Waterfall

“At last, fortissimo!”
- composer/conductor Gustav Mahler on visiting Niagara Falls

Here's news you can use if you find yourself going over the edge of a waterfall. Much depends on the height of the falls, landing feet first, tightening body muscles, and dumb luck.

On August 14 a college student posing for a photo was swept from the guardrails at Niagara Falls and plunged over the waterfall. She has not been found. In July three people died at Yosemite Park as one person went too far for a photo and two would-be rescuers were all swept over a waterfall.

The odds of surviving a waterfall are not good.  Niagara is 180 ft tall while the world record for a high dive is 177 ft. For a trained athlete in perfect health, under perfect conditions, 177 ft is about the most a human body can withstand. As diver enters the water, their underwater body parts are at the highest rate of deceleration while the upper body is still dry and at full acceleration. Autopsies of jumpers off the Golden Gate bridge (250 ft) shows that for most, the rib cage was crushed and imploded sending bones into the lungs with the force of impact.

If you fall into the water above the falls, don't try to fight the current. The rapids above Niagara are clocked at 25 mph, and up to 68 mph over the brink. The best you can hope for is swimming towards shore before going over. Or swimming to a rock and hanging on although the force of the water may drag you off.

As you fall take a deep breath. Go feet first to avoid head injury. Tighten your muscles, wrap your arms around your skull to shield it, and cover your nose with the crook of your elbow. Just before you enter the plunge pool, press your legs together, tighten your gluteals (stomach) and close your eyes and mouth to make yourself water tight.

If you manage to fall onto water instead of rocks, and survive the impact, the fight for survival is not over. There's a wall of water falling upon you pushing you back down. There's debris to dodge. There are huge bubbles of air making it tricky to swim and to see. With all the turbulence and bubbles it may not be obvious what direction is up. If you do manage to surface downstream from the falls you must survive one more danger - the water is very likely icy cold. Niagara's waters are in the 30's (Fahrenheit). At that temperature you have only minutes before passing out from hypothermia. With water at 40 F you have 15 - 30 minutes to get dry and warm.

Bottom Line

Waterfalls are beautiful and I especially love Niagara Falls. But they are never safe. NEVER go past guard rails to get a better photo. Do not get close to the water for a better view at the top.

Seven Reasons to Change Your Will

"Lawyers Are": A learned gentleman who rescues your estate from your enemies and keeps it himself.
- Henry Brougham

As a follow-up to yesterday's important documents, here are 7 Reasons to Review or Revise Your Will from Investopedia.com.

1. You have a new child, make a new friend, or find a long-lost relative
2. You Move - different states have different inheritance laws
3. You win the Lottery - if you come into a large sum of money you might want to establish a Trust to manage the cash.
4. You get divorced
5. Your spouse, child, parent or other passes away
6. You change your mind about who gets what. "I swear, after what cousin Joe did, that he won't get a penny!"
7. You want to support a new/different charity

Bottom Line

Wills are living documents that must be maintained with changes in your life.

25 Documents You Need Before You Die

"Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live."
Henry Van Dyke

According to the Wall Street Journal, there are 25 Documents You Need Before You Die.

• An original Will (be sure it is legal and notarized) stored with your attorney or in a courthouse.
• (optional) A revocable living trust can be changed anytime during your lifetime. You can transfer ownership of various assets to the trust and serve as the trustee on behalf of beneficiaries you designate.
• A "letter of instruction" is a supplement to a will that lists the names and contact information of your attorneys, accountants and financial advisers as well as "instructions" to follow upon your death. The letter of instruction is NOT a legal document and is not binding upon your heirs. It expresses your preferences and should be readily accessible, especially if it contains instructions on funeral arrangements.
• A durable financial power-of-attorney form. Without it, no one can make financial decisions on your behalf in the event that you are incapacitated.
• List all safe-deposit boxes owned. Have one or more family members registered so they can open the box without a court order. When my sister and I were registered recently BOTH my parents had to approve the change since both were registered with the bank for the box.
• Include a copy of your marriage license and divorce decrees. Include the distribution sheet listing bank-account numbers that accompanied the divorce settlement to avoid disputes about ownership or payments due. Also include a copy of the most recent child-support payment order. In the majority of states, the obligation to pay child support still exists after death.

Proof of Ownership Documents

• Provide documents for all home and land owned, cemetery plots, cars, boats, stock certificates, savings bonds, brokerage accounts and escrow mortgage accounts. If you fail to tell heirs
  what you own (with proof) the assets could be lost forever.
• List all banking accounts and CDs. Include the online log-in information so family can notify the bank of your death. Abandoned accounts become the property of the state.
• Loans you made to others are assets which should be listed along with a copy of the loan agreement.
• List all debts you own and include the contract. This may include mortgages, car payments, bank loans, stocks on margin, etc.

Health-Care Privacy

• Provide a durable health-care power-of-attorney form so your designee can make health-care decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated.  Otherwise federal health-information privacy laws will prevent doctors, hospitals and insurance companies from speaking with your designee. You may also need to fill out an Authorization to Release Protected Healthcare Information form.
• Write a living will detailing your medical wishes. Do you wish to be revived if your heart stops?
• Terminally ill patients may wish to have their doctors sign a do-not-resuscitate order.

Life Insurance

• Include a copy of all life-insurance policies. Family members need to know the name of the carrier, the policy number and the agent associated with the policy. Don't forget to include corporate life insurance you earned with retirement.

Bottom Line

These documents are useless if your heirs don't know about them. Or if they are locked inside a safe deposit box that they don't have the key to. Make sure your heirs know these documents exist and where to find them. Store copies outside the home in case you and your documents are lost in a fire, tornado, etc.

Black Plague

They sickened by the thousands daily, and died unattended and without help. Many died in the open street, others dying in their houses
- Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 1375)

You may remember from history lessons that "The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. ... The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% – 60% of Europe's population" (Wikipedia) Did you know that the Black Plague was not a one-time occurrence?

There have been three major outbreaks of plague. The Plague of Justinian in the 6th and 7th centuries is the first known attack on record, and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of bubonic plague. [Some credit this for the downfall of Rome] From historical descriptions, as much as 40% of the population of Constantinople died from the plague. ... After 750, major epidemic diseases did not appear again in Europe until the Black Death of the 14th century. The Third Pandemic hit China in the 1890s and devastated India but was confined to limited outbreaks in the west.

What I thought was medieval and gone is still around. Los Angeles in 1924-25 experienced a rat-borne epidemic where plague was spread from rats to fleas to people. New Mexico has seen 262 human cases of bubonic plague between 1949 and 2010 with fleas from rodents, squirrels, prairie dogs, chipmunks, and occasionally rabbits.

An early telltale sign of the plague is swollen, painful lymph nodes known as buboes. Without treatment, the illness can infect the blood (known as septicemic plague) and finally the lungs. At this point, the infection becomes known as plague pneumonia, or pneumonic plague. The mortality rate increases considerably at this point. - LA Times

Here is a description of the plague from the 1300's,

"In men and women alike it first betrayed itself by the emergence of certain tumours in the groin or armpits, some of which grew as large as a common apple, others as an egg...From the two said parts of the body this deadly gavocciolo soon began to propagate and spread itself in all directions indifferently; after which the form of the malady began to change, black spots or livid making their appearance in many cases on the arm or the thigh or elsewhere, now few and large, now minute and numerous. As the gavocciolo had been and still was an infallible token of approaching death, such also were these spots on whomsoever they showed themselves."
- Giovanni Boccaccio

Bottom Line

Always, always visit a doctor if you find swollen bumps. It probably won't be plague but it could be a sign of a serious internal infection or hernia or advanced stage of cancer that needs immediate and aggressive treatment. Do not delay - in the case of bubonic plague 80% of those who die, will die within eight days.

Heart Disease

“Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.”

Yesterday I talked about cancer, the #2 killer in America with 559,888 deaths in 2006. The first place award goes to Heart Disease (more formerly known as Cardiovascular Disease or CVD) with 831,272 deaths in 2006 (34.3 percent of all deaths or 1 of every 2.9 deaths). What exactly is Heart Disease?

• Coronary heart disease: caused by atherosclerosis (ath"er-o-skleh-RO'sis), the narrowing of the coronary arteries due to fatty build ups. Partial blockage results in chest pain and total blockage cuts off blood to the heart muscle and results in a heart attack.
• Stroke: blood to a portion of the brain is cut off by a blood clot or a burst blood vessel.
• Heart Failure: occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood to support other organs. The heart may still be beating but with insufficient strength.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recognizes the following risk factors for Heart Disease:
* high cholesterol
* high blood pressure - It's called the "silent killer" and greatly increases the likelihood of heart attack or stroke. 90–95% of the time the cause of high blood pressure isn't known but it is often treatable.
* smoking
* being overweight
* lack of exercise (people who are sedentary are almost twice as likely to suffer heart attacks as are people who exercise regularly.)
* African American women have the highest risk for death from heart disease
* Male pattern baldness, hair in the ear canals, and creased earlobes are associated with a higher risk for heart disease in white males.

On the positive side:

* People who eat beans at least four times a week have a lower level of heart disease (19% lower) than people who eat beans less than once a week.

Bottom Line

Heart attack and strokes can strike suddenly with no warning. They either kill outright or leave a person confused as to what just happened. Many don't recognize the symptoms. See:
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/11/stroke.html  (Stroke)
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/03/chest-pain.html (Heart Attack)

Heart failure is often a gradual process and does have symptoms which include—

• Shortness of breath during daily activities.
• Having trouble breathing when lying down.
• Weight gain with swelling in the legs, ankles, or lower back.
• General fatigue and weakness.

See http://www.medicinenet.com/edema/page3.htm (Edema)
and http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4585 (Congestive Heart Failure)

Falling

Tai Chi

Help me, I think I'm falling
- Joni Mitchell, lyrics from "Help Me"

Ask an average person, "What is the most likely dangerous thing that may happen to you?" You may get answers like hit by lightning, hit by a car, shot by a gun, etc. What you are not likely to hear is "falling."

The Dept. of Health for New York State writes,

In NYS fall-related injuries are the leading cause of injury hospitalizations among children ages 0-14 and adults 25 years and older. Falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths for those 45 years and older. Falls can result in serious injuries such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI) or fractures. There is also a heavy financial burden to fall-related injuries with a yearly cost of $1.3 billion in New York State for hospitalizations alone.

My father's aunt had an amazing memory and was a great story teller well into her 90's. But one night she fell in her assisted living apartment and was never the same again mentally. The Dept of Health is spot on with, "Fall-related injuries in older adults often lead to hospitalizations beginning the downward spiral that can result in long-term disability or death." In a fall the brain can be bruised and damaged when it hits the skull with a smack. Nearly twenty years ago my brother-in-law's job was to hit lab rats on the head and then measure the resulting brain damage using a MRI. The goal was to discover how well brain damage could be seen in an MRI because you really don't want to open up the skull to find out the status of the brain after an injury.

Fortunately there are measures you can take to make falls less likely.

For Children:

• Use child safety gates at the top and bottom of stairs
• Never leave an infant unattended on a table, bed or other elevated surface
• Use safety straps to secure your child in strollers, shopping carts and infant carriers
• Place your child in a stationary play-station rather than a mobile walker
• Playground surfaces should consist of shredded rubber, fiber mulch, or fine sand and extend 12 inches deep and 6 feet around equipment to reduce the severity of falls.

For Adults:

• Install handrails on stairways and remove loose rugs or other clutter
• Use ample lighting throughout the home. Install illuminated light switches at the top and bottom of stairs, and night lights in the bathrooms.
• Use a step-stool and grab bar to reach objects on high shelves. Don't stand on stairs, buckets, or other objects to reach something!
• Use non-slip bath mats in the shower and tub
• Wear shoes with non-slip soles
• Talk to your health care provider about gait, balance, and strength training.

Bottom Line

The last item in the list is interesting. I found that Tai Chi greatly improved my sense of balance and has saved me from some slip and falls. Perhaps Yoga can do the same to make you more in tune with your body and strengthen it for balance. Try standing on one foot for 30 seconds. (But be careful how and where you do this - you will fall eventually.) Learn how to fall safely. Do squats to strengthen the legs and improve balance as your body changes position.

Freakomonics

"It ain't necessarily so"
- song from Porgy & Bess

Last week I attended a kickoff meeting for a Science Book Club at the local library. What book was selected as our first read?  SuperFreakonomics, the sequel to Freakonomics. In both books the authors apply numbers to our daily life and come up with some surprising results.

For example, did you know it is 5 to 8 times more dangerous to WALK while drunk than DRIVE while drunk? Yes, there are far more deaths caused by drunk drivers but when you look at the odds of dying per mile traveled, it's much worse for drunk walkers who fall asleep on roads, reckless attempt to cross busy streets, etc.

Another statistic that surprised me was this: in the 1980's during peacetime up to twice as many soldiers died than in the late 2000's with the Iraq war.  How can this be? One obvious reason is:
1. There were more soldiers in the 1980's because Clinton reduced the size of the military by 30% or so.
2. Service men (& women) don't just die in combat.

If you dig deeper into the data you'll discover that the combined military death rate for 1980 and 2007 (peak of Iraq)  are quite similar but that soldiers died for different reasons. The rate of accidental deaths was MUCH higher in the 80's; from a high of 72 soldiers out of 100,000 to a low of 22.5 per 100K in 2010.

In 1980 a soldier was more likely to die of an accident (72/100K) vs the worst of combat (52.7/100K in 2007). In 1980 the death rates for illness and homicide (murdered outside of combat) were also higher than at present. Apparently the discipline of War teaches safety first!

How deadly is modern combat to US soldiers? This is hard to say because most comparisons are not apples to apples. The top killers in the general population, heart attack 204/100K, cancer 187/100K, stroke 45/100K and lung disease 40/100K typically affect people later in life. Most soldier are young and healthy and are less likely to die of illness (10 to 20 out of 100K). So what else kills young adults?  Suicide at 10-17 per 100K. But even worse - traffic accidents (drunk driving & motorcycles) with a crude death rate of 30/100K from ages 15 to 25.

We could conclude that the war in Iraq was, at its worst, 50% more dangerous for young men/women than traveling in a car. Does this mean that war causalities are not so horrific or that young-adult driving is MUCH worse than imagined. No wonder rental car companies are reluctant to rent to college students.

Bottom Line

Life is complicated. Schools and the media do a terrible job of looking at the big picture and sorting fact from fallacy. While many are opposed to war, who do you know that is raising an alarm over teenage and young adult driving? I have to give MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) credit. They may save more lives than War protesters.

Odds of Dying

"Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

- Benjamin Franklin, 1789

When we prioritize emergency planning there are two factors at odds with each other. One is the risk of death. The other is the disruption to our daily life, well being, belongings, etc. Too often we focus on the second because a burning house or massive flood is much flashier, more "news worthy" than one person dying.

Here are two excellent graphs on everyone's odds of dying with circles or squares drawn to scale.
 

http://www.nsc.org/NSC%20Picture%20Library/News/web_graphics/Injury_Facts_37.pdf

http://simplecomplexity.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/odds-dying8.jpg

Look at the size of Heart Disease, Cancer & Stroke before we reach the first "accident" type death, Motor Vehicle Accident. For emergency preparedness I have blogged about Floods, Earthquakes, and Lightning but notice how unlikely these are to kill someone.

Over the next few weeks I'll try to work in stories about the top Killers:

• What to do for Heart Attack and Strokes?
• Cancer Awareness - self examinations, protection from the sun and Tanning booths
• Motor Vehicle Safety (seat belts, driving while texting or cell phone, driving while sleepy, hydropaning, inspecting your tires for wear, worn brakes, etc)
• What to do when Poisoned (not much to say actually except call the poison hotline, different poisons require different responses)
• Trips & Falls Hazards

Bottom Line

Keep in mind that preparedness has two roles. One is avoidance & prevention. The other is mitigation to lessen the impact or promote a more rapid recovery.

With Prevention we try to keep accidents from happening - removing fire and tripping hazards from the home, better diet & exercise, pruning that big tree limb next to the house, keeping your car's tires and brakes in good repair, etc.

With Mitigation we take action now to lessen the impact of a future disaster. This can include buying insurance, boarding the windows before a storm, backing up important computer files and legal paperwork, fire drills, having a family contact plan.

Both can be applied to death. We want to prevent accidents and avoid lifestyles that lead to early death with some of the actions described above. For death mitigation you need a Will and also Estate Planning. Have you purchased a grave site? Does your family have access to or even know about the banks and brokerages where your money is stored? Do you have life insurance?

Death by Crocodile

"See you later, alligator. After a while, crocodile."
- Bill Haley

There are many odd ways to die. Being killed by a crocodile is unusual. Dieing in a plane crash is actually quite rare. (You are over 2000 times more likely to die in a car crash). Now combine the two, killed by a crocodile on an airplane, and you have a type of death that may be unique.

In August a small plane crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo killing 21 people aboard. It was obvious that the crash was caused by a loss of balance in the small aircraft while landing. Why unbalanced? The passengers where stampeding into the cockpit. Why the stampede? That was not so obvious until the lone survivor explained what happened.

A crocodile had escaped from a duffel bag that a passenger was smuggling it in. The terrified passengers and crew were trying to get away from the crocodile. (I wonder how big it was? I suppose even small crocs have big teeth.)  Ironically the croc survived the crash (but was killed afterwards.)

Bottom Line

Sometimes our response to a threat is more dangerous than the threat itself. Long ago I was driving the family car with my mother on board when a bee flew in the window. I started to panic and was watching the bee. My mother admonished me to keep my eyes on the road. A car crash would be far worse than a bee sting.

Leading causes of Death

“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” -Robert Cody

A commenter on yesterday's post about heat deaths offered a link to a Cato-at-liberty story that cites a paper (Goklany) on the leading causes of death. What stood out for me was this quote,

"Note that despite the hoopla about natural weather disasters, they contribute less than 0.06% to the annual U.S. death toll!"

In other words, extreme heat & cold, floods, tornadoes, lightning and hurricanes, COMBINED, account for less than 1 in 1000 of all deaths in the US.

So what are people dieing of (besides old age)? The Goklany report based on World Health Organization data shows that in 2002, globally people died as follows:

59% Non-communicable illness (cancer 12%, heart attack 29%, lung diseases 7%, and other)

32% Communicable Diseases (including AIDS 5%, Tuberculosis 3%, Diarrhea 3%, parasites 6%, starvation 1%, childbirth 5%)

09% Injury (Traffic accidents 2%, Murder 1%, War 0.3%)

00.03%  Extreme Weather

Now consider, which deaths get all the media attention?

Bottom Line

There is a huge disconnect between the dangers we fear and the dangers we will actually face. Exercise and diet are more likely to prolong your life than hurricane preparation. But weight control is a life style change while disaster prep is a quick fix that we can do once and feel safer afterwards.

Death vs Risk

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."-Norman Cousins

My current Commuting to Work CD Lecture Series is about the religious upheaval of the Reformation. In the first lecture, the professor made an interesting comment - religion was a serious matter back in the 1500s. Before modern medicine and modern hygiene, people died all stages of life, especially children. Someone might be healthy today but die tomorrow. Life was short and uncertain and no one truly knew what was safe. Many thought the chill of cold water when bathing was unhealthy. Some thought mercury or arsenic was good for the body. Death was beyond anyone's control.

"But at my back I always hear. Time's winged chariot hurrying near"
- Andrew Marvell in "To his Coy Mistress"

"Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me;"
- poem by Emily Dickinson

With death never far away, people were naturally concerned with their soul and the judgement of God. Would they go to heaven if they died the next day? How could they improve their odds for salvation? They relied on the Roman Catholic Church to save them both in life and after death. For example, in the 1500's it was very popular to purchase salvation through the buying of indulgences. Martin Luther objected to this practice in his 95 Theses and the Reformation began.

Today life expectancy is quite long and most people expect to live to a ripe old age. Yes accidents happen but these are rare exceptions. We now live in the material world for many, many decades and the spiritual world is something distant and far off, something to be put off until we're old.

I was reminded of this topic this weekend when discussing risk and what children used to do versus what we allow children to do now-a-days. With a long life expectancy, we fear death more. We have so much more life to lose from an early death caused by accident or disease. Instead of death being a part of life, we do everything in our power to keep death away from the young. Don't climb that tree, you might break your neck. Wear a helmet when you ride your bike. Don't eat that, it's filthy with germs. The odds of a child dying from tree climbing, etc are low but the odds are greater than zero. That makes many parents nervous and they limit opportunities and actions of their kids to lower the risk to as near zero as possible.

"A coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave die but once."
- Shakespeare in Julius Caesar

A life of zero risk and zero exposure has it's own risks. Science is finding that when young children are not exposed to germs, they develop more severe allergies and have less immunity when they grow up. An isolated, at-home child will have weaker social skills which could impact their success on the job later in life.

Bottom Line

Isaiah 22:13 "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die."
Don't be so afraid of death that you run away from life. Embrace life and accept a little risk. Live a little. But don't forget the golden mean and go crazy in excess. Personally I'll pass on bungee jumping and sky diving. "Everything in moderation" - Aristotle.

"The unexamined life is not worth living."-at his trial, Socrates argued that life must be about more than making money and being successful in your career. For him it was important to discuss ethics and religion and to determine how best to live with the time given to man. Aim high with your life.

Odd Items in Space

For here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the world Planet Earth is blue
- lryics from David Bowie’s Ground Control to “Major Tom”

New Scientist reports that the next Space Shuttle mission will carry a piece of the apple tree that Newton sat under when an apple on the head led to a theory of gravity. The wood chip is on loan from the Royal Society of London which is celebrating its 350th anniversary of dedication to science.

Other unusual objects that have flown into space include:

1. Metal shielding on the Mars rovers made from World Trade Center scrap after 9/11

2. A 400 year-old lead tag bearing “Yames Towne” to honor the founding of the Jamestown colony in the US. The space shuttle Atlantis flew the tag across the Atlantic in a matter of minutes in low-earth orbit; compared to the many months the original voyage took.

3. When Apollo 11’s Eagle landed on the moon, it carried a piece of wood and cloth from the original Wright brother’s plane.

4. The ashes of the man who discovered Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh, are now flying to Pluto aboard NASA's New Horizons probe and should arrive in 2015.

5. Voyager 1 and 2 have both flown past the planets and out of the solar system. Each carries a record of voices from around the world (and instructions to aliens on how to play the record).

6. Movie items in space include Buzz Lightyear on the space station and Luke Skywalker's lightsaber for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars.

7. Apollo 15 took several hundred collector stamps and stamped them “cancelled” on the moon. This caused a furor over who would profit from selling them and NASA had to change the rules on what was allowed in space.

Pluto discover, Clyde Tombaugh, is not the only person with his ashes in space.
Others include:

Timothy Leary, “Tune in, Turn on, Drop Out” proponent of LSD (1997 orbit)

Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek (1997 orbit)
(the ashes of his wife, Majel Barrett, who played “Nurse Chapel “ and the voice of all Star Trek computers, will fly into deep space in 2012 alongside additional ashes from Gene.)

Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, co-discover of the Shoemaker comet that crashed in Jupiter (1999 moon probe)

James Doohan, “Scotty” of Star Trek (2007 suborbital). Doohan will also accompany the Roddenberry’s on the 2012 deep space probe.

Each year a company called Space Services (formerly Celestis) launches a “symbolic portion” of ashes of anyone for a fee.
$ 700 for a rocket that returns to Earth
$2,500 for orbit
$10,000 for the moon starting in 2011
$12,500 aboard a deep space probe

Bottom Line

The New Scientist space item gallery includes this interesting tidbit:

Madalyn Murray O'Hair, founder of American Atheists, once “the most hated women in America” for her successful lawsuit to stop school prayer, also sued NASA in 1970 after the Apollo 8 crew read verses from the Book of Genesis while in space. She argued that government employees should not promote religious ideas. The Supreme Court threw the case out on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction in outer space.