New Movie Must-See: Maxed Out

From the folk that brought us SuperSizeMe, another new documentary: Maxed Out. From the site:

"Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of "preferred customer" and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer. Hilarious, shocking and incisive, Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us."

-- MaxedOut.com.

It's only in limited release at the moment, just as SuperSizeMe was - initially. SuperSizeMe is now on television, regularly: just this past week, it was shown in its entirety on MSNBC.

Uses for Vinegar

Vinegar - there are entire sites devoted to its miriad of uses. I posted about some of its household uses last year -- but that didn't begin to cover everything that is great about basic, common vinegar ....

Medicinally, apple cidar vinegar is a folk remedy that garners thousands of testimonials, and has been used for centuries for everything from arthritis to depression.

Helping pets: from fleas to hot spots, vinegar has lots of testimonials to being a Godsend.

In gardening: spray it, undiluted, between the bricks on the patio to get rid of the weeds popping thru (yep, no more toxic stuff). I could go on and on and on.

Here's some sites to check out if you'd like to learn more:

Vinegar uses in the garden

1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar

131 Uses for Vinegar

Uses for Vinegar - Pet Care

Apple Cider Vinegar Cures

And the cost? Amazon.com sells a huge bottle (128 oz.) of Heinz White Vinegar for $3.99.

Overseas Surgery: Same Quality, Less Cost

Here in Texas, stories of folk going across the border for medical care and prescription drugs is very old news. The savings has always been striking, and while there have been occasional horror stories of bad drugs or marred nose jobs, the bad reports have been few and far between.

Now, it appears that the idea of going overseas for medical care is a growing national trend, fueled by rising health care costs and an escalating population that is uninsured. The trend already has a name: "medical tourism."

PlanetHospital.Com is one of the services filling this market niche. Others are WorldMedAssist.com , MedRetreat.Com and MedJourneys.Com.

Not only are your medical needs coordinated to the appropriate surgeon or specialist, the companies also provide comforts like a concierge service, an English-speaking guide, and all act as travel agent. "All you have to do is show up," PlanetHospital assures.

Furthermore, the health care itself is high quality. You can find health care providers overseas that are U.S. board certified, and many facilities that are affiliated with prestigious American institutions. WorldMedAssist provides the Anadolu Medical Center as an example; it is a facility in Istanbul, Turkey, that is affiliated with the elite Johns Hopkins.

The savings are huge. Angioplasty costs $11,000 overseas; it is $36,000 here. The difference: $25,000. Carpal tunnel surgery is $9000 overseas and $22,000 here. Savings: $13,000.00.

For an online listing of medical tourism sites, check out OpenDirectory. For more information, read an University of Delaware article on the topic, as well as the ever-expanding Wikipedia entry.