#5SmartReads - November 29, 2022

Hitha on rural hospitals, Alia Bhatt, and the kids' album I can't stop playing

November 29, 2022

“The US does not provide hospitals with a steady level of revenue, the kind of “global budget” where hospitals are given a set amount of money for their expected expenditures based on the patients they serve and the medical care they are likely to need. American hospitals have to try to bring in as much money as they can by performing as many services as they can, but without allowing their overhead to balloon.”

Here I am, once again, to talk about how we don’t have a healthcare system but a disease management system in this country. Said system is driven by profit, not outcomes, to the detriment of our health and the millions who work in healthcare to heal.

The latest example? Rural hospitals.

This article does an incredible job of outlining the struggles that rural hospitals face and their limited options they have to stay afloat. It’s not an easy read, but it’s a very important one.

If you don’t know Alia Bhatt, you’re about to.

She’s a veritable supernova in Bollywood (as both an actress and producer). She openly talks about taboo issues (Darlings tackled domestic abuse, Bhatt talks a lot about mental health and therapy) and isn’t afraid to call out trolls or sexism.

Naturally, she’s a part of Marie Claire’s Power 100 list, and her interview with Neha has so many gems that I’ve jotted in my journal. But this quote is one that spoke to me:

“…if you pick on yourself first, then you’re inviting every other [person’s] negative thoughts towards your body. If you yourself are armed with confidence and a certain level of appreciation for the way you look and the way you are, then nothing in the world will bother you...especially in the world of Instagram and TikTok and all these filters. Feel good from the inside. Stay active, eat good foods. Eat crap as well, if you want. Because if that’s something that you want to do on a particular day, please go ahead and do it. You have one life, so just enjoy it as much as possible.”

Forecasting and supply chain planning is both an art and a science - and the pandemic and inflation has thrown a wrench in both.

Consumer buying habits have changed on a dime - multiple times - over the past 2.5 years, and apparel is definitely one of the hardest hit sectors with consumers flipping from workwear to more cozies for home back to workwear, overseas production shutting down and reopening and shutting down again, and inflation affecting discretionary purchasing.

The result? A lot of supply, not enough demand.

While there will be some incredible deals on clothing, the best thing any of us can do is to buy what we really need, rent the things we want for a moment (you know how much I love Armoire!), and save and invest whatever you can.

…and my whole family is obsessed with Doggyland.

I’ve set Rho’s morning alarm to the Affirmation Song (and I might do the same for myself). We play the album every morning. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t listening to it after the kids are at school.

Not only are the songs and videos catchy, they’re rooted in a really pure intention from Snoop:

“You can just be you and be accepted in ‘Doggyland,’ and what’s what these characters represent — diversity, so kids can learn to love each other from the beginning, because hate is what’s taught. Love is what’s in their heart.”

I have a feeling Doggyland’s about to take over my Spotify Unwrapped next year. And I’m not mad about it.

A story has to be pretty massive for Heather Cox Richarson to log on over a holiday weekend and break it down in her excellent newsletter. And while I don’t spend any real time thinking about the 45th President, this story - and her analysis - is too important to look away from.

The former president (and frontrunner to be the 2024 Republican nominee) shared a meal with a far-right white supremacist and a vocal anti-Semite.

This was not a quick introduction or a passing by photo opp. This was deliberate and intentional and indicative of the kind of campaign Trump will run - and it builds on the rise of white supremacist terrorism that rose under his presidency and continues to build and kill innocent people in stores, schools, and places of worship.

The response from his own party? Crickets.

“…after the news of Trump’s dinner and the thundering silence that followed it, conservative anti-Trumper Bill Kristol tweeted: “Aren’t there five decent Republicans in the House who will announce they won’t vote for anyone for Speaker who doesn’t denounce their party’s current leader, Donald Trump, for consorting with the repulsive neo-Nazi Fuentes?”

So far, at least, the answer is no.”

 

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