Amendment I

Congress shall make no law ... prohibiting the free exercise thereof ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Despite quotes to the contrary, I do not see anything in these words that provide for an exception to this right.

Full wording:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Whether you agree or don't agree with the Occupy movement, protecting the First Amendment seems like a no-brainer.

The official total number of Americans in poverty is now 44 million, reports The New York Times. That 1-in-7 Americans are poor number is based on the federally-determined poverty level. For a family of four, that would be an income of $22,050 or less a year.

Now, I know it’s possible to live on that much, but let’s look at the numbers. In my neighborhood, the annual rent runs about $1,800 a month, which totals $21,600 a year, leaving $37.50 a month for electricity, water, gas, transportation, insurance and food. Okay, so my mythical family can’t live in my part of town unless they have well-heeled relatives.

But what about more affordable neighborhoods in the Phoenix metro area? Here are some possibilities:

• $719 a month for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in Mesa
• $500 a month for a 1 bedroom, 1 bath split house in Apache Junction
• $359 a month for a 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment in Mesa
• $500 a month for a 2 bed, 1 bath house in Tempe $495 a month for a 2 bed apartment in Phoenix

Some of these places are nicer than others. Still, it’s especially depressing that it would cost $500 a month to squeeze a family of four into a 1-bedroom Apache Junction house.

But looking at these places, we can surmise that a struggling family might be able to find a cockroach free, 2-bedroom, 1-bath rental for about $400 a month. Maybe. Of course, finding such a rental in a relatively low crime area might be more difficult. It would be still more difficult to find such a place that was adjacent to a good school system, but hey, that’s the breaks when you live in the United States.

Anyway, let’s do the math on our $400 rental with some assumption about water, gas, etc.:

That leaves our family with $790.8 to pay for remaining annual expenses, such as toothpaste and other personal sundries, school supplies for the kids, clothing and cleaning supplies. Hopefully, they don’t need a new car or repairs that year.

Let’s not even talk about toys and entertainment, which is probably not considered a life necessity under the bureaucrats’ way of thinking. We’ll just assume – hah! – there is a good library branch and basketball court nearby.

So it’s possible to earn only $22,050 and be technically above the poverty line. Of course, I don’t know about you, but I’d feel that I was below the poverty line caring for my family with only $22,050 a year. (Oh, I’m guessing the $22,050 is after Social Security and Medicare taxes are taken out.)

But wait. I left something out. Something kind of important: health care! Now if you’re single, you might feel you can live without health insurance, but if you’re a parent – whose kid broke his arm or leg last week – you certainly DO NOT feel that way.

My wife’s health care plan costs us about $600 a month or $7,200 a year. Not cheap. Let’s just say that the basic, mandatory Obama health care plan costs an American family of four the bargain rate of $300 a month. I have no idea what it will really be, but even with that number, the poverty line just moved up $3,600 to $25,650 a year.

I can’t help wonder how many people that would add to the official ranks of the poor? One million? Two million? Five million? I don’t know, but certainly the numbers that were reported this week seem a wee bit optimistic to me.

In less than a minute, Seth trips on the hard concrete sidewalk and immediately starts crying. Even before I take a closer look, I can see a gouge just below the kneecap – that’s going to leave a scar – but his face and hands seem okay.

I put Seth’s backpack on one shoulder and my 8-year-old on the other before trudging uphill back to the house. Lael breaks into a trot every now and then to keep up.

At home, we clean and treat the wound, before piling into the minivan. I walk Seth over to his “cove” and start walking Lael over to her classroom area.

That’s when I look down and notice my leg. It is covered in Seth’s rusty-brown blood. Whoops. Fortunately, no one notices, though Lael excitedly tells her friend – the one we were chasing – all about what happened. The story apparently makes up for the lost playground time.

I primarily blamed the dry heat, of course. After all, it was not always obvious how much I was sweating; the only real clue was salt-encrusted skin.

I’ve been checked for diabetes several times, but always get a clean bill of health on that account. About seven years ago, though, the problem became far more scary after I was hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis, a muscle complication of extreme dehydration.

For whatever reason, my body does a good job of telling me when I’m mildly dehydrated, but not when I go beyond a certain point. About the only clue I have after that is the color of my pee.

Since the hospital incident, I’ve learned to be as careful as possible. I force myself to drink water even when I don’t “feel” thirsty. Ironically, I will get very thirsty after taking that first drink of water. I also avoid sugary drinks, coffee, many types of tea and diuretics, (not counting fruits and vegetables.) I also put very little salt in my food and buy a lot of low-sodium products.

It’s a lot more difficult when eating out. Last night for example, I ordered a very salty pasta Jambalaya dish at California Pizza Kitchen. I didn’t think about the possible salt content when I ordered it, but I certainly could taste it. Pasta also is a problem, probably because it takes a lot of water to digest starch.

This morning, I woke with a headache. I’ve already consumed about a quart of water, but I can still taste the salt in my mouth. Even as I write this, I’m barely keeping the headache at bay.

The medical literature seems to back me up on this. Avoiding salty foods is one way to avoid getting headaches, according to WebMD and the Mayo Clinic.

But I’m curious: Does anyone else have this problem? Does the extreme saltiness of restaurant food leave them extremely thirsty or reaching for the Tylenol? Do you get headaches when you eat out?

But while driving to check on a print job today, I heard Margaret A. Hamburg, the Food and Drug Administrator, on National Public Radio warning Americans on how to handle eggs safely. Wash everything a zillion times. Cook eggs until they’re charcoal. Forget over easy.

This is the kind of food system we now have. Think of it: It’s not safe to make mayonnaise at home, because salmonella might be crawling around in your raw eggs. Ditto Hollandaise sauce.

If a bit of egg leaks over the side of a bowl – like that never happens – the counter below it may contaminate a cookie or sandwich if not bleached clean. Just forget ever letting your kids eat traditional cookie dough batter, because it might sicken or KILL them. (Not a problem in our house, though; I long ago found a way to make great chocolate chip cookies without eggs and butter.)

This is how the federal government, until a month or so ago, was watching eggs: The U.S. Department of Agriculture would inspect the facilities where eggs are processed, reports The Wall Street Journal. The FDA worried about eggs after they left the manufacturers facilities. Apparently, a lot fall through the cracks when you have two teams watching the same game.

New rules solve this problem by requiring just one both the USDA and FDA to share responsibility for inspecting eggs manufacturers. Say what? They’re BOTH still going to be tripping over each other?

But at least the latest food disaster might finally get a few politicians off their collective bums. In fact, Hamburg is using the crises to remind politicians of pending food system reforms, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Hamburg wants Congress to give her the power to order recalls, according the Times story. Think of it: under the current system, companies only have to recall toxic food if they feel like it.

In a way, the situation with eggs is actually getting better. In recent years, no one would have bothered with a recall at all and instead sent a note, reading “Let the eater beware.”

These birds are in a 5-foot, near-dead tree right in front of Seth's classroom.

Yikes.