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The Myth that Growing Consumption Inequality is a Myth
By Mark Thoma on October 25, 2012
Kevin Hassett and Aparna Mathur argue that consumption inequality has not increased along with income inequality. That's not what recent research says, but before getting to that, here's their argument:
Consumption and the Myths of Inequality, by Kevin Hassett and Aparna Mathur, Commentary, WSJ: In multiple campaign speeches over the past week, President Obama has emphasized a theme central to Democratic campaigns across the country this year: inequality. … To be sure, there are studies of income inequality—most prominently by Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics and Emmanuel Saez of the University of California at Berkeley—that report that the share of income of the wealthiest Americans has grown over the past few decades while the share of income at the bottom has not. The studies have problems. Some omit worker compensation in the form of benefits. And economist Alan Reynolds has noted that changes to U.S. tax rules cause more income to be reported at the top and less at the bottom. But even if the studies are accepted at face value, as a read on the evolution of inequality, they leave out too much.
Let me break in here. Here's what Piketty and Saez say about Reynold's work:
In his December 14 article, "The Top 1% … of What?", Alan Reynolds casts doubts on the interpretation of our results showing that the share of income going to the top 1% families has doubled from 8% in 1980 to 16% in 2004. In this response, we want to outline why his critiques do not invalidate our findings and contain serious misunderstandings on our academic work. …
Back to Hassett and Mathur
Another way to look at people's standard of living over time is by their consumption. Consumption is an even more relevant metric of overall welfare than pre-tax cash income, and it will be set by consumers with an eye on their lifetime incomes. Economists, including Dirk Krueger and Fabrizio Perri of the University of Pennsylvania, have begun to explore consumption patterns, which show a different picture than research on income.
Let me break in again and deal with the Krueger and Perri Krueger and Perri (2006) paper, which followed the related work by Slesnick (2001):
Has Consumption Inequality Mirrored Income Inequality?: This paper by Mark Aguiar and Mark Bils finds that "consumption inequality has closely tracked income inequality over the period 1980-2007":
Has Consumption Inequality Mirrored Income Inequality?, by Mark A. Aguiar and Mark Bils, NBER Working Paper No. 16807, February 2011: Abstract We revisit to what extent the increase in income inequality over the last 30 years has been mirrored by consumption inequality. We do so by constructing two alternative measures of consumption expenditure, using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE). We first use reports of active savings and after tax income to construct the measure of consumption implied by the budget constraint. We find that the consumption inequality implied by savings behavior largely tracks income inequality between 1980 and 2007. Second, we use a demand system to correct for systematic measurement error in the CE's expenditure data. …This second exercise indicates that consumption inequality has closely tracked income inequality over the period 1980-2007. Both of our measures show a significantly greater increase in consumption inequality than what is obtained from the CE's total household expenditure data directly.
Why is this important? (see also "Is Consumption the Grail for Inequality Skeptics?"):
An influential paper by Krueger and Perri (2006), building on related work by Slesnick (2001), uses the CE to argue that consumption inequality has not kept pace with income inequality.
And these results have been used by some — e.g. those who fear corrective action such as an increase in the progressivity of taxes — to argue that the inequality problem is not as large as figures on income inequality alone suggest. But the bottom line of this paper is that:
The … increase in consumption inequality has been large and of a similar magnitude as the observed change in income inequality.
So they are citing what is now dated work. They either don't know about the more recent work, or simply chose to ignore it because it doesn't say what they need it to say.
Okay, back to Hassett and Mathur once again. They go on to cite their own work — more on that below. One thing to note, however, is that the recent research in this area says the data they use must be corrected for measurement error or you are likely to find the (erroneous) results they find. As far as I can tell, the data are not corrected:
Our recent study, "A New Measure of Consumption Inequality," found that the consumption gap across income groups has remained remarkably stable over time. …
While this stability is something to applaud, surely more important are the real gains in consumption by income groups over the past decade. From 2000 to 2010, consumption has climbed 14% for individuals in the bottom fifth of households, 6% for individuals in the middle fifth, and 14.3% for individuals in the top fifth when we account for changes in U.S. population and the size of households. This despite the dire economy at the end of the decade.
Should we trust this research? First of all this is Kevin Hassett. How much do you trust the work once you know that? Second, it's on the WSJ editorial page. How much does that reduce your trust? I'd hope the answer is "quite a bit." Third, big red flags when researchers cherry pick start and/or end dates. Fourth, as already noted, recent research shows that the no growth in consumption inequality result is due to measurement error in the CES data. When the data are corrected, consumption inequality mirrors income inequality. They don't say a word about correcting the data.
Next, we get the "but they have cell phones!" argument:
Yet the access of low-income Americans—those earning less than $20,000 in real 2009 dollars—to devices that are part of the "good life" has increased. The percentage of low-income households with a computer rose… Appliances? The percentage of low-income homes with air-conditioning equipment…, dishwashers…, a washing machine…, a clothes dryer…, [and] microwave ovens… grew… Fully 75.5% of low-income Americans now have a cell phone, and over a quarter of those have access to the Internet through their phones.
Before turning to their conclusion, let me note more new research in this area from a post earlier this year, But They Have TVs and Cell Phones!, emphasizing the measurement error problem:
Consumption Inequality Has Risen About As Fast As Income Inequality, by Matthew Yglesias: Going back a few years one thing you used to hear about America's high and rising level of income inequality is that it wasn't so bad because there wasn't nearly as much inequality of consumption. This story started to fall apart when it turned out that ever-higher levels of private indebtedness were unsustainable (nobody could have predicted…) but Orazio Attanasio, Erik Hurst, and Luigi Pistaferri report in a new NBER working paper "The Evolution of Income, Consumption, and Leisure Inequality in The US, 1980-2010" that the apparently modest increase in consumption inequality is actually a statistical error.
They say that the Consumer Expenditure Survey data from which the old-school finding is drawn is plagued by non-classical measurement error and adopt four different approaches to measuring consumption inequality that shouldn't be hit by the same problem. All four alternatives point in the same direction: "consumption inequality within the U.S. between 1980 and 2010 has increased by nearly the same amount as income inequality."
Here's Hassett and Mathur's ending:
It is true that the growth of the safety net has contributed to massive government deficits—and a larger government that likely undermines economic growth and job creation. It is an open question whether the nation will be able to reshape the net in order to sustain it, but reshape it we must. …
After arguing (wrongly) that consumption has kept pace with income, they say it's only because of the deficit — but it's not sustainable. So suck it up middle class America, consumption inequality has increased despite the claims of denialists like Hassett, and if they get their way and reduce the social safety net, it will only get worse.
Hassett and company denied that income inequality was growing for years (notice their attempt to do just that in the first paragraph by citing discredited research from Alan Reynolds), then when the evidence made it absolutely clear they were wrong (surprise!), they switched to consumption inequality. Recent evidence says they're wrong about that too.
This post was originally published at Economist's View and is reproduced here with permission.
RT Demographics, RT Labor Markets and Productivity, RT United States, trendinggreek
The Myth that Growing Consumption Inequality is a Myth added by Mark Thoma on October 25, 2012
View all posts by Mark Thoma →
4 Responses to "The Myth that Growing Consumption Inequality is a Myth"
Frank Renfro October 26, 2012 at 12:46 pm
So, Mr. Thoma, where's the beef? Are you saying that the poor are poor because someone else is rich? Are the poor structurally poor? Are you saying that there is no mobility between the haves and have nots? Are you for or against income and asset and wealth redistribution? Just say it, okay?
Robert Coutinho October 26, 2012 at 2:57 pm
What he is saying is that you should stop buying snake oil from the listed salespeople.
Fernando Betancor October 30, 2012 at 8:38 am
No, Mr. Renfro, he is saying that the poor are indeed poor and the rich are indeed rich. He is refuting the arguments o f Mssrs. Hassett and Mathur when they assert in their research that "the poor actually aren't all that poor". He is accusing them of very dodgy statistical and editorial practices which not only cast serious doubts on their conclusions, but on their ethics as well.
From there to assume that Mr. Thoma is making any claims towards the structural nature of poverty, income mobility and asset redisitribution is not only purely speculative (since there is not a word in the article about it), but demonstrates a marked predisposition to accept the contrary cases at face value and without any supporting evidence whatsoever, even heavily biased evidence like Mssrs. Hassett and Mathur offer.
I suggest you re-read the article with an unprejudiced eye, Mr. Renfro.
William T October 30, 2012 at 4:12 pm
If the poor are spending a larger proportion of their income over time (or even, falling more into debt to maintain some level of consumption), whereas the richest are now spending a smaller proportion (and thus saving more) then the "gap problem" is only going to get bigger in the future


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Independent arts writer, curator and lecturer on post-war art and design; Research Fellow at Norwich University of the Arts. Lowndes's research focuses on DIY art, music and publishing, interdisciplinary and performance-related practice, contemporary art, curatorial practice, empirical research, creative cities, interstitial zones and peripheries, subcultures and art writing.
As part of my role as lecturer at Glasgow School of Art (2002-2015) I tutored and supervised both undergraduate and post-graduate students and devised and delivered two specialist undergraduate courses, Do It Yourself: Art/Music/Publishing and Out of Actions: Performance and Participation Art. I also taught empirical research methods and study skills and team taught the undergraduate course Sculpture in the Expanded Field with colleagues from the Sculpture and Environmental Art Department and taught cross-school projects with staff from the Schools of Fine Art, Design and Architecture. In addition to my post at Glasgow School of Art I have, since completing a MLitt in Creative Writing at Glasgow University in 2013, also been a visiting lecturer to Glasgow University, Newcastle University and Central Saint Martin's, where I have delivered seminars and lectures on creative writing and DIY publishing. I am currently Research Fellow at Norwich University of the Arts.
2002-2007 Glasgow School of Art AHRC funded PhD. Thesis title: 'The Contradiction is Real: Concrete Performance in Southern California, 1967-1975'.
2000-2001 Glasgow School of Art M.Phil. Art and Design in Organisational Contexts. Thesis title: 'Social Sculpture Glasgow 1979-2002', analyzing the contemporary art and music scenes in Glasgow.
1993-1997 University of Glasgow M.A. (Hons), English Literature / Film and Television Studies.
Contemporary Artists Working Outside the City: Creative Retreat (London and New York, Routledge, forthcoming 2018).
Actions: The Image of the World Can Be Different, Sarah Lowndes and Andrew Nairne ed.s, (Cambridge: Kettle's Yard, forthcoming 2018).
New Edition, Sarah Lowndes, ed., (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Printmakers, 2017).
The DIY Movement in Art, Music and Publishing: Subjugated Knowledges (London and New York, Routledge, 2016).
"The Key Material is Time", Generation Reader (Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 2014).
All Art is Political: Writings on Performative Art (Edinburgh: Luath Press, 2014).
"Window shopping: Glasgow art and the politics of display", Function / Dysfunction – Contemporary art from Glasgow, (Nürnberg: Neues Museum, Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design, 2013).
"Hole Punch: The Late Autobiographical Works of Dieter Roth", Dieter Roth: Diaries, (Edinburgh: Fruitmarket Gallery / London: Yale University Press, 2012).
Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow Since World War II, Sarah Lowndes ed., (Glasgow: Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions Department, 2012).
"Botanical Vaudeville", Robert Rauschenberg, (New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2011).
Social Sculpture: The Rise of the Glasgow Art Scene (Edinburgh: Luath Press, 2010).
"Learned by Heart: The Paintings of Richard Wright', Richard Wright (New York: Rizzoli, 2010).
"Aleana Egan: A Grey Luminous Light from the Sea", Aleana Egan (Basel: Kunsthalle Basel, 2008).
"Straight Letters", Camilla Low, (Dundee: Dundee Contemporary Arts, 2008).
"The Glasgow Scene", The History of British Art, Volume III (London: Tate Publishing, 2008).
Curator, Panoramic Sea Happening, re-enactment of Tadeusz Kantor's 1967 happening, with Henry Layte as The Conductor, Kunsthalle Cromer, East Beach, Cromer, June 2017.
Curator, New Edition, group exhibition by Museums Press, Poster Club and Emer Tumilty (Edinburgh Printmakers / Edinburgh Art Festival, July 2017).
Editor of bi-annual The Burning Sand prose, poetry and art magazine and curator of related live events (2012-), funded by Creative Scotland, distributed by Good Press.
Curator, Valise and co-curator, GLASGOW WEEKEND: art, music and design from Glasgow (Volksbuehne and BQ, Berlin, 18-22 September 2013).
Curator, Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow Since WWII (Mackintosh Museum, 2012), exhibition included works by 53 artists including loans from the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow Museums and Glasgow Women's Library. Co-organiser (with GSA Exhibitions and AAC, GSA) of Studio 58 symposium, and organiser of related film screening event (2012).
Curator, Dialogue of Hands sculpture park with commissioned works by Chris Johanson, Camilla Low, Mary Redmond and Corin Sworn (Glasgow International, 2012).
Curator and producer, Urlibido, commissioned works by Kim Coleman & Jenny Hogarth, Susie Green, Shelly Nadashi, Kimberley O'Neill, Morag Ross and Cara Tolmie (Glasgow International, 2010).
Curator of Votive exhibition, with works by George Brecht, Nerea Bello, Chris Burden, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Thea Djordjadze, Torsten Lauschmann, Richard Wright and objects loaned from The World Cultures Collection of Glasgow Museums (CCA, Glasgow, 2009).
Chair and co-organiser (with Kathryn Elkin and Louise Shelley) of Subject in Process: Feminism and Art symposium (CCA, Glasgow, 2009).
Curator, Three Blows – all-sound acoustic performance (St. Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh, 2008), with Keith Rowe, Mayo Thompson, Sarah Kenchington, Richard Wright and Luke Fowler.
"Public Art Now", Chair of Study Afternoon, Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, Norwich, September 2017.
"Self-organize: DIY for a Successful Career", Professional Practice Seminar, School of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art, April 2017.
"Contemporary Artist Working Outside the City: Creative Retreat", Research Seminar, Ideas Factory, Norwich University of the Arts, March 2017.
"The DIY Movement", The Friday Event, Glasgow School of Art, October 2016.
Public Roundtable, "East or Eden? Contemporary Art in Norwich", Norwich University of the Arts, September 2016.
"DIY Publishing since 1955", Visiting Lecturer to Central Saint Martin's Graphic & Communication Design Foundation course, January 2016.
"The Handshake and the Interface: The Glasgow Art Scene since 1990", AAH2015, Annual Conference, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 9 – 11 April 2015.
"It's about the weight (wait)", Lunch Bytes on Education and Learning, Goethe Institute/CCA Glasgow, December 2014.
"Should artists professionalise?" International Artist Initiated, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow in collaboration with Fillip, Vancouver (Part of Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme).
"The Key Material is Time", Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, October 2014.
"Window shopping: Glasgow art and the politics of display" Nürnberg: Neues Museum, Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design, December 2013.
Visiting lecturer, School of Arts and Cultures, Newcastle University, October 2013.
"Time, concentration and supermarkets", The Future Symposium, Jerwood Visual Arts and Film and Video Umbrella/CCA Glasgow, 2013.
In conversation with Bjorn Roth at the opening of the exhibition Dieter Roth: Diaries, Camden Art Centre, London, 2013.
Seminar, "The Two Raymond Carvers", Modernities Masters Programme, Glasgow University, 2013 and 2014.
Visiting speaker to MLitt Creative Writing, Glasgow University, 2013.
"The Writing Voice of Dieter Roth", Dieter Roth, Dieter Roth and Art History, seminar at Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, October 2012.
Seminar, "The Personal Is Political: Embodied Protest and the Performance of Masculinity" Modernities Masters Programme, Glasgow University, 2011 and 2012.
2012 –2013 Member of Editorial Board, GENERATION, 2014 nationwide exhibition.
2006 –2008 Chair of the board of The Common Guild, Glasgow.
2004 –2006 Board member of The Modern Institute, Glasgow.


This is the second part of a series of articles that deals with the methodology and approach adopted by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in inviting people to Islam. The first part focused primarily on the approach used in this study by Dr. Jamal Badawi and the significance of da`wah in Islam. In this part, Dr. Badawi will tackle some specific elements and aspects of the Prophet's methodology in discharging this sublime duty.
The Prophet's methodology in da`wah combines a number of inter-related elements: faith, feelings, attitudes, ways of thinking, and the ability to assess various situations and respond to them. Given the inter-relatedness and inter-dependence of such elements, any attempt to classify them is only a matter of convenience in presentation that is subject to improvement. Following is one such attempt.
It would have been enough for the Prophet to stand aside and warn people and then let them face the consequences of refusing to heed his warning. He does not stop at that, but is trying earnestly to pull them away from the fire. Yet the parable implies that he cannot save everyone from the fire, so he tries to save as many persons as possible.
This is surely an act of love and genuine concern even for those who reject him. A frequently recurring question is whether it is permissible for the Muslim to "love" a person who rejects the call of Islam. This question may result from the lack of distinction between loving the act of rejection of faith and loving the person for other reasons.
There is no indication in this verse that "spouse" means only a Muslim spouse to the exclusion of a wife from among the People of the Book. Likewise, there is no dispute that the Prophet loved his uncle Abu Talib, and tried to help him accept Islam until he breathed his last. In both cases, "love" is not directed at rejection of Islam, but at good human qualities.
This issue is significant in the matter of da`wah. It is that type of universal love and concern for humanity that enabled the Prophet to respond kindly, but not in kind, to his abusers, especially those who were victims of false propaganda against him.
Shortly afterwards, Abu Hurairah came back crying, this time with happiness not grief; his mother decided to accept Islam on her own (Al-Mundhri). It should be noted that the Prophet seldom invoked a curse on his abusers, and rare exceptions to that were in the context of cold-blooded and brutal murderers, such as those who killed the memorizers of the Qur'an. Otherwise, he neither initiated invoking a curse, nor did he even when requested by others to do so.
Abu Hurairah narrated that Al-Tufail and his companions came to the Prophet and said "O Messenger of Allah, the people of Daws have rejected Islam, so invoke prayers against them." The Prophet prayed instead: "O Allah! Guide the people of Daws and bring them (to Islam)" (Al-Mundhri).
Similar acts of mercy and concern were shown by the Prophet in response to the insults and harassment by the people of Ta'if. Such acts did not stem from weakness, as he showed the same character at a moment of great victory and power, when he finally entered Makkah.
__________________________________________________________________________ Taken with slight modifications from OnIslam.net.


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My D&C Operation – The loneliest night of my life
Posted by ~Summer~ on October 15, 2011
in Parenting tips and thoughts
9th October was the loneliest night of my life. At least, the loneliest night since I became a mum. It was time for my to go through my first ever operation - a D&C.
A D&C (Dilation and Curettage) refers to the dilation (widening/opening) of the cervix and surgical removal of part of the lining of the uterus and contents of the uterus by scraping and scooping. It remains the 'standard care' for missed and incomplete miscarriage in many countries.
Thankfully to my knowledge, there was no need to do the 'curettage' part where a long, looped shaped knife scrapes the lining, placenta and foetus away from the uterus. According to the doctor, this would be harmful for young people like me who wish to get pregnant again in future, so they usually only perform this on older women aged 50-60. In my case, they would instead do a suction aspiration whereby a cannula, which is a long plastic tube connected to a suction device, is inserted into the uterus to suction out the foetus and placenta.
Hooray, that meant I did not need to be cut up. All they needed to do was suck.
So, here goes my journal for that memorable night.
7:30pm We made our way to the hospital. The good thing was that this time round, we were not required to take a queue number at the reception and wait for hours. Instead, we directly took the elevator to Level 7 which was where the gynae/baby wards were located. Somewhat ironically, it was also where Angel was born. Soon, we were attended by a nurse who told me the sequence of events: I would be given some Cytotec pills (not orally, but vaginally) to ripen the cervix, then I would need to lie down and wait till the contractions came, next I would be brought to the operation room where I would be knocked out by general anesthesia. Initially, like what the doctor had said, we expected to take the pills at 7:30pm, wait 1-2 hours for it to take effect, then proceed to have an operation which they told me was only 10-15mins. So I thought even if there was some waiting time in between, I would probably be home at midnight. I soon realised that was just wishful thinking on my part.
The bad news was that the nurse said I had to be warded for one night, which wasn't what we expected. As if it wasn't bad enough, she insisted that both my baby and my hubby were to go home and not allowed to accompany me. What??? She said it was because I would be sharing a ward with another lady, and I would need to lie down after I took the pills, so "It would be better if your husband takes your baby back home and make her sleep". Well, I didn't try to argue with her or tell her that my baby only likes to sleep with me or admit truthfully that I would be the one bawling and crying for "Baby!" instead of baby wailing for "Mummy!". The fact was, I had never been separated from my baby for an entire night, not even once, since the day she popped. What was I going to do, not being able to smell her sweet baby fragrance, kiss her little angelic face, or hold her in a good night bear hug?
Still, for the betterment of everyone, I had no choice but to see my dearest ones leave me on this saddest night of my life. The nurse was nice enough to say that they could accompany till "my time is up". Which kind of also hinted to me that it was going to be a longggg night ahead.
8:45pm I was brought to the ward where there was this middle aged lady who was wearing black framed specs and playing some crossword puzzles in the magazine. There was a partition that separated us so I still had my own private corner. The nurse inserted three pills into my vagina and she told me "I have to put them in deep". Before I could even process that statement, she was using two of her fingers to push forcefully. No, that wasn't fun, or stimulating, at all. When I thought it was over, she said "Now, that's one of them. Two more to go." So, I had to endure the awkward poking, twisting and pushing twice more. Then, she left me alone and all I needed to do was W-A-I-T.
Thank goodness my hubby brought me some books to read. For once, I could pick up my Da Vinci Code and read it in peace. It's a book I can read many times and still love. I found the silence of the ward a little eerie though, and I started to badly miss the laughter, talking and even the crying I usually hear in the house at this time. I kept wondering if my baby missed me as much as I missed her, or did she even notice that mummy was not around.
The eerie silence was soon gone, taken over by moaning, groaning and constant sighing. Nope, not from me. But from the lady beside. I soon realised she seemed to be in pain and discomfort, but too bad there was nothing I could do for her. I probably would reach that stage soon, I guessed.
So I waited. One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Three and a half lonely, depressing hours. Still no sign of anything happening except the contractions which were pretty bearable to me. Maybe I was just numb to pain already.
12:15am Finally, the nurses who were on shift came in and one said "It's time". Why do they love to use these words? But somehow, I was glad to hear that. That meant soon the ordeal could be over. They told me that the operating room was on Level 6 so we had to go one floor down. I started to get up and put on my shoes when one told me "No, you can lie down". Ok, I see, I get to be the queen while these slave bunnies used their brute strength to push me around. Poor thing. I didn't really know what to think when I was being pushed around, all I could do was stare at the ceiling. Finally, I caught the eye of one of the nurses and decided to make some conversation.
Me: Is this a common surgical operation? The D&C I'm doing?
Nurse: Yes, about two per week. All around Sweden.
Me: Even in Karlskrona alone?
Nurse: Yes, even in Karlskrona.
Me: Too bad. That's so sad.
Nurse: Yes, but at least we are here to help you.
Yup, she did make me feel better. And she even gave me a pat on the head before I went into the operating room and said "See you later". Soon, two other nurses took over, they introduced themselves as anesthetic nurses. One started to ask me stuff like if I had taken general anesthesia before, if I was allergic etc etc. She then told me I had to be put on a drip and be taken to intensive care for a one hour after the surgery just to ensure there were no complications. Ok, I would do anything you said, I just hoped that everything went well at this point.
I asked her for how long I would be knocked out because as per my imagination, and from what my hubby said, I would be knocked out for a few hours and how long it took to wake up depended on the individual. To my surprise, the nurse said, "Oh, I'll wake you up right after the operation." I said "Wow, sounds easy, You can just wake me up like that?". She smiled, probably thinking that was a stupid question and said "Yes, you'll see."
12:30am I was told to transfer from my bed to the operating bed, which I did obediently and the nurse rewarded me with a couple of warm blankets which I was thankful for as I was trembling from head to toe. Fear, anxiety or just chill? Maybe a combination. Finally, I was pushed into the actual operating room. It was really like what I see in ER or Grey's Anatomy. Giant overhead surgical lights, viewing monitors, steel tables with surgical equipment, and of course the doctors dressed in green scrubs.
Did you know? Scrubs used to be white - the colour of cleanliness, before it switched to green/blue in the 20th century. Green could help physicians see better for two reasons. First, looking at blue or green can refresh a doctor's vision of red things, including the bloody innards of a patient during surgery. If a surgeon stares at something that's red and pink, he becomes desensitized to it. The red signal in the brain actually fades, which could make it harder to see the nuances of the human body. Looking at something green from time to time can keep someone's eyes more sensitive to variations in red, according to John Werner, a psychologist who studies vision at the University of California, Davis. Second, a deep focus on red, red, red can lead to distracting green illusions on white surfaces. The distracting image would follow the surgeon's gaze wherever he looks, similar to the floating spots we see after a camera flash. However, if a doctor looks at green or blue scrubs instead of white ones, these disturbing ghosts will blend right in and not become a distraction, according to Paola Bressan, who researches visual illusions at the University of Padova in Italy. Quoted from Scienceline.org.
Next, I was injected with a drip and the nurses started to paste 3M tapes with metal probes all over my chest. Soon, I found myself in an entanglement of wires. I didn't really know what was going on my mind, though I was a little overwhelmed by what was happening. All I remembered was me stroking my swelling tummy for the last time and bidding farewell to my lost baby. The nurse then put an oxygen mask over my face and I was supposed to breathe in some oxytocin. Or so I remembered it was called, wasn't it what I used to induce labour? Anyway, they injected a small bottle of drug into my drip to make me dizzy. After I breathed a few minutes into the oxygen mask, one nurse asked me "Are you ready to sleep now?". I actually replied "That would be nice". Then they injected another drug into my drip and though I was pondering if one's mind could actually triumph over the anesthesia and stay conscious somehow, I was soon knocked out. Flat.
1:00am The first thing I heard was "Yun, wake up. It's over." Wow. I was so amazed that I really couldn't remember a single thing. Not one. How did they insert the probe into me? How did they perform the suction? How much blood was lost? How big was my placenta? No, I would never know the answers. I was just glad that everything was over in half an hour. Though I somehow wished I could have a nice, deep sleep for longer. It was something I had been lacking.
Then, I was taken to the ICU where they had to monitor my blood pressure at 15-min interval. Though they said I only had to be there one hour, I ended up staying for two. What's new? They always underestimated or gave you an illusion of a shorter waiting time, but it never came true. I couldn't sleep at all in these two hours. I remembered I teared a bit. Just a bit. And I realised that I was moved from the operating bed back to my ward bed. Out of curiosity, I asked the nurse "So after the operation, the anesthetic nurses lifted me back to this bed?" She replied "Yes, they did". I said "Cool, so what if the person happens to be very heavy, like 100kg?" There was no reply.
Just to break the awkward silence, I said "Wow, they are good". And she said "Yes, they are". I meant it, I was really impressed. They even wore back my pants, pad, leggings for me.
3:00am Finally, I was allowed to return to my ward. The two nurses on duty came to fetch me back to where I came from. I was asked if I needed to use the loo because since I was still on drip, they said they would need to help me. Well, considering that I hadn't eaten for 12 hours and all I had was glucose, I didn't really had much to pass out. So I decided to just try to catch some rest. Which was hard. Guess what, the lady was still making loud noises, but instead of moaning, it was now snoring. I felt happy that she could get some sleep though.
6:00am Somehow, I manged to catch some much needed rest but soon, I was awakened by the nurse who said that I should go pee. Ok, I got it, you all needed to make sure my pee-hole was working and that I could still pass out liquid. So, I stood up slowly because the nurse said I might be dizzy, which thankfully I wasn't. I walked rather normally to the toilet, thinking that everything was per usual. But before I knew it, I had a bloody waterfall incident in the toilet. Somehow, a gush of blood came out from under and there was no stopping it. Not even the thick pad could withstand it and within seconds, I stained the pad, the disposable undies, the leggings and left a pool of blood on the toilet floor. Oh wow. I was stumped and didn't even know what to do except to sit on the toilet bowl and let the blood clear. Luckily, the nurse seemed to be trained to these situations and she was calm enough to get new undies and pad for me and then wipe the floor. I honestly felt so bad that someone had to clean up my bloody mess. No wonder she insisted I should pee, she probably knew this was going to happen. Oh well, but after the waterfall, the blood flow became constant but much less, even less than my normal menses.
7:00am It was quite impossible to catch any rest after that because the sun was rising and the lady beside me was up and chatting on the phone. So I read my book again. Then, the new nurse on duty told me breakfast was served and I could make my way there to have some food. Which sounded so tempting to an empty stomach. She said "We want to see you up and walking". So I did. I ate bread with butter, cheese, ham and drank orange juice and hot chocolate.
9:15am The gynae came to talk to me and guess what, he was the gynae who did my first u/s checkup. Ok. Hello, we meet again. He said "Wow, you've been back 5 times", apparently he just read my files. Yup, so what, I still had to do the operation eventually. He was nice though and said that having a miscarriage now didn't mean my next one was likely to be one too. He also told me I needed to do a blood test in three weeks just to make sure my hormones were dropping. If they were not, it would be confirmed an extrauterine pregnancy, meaning the baby was still growing somewhere outside of my uterus and that would be when they would need to cut me up. Oh wow, just when I assumed the rain was over and the sun was up. He also told me to monitor for any side effects like pain, fever or massive bleeding which meant there were complications and I needed to be hospitalised immediately. The favourite line I had from him was "I hope I won't see you here again the next time". Yeah, me too.
11:00am My beloved hubby came to fetch me and it was time to go home. I couldn't wait to see my lovely Angel again! It was finally the end of a long, arduous journey and I was sure the days ahead of me would be more sunny ones.
All I could say was the operation was not as bad as I expected it to be, probably because I couldn't remember an inch of it at all. The thought of it was definitely dreadful, something that I would never want to experience again in my life. Thanks to the surgeons and the nice, friendly nurses for helping me to deal with this hurdle in my life.
So, it's really time to move on now. Summer is back!
Guess writing the whole experience down would be a closure to the episode. Glad to see the positive and cheerful Summer up again!
Big hug to u!
JJ October 17, 2011 at 6:00 AM
Am really glad u ended up fine and good. Was worried for u but again i was helpless. While i tried my best to take care of everything including family and work, i think i was still lacking. sorry to leave u alone there. i am sure u must have felt really sad. the only thing i have hoped for is for u to be safe and well.
Hi Summer, its jae here. Just wanna let you know that i can feel what u feel... Stay strong cos there are many family n frens around you who love you dearly..
Miss Angel & you..
~Summer~ November 5, 2011 at 8:45 AM
Hey babe! Thanks! I am cool and have moved on liaoz. Life sux sometimes but it's still pretty good most of the time. Miss ya lots too and my dear jovan!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Hi, anyone could please tell me what's the power consumption of Intel Core i3 8300 and 8300T when idle?
You might find a review that separates the motherboard from the CPU, but this review -- https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i3_8300/16.html gives you numbers you can compare. I don't find any 8300T reviews that seem useful.
I just bought an i3-8300 with some other parts (see https://pcpartpicker.com/user/adrhc/saved/QqzBbv) and it takes 22.8W/h while idle (and without the Seagate - Barracuda 1 TB). That 22.8W is an average for 5h 50min of light usage (text files edits, short browsing, ~ 10 reboots and console working).


text:
A Pteronotus personatus az emlősök (Mammalia) osztályának a denevérek (Chiroptera) rendjéhez, ezen belül a kis denevérek (Microchiroptera) alrendjéhez és a Mormoopidae családjához tartozó faj.

Előfordulása

Közép- és Dél-Amerika félszáraz barlangjaiban él Mexikótól Bolíviáig.

Két alfaja ismert:
 Pteronotus personatus personatus - Dél-Amerika, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Kelet-Honduras
 Pteronotus personatus psilotis - Nyugat-Honduras, Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexikó

Megjelenése

Hossza 6-6,7 cm, farka 1,5-1,8.

Néhány egyed szőrzete feketés-barna a háton és a fejen a szürke szín is megtalálható.

Életmódja

Éjjel repül ki a 100-10 000 egyedet számláló kolónia a barlangból.

A többi denevérhez hasonlóan echolokációval tájékozódik a környezetében előforduló tárgyakról és élőlényekről.

Források

 Journal of Acoustical Society of America (angol nyelvű)

Denevérek
Emlősfajok
Belize emlősei
Bolívia emlősei
Brazília emlősei
Kolumbia emlősei
Costa Rica emlősei
Ecuador emlősei
Salvador emlősei
Guatemala emlősei
Guyana emlősei
Honduras emlősei
Mexikó emlősei
Nicaragua emlősei
Panama emlősei
Peru emlősei
Paraguay emlősei
Suriname emlősei
Trinidad és Tobago emlősei
Venezuela emlősei

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia