How do you spell Decadence?

Headline: Study links illness to half of U.S. bankruptcies

A Harvard University study found that illness and medical bills cause about half of all bankruptcies in the United States, an increase of more than 23 times the rate in 1981.

Most of the 2.2 million Americans who file for bankruptcy for these reasons start out with health insurance. Most were middle class workers who simply got sick.

"I think it's a societal failure to have people facing bankruptcy over health care," said Dr. Alan Glaseroff, chief medical officer for the Humboldt-Del Norte Independent Practice Association. "No other developed nation has that."

Headline: S.F. company to start marketing high-tech toilet seats

A San Francisco company is tooling up to produce the Swash 400, a heated toilet seat with push-button controls to adjust water pressure and temperature. A self-cleaning spray arm adjusts to the differing anatomies of male or female users. The Swash 400 lists at $699, with the more advanced Swash 600 for $899.

The Swash will compete with products from Japan's Toto Ltd., which has sold more than 20 million Toto Washlets, with warm-water cleansing system and an automatic catalytic air deodorizer. They start at $727.