Saturday, July 7, 2007
Our Complete Vacation Photo Album link Euroland
http://picasaweb.google.com/Doogiekim.cox.net/Euroland2007
Tour the 20th Century With Billy Joel and Ye Li
This is visually stimulating.
http://home.uchicago.edu/~yli5/Flash/Fire.html
http://home.uchicago.edu/~yli5/Flash/Fire.html
Friday, July 6, 2007
Radio Killed the Newsprint Star
I happened to be in my car during Talk of the Nation on NPR on Thursday. Stephanie Roberts was guest hosting and interviewing an editorial board member from the Wall Street Journal about the Libby commutation. She mentioned that they had a hard time finding any newspaper’s editorials supportive of the move. I remember thinking to myself, “well I know one” as Doug’s quick hit that morning said just that.
At dinner that evening I mentioned this experience to my husband. Just then his eyes got really big and his face lost all color. “Oh, I get it now!” he said. Apparently an NPR producer had called him looking for the writer of the editorial to appear on TOTN. Well, Kathleen Ingley had written the editorial (which was not supportive) and Doug-- not appreciating the background --just referred the call to her; and of course they did not opt to put her on the air.
Only when I told of my cyber-experience in the car did he realize that yes, the producer was looking for him. But for the nuance of the Quick Hit vs. the Editorial, I could have been listening to my husband instead of that inarticulate WSJ dude.
Who knew?
At dinner that evening I mentioned this experience to my husband. Just then his eyes got really big and his face lost all color. “Oh, I get it now!” he said. Apparently an NPR producer had called him looking for the writer of the editorial to appear on TOTN. Well, Kathleen Ingley had written the editorial (which was not supportive) and Doug-- not appreciating the background --just referred the call to her; and of course they did not opt to put her on the air.
Only when I told of my cyber-experience in the car did he realize that yes, the producer was looking for him. But for the nuance of the Quick Hit vs. the Editorial, I could have been listening to my husband instead of that inarticulate WSJ dude.
Who knew?
How We Spent Our Summer Vacation
Byline:
Doug MacEachern, The Arizona Republic
VISITING EUROPE THE GIRL SCOUT WAY
It was not a highbrow tour of the old countries.
In Salzburg, Austria, we visited a castle where sprays of water gushed from the antlers of mounted heads of deer in a garden. Not -- how do you say? -- the stuff of resplendent Old World culture.
In Munich and Amsterdam, we sought out Mike's Bike Tours, as perfect an antidote to pretentious refinement as you can find in Europe.
If you wish to balance your parade of cathedrals and art museums with an American slacker's view of the continent, I highly recommend Mike's guided tours. Our leader, a young Hawaiian named Frankie, was amazingly versed regarding the Chinese Tower outdoor beer hall in the English Gardens of Munich. They serve lots and lots of beer there, you know.
And so it was throughout our group's little "sampler" tour of Europe. We did some theater in London. But, well, it was Monty Python's Spamalot. Not exactly A Midsummer Night's Dream in Regent's Park but a genuine laff-riot, nonetheless.
Which is not to say that our 16 days in seven European and British cities acked cultural or educational purpose. We toured the Louvre. Some of us did the "Da Vinci Code" tour of the Louvre (what is "kitsch" in Latin, I wonder?). But it's not like we wasted time in Paris hanging around the cafes of Montparnasse eating bad cheese.
Oh ... wait. We did that, too.
Left to my own devices, I might have sought out a bit more Shakespeare, a few more cathedrals and a lot fewer cities.
But this trip was not of my own device. It was a tour structured,organized and arranged by a troop of Girl Scouts, each of whom paid her own way for this tour de force across the world's most expensive continent.
Most of us know about what good things the Boy Scouts do for boys. Self-reliance. Character-building. Knot-tying. A lot of wonderful things. Few boys leave the Scouts lacking memories of camp-outs, canoe trips and adventurous forced marches through the woods.
For girls, though, Scouting is a different experience. Most girls who get into Scouting tend to drift away right about the age that their male counterparts are reaching their Scouting stride. There are girls who stick with it. There are girls who stay in Scouting through high school, often earning their Gold Award. But the very fact that you have to explain to most people what a Gold Award is -- it's the Girl Scout equivalent of Eagle Scout -- tells you all you need to know about the prevalence of older teens in the Girl Scouts. There just aren't many.
In our group of 16, there were four of them, as well as several parents of Scouts (including me), a few friends and neighbors. But it was the girls for whom the trip was organized, the last remaining members of a "travel troop" of Girl Scouts whose primary focus (besides, of course, doing good deeds) is organizing trips to Europe.
Under the aegis of troop leaders Stevi Shearer and Suzanne Gallas, my daughter's troop has traveled to Europe three times. In three-year sequences, they would conduct all manner of fundraising events and, of
course, sell countless boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Then, they used the proceeds for the big trip.
With all due respect to the boys, the diligence, determination and long-range true grit that it takes to accomplish such a feat puts even the best-ever Boy Scout jamboree into some perspective.
In a perfect world, such an enormous, years-long undertaking would seem amazing. In a world besotted of the values of instant gratification and thick with Paris Hilton role models, it is practically beyond
comprehension.
What kept the girls going was a goal -- a tantalizing, reachable goal that they knew would end with bike trips through Amsterdam and tours of the Louvre if only they stuck with it and worked hard.
And, except for the odd nudge from parents and the indomitable Stevi Shearer, they did it on their own.
As our Euro-slacker tour-guide Frankie might say, "How cool is that?"
Doug MacEachern, The Arizona Republic
VISITING EUROPE THE GIRL SCOUT WAY
It was not a highbrow tour of the old countries.
In Salzburg, Austria, we visited a castle where sprays of water gushed from the antlers of mounted heads of deer in a garden. Not -- how do you say? -- the stuff of resplendent Old World culture.
In Munich and Amsterdam, we sought out Mike's Bike Tours, as perfect an antidote to pretentious refinement as you can find in Europe.
If you wish to balance your parade of cathedrals and art museums with an American slacker's view of the continent, I highly recommend Mike's guided tours. Our leader, a young Hawaiian named Frankie, was amazingly versed regarding the Chinese Tower outdoor beer hall in the English Gardens of Munich. They serve lots and lots of beer there, you know.
And so it was throughout our group's little "sampler" tour of Europe. We did some theater in London. But, well, it was Monty Python's Spamalot. Not exactly A Midsummer Night's Dream in Regent's Park but a genuine laff-riot, nonetheless.
Which is not to say that our 16 days in seven European and British cities acked cultural or educational purpose. We toured the Louvre. Some of us did the "Da Vinci Code" tour of the Louvre (what is "kitsch" in Latin, I wonder?). But it's not like we wasted time in Paris hanging around the cafes of Montparnasse eating bad cheese.
Oh ... wait. We did that, too.
Left to my own devices, I might have sought out a bit more Shakespeare, a few more cathedrals and a lot fewer cities.
But this trip was not of my own device. It was a tour structured,organized and arranged by a troop of Girl Scouts, each of whom paid her own way for this tour de force across the world's most expensive continent.
Most of us know about what good things the Boy Scouts do for boys. Self-reliance. Character-building. Knot-tying. A lot of wonderful things. Few boys leave the Scouts lacking memories of camp-outs, canoe trips and adventurous forced marches through the woods.
For girls, though, Scouting is a different experience. Most girls who get into Scouting tend to drift away right about the age that their male counterparts are reaching their Scouting stride. There are girls who stick with it. There are girls who stay in Scouting through high school, often earning their Gold Award. But the very fact that you have to explain to most people what a Gold Award is -- it's the Girl Scout equivalent of Eagle Scout -- tells you all you need to know about the prevalence of older teens in the Girl Scouts. There just aren't many.
In our group of 16, there were four of them, as well as several parents of Scouts (including me), a few friends and neighbors. But it was the girls for whom the trip was organized, the last remaining members of a "travel troop" of Girl Scouts whose primary focus (besides, of course, doing good deeds) is organizing trips to Europe.
Under the aegis of troop leaders Stevi Shearer and Suzanne Gallas, my daughter's troop has traveled to Europe three times. In three-year sequences, they would conduct all manner of fundraising events and, of
course, sell countless boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Then, they used the proceeds for the big trip.
With all due respect to the boys, the diligence, determination and long-range true grit that it takes to accomplish such a feat puts even the best-ever Boy Scout jamboree into some perspective.
In a perfect world, such an enormous, years-long undertaking would seem amazing. In a world besotted of the values of instant gratification and thick with Paris Hilton role models, it is practically beyond
comprehension.
What kept the girls going was a goal -- a tantalizing, reachable goal that they knew would end with bike trips through Amsterdam and tours of the Louvre if only they stuck with it and worked hard.
And, except for the odd nudge from parents and the indomitable Stevi Shearer, they did it on their own.
As our Euro-slacker tour-guide Frankie might say, "How cool is that?"
It's All Sicko
Michael Moore is catching it for his latest opinumentary. Well, if his point is to make us all aware of the mess our medical system is in he is preaching to the choir. From the fallout it doesn't sound like he does a very good job of proposing a solution. But that seems to be the raison d'etre these days.
In this blog I have previously whined about the hassle with getting Melanie's dental/medical problems addressed. The medical system is bad enough--couple it with the dental and you have a Rube Goldberg machine.
After a month I have finally, and with the intervention of HR gotten the written denial to go out of network to my surgeon of choice. Aetna initially told me they mailed it to me once and could not print out another. That proved to be false.
The problem I now have is that we went ahead and took her to the only other jaw person on Aetna's list. Luckily he also took our dental plan. Dr. Shah is 25 miles away in Chandler (so much for global warming)and he decided we should try a splint first and scheduled her for the dental surgery.
This is nuts. I could get the dental surgery over here on the corner-I sure don't need to drive to Chandler. Further even I know a splint is not going to move the cartilidge back in place and even if it did it would not happen before Mel leaves for school. (We have been trying to schedule this for 8 months now and time is running out.) And when it does not work that necessitates another surgery with the concomitant anasthesia, cost and time out of pocket. Plus the guy said several things that were not quite right according to the recent student of anatomy.
So now we have to appeal.
Meanwhile, my mother was given a number of prescriptions she didn't even need and it seems like the surgeon forgot to put on a stoma when she had her perforation surgery. The surgeon's office refuses non-surgery related calls so she had to go back to her regular doctor to get him to call all these boobs.
It is all sicko, no?
We need to figure something out!!!!
In this blog I have previously whined about the hassle with getting Melanie's dental/medical problems addressed. The medical system is bad enough--couple it with the dental and you have a Rube Goldberg machine.
After a month I have finally, and with the intervention of HR gotten the written denial to go out of network to my surgeon of choice. Aetna initially told me they mailed it to me once and could not print out another. That proved to be false.
The problem I now have is that we went ahead and took her to the only other jaw person on Aetna's list. Luckily he also took our dental plan. Dr. Shah is 25 miles away in Chandler (so much for global warming)and he decided we should try a splint first and scheduled her for the dental surgery.
This is nuts. I could get the dental surgery over here on the corner-I sure don't need to drive to Chandler. Further even I know a splint is not going to move the cartilidge back in place and even if it did it would not happen before Mel leaves for school. (We have been trying to schedule this for 8 months now and time is running out.) And when it does not work that necessitates another surgery with the concomitant anasthesia, cost and time out of pocket. Plus the guy said several things that were not quite right according to the recent student of anatomy.
So now we have to appeal.
Meanwhile, my mother was given a number of prescriptions she didn't even need and it seems like the surgeon forgot to put on a stoma when she had her perforation surgery. The surgeon's office refuses non-surgery related calls so she had to go back to her regular doctor to get him to call all these boobs.
It is all sicko, no?
We need to figure something out!!!!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
An Email Exchange Regarding the Evils of Excess That Somehow Segues to Paris Hilton/Workman's Comp and Jail
My friend sent me the following observation:
> > We had a very interesting experience in Napa Valley prior to arriving up here (in Bend Oregon for the summer-they are retired and very smart). We attended the wedding of my college roommate's daughter. They live in Darien, CT - but the groom's family is from Piedmont (very posh neighborhood in the bay area) and both the bride and groom work in LA. This is the young woman who manages the private art collection for a movie mogul. (he called her an hour before the wedding to tell her to negotiate a sale before her wedding!)
> > Anyway, this was the most unreal wedding experience I've ever seen... A multiple day/event occasion. The reception was at the Culinary Institute of America (which is in the old Christian Brothers winery/castle) - cocktails on the patio at dusk overlooking Napa Valley - dinner in the cask room....candlelit, rose petals on the floor, flowers EVERYWHERE - an orchestra and singing waiters (like opera singers) - not to mention a gourmet meal.......The wedding and reception was relatively small maybe 100. But then on Sat night they had a black tie dinner /dance in another castle..for 250! (we missed this event...)
The attendees all seemed to be very wealthy (we felt like the country cousins although we were treated very well))....anyway, they all seemed to think this was just normal. (did I mention the grooms sister was married to a movie producer? His last movie was Charlottes Web) This crowd just seemed clueless about anything but themselves! ( I am being a bit hard...the bride's parents really do not live like this....in fact they live very modestly even though he has been very successful) And we did meet some really interesting people - like the young man who grew up on a farm in South Africa, would spend days with the Zulus in their villages...And now is an American citizen and SO proud of that.......so there were exceptions.
> > This whole thing left me feeling badly about the excess....makes north Scottsdale look dull by comparison! What a horrible waste of resources! Think of all the incredible things that someone could do with all that money and energy! Really - what is the point!
This was my reply:
> > The wedding story is amazing. I contrast it with my brother-in-law Lloyd who is getting married in July (second time for both). He was feeling guilty about the expense of the invitations, thinking it would have been more reasonable to donate the money to charity. He is having a very lovely affair at the rose park and a reception at a romantic sounding local bar/restaurant Portland.
I told him that he deserved to have a lovely celebration of this important moment and that the invitations are a symbol of that and besides, it provides a job and a living for the invitation makers which is a good thing too.
My point is that there is no shame in living a nice life. But isn't it interesting where we each would draw our own line between nice and excess? We live in challenging times....read on....
Paris Hilton went home! For a day! It should be noted that the decision was made by the sheriff, contrary to the court's ruling. This is not an unusual situation. People are turned away from our jail all the time. This past spring there was a huge fiasco when the jail entry requirements were changed to require that each potential prisoner jump through hoops proving medical fitness. If they did not have the right papers to self surrender, home they were sent (and back to court for another ticket to get in). This is tantamount to changing a judge's order, something I just don't think is contemplated by our constitution.
Then how, you may ask, do the sheriffs get away with it? Their justification is fear of liability; they are simply trying to avoid a lawsuit by ruling out potential medical claims in advance. The sheriff gets sued all the time for mistreating prisoners and sometimes loses. Now, I am not defending that by any stretch, but when it rises to the level of excluding sentenced prisoners from the jail, I think we may wish to take another look.
The other day I was researching a workman's compensation claim for an on the job accident that resulted in death. Arizona has a very comprehensive workman's compensation program and it basically says that unless the death was intended by the employer the estate cannot recover from the employer beyond the amount provided for in the worker's compensation law. They can go after a third party, but try getting the information to do it!(Presumably life insurance policies and other resources would supplement this). It seemed to me that the trade off: reduced litigation for a certainty of payout/return, might not make sense in every case but that is what we have. This is a major shield for the employer.
Why then, do we not use a similar standard at the jail? It seems to me that this places prisoners in the position of having far more access to the tort system than upstanding, hard working employees. Does this make sense? So, why not employ the same standard in the jails that we do in the workplace? There is always the ballot box to keep the sheriff in check; do we really need the tort system on top of that?
> > We had a very interesting experience in Napa Valley prior to arriving up here (in Bend Oregon for the summer-they are retired and very smart). We attended the wedding of my college roommate's daughter. They live in Darien, CT - but the groom's family is from Piedmont (very posh neighborhood in the bay area) and both the bride and groom work in LA. This is the young woman who manages the private art collection for a movie mogul. (he called her an hour before the wedding to tell her to negotiate a sale before her wedding!)
> > Anyway, this was the most unreal wedding experience I've ever seen... A multiple day/event occasion. The reception was at the Culinary Institute of America (which is in the old Christian Brothers winery/castle) - cocktails on the patio at dusk overlooking Napa Valley - dinner in the cask room....candlelit, rose petals on the floor, flowers EVERYWHERE - an orchestra and singing waiters (like opera singers) - not to mention a gourmet meal.......The wedding and reception was relatively small maybe 100. But then on Sat night they had a black tie dinner /dance in another castle..for 250! (we missed this event...)
The attendees all seemed to be very wealthy (we felt like the country cousins although we were treated very well))....anyway, they all seemed to think this was just normal. (did I mention the grooms sister was married to a movie producer? His last movie was Charlottes Web) This crowd just seemed clueless about anything but themselves! ( I am being a bit hard...the bride's parents really do not live like this....in fact they live very modestly even though he has been very successful) And we did meet some really interesting people - like the young man who grew up on a farm in South Africa, would spend days with the Zulus in their villages...And now is an American citizen and SO proud of that.......so there were exceptions.
> > This whole thing left me feeling badly about the excess....makes north Scottsdale look dull by comparison! What a horrible waste of resources! Think of all the incredible things that someone could do with all that money and energy! Really - what is the point!
This was my reply:
> > The wedding story is amazing. I contrast it with my brother-in-law Lloyd who is getting married in July (second time for both). He was feeling guilty about the expense of the invitations, thinking it would have been more reasonable to donate the money to charity. He is having a very lovely affair at the rose park and a reception at a romantic sounding local bar/restaurant Portland.
I told him that he deserved to have a lovely celebration of this important moment and that the invitations are a symbol of that and besides, it provides a job and a living for the invitation makers which is a good thing too.
My point is that there is no shame in living a nice life. But isn't it interesting where we each would draw our own line between nice and excess? We live in challenging times....read on....
Paris Hilton went home! For a day! It should be noted that the decision was made by the sheriff, contrary to the court's ruling. This is not an unusual situation. People are turned away from our jail all the time. This past spring there was a huge fiasco when the jail entry requirements were changed to require that each potential prisoner jump through hoops proving medical fitness. If they did not have the right papers to self surrender, home they were sent (and back to court for another ticket to get in). This is tantamount to changing a judge's order, something I just don't think is contemplated by our constitution.
Then how, you may ask, do the sheriffs get away with it? Their justification is fear of liability; they are simply trying to avoid a lawsuit by ruling out potential medical claims in advance. The sheriff gets sued all the time for mistreating prisoners and sometimes loses. Now, I am not defending that by any stretch, but when it rises to the level of excluding sentenced prisoners from the jail, I think we may wish to take another look.
The other day I was researching a workman's compensation claim for an on the job accident that resulted in death. Arizona has a very comprehensive workman's compensation program and it basically says that unless the death was intended by the employer the estate cannot recover from the employer beyond the amount provided for in the worker's compensation law. They can go after a third party, but try getting the information to do it!(Presumably life insurance policies and other resources would supplement this). It seemed to me that the trade off: reduced litigation for a certainty of payout/return, might not make sense in every case but that is what we have. This is a major shield for the employer.
Why then, do we not use a similar standard at the jail? It seems to me that this places prisoners in the position of having far more access to the tort system than upstanding, hard working employees. Does this make sense? So, why not employ the same standard in the jails that we do in the workplace? There is always the ballot box to keep the sheriff in check; do we really need the tort system on top of that?
Friday, June 1, 2007
Simple Summer Pasta Recipe
Inspired by the AZ Republic Food Section story on simple pasta dishes that ran 5/30/07 and by the veggies in my fridge, I threw this together last night. It was easy and delicious.
1/2 pound of fresh sweet pea pods string removed
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 leek, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 medium sized yellow crook neck squash, halved and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp each chopped fresh basil and oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1 cup chopped arugula
1 pound capellini or thin spaghetti
1 ounce Emmanthaler or Parmesan cheese freshly (and finely) grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring water to boil for pasta and throw in pea pods for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile in about 1 T of olive oil saute onions and garlic for about 1 minutes. Add squash and cook stirring often until the squash begins to soften. Add tomatoes, with juices, herbs and arugula. Salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook while the pasta is cooking, which you should add to the water and peas now as it only takes about 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta/peas and place in a large bowl. Top with sauteed vegetables and toss to combine, adding about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to moisten as needed.
Serve topped with cheese.
Makes a ton.
1/2 pound of fresh sweet pea pods string removed
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 leek, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 medium sized yellow crook neck squash, halved and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp each chopped fresh basil and oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1 cup chopped arugula
1 pound capellini or thin spaghetti
1 ounce Emmanthaler or Parmesan cheese freshly (and finely) grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring water to boil for pasta and throw in pea pods for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile in about 1 T of olive oil saute onions and garlic for about 1 minutes. Add squash and cook stirring often until the squash begins to soften. Add tomatoes, with juices, herbs and arugula. Salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook while the pasta is cooking, which you should add to the water and peas now as it only takes about 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta/peas and place in a large bowl. Top with sauteed vegetables and toss to combine, adding about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to moisten as needed.
Serve topped with cheese.
Makes a ton.
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