:: groupthink ::

:: Saturday, November 30, 2002 ::

This is my first official 'blog' so let's hope it works. Being in grad school (and paying a lofty sum to be here), I feel like I should have something profound to say about the world and where we are and where it's going...and I do, don't get me wrong. But I will save those for another bout of insomnia. For now, I will leave on this blog a simple movie recommendation. See a film called Ararat. It's about the Armenian genocide and it's worth your time. It's not the best movie i've ever seen, but it's good and the message is important, especially in these times. Seems the world has forgotten the Armenian genocide in which the Turks slaughtered over a million Armenian Turkish citizens during WWI. The movie weaves a blend of reality and fiction in this tale of a boy who looks for some proof of his family's and his people's history. The film plays with the viewers perception of reality on several different levels 'till you're not sure what is supposed to be real or true.

...a point that was driven home for me when I left the theater and saw a movie promotional poster in a NYC bustop. Mark your calendars...Michael Keaton is starring in a new Hollywood blockbuster about a journalist covering the Gulf War. Just in time to kick off Gulf War II. What serendipitous timing.....another history lesson for the ages told with the wisdom, context and truth of Hollywood's bottom line.
:: Rachel 10:04 PM [+] ::
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Last week, I had to stand in line for a visa at the Indian consulate in San Francisco. They have a ticket-dispenser like you'd see in a deli. I pulled a number. It was 85. They were just calling the number 14 over the loudspeaker. It looked like it was going to be a boring two-hour wait before I could hand my application at the window.

I looked over to my right. A pixieish Asian woman dressed all in red was standing there. She had a bookbag under her arm. A little dog's head was poking out from one side. A mischievous-looking, bright-eyed dog with tufts of hair like a bathroom rug. A Yorkshire terrier. The woman looked vaguely familiar. I tried to recall where I'd seen her before. The previous month, perhaps? An author? A speaker at the New Yorker festival? The flash of memory was so sudden that I blurted out to her, "You're Amy Tan!". She seemed pleased to be recognized, standing in a line of a hundred people at a dreary consulate.

I hadn't read any of her books, not even "The Joy Luck Club". But the essay she'd read that night at the Bowery Ballroom had brought tears to my eyes. Maybe it was the commonality of the immigrant experience. The piece, "Mother Tongue", knocked me down with its sincerity and its power.
:: Sukumar 10:49 PM [+] ::
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Of Mustaches and Hemlines

According to this research paper, men grow mustaches in times when competition for marriageable women is fierce. Inversely, when there are more women then men, and competition for women is low, men tend to be clean shaven.

Apparently, mustaches and beards make men look more virile, manly, and probably more successful and wealthy. Basically, good marriage material. However, the research also shows that women think cleanshaven men are more reliable and trustworthy, in great part because you can read their facial expressions clearly without having to guess what smirk may be lurking behind that walrus mustache. You can also see their identity more clearly. You have a better sense of who they are, without the mustache “masking” a part of their face.

Interestingly, the researcher also found that when the marriage market is favorable for women, their hemlines get lower and they tend to go in for a more coy reproductive strategy.

Does all this mean that the current marriage market is more favorable to men than to women? According to this research, it would certainly seem so. Men are cleanshaven and hemlines have practically merged with pantylines.

:: Seema 1:11 PM [+] ::
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who pays for the President's flights?

i'm sure its a tipping point sort of thing- but i've been wondering as have others for the past few weeks who picks up the President's tab when it comes to flying in airforce one during political campaigns and the like. this is by no means a new question, in nosing around the General Accounting Office's website, i found a little note in 1972 (pdf) from the comptroller of the US to senator Lawton Chiles in order to help answer a contituent's similar concern.

while i haven't found the exact info. on this year's campaign related flights, or even domestic travel guidlines links, i've come across some interesting documents available to all thanks to the good ol' internet.

in 1999 the gao delivered a report to a senator saying that they had reviewed guidlines set forth in 1992, that the office of management and budget was getting better and setting the rules (because pre 1992- it was pretty much free for all but a few people) but that the department of defense admitted that they were sluffing on the bill collection, sometimes 2 years behind, sometimes up to 6 years behind. imagine united airlines forgetting to bill you for 6 years after a flight.

apparently some members of congress wanted to see how the most frequent flying President in history was spending tax payer dollars as well. let me link you to the 7 meg+ file (meaning very large- 50 page document) regarding costs. in summary - fixed wing transport- meaning air force one, and supporting aircraft for the President/ VP, first lady and others the President designates on foreign trips between the years 1997-2000 cost a total of $292 MILLION dollars. they have breakdowns in there of which aircraft was flown on which trip and for how long- to which country. its truly remarkable. did you know that an hour in the air force one we all think of- the big 747 costs on average $50,000 to run?

the light answer-
a simple google search turned up a story from the dailypress.com which is restricted for users so i publish it here noting their copyright and citing that it was posted on their website as of two days ago.

Bush never pays to fly on Air Force One
Pernell Watson

November 17 2002

Q Is President George W. Bush compensating the government for the cost of using Air Force One to travel on his recent campaign swing around the country? - C.K., Yorktown

ANo matter the purpose of the trip, the government picks up the tab for Air Force One, the president's Secret Service and the staff members who travel with him.

For other expenses, the White House employs a decades-old formula that splits costs between campaigns and the government based on how much of the trip is devoted to the president's job versus party politics. The calculation used by both Democratic and Republican administrations keeps taxpayers from financing fund-raising appearances.

For example, Bush attended a fund-raiser for a Senate candidate in Missouri on June 11. Because a stop was scheduled at a water treatment plant to inspect its readiness for potential terrorist threats, the government picked up some of the costs for the visit. In October, the Missouri Republican Party, not taxpayers, paid for a campaign rally featuring President Bush.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic whip in the Senate, has called on the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, to investigate Bush's campaign travels and find out how much it is costing the taxpayers. Reid charged the president was devoting an excessive amount of time attending political fund-raisers before the last election.

The request was referred to the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Copyright © 2002, Daily Press

:: h 1:23 AM [+] ::
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rolf's eden
great little story on npr this wknd about germany's playboy hanging up his spurs... a man by the name of rolf eden- a nightclub owner extraordinare- now in his 70s is selling his namesake nightclub and has in his will among other things- the clause that if he is to die in the moment of passion- the woman is to be paid $250,000. needless to say, there has been fan mail.
:: h 10:53 PM [+] ::
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a night's read featuring bombs/babes and badboy laws

james beatty of the atlantic makes his case against first strike through parallels with the cuban missle crisis, points to how the operations will be far from a cakewalk and have motivations in oil.

a couple of pieces related to women's issues crossed the radar... a piece from the utne regarding a review of book/methodology of a charm school that teaches "pushy" women in the workplace to be more feminine. perhaps another backlash against feminism piece was from the executive editor of the national review who wrote an incisive background criticism of the woman who is taking on Augusta (golf club which is restrcited to men).

finally a somewhat frightening piece in the christian science monitor on the hidden gems of the patriot act and the upcoming homeland security bill. your email- is everyone's business.

:: h 1:28 AM [+] ::
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A tribute to my (Erica's) grandfather, please enjoy:

Centenarian Dr. E. Fritz Schmerl of Piedmont, CA died on
October 29, 2002, ending a bright life dedicated to
family, medicine, service, music, nature, community,
social justice, Judaism, learning and intellectual
pursuits. As a highly respected physician, teacher,
community leader, father, friend and colleague, many
across the Bay Area and world will miss him dearly.
Dr. Schmerl was born in Riessen, Germany on December
20, 1901. He grew up as one of four brothers in
Leipzig; was a diligent student, delighted in music,
and eventually became an accomplished musicologist and
musician, playing the drums, clarinet, flute, and
piano, all of which brought him great pleasure
throughout his life. His medical training was in
Berlin, where he specialized in internal medicine and
infectious diseases, and met and married his lifelong
partner and companion Margaret E. "Gretl" Schmerl.
In 1931, the newly wed couple, along with Fritz's
treasured friend and colleague Max Eichwald, escaped
Nazi Germany, and spent 1931-33 in Guangzhou, China,
where they taught at a local hospital. By 1935, both
couples had found their way to Piedmont, and Fritz
opened a private practice in Oakland, beginning a long
and fruitful career of contribution to the SF Bay
Area. He said that when he arrived in the U.S., as he
sailed in under the Golden Gate Bridge, he thought he
was in "paradise."
Dr. Schmerl's contributions to the Bay Area will long
outlive him. In addition to his private practice, he
was on staff at Merritt and Providence Hospitals, was
the Chief of Geriatrics at Fairmont Hospital for 20
years, and was a professor of Geriatrics at Chabot
College well into his eighties. He was a pioneer in
the field of geriatrics, and an early advocate of the
rights of the elderly: he founded the Ombudsmen for
Better Nursing Home Care, The Home for Jewish Parents,
coined the term "elder," and authored a book on the
aging process entitled "The Challenge of Age."
Additionally he founded the Alameda-Contra Costa
Diabetes Association and Temple Beth El. He was an
inventor and holds several patents, including the
Schmerl In-bed scale.
Dr. Schmerl was an avid outdoorsman, a supporter of
Israel, a lover of music, a true intellectual, a
cheerful poet, a deliberate sketcher and painter, a
scale collector, a moderately good carpenter, a
faithful pen pal, and a deeply appreciative and
conscious spirit. But it is possible that his greatest
accomplishment is his family. He was a dedicated and
loving family man and took the greatest pride in each
member of his clan. He is survived by three of his
four children: Marion Schwartz and husband Howard of
Piedmont, CA, James Schmerl and wife Sue of Storrs,
CT, and Catherine Lewis and husband Spencer of
Hillsboro, OR. His oldest son, Robert Schmerl died in
1996; his daughter-in-law Sarah lives in Tuscon, AZ.
He is survived by Mike and Bea Eichwald, and their two
children Peter and Eve. And also by ten grandchildren:
Peter, Andrew, Mike, Bryan, Doug, Amy, Brenda, Leah,
Erica, and Matthew. His grandson Randy Schwartz died
in 1992; his granddaughter-in-law Rebecca lives in New
Jersey. Five vibrant great grandchildren also survive
Dr. Schmerl; no doubt this list will grow.
:: E Lewis 4:36 PM [+] ::
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End the Blockade Against Cuba!?

The UN thinks so - yet again. 173-3 -- the three voting not to end it were the U.S., Israel (they know who butters their bread), and the Marshall Islands!? (I guess the U.S. is buttering their bread too). I'm wondering if this story is getting any coverage in the U.S. Note that a plane with 8 Cubans landed in Florida. The Cubans get almost instant asylum; the story is slightly different for Haitians, who by the way, have much worse poverty and illiteracy than Cubans. (Cuba is actually at the top of the heap educationally of all Latin countries.)

:: Jimbo 4:16 PM [+] ::
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pictures worth a thousand words?

its spreading across the net fairly slowly... i saw these pictures two days ago on the local news, but not much has been made of the treatment of prisoners in a C-130 transport somewhere over afghanistan. seems a soldier took it as a souvenir, and the pictures have mysteriously been emailed to news outlets. who said the switch to digital cameras isn't worth it. there was a piece in the globe and mail, one in the ny post another in the washington post, saying about the same thing.
:: h 6:20 PM [+] ::
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Does anybody know what I have to plant to grow seedless grapes?

Oliver
:: Oliver 12:16 PM [+] ::
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Stella Awards

All an Internet hoax. Let's be careful out there.

:: Al 8:28 PM [+] ::
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yum yum yum....tasty bites....ever had 'em??? they are deeee-licious.

:: newsy 7:34 PM [+] ::
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I am an investor by profession and my wife is a preventive cardiologist, so the recent brouhaha surrounding Tenet Healthcare represented a perfect intersection of sets. In the last ten trading days, this healthcare company has wiped out 18 billion dollars of shareholder money, and become the next candidate for a drubbing in the press. I can see Gretchen Morgenson licking her chops for a shot at this story in the Business section of the Sunday Times.

It started innocuously. Last Monday, in the morning list of upgrades and downgrades was one from the investment bank UBS Warburg. In a review of operating procedures, they found that one of Tenet's hospitals (in Redding, CA; it runs 115 hospitals nationwide) had a very large number of billings in "outlier procedures" for cardiac patients. These were treatments that were both rare and high-margin. Tenet was carrying out these procedures at a rate that would be considered six to eight times normal. Medicare was being stuck with the bill. The stock got beaten down by six points but recovered on an afternoon conference call from the company that provided reassurance.

The stock stabilized somewhat over the next two days, prompting the columnist Jim Cramer, a former hedge-fund manager, to sound the all-clear. Since the profit picture looked pretty robust, he advised his readers to pile on. Barely a half-hour after his missive, news came of a raid on the Redding facility by 40 federal agents. This was followed by one of those phrases that are particularly dreaded by people like me: "Stock halted".

The story was huge. The idea of doctors conducting unneeded heart surgery in order to increase their billings smacked of a bad Robin Cook novel. The stock got creamed over the next two days, down 26% last Thursday and a further 8% on Friday. It must have taken at least that much time for Cramer to wipe all that egg off his face.

The story got buried in the early part of this week by the coverage of the election. The San Diego firm of Millberg Weiss was, as usual, first out of the gate in filing a class-action suit on Monday. By Tuesday, it had been joined by four others. The two doctors concerned had conducted over 35,000 cardiac catherizations. My wife told me that under normal circumstances, about 1% of these procedures ended badly. You do the math.

Tenet was trying very hard to extricate itself from this morass. It is the second-largest health-care provider in the United States, and befitting its importance, it conducted a two-and-a-half hour conference call with Wall Street investors, to get ahead of the story. Last afternoon, after market hours, came the very worst phrase for investors, the most horribly kind of bad juju: "The CFO has resigned".

Not just Tenet but every major health stock got taken out to the woodshed this morning and pounded with a stick. With a massive deficit buildup, the last news story anyone wants to hear about is that Medicare is being defrauded. The Republicans are likely to throw the book at these companies and make them stand in the same lineup as the telcos.

As for me, I finally made that appointment at Kaiser for a class on better eating to lower cholesterol. After years of trying to get through to me that prevention was better than intervention, my wife finally understood that she had merely needed to change the format of her message: stock charts instead of breakfast-table lectures.

:: Sukumar 3:41 PM [+] ::
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research in motion (not the pda)
after watching ER last night for the first time in a while, i pieced together that Don Cheadle's character had Parkinsons- an interesting storyline to inject i suppose, considering the character is supposed to be a surgical resident. anyway... he went on a rant about new genetic research being done etc., and this morning i surfed around and found some interesting stuff... first - a piece that explained in simple terms the neurological characteristics of parkinsons, and how scientists at cornell just got fda approval to being injecting genes directly into the brains of patients. (long needles ya think?)

then an odd story in the bbc from earlier in the week that that the drug Ecstacy could aid Parkinson's patients??. ironically enough a link from this very story is to another piece from the bbc a couple of weeks ago, which said Ecstacy may TRIGGER Parkinson's??

kinda makes ya wonder about the whole nature of media and -the study of the week- mentality. but i digress.



:: h 10:44 AM [+] ::
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In Defense of Lawyers:
Below is an email sent to me by a friend. It was sent in good fun, but there is underlying theme that I hear all the time, and decided to write a little response for people to think about.

Original email sent to me:

Subject: FW: Stella Awards
What would we do without you attorneys!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _

It's time once again to consider the candidates
for the annual Stella Awards.

The Stella's are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck
who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds.
That case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous
successful lawsuits in the United States. The following are
this year's candidates:

1.Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 by
a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a
toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners
of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict,
considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

2.A 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000
and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his
hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't
notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when
he was trying to steal his neighbor's hub caps.

3.Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was
leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of
the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to
go up since the automatic door opener was
malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because
the door connecting the house and garage locked when
he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and
Mr.Dickson found himself locked in the garage for
eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found,
and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the
homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused
him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune
of $500,000.

4.Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded
$14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the
buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The
beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The
award was less than sought because the jury felt the
dog might have been just a little provoked at the time
by Mr. Williams who was shooting it repeatedly with a
pellet gun.

5.A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber
Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she
slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx
(tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms.
Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds
earlier during an argument.

6.Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued
the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when
she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and
knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while
Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in
the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover
charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.

7.This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv
Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski
purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor
home. On his first trip home, having driven onto the
freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and
calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back
and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly,
the R.V. left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the
owner's manual that he couldn't actually do this. The
jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The
company actually changed their manuals on the basis of
this suit, just in case there were any other
complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.
-------
My response:

I think it is interesting that people want to blame attorneys. Like many other things, they identify a scapegoat that relieves them of any responsibility. It's the attorneys, or its because of immigrants, or their childhood, etc. etc.

I know you sent this email in jest, but underlying it all there is a real sentiment that attorneys are to blame for these types of results. Here is my response: just as with who we have as elected officials, we the people are the ones who decide these cases. In our elections LESS THAN 40% of people get up off their asses and vote--for whatever excuse (e.g., "lesser of two evils", "my vote won't matter", "politics is controlled by special interests"). Likewise, even fewer people are unwilling to do their part to contribute to our judicial system.

THESE AWARDS WERE MADE BY JURIES--NOT LAWYERS. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has come to me in my 13 years as an attorney and asked what is the best way to get out of serving on a jury. I have heard all the excuses and reasons why it is a waste of time--yet, at the end of the day, if our best and brightest don't have time to contribute their wisdom and intellect to the judicial process, they have little room to complain about the results. And shame on them for blaming the lawyers. Yes, sometimes lawyers encourage people to bring ridiculous cases, but just as often, people encourage their lawyers to do so. And ultimately, regardless of whom was the driving force, it is a jury of citizens that have the power to award or NOT TO AWARD damages in these cases. Are people really so unclear on the concept that lawyers advocate, but that JURIES DECIDE?
------
I apologize for the long blog -- just hit a nerve today :-)

Jim Sowers
:: Jimbo 11:32 AM [+] ::
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lebowski quotes
:: l 10:25 AM [+] ::
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item
:: shock 12:20 AM [+] ::
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this is bush's favorite movie? (scroll down for image)
:: shock 11:52 PM [+] ::
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if life gets you down, go to the drive in for heaven's sake.
:: shock 11:47 PM [+] ::
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don't believe the hype any way ya'll.
:: shock 11:44 PM [+] ::
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how do u prevu?
:: shock 11:39 PM [+] ::
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well, my first post is something I found amusing -- a football (soccer) match with a score of 149-0!! But because the losing team was pissed off at the refs.
Lopsided match.


:: Jimbo 2:53 PM [+] ::
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a PITT that just gets deeper.
interesting piece in the economist about the pressures on harvey pitt - chairman of the Securities and Exchange commission to resign.

a while back on this blog- you might have followed links to a page that petitions for Pitt's resignation... heres another reason why.

in a nutshell Pitt- almost finished up appointing a chair to the new accounting oversight board- ( the board is one part of the steps America is taking to clean up the financial world through - Senator Paul Sarbanes' Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 - also- for your convenience a summary from Senator Sarbanes upon passage in the Senate.) but i digress.

a guy by the name of William Webster is who Pitt agreed on. 78 year old Webster has been former head of both the FBI and CIA. it was a 3-2 vote, Pitt casting the deciding vote along with 2 other republicans- opposing 2 other dems on the board- but that ain't the story. turns out that mr. Webster had chaired - even led the audit committee of a company named U.S. Technologies during a time when investors were suing it for u guessed it- fraud. is this the right individual to be running the accounting oversight board? mr. Webster even says, he'll step down if this would give the board a bad name.

so then came the question- did PITT- the nation's numero uno macheesemo mouse of the SEC- he who lays down the law (and enforces it) on the financial world- know of mr. Webster's previous role. mr. Webster says- yeah- 'i told him before this process got all in a tizzy'. so now what? 4 separate inquiries- including one from Mr. Pitt himself into the way the nominations occurr. you need a program to keep up the action here folks. there was in fact another frontrunner for the job- a man by the name of John Biggs- a man who heads the largest pension fund in the country- TIAA-CREFF (a teacher's pension fund) and who had said out loud in the past that he wanted to shake things up in the accounting world. get this- one of the commissioners of the SEC - Harvey Goldschmidt actually came flat out in a speech and said how much this whole thing stinks.

heres WHY YOU SHOULD PAY ATTENTION - its simple. this is the process that partisan politics will get you. the Bush administration has been standing behind Harvey Pitt for quite some time now, and aren't saying or doing anything out loud to chastise Pitt for his poor judgment. the leadership of the financial regulatory world should be of concern for all citizens (and greencard holders) or holders of any single stock, mutual fund, etc. if these are the situational ethics being practiced by the top-dog- ie witholding key information from other commissioners on appointments, and even exercising such little discretion in his choices for appointment to such crucial roles, how can we expect the financial systems to reform?

tis all.

:: h 12:50 AM [+] ::
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