journalism scandal

jose was in the twin cities looking at the u of m medical school over the weekend. jose interviewed with dr. steven miles, 2004 minnesotan of the year. it was great to talk with jose. on saturday night we had a little reunion of sorts, including jose, ziyad, and el klinker. significant others were there as well, i don't want to slight anybody.

anyway, jose recommended a book to me:
understanding health policy: a clinical approach
by thomas s. bodenheimer and kevin grumbach

while i was looking for the author of the book i found a pdf with a primer on state health care spending.

the time is nearing for the winter trip up north to the hovland hideaway.
here's the forecast for hovland, minnesota (highs and lows):
friday -7/-20
saturday -5/-15
sunday 4/-4
monday 8/0

in other news, william safire of the new york times is obviously reading my blog. on friday i wrote about how my child had asked me about why god let the tsunami happen. why do bad things happen to good people. i alluded to the philosophy of dr. pangloss in voltaire's candide, which challenged the existence of god after a huge earthquake in 1755 devastated lisbon. the earthquake killed over 100,000 people and was followed by a tsunami and fire, resulting in near total destruction.

let me digress. there is a poem by oliver wendell holmes called the deacon's masterpiece or the wonderful one-hoss shay. it refers to the lisbon earthquake. it is also a humorous poem about the weakest link, or lack thereof. a shay is a horse-drawn carriage.

back to my point. today, monday january 10, william safire of the new york times wrote his editorial about why god let the tsunami happen. he wrote about voltaire's candide. he also wrote about the book of job, which is a good book but based on a rather ridiculous premise.

god: job is a good man.

satan: job is a good man but he will betray you if fortune frowns on him. god, you are not all-powerful and cannot see into the future of men. so let us make a bet on what will happen to job if he is tested by you, the somewhat-powerful.

god: good idea satan. i have no idea what will happen in the future. i am not outside of time. i fly by the seat of my pants from day to day. sometimes i feel like i'm sitting in the back seat of a speeding car. anyway, i’ll take your bet satan.

angel: god, you are so gambling.

god: shut up.

i can’t focus. my point is william safire uses my blog to get ideas for his editorials.