March 31, 2006
Matters Of Principle
After a lot of thought, I've decided to move my money out of TCF Bank. The notion that my hard-earned cash is supporting those wingnuts over at Powerline finally became too noxious for me to tolerate in good conscience. I opened an account this morning at Affinity Plus Credit Union and the difference in service was immediately apparent. The person who helped me set up the account was quite pleasant and it felt like I was dealing with a real person rather than a corporate cog. I also like the idea that a non-profit is managing my money. I'm not thrilled about having to edit all of my automatic withdrawal information, but I can accomplish that on a Sunday afternoon. I think I'm also going to set up an interest-bearing savings account at one of those on-line banks like ING. If I'm going to do all that traveling I discuss here, I'd better start replenishing my funds.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)
March 30, 2006
Hell Is Other People
To the woman I rode up with on the elevator today: I'm sure you're a great person, but it really wasn't necessary to speak to me like I'm a lobotomized toddler. It's people like you that make me think I should, before every social interaction with a stranger, hand him or her a business card that says, "I'm a 32-year-old man with an attorney's license, a full-time job, and a violent distaste for condescension." It's people like you that can make life so damn exhausting sometimes because 90% percent of the population sees me the same way you do. It's people like you that make me want to buy an island somewhere and invite all my gimpy friends to live there with me so I don't have to prove myself to anyone ever again.
But my nurse thought you were hot, so I guess you have that going for you.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:19 PM | Comments (2)
March 29, 2006
Land Of The Rising Sun
One place still on my list of Places to See in the World is Japan (Tokyo, specifically). I've always thought of Japan as a country that isn't terribly accommodating to people with disabilities, but those perceptions were corrected when I read Tom Shakespeare's article on his visit to an accessible Tokyo. Maybe I can become one of those celebrities who is virtually unknown in America but who is a minor deity in Japan. I just have to do something that appeals to Japanese sensibilities, like inventing a wheelchair that can transform into a sixty-foot-tall battle droid capable of leveling entire cities.
Honestly, I don't get most Japanese anime. Lots of maladjusted protagonists with destructive impulses and the creepy, doe-eyed, hypersexualized women who love them. Bleh.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:25 PM | Comments (3)
March 28, 2006
Critic At Large: Case Histories
Case Histories is ostensibly a mystery novel, but it's really about loss, the ways in which life can violently veer out of control, and how people endure in the wake of tragedies that rob them of the ones they love. The novel weaves together the stories of three separate families, each of them seeking ways to heal long-open wounds inflicted by another's death or disappearance. While Kate Atkinson paints an unflinchingly bleak and desolate picture of human existence, she imbues the book with moments of dry humor--scattered asides and observations that her characters make in the midst of even the most horrific of circumstance. Like a lot of British writers, Atkinson understands that the world isn't necessarily a good or safe place, but that sometimes people need to laugh in the face of its assorted cruelties.
I need to pick up my reading pace. Next up, Stephen King's Cell or Ian McEwans's Saturday, depending on my mood. I'm also looking for nonfiction recommendations.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:54 PM | Comments (1)
March 27, 2006
Rethinking That Vacation To Pyongyang
Reuters reports that North Korea has very few, if any, citizens with disabilities. One physician who fled North Korea alleges that infants with disabilities are killed soon after birth as part of government-sanctioned efforts to maintain the "purity" of the North Korean people. Assuming this is true, I suppose it's not exactly shocking news. Authoritarian regimes are fond of segregating and even exterminating people with disabilities for purposes related to both eugenics and propaganda. After all, you can't boast of your people's genetic superiority if people with disabilities are mugging for the news cameras and making a nuisance of themselves. If North Korea's isolation ever ends, I would be very interested in learning the true scope of its maltreatment and abuse of people with disabilities.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:58 PM | Comments (1)
March 26, 2006
Getting My Groove On
The Kleptones, the mashup artists response for the Queen-inspired A Night at the Hip-Hopera, just released a new album entitled 24 Hours. I'm going to give it a listen and post my thoughts later.
A friend asked me to post a link to his burgeoning on-line business, Getella. I so don't have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. I can barely sell my allotted tickets for a fundraiser next Sunday.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2006
Traditions Are Meant To Be Broken
I just returned from my DFL Senate District Convention. This is the first time I attended a District Convention and I'm feeling a little ambivalent about the process. I won't get into a detailed explanation of the arcane rules behind subcaucusing, but it seems to me that there must be better, more efficient ways of promoting grassroots involvement in the political process. But the key word in the previous sentence is "arcane." The rationale for what we were doing was never clearly explained and I'm not sure how it contributes to selecting a better slate of candidates. Perhaps that's simply the nature of the beast. To paraphrase Will Rogers, I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat.
I'm tempted to limit my political involvement to contributing money to the candidates I support and voting on Election Day, but I think the temporary cynicism I'm feeling will pass. I just need to find a way to engage in politics that is more meaningful to me.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:14 PM | Comments (1)
March 24, 2006
Kindred Spirit
Hero Joy Nightingale is a young woman living in the UK who has "locked-in" syndrome, a congenital disability that makes it nearly impossible for her to speak or move. Hero is also a writer of immense talent. Her essays are full of dry humor and poignant observations of her own life and its daily struggles. She has a keen sense of how others perceive her and she is blunt in expressing her own fears and frustrations. She used to edit a webzine entitled From the Window, which included guest essays from Kofi Annan and Stephen Hawking. She made mention of plans to attend Oxford in 2003, but she seems to have fallen off the Web since then. If anyone knows what happened to her, I'd love to know.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:20 PM | Comments (1)
March 23, 2006
Remember, Remember The Fifth Of November
V for Vendetta is the kind of movie that would normally spark angry letter-writing campaigns led by Focus on the Family and Concerned Women for America, those defenders of delicate conservative sensibilities. However, I think the film's comic book roots and somewhat obscure title have kept it under the radar of those who would find it most objectionable. I read the book before seeing the film and, to be honest, I'm not sure why Alan Moore insisted on having his name removed from the credits. The film is generally faithful to the book, but with some changes to account for the the technological/political shifts that have occurred since the book was first written. I especially enjoyed the film's depiction of the "Valerie" sequence (those who have read the book or seen the movie will know what I'm talking about). Hugo Weaving is appropriately charismatic and sinister as Codename V. Natalie Portman demonstrates that she's much more comfortable acting on a real set rather than in front of a green screen. And she looks great with or without hair.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:47 PM | Comments (2)
March 22, 2006
Infidel
A new study done by the University of Minnesota reveals that atheists are the country's most distrusted minority. I continue to find it amusing that some people try to accuse atheists of promoting some sort of secular religion, the ultimate aim of which is to turn every church to rubble and legally mandate bacchanalian orgies in front of every elementary school in America. I read one post somewhere on the Internet that said, "Atheism is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby." While I long for the day when atheism isn't regarded as malevolent ideology, I will not waste my time writing screeds exhorting the masses to abandon faith and embrace humanist ideals. But this study might prompt me to shelve any political aspirations I might have. Instead, I might have to infiltrate the staff of some innocuous Unitarian or Congregationalist and use his or her office to promote my godless agenda.
I do get some comfort from the fact that liberal men are better in bed, which assures me that there is some small degree of justice to be found in the universe.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:18 PM | Comments (1)
March 21, 2006
Dissing My Elders
I was skimming Newsweek last night and came across an article about how the fashions of the boomers are making a comeback. A few weeks ago, Newsweek's cover story was on sex and boomer women. Now, I have nothing against boomers as people. After all, I'm the child of boomers. But the boomer stranglehold on our culture must end. We don't need another Rolling Stones album. We don't need the return of shoulder pads. And we definitely don't need any more articles breathlessly praising boomers for being the saviors of American pop culture. Yes, they made some good music. They gave us the Peace Corps. But honestly, they made a mess of things; messes that will take generations to clean up. The least they can do is stop inundating us with remakes of Bewitched and Charlie's Angels.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:49 PM | Comments (1)
March 20, 2006
War Without End
Today is the third anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq, a conflict that Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said would last "five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that."
2,318 American soldiers have died during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
7,912 American soldiers have been wounded.
At least 33,000 Iraqis have lost their lives.
As of March 31, 2006, Operation Iraqi Freedom will cost American taxpayers $250 billion dollars.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:30 PM | Comments (1)
March 19, 2006
For The Anal Librarian In Me
I've been on the lookout for a Windows-equivalent of Delicious Monster, the software that helps users catalog their books, DVDs, etc. MediaMan seems to be just that. I spent some time this morning playing with it and I like the simplicity of the interface. You can add items by entering ISBN numbers or scanning barcodes with a webcam (something I don't yet have). For someone who can't easily scan shelves that are above or below eye level, this is an ideal way for me to track my media collection. It might also help me remember how many unread books and unwatched DVDs I have, thereby shaming me from making any impulsive purchases.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:08 PM | Comments (1)
March 18, 2006
Pass The Popcorn
Lots of Hollywood movies like to dress themselves in fancy, vaguely cryptic titles that are designed to convey said film's profundity and deep symbolism. Think 21 Grams. Think House of Sand and Fog . But some movie titles exhibit sheer brilliance in their elegant simplicity. Witness:
Snakes on a Plane
It's about snakes. On a plane. What more do you need to know? Since it stars Samuel L. Jackson, it might more appropriately be titled:
Snakes on a Motherfuckin' Plane
If you are so incredibly dense as to require an overview of the plot, here's a trailer. I didn't go to midnight showings of any of the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings films, but I totally want to see this movie at midnight with a large group of irony-gifted friends. The sheer levels of absurdity implicit in film's title leave me feeling giddy and lightheaded. I'm also beginning work on plot treatments for the slew of shamelessly derivative movies that are sure to cash in on the original's success. Tell me what you think of these titles:
Tarantulas in a Motherfuckin' Hospital
Wasps on a Motherfuckin' Elevator
Scorpions on a Motherfuckin' Submarine
This one's a little more highbrow:
Escaped Penguins from a Secret Military Weapons Program in a Motherfuckin' Art Gallery
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2006
One Last Bioethics Lecture For The Week
A UK judge ruled earlier this week that a hospital could not, against the wishes of the parents, turn off the ventilator of a 19-month old child known only as Baby MB. The child has an extremely severe form of spinal muscular atrophy, even more severe than my own form of the condition. The judge ruled that the child is likely fully aware of his environment and takes pleasure from simple things like watching cartoons and being with his parents. However, the hospital is not obligated to revive the child if he goes into cardiac arrest or administer antibiotics if he develops a respiratory infection.
It's difficult for me to read about this case and not relate it to my own circumstances. When I read some of the statements that medical experts made during trial about the child's perceived quality of life, I cringe. They would probably make a similar assessment of my quality of life, even though I would strong disagree with them. But I also don't think we can avoid discussions regarding the appropriate use of limited medical resources. Would the judge have ruled any differently if the child had been severely brain damaged? Should we look at a person's functional level of cognition when deciding whether to devote thousands, possibly millions, of public dollars to caring for that person over a lifetime? Do I have a fundamental right to consume all of the resources that keep me alive and comfortable?
I'm not saying I want to be tossed in a ditch and left for the wolves (although I'm afraid the wolves wouldn't find me terribly filling). Cases like this illustrate the monumental difficulties of establishing standards for allocating limited health care resources, should that ever become necessary. Let's hope we can fix our broken health care system before we reach that point. In the meantime, I wish Baby MB and his family the best.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:33 PM | Comments (1)
March 16, 2006
Brainstorming The Future
I may be meeting with a City of Minneapolis official in the next few weeks to discuss plans for making the city's forthcoming WiFi network accessible and affordable to people with disabilities. Here's the idea I'm currently toying with. The city will be contracting with one or more private providers to operate the network. I'd like to see the contract include a provision that requires the provider(s) to set aside a certain amount of money for an "assistive technology fund." People with disabilities who live in Minneapolis and meet certain income guidelines could access the fund to purchase a computer and/or assistive technology to use with that computer. In addition, the monthly subscription fee for accessing the network would be discounted for qualifying people with disabilities. I'd love to see a computer distribution system for all low-income residents, but people with disabilities face additional challenges because they may not be able to easily get to a public terminal in a library or community center. Furthermore, those computers may not be equipped with the appropriate assistive technology specific to a person's disability.
My first task is to research any existing best practices in terms of making municipal WiFi accessible and affordable to people with disabilities; I'm not expecting to find much since municipal WiFi is still a nascent concept. But anyone with ideas or leads on best practices should definitely send them my way.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:07 PM | Comments (3)
March 15, 2006
Dispatches From The Culture Wars
Nearly a year after the fracas surrounding Terry Schiavo, a Minnesota legislator has cast himself in the role of a champion of disability rights. Tim Wilkin, a Republican House representative, has introduced a bill that forces medical providers to place feeding tubes in patients that do not have a living will or other "clear and convincing" evidence of their wishes. The bill is entitled the "Minnesota Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Prevention Act." It sounds noble, doesn't it? All across Minnesota, people with disabilities must be slowly wasting away while their loved ones stand at their bedsides, gleefully rubbing their hands together and muttering "Excellent!" Somebody should call the newspapers.
I don't understand what this bill is trying to achieve. It would strip family members and designated proxies of the ability to make decisions about an individual's nutrition and hydration, but it's completely silent on other interventions like artificial ventilation, dialysis, or countless other procedures. Why the fixation on food and water? Is being forcibly fed somehow seen as less intrusive than being forcibly intubated?
I'm trying really hard to understand the logic behind this bill, because on first blush it reads like a manipulative and cynical exploitation of one family's tragedy for political gain.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:56 PM | Comments (3)
March 14, 2006
Bringing Home The Bacon
A big shoutout to my brother Scott, who was just offered a faculty position with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. It's a bit weird to imagine my uber-liberal brother teaching a classroom full of uniformed cadets, but perhaps some of his progressivism will rub off on them. Let's hope there are no hazing rituals involved. And, holy crap, you would not believe the sweet salary and benefits package they're giving him. I need to score myself a job with the federal government at some point.
I'm proud of you, little brother. But I do expect you to buy me a nice dinner when I come out to Monterey. And if you do rent a place in San Francisco for the weekends, make sure it's accessible.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:01 PM | Comments (1)
March 13, 2006
In Which I Offer My Unsolicited Opinions On Assorted And Varied Matters Of Art And Politics
The first part of last night's concert: great. The New Pornographers gave energetic renditions of songs like "Use It" and "The Bleeding Heart Show." Neko Case wasn't with the band because she's on tour with her own album, but new band member (and niece of frontman AC Newman) Kathryn Calder did a lovely job on vocals. Her voice is a little mellower and less showy than Neko's, but she still sounded sweet and strong on the solos and choruses. They didn't do an encore, which was unfortunate because I wanted to hear more. The second part: meh. Not to denigrate the Belle and Sebastian fans out there, but I was a bit bored during their performance. I think their musical style is simply too precious for me. The band encouraged people to get up and dance a couple times, which made me think, "People really dance to this stuff?" I left before the concert was over, which is a rare occurrence for me.
I'm urging everyone to call or fax your senators and urge them to support Senator Russ Feingold's resolution to censure the President. If we can impeach a president for lying about getting a blow job, then it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to merely censure a president who admitted that he illegally ordered the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens. The justifications some Republicans are offering--that this a time of war and that Congress authorized the President to do whatever was necessary to prosecute this apparently endless war on terror--are dishonest and cynical. As much as I criticize the current state of the nation, I still cling to the belief that we can be a truly great society if we hold true to the civic ideals we learned in grade school, including the rule of law and the power of Congress to balance the power of the president. Perhaps unwittingly, this President has defiled those fundamental principles and it's time to hold him accountable.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:03 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2006
Open Invitation
The New York Times recently ran a story about the ethics of piggybacking on a neighbor's wireless hotspot. Most residential wireless hotspots are unencrypted because the owner never bothers to activate the router's security features, which makes the hotspot available to anyone who is within range of the signal. A few people purposely leave their networks unencrypted as a sort of public service to the neighborhood, but most open networks are the result of neglect, not civic virtue. I've debated leaving my network open to my neighbors, but the potential risks of a slower internet connection and unauthorized access to my personal files are significant enough for me to dismiss the idea. Besides, a quick scan of the available hotspots in the immediate vicinity reveals that there are plenty of other options for any freeloaders in my building.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2006
Go West, Young Man
I was checking out the lineup for this year's Coachella Music Festival and it's impressive. Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Bloc Party, and The Magic Numbers are just a few of the acts that I'd love to see. If I had a little more in the way of spare cash, I'd give serious thought to flying out there for that weekend. Perhaps that's something I can start thinking about for next year. I haven't been to California in a while and maybe I could do make a vacation out of it.
But in the meantime, I have tickets to The New Pornographers and Belle & Sebastian tomorrow evening at the Orpheum. I'm not a huge B&S fan and I don't really get why they're the headlining act. As far as I'm concerned, Neko Case could spend two hours on stage with a ukulele and a microphone and I'd be a happy customer.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2006
Do-Gooders
I had lunch today with a friend from law school. We were talking about how few of our classmates we keep in touch with. The conversation turned to our law student days and my friend said, "It [law school] was full of Republicans. I thought there would be more people like me, people who wanted to change the world, but most of them only seemed concerned with how much their paychecks would be." And she kind of had a point. When I got to law school, I quickly realized I had no interest in any sort of private practice and I never really felt like I had much in common with most of my classmates. The few lasting friends I have from my law student days are all people who chose public interest or nontraditional career paths. I'm not implying that law school primarily attracts greedy, self-centered people (although there were times when I was ready to drop out and go to grad school), but I think the culture of law school is unavoidably geared towards preparing students for private practice. Unfortunately, those of us who were interested in other options sometimes felt a little marginalized.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:07 PM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2006
Artistic Vision
City Pages is running a great profile of Serik Kulmaeshkenov, an extremely talented Minneapolis artist who has a visual impairment. A few years ago, the Department of Human Services and VSA Arts did a joint call for poster art that promotes the employment of people with disabilities. Serik submitted one of the winning designs and it remains my favorite of the bunch. You can see a thumbnail of his poster here (PDF format). It's the second one from the left; the one with the astronauts. Maybe I can find a better scan of it on my work computer. The article discusses Serik's work designing bookplates and I'm glad that he continues to get commissions.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2006
Quick, Do Stuart Smalley!
I bet my precinct caucus had more celebrities than yours. I arrived a few minutes late and as I was settling in, I glanced at the person sitting across from me. "Hey," I thought, "that guy looks like Al Franken." And I had a very good reason for thinking that because he was, in fact, Al Franken. Apparently, we're neighbors. He was quite attentive during the caucus process and acted as the unofficial vote counter for the assorted delegate elections. We chatted for a couple minutes after the caucus was finished and he was unassuming and pleasant. I've heard the rumors that Franken might be considering a run for the Senate in 2008 and I have no idea if his presence at the caucus was in any way connected with those plans.
But now that I know he lives nearby, I'm going to try inviting him to my next party in a shameless effort to impress my friends.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:26 PM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2006
Equal Treatment
Our state legislators are giving some overdue attention to Minnesota's publicly funded mental health care system. For too long, Minnesotans who were enrolled in state-funded health care programs lacked access to the same range of mental health care services that were available to people on Medical Assistance. A panel of mental health professionals and consumers is now proposing that anyone enrolled in a public health care program should have access to a comprehensive set of mental health benefits. The proposal also envisions a statewide crisis intervention system, increased payment for some mental health providers, and more resources to school-based mental health care for children.
These recommendations would bring much more uniformity to a mental health system that currently varies from county to county. It also gives a significantly larger number of people better access to the services they need to live independently in their communities. Legislators on both sides of the aisle are making favorable remarks about the proposal, which is a hopeful sign of its eventual enactment. Perhaps once the Legislature finishes restructuring the public mental health system, it can turn its attention to the disparities between mental and physical health care in the private insurance market.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2006
Surprise Decision
Crash was the best movie of the year? Really? I'm not saying the film was utterly horrible (unlike Michael and Jessa over at Bookslut, both of whom I suspect of plotting serious bodily harm against the film's director and producers), but it did feel like an overly long ABC Afterschool Special. Racism is bad. Got that, kids? I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain yet, so I'm not qualified to comment on that film's merits, but I am curious to know whether supposedly liberal Hollywood has an unacknowledged streak of homophobia running through it.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:20 PM | Comments (1)
March 05, 2006
Civic Duty
I'm struggling with the decision about whether to participate in Tuesday's caucuses. I like the theory of political caucuses, but in practice I think they attract the same people year after year. The caucuses are supposed to get people involved in the political process at the grassroots level, but all of the discussions about resolutions and other arcane matters gives caucuses an "insider" feel that can be alienating to most citizens who aren't deeply involved in politics.
If I do attend, I need to decide which gubernatorial candidate I want to support. I'm torn between Steve Kelly and Becky Lourey. They're both strong progressives with clear agendas, but I think Kelly has more appeal to independents. I used to think I would support Attorney General Mike Hatch, but his campaign has seemed lackluster and, well, boring. I think Peter Hutchinson, the independent candidate, is eminently qualified and he has some good ideas, but I'm not sure he can excite enough voters to get elected. It might not even matter who I support because no candidate is obligated to abide the endorsement process.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2006
Haute Couture
I am proposing marriage to the first woman I see wearing these pants. Any woman with this geek allusion on her butt is the kind of woman I want to know. Asian Freckles, you're a genius.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2006
Quatrain
It's Friday and I'm in the mood for a meme.
Four jobs I've had:
law clerk for a judge
intern at a legal aid society
Tutor
Policy consultant
Four TV shows I dig:
Lost
Battlestar Galactica
The Daily Show
Hustle
Four places I've vacationed:
San Francisco
Miami
Paris
Denver
Four movies I can watch repeatedly:
Blade Runner
2001: A Space Odyssey
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Meaning of Life
Four favorite foods:
Mashed potatoes with gravy
Brie cheese
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
New England clam chowder
Four sites I visit daily:
I'm not tagging anyone else to do this because, well, I think tagging is kind of annoying. But feel free to credit me if you get inspired to carry on the meme.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2006
Gone But Not Forgotten
Death was definitely not on holiday over the past weekend. Darren McGavin, aka Kolchak the Night Stalker, departed. I've only seen a few episodes of that series; incredibly campy but McGavin lent it a curmudgeonly sort of charm. We also lost Don Knotts and Dennis Weaver. But the death that saddened me the most was that of Octavia Butler. One of the few African-American women writing in the science fiction genre, Butler authored some impressive books. Her Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents were two books that transcended the traditional constraints of the genre to explore issues of gender, race, religious fanaticism, and forgiveness. She also wrote a Hugo Award-winning short story back in the 80s entitled "Speech Sounds," one of those stories that continues to live in my head years after I first read it.
Butler recently published a new book, Fledgling, which was receiving good reviews. It's a shame that we won't get the opportunity to read any of the other works that she might have been planning.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:38 PM | Comments (1)
March 01, 2006
Moving Forward
Some of you know that for the past couple years, I've been working on the implementation of a complex research initiative for the Department of Human Services. A short abstract of Minnesota's initiative has been posted on the website for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We'll be ready to actually begin enrolling individuals in a few months, a prospect which is both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. I use Microsoft Project to track the tasks that still need to be completed before we're up and running; the list has a troubling tendency to sprout new items every week.
I'm also learning a great deal about the inner workings of the state's publicly funded health care programs. Minnesota offers several more coverage options than most states, which explains why we have relatively fewer numbers of uninsured than other areas of the country. Administering all of these options is a gargantuan task and much of it is invisible to the general public, as it should be.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)