For many months, in fact over two years, Boulder had been suffering from, if not drought, at least insufficient
rain. Everyone hoped for rain. Then on Monday, September 9th, it began to rain, not a gentle rain but a genuine monsoon rain. This was not the formerly common gentle afternoon rain of Boulder summers, but a torrential rain. Tuesday all day and night the rain continued. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday it continued
and residents of much of northern Colorado were horrified.
The results of this monsoon were catastrophic, especially in areas of Boulder that sat in a flood plain.
And Boulder was not alone. Whole mountain towns were obliterated. Rushing rivers changed course, destroying over two hundred miles of highways. Houses were uprooted and people scrambled to
safety. The town Lyons was totally cut off from the outside. Mountain towns such as Jamestown
were a thing of the past. The Red Cross opened a shelter in the YMCA to accommodate evacuees,
and some churches also provided shelter for those who had lost their homes.
Boulder's most costly retirement residence, Frasier, had to evacuate all assisted living and total care
residents to other facilities, not only in Boulder but in Denver and environs. Some residents in independent living there had to evacuate apartments flooded with mud and grease. There is at this time no known plan to rebuild these destroyed facilities.
In the nearby Bramford, where I live, we were high and dry and feel very fortunate. We were totally
spared, just a block from the trashed Frasier, where the flooded garage also destroyed cars in the
mudslide.
It will be many years before Boulder and surrounding towns can be restored to normal and also
until Colorado residents can breathe more easily in this region so subject to flooding and also
to forest fires. It is in large part due to the warnings of internationally known geologist Gilbert
White that Boulder did what planning it did to avert even more serious consequences of this
disastrous flood.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
THE ARROGANCE OF POWER
The United States has given the world numerous examples of the arrogance of power in the last few decades, refusing to heed President Eisenhower's prescient warning about "the military-industrial complex."
I write now about the most recent example of such arrogance, a proposal by President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, and Defense Secretary Hagel, to launch a military strike against the Syrian regime to protest the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
I also note the relevant fact that, as described in Mark Leibovich's book This Town, Washington is a place where an elite political class operates in isolation from the rest of the country and operates primarily to ensure its own self-preservation rather than to promote policies beneficial to the populace of the country.
Apparently the trio, Obama, Kerry and Hagel, have forgotten that the U,S. is the only world power to use nuclear weapons of mass destruction against civilians. What basis does the U.S. have for claiming to have the moral high ground in the face of what the U.S. has itself done?
Though I do not often quote Republican House Speaker Boehner, in fact there is no legal basis for launching such an attack, as he has noted in a communication to the White Hosue.
Is the trio willing to ignore the fact that the Security Council will not support such a venture, given the opposition of Russia and China?
Have none of the trio learned any lessons from wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, wars which have been extremely costly in American lives and treasure and have failed to result in anything that could be claimed as "victory" for the U.S.?
What, if anything, does the trio see as a danger by the Syrian regime to the security interests of the US?
We have seen repeatedly that there is no way to predict what the blowback will be from other powers once the U.S. launches a military action somewhere in the world. There is simply no way to predict what the response of other powers in the Middle East and elsewhere would be to such a military action.
Has the trio forgotten that a "limited military action with limited objectives" generally leads to an expanded are of operations and a much larger war? There is no way to predict or control what other powers in the world would do in response to a U.S. action, whether accompanied by Britain and France or not.
Has the trio forgotten that taking action against the Syrian regime would put the U.S. on the side of
the Al Queda opposition?
To show the world yet another example of the arrogance of power of the U.S. would also be an example of the height of irresponsibility and failure to take account of the opposition of much of the population of this country to such a policy.
I write now about the most recent example of such arrogance, a proposal by President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, and Defense Secretary Hagel, to launch a military strike against the Syrian regime to protest the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
I also note the relevant fact that, as described in Mark Leibovich's book This Town, Washington is a place where an elite political class operates in isolation from the rest of the country and operates primarily to ensure its own self-preservation rather than to promote policies beneficial to the populace of the country.
Apparently the trio, Obama, Kerry and Hagel, have forgotten that the U,S. is the only world power to use nuclear weapons of mass destruction against civilians. What basis does the U.S. have for claiming to have the moral high ground in the face of what the U.S. has itself done?
Though I do not often quote Republican House Speaker Boehner, in fact there is no legal basis for launching such an attack, as he has noted in a communication to the White Hosue.
Is the trio willing to ignore the fact that the Security Council will not support such a venture, given the opposition of Russia and China?
Have none of the trio learned any lessons from wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, wars which have been extremely costly in American lives and treasure and have failed to result in anything that could be claimed as "victory" for the U.S.?
What, if anything, does the trio see as a danger by the Syrian regime to the security interests of the US?
We have seen repeatedly that there is no way to predict what the blowback will be from other powers once the U.S. launches a military action somewhere in the world. There is simply no way to predict what the response of other powers in the Middle East and elsewhere would be to such a military action.
Has the trio forgotten that a "limited military action with limited objectives" generally leads to an expanded are of operations and a much larger war? There is no way to predict or control what other powers in the world would do in response to a U.S. action, whether accompanied by Britain and France or not.
Has the trio forgotten that taking action against the Syrian regime would put the U.S. on the side of
the Al Queda opposition?
To show the world yet another example of the arrogance of power of the U.S. would also be an example of the height of irresponsibility and failure to take account of the opposition of much of the population of this country to such a policy.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
OUR INJUSTICE SYSTEM
I have for most of my life held the believe that our justice system would provide justice under the law.
I myself have in some of my writings given voice to the voiceless or the underdog, often those who
are subjected to suppresion by the structures of power. This I did in my firm conviction that justice must prevail in the world. This is apparent in my two novels set in Hawai'i, where plantation workers are exploited by sugar and pineapple barons. The novels are: Sugar and Smoke, under the pen name Napua Chapman,
and Cane Fires, under my name, Joyce Lebra.
We have had numerous examples in recent years, however, of how our "justice system" operates to subvert justice and provide the opposite.. Most blatant was the O.J. Simpson trial a few decades ago, and we have the more recent example of the Zimmerman trial. What we see in many, if not most trials, is a game between lawyers, both prosecution and defense attorneys doying their best to win the game.
One example is in the novel, The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly,wherein the aggressive defense attorney is asked by his team assistant, "Do you believe she's guilty?" He replies, "That's beside the point," and in this trial the defense attorney's aggressive tactics succeed in getting his client off from a charge of murder. Later he realizes that in fact she was guilty and has gone free as a result of his efforts.
Or take the example of an actual case related in The Injustice System, by Clive Stafford Smith, again from the viewpoint of a defense attorney. An ethnic Indian was accused of a double murder in Miami in 1986.
This defense attorney employed every tactic available in the legal system to try to free the defendant,
whom he is convinced is innocent, but this man languished for over forty years in prison, part of the time
on death row. Here we see another example of manipulation of the law by a conviction-hungry prosecutor who witholds evidence and a judge who solicited bribes from the defendant. The victims in this case, depicted in court as respectable businessmen, had been laundering money for a drug cartel. After over forty years, the defense attorney saw no remedy for this hapless Indian defendant, who continued to be held in prison.
More recently we have the case of the Zimmerman trial, much in public view on the media for several weeks. In this case, the murder of an unarmed teen-age African American, the prosecution's pallid efforts were overcome by the effective tactics of the aggressive defense attorneys. Jurors were instructed by the judge not to use the phrase "racial profiling," though this was obviously what happened when Zimmerman, acting as an over-zealous neigthborhood watchman, followed the victim, accosted and shot him, even though police instructed him not to get out of his car. Zimmerman was quoted as saying, "These people always get away with everything." Strict instructions by the judge led jurors to believe that they had only one option::to free Zimmdfmzn.. Had I been on the jury I would have hung it, necessitating a further trial in the hope that justice might prevail in the end.
In general the system does not operate equally for prosecuting and defense attorneys. Prosecuting attorneys cannot be sued, whereas defense attorneys can be. Prosecutors are often over-eager to get a conviction,
which will advance political careers. It would seem that defense attorneys are at a distinct disadvantage in this situation. The attorney's game then proceeds under this unequal paradigm, in which defense attorneys attempt to prevail with this disadvantage.
For an African American, the only hope of success in a trial is generally if he or she has unlimited financial resources, as with O.J.Simpson. In fact, this is true with most individuals who become involved in a trial--the advantage goes to the person with the most money to hire the best, or most aggressive attorney.
I myself have in some of my writings given voice to the voiceless or the underdog, often those who
are subjected to suppresion by the structures of power. This I did in my firm conviction that justice must prevail in the world. This is apparent in my two novels set in Hawai'i, where plantation workers are exploited by sugar and pineapple barons. The novels are: Sugar and Smoke, under the pen name Napua Chapman,
and Cane Fires, under my name, Joyce Lebra.
We have had numerous examples in recent years, however, of how our "justice system" operates to subvert justice and provide the opposite.. Most blatant was the O.J. Simpson trial a few decades ago, and we have the more recent example of the Zimmerman trial. What we see in many, if not most trials, is a game between lawyers, both prosecution and defense attorneys doying their best to win the game.
One example is in the novel, The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly,wherein the aggressive defense attorney is asked by his team assistant, "Do you believe she's guilty?" He replies, "That's beside the point," and in this trial the defense attorney's aggressive tactics succeed in getting his client off from a charge of murder. Later he realizes that in fact she was guilty and has gone free as a result of his efforts.
Or take the example of an actual case related in The Injustice System, by Clive Stafford Smith, again from the viewpoint of a defense attorney. An ethnic Indian was accused of a double murder in Miami in 1986.
This defense attorney employed every tactic available in the legal system to try to free the defendant,
whom he is convinced is innocent, but this man languished for over forty years in prison, part of the time
on death row. Here we see another example of manipulation of the law by a conviction-hungry prosecutor who witholds evidence and a judge who solicited bribes from the defendant. The victims in this case, depicted in court as respectable businessmen, had been laundering money for a drug cartel. After over forty years, the defense attorney saw no remedy for this hapless Indian defendant, who continued to be held in prison.
More recently we have the case of the Zimmerman trial, much in public view on the media for several weeks. In this case, the murder of an unarmed teen-age African American, the prosecution's pallid efforts were overcome by the effective tactics of the aggressive defense attorneys. Jurors were instructed by the judge not to use the phrase "racial profiling," though this was obviously what happened when Zimmerman, acting as an over-zealous neigthborhood watchman, followed the victim, accosted and shot him, even though police instructed him not to get out of his car. Zimmerman was quoted as saying, "These people always get away with everything." Strict instructions by the judge led jurors to believe that they had only one option::to free Zimmdfmzn.. Had I been on the jury I would have hung it, necessitating a further trial in the hope that justice might prevail in the end.
In general the system does not operate equally for prosecuting and defense attorneys. Prosecuting attorneys cannot be sued, whereas defense attorneys can be. Prosecutors are often over-eager to get a conviction,
which will advance political careers. It would seem that defense attorneys are at a distinct disadvantage in this situation. The attorney's game then proceeds under this unequal paradigm, in which defense attorneys attempt to prevail with this disadvantage.
For an African American, the only hope of success in a trial is generally if he or she has unlimited financial resources, as with O.J.Simpson. In fact, this is true with most individuals who become involved in a trial--the advantage goes to the person with the most money to hire the best, or most aggressive attorney.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
HARA-KIRI IN TOKYO, 1970
Wednesday, November 25th began like any other day at the Headquarters of the Ground Self-Defense Forces at Ichigaya, Tokyo. This is where I went each Wednesday for research in Japanese military history during World War II. What happened that Wednesday, however, was far from ordinary, and created a sensation that is still discussed in Japan.
As I sat in the War History Library just before noon, I heard helicopters flying overhead and a commotion in the compound in front of the administration building. As the noise grew louder, I decided to go out and see what was happening. Soldiers were milling around in front of the building, and I asked one of them what was going on, why people were crowding the compound. He told me that the well-known novelist Yukio Mishima was inside the building. Soon an officer with a megaphone asked the soldiers to gather around in front of the building. Soon I saw why.
Out on the balcony of the building appeared Mishima and four of his followers dressed in Meiji-era uniforms, hachimaki around their foreheads. They stepped forward and hung a huge banner over the balcony. Mishima began his harangue, saying that Japan needed a real army and a new constitution (since the US occupation had imposed a no-war clause in the new constituion). He exhorted the assembled soldiers to rise up and act as he directed. His tirade lasted exactly seven minutes, with Mishima glancing at his watch from time to time.
I felt uneasy as a tall foreign woman directly in his line of vision, and I moved to one side.
As I listened, I was incredulous as the military words from the 1930's echoed through the throng. The soldiers, similarly astonished, made remarks like, "Go take a cold shower." After seven minutes Mishima raised his arms and shouted, "Tenno heika, banzai," "Hail to the Emperor." A few faint voices replied in kind, but most stood dumbfounded. Mishima and his followers then retreated into the office of the Commanding General behind the balcony doors. Without knowing what was to come, I was nevertheless incredulous that I stood there hearing a historic speech. It was as if five soldiers went into the Pentagon and held the General and his staff hostage as they staged the act.
I went back into the library, and it wasn't long before we heard police cars leaving the area. What I heard a few minutes later was incredible: Mishima and one of his soldiers had committed hara-kiri, or seppuku, before General Mashita, whom they had tied in his chair. Mishima's second was to lop off his head as soon as he d isemboweled himself, as tradition dictated, but he missed and hit Mishima's back. A third soldier
then performed this duty, whereupon the second's head was lopped off by another of the men. Police cars took away the surviving soldiers, one in each car.
I hesitated to leave the area, as I knew the whole compound would be surrounded by right-wing Mishima sympathizers. I finally left after 4:00 and returned via subway to International House, where I was staying.
That night I was unable to sleep. I had gone into the I House library and taken out Mishima's book Sun and Steel, which contained his ideas about an ideal death, combining art and life in a final act. The word 'death' appeared on nearly every page.When I finished the book I still was unable to sleep, so I wrote down my impressions of the extraordinary events of the day.
The next day my Australian friend Perpetua stopped by my room, and I told her that I had been at Ichigaya the day before and showed her what I had written. She said that we should go and offer my words to the press. As it happened, the New York Times published my eyewitness acount, as also did the Maichichi Shimbun. In fact it was the main topic of conversation in Tokyo for weeks, and each monthly magazine and weekly issued special editions on the subject.
Mishima had planned his last act for over two years, during which he recruited and trained his volunteer force in the training areas used by the Ground Self-Defense Forces, which had given him permission.
On the fatal day he and his soldiers had permission to carry their samurai swords into military headquarters, where he had an appointment with General Mashita. The general resingned his office, taking responsibility for failing to prevent this catastrophe. Mishima was demonstrably extremely eccentric, having held an exhibit in a major department store of nude photos of himself in various poses featuring swords and other macabre props. He hated the thought of growing old, with a sagging body, and wanted to die with the results of his body-building on full display for the world. Mishima's last act electrified Japan and was featured in headlines around the world.
As I sat in the War History Library just before noon, I heard helicopters flying overhead and a commotion in the compound in front of the administration building. As the noise grew louder, I decided to go out and see what was happening. Soldiers were milling around in front of the building, and I asked one of them what was going on, why people were crowding the compound. He told me that the well-known novelist Yukio Mishima was inside the building. Soon an officer with a megaphone asked the soldiers to gather around in front of the building. Soon I saw why.
Out on the balcony of the building appeared Mishima and four of his followers dressed in Meiji-era uniforms, hachimaki around their foreheads. They stepped forward and hung a huge banner over the balcony. Mishima began his harangue, saying that Japan needed a real army and a new constitution (since the US occupation had imposed a no-war clause in the new constituion). He exhorted the assembled soldiers to rise up and act as he directed. His tirade lasted exactly seven minutes, with Mishima glancing at his watch from time to time.
I felt uneasy as a tall foreign woman directly in his line of vision, and I moved to one side.
As I listened, I was incredulous as the military words from the 1930's echoed through the throng. The soldiers, similarly astonished, made remarks like, "Go take a cold shower." After seven minutes Mishima raised his arms and shouted, "Tenno heika, banzai," "Hail to the Emperor." A few faint voices replied in kind, but most stood dumbfounded. Mishima and his followers then retreated into the office of the Commanding General behind the balcony doors. Without knowing what was to come, I was nevertheless incredulous that I stood there hearing a historic speech. It was as if five soldiers went into the Pentagon and held the General and his staff hostage as they staged the act.
I went back into the library, and it wasn't long before we heard police cars leaving the area. What I heard a few minutes later was incredible: Mishima and one of his soldiers had committed hara-kiri, or seppuku, before General Mashita, whom they had tied in his chair. Mishima's second was to lop off his head as soon as he d isemboweled himself, as tradition dictated, but he missed and hit Mishima's back. A third soldier
then performed this duty, whereupon the second's head was lopped off by another of the men. Police cars took away the surviving soldiers, one in each car.
I hesitated to leave the area, as I knew the whole compound would be surrounded by right-wing Mishima sympathizers. I finally left after 4:00 and returned via subway to International House, where I was staying.
That night I was unable to sleep. I had gone into the I House library and taken out Mishima's book Sun and Steel, which contained his ideas about an ideal death, combining art and life in a final act. The word 'death' appeared on nearly every page.When I finished the book I still was unable to sleep, so I wrote down my impressions of the extraordinary events of the day.
The next day my Australian friend Perpetua stopped by my room, and I told her that I had been at Ichigaya the day before and showed her what I had written. She said that we should go and offer my words to the press. As it happened, the New York Times published my eyewitness acount, as also did the Maichichi Shimbun. In fact it was the main topic of conversation in Tokyo for weeks, and each monthly magazine and weekly issued special editions on the subject.
Mishima had planned his last act for over two years, during which he recruited and trained his volunteer force in the training areas used by the Ground Self-Defense Forces, which had given him permission.
On the fatal day he and his soldiers had permission to carry their samurai swords into military headquarters, where he had an appointment with General Mashita. The general resingned his office, taking responsibility for failing to prevent this catastrophe. Mishima was demonstrably extremely eccentric, having held an exhibit in a major department store of nude photos of himself in various poses featuring swords and other macabre props. He hated the thought of growing old, with a sagging body, and wanted to die with the results of his body-building on full display for the world. Mishima's last act electrified Japan and was featured in headlines around the world.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
BLUEBERRIES THE SECOND MOST HEALTHFUL FOOD
Again according to the Harvard Women's Health Watch, the second most important food to include in our diet is blueberries. The pigments that impart the bright purple color to the berries also are powerful anti-oxidants that rid the body of molecules that can damage DNA and contribute to cancer. When mixed with other berries--blackberries, raspberries, acai berries--the healthful benefits are enhanced even further.
Blueberries are versatile and can be used in an unusually large range of ways. Put them on your cereal with a dollop of Bulgarian or Greek yogurt. Add some to your favorite muffin or pancake recipe. Top a dish of vanilla ice cream with a sprinkling of blueberries. Make a blueberry/raspberry pie.
Blueberries are also versatile in that they have many flavor affinities--other foods that intensify their flavor and accompany them well. Apples, blackberries, almonds, apricots, cinnamon, cream cheese, ginger, honey, lemon curd and zest, maple syrup, molasses, mint, nutmeg, peaches and pears, all fall in this category.
A blueberry/lemon curd tart is one of my favorite blueberry desserts. Take a graham cracker crust, either normal size or mini tart size, depending on how many people are to be served. Warm it in the oven about
five minutes to give it extra crispness. When it cools, put a layer of lemon curd on the bottom. Top this with
a layer of soft cream cheese. Then add blueberries, and top it off with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. This is a simple and easy way to prepare a tasty dessert without a lot of baking or preparation time.
Again, the benefits of including blueberries as a regular part of your diet offer manifold health benefits, including fighting cancer..
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
NUMBER ONE HEALTHIEST FOOD
According to the Harvard Women's Health Watch which lists the twelve healthiest foods, salmon wins as the
number one healthiest food. It is not surprising that salmon tops the list, since it is bountifully supplied with omega-3 fatty acids, not only a natural blood thinner but also slowing formation of artery-clogging plaques and slightly lowering blood pressure. We are advised additionally by the Monterey Bay Fish List that Pacific salmon are preferable to Atlantic salmon and that wild Alaskan salmon is best of all.. Many doctors advise eating salmon more than once a week. As with selecting any fish today, a word of caution is in order because of the level of pollution of our oceans. I personally consume salmon at least once a week, often more than once. If you live near a Whole Foods store, they sell smoked salmon and smoked salmon salad, delicious
ways to enjoy this healthful food.
Salmon is very versatile--good in chowder, salad with celery and canned pineapple (if you use fresh
pineapple it will turn your salmon to mush)., moose served with a dollop of sour cream with cucumber/dill sauce. I personally avoid using tomatoes with salmon, though some do enjoy it that way. My favorite method of cooking salmon is borrowed from Japanese cuisine. For a single serving marinate the salmon for half an hourin a mixture of two tablespoons of sake, two teaspoons of soy sauce, and one teaspoon of miring. Then in a non-stick frying pan poach the fish in the marinade on low/medium heat until it is cooked through and no longer pink inside. Serve it with rice or quinoa and a green vegetable.
In subsequent articles I will discuss some of the other eleven healthiest foods.
Monday, April 29, 2013
WORLD'S HEALTHIEST DIET
WORLD'S HEALTHIEST DIET
It is an established fact that the Japanese, and particularly the Okinawan Japanese, have the world's record for longevity. This is understadable, looking at the traditional Japanese diet. The Medityerranean diet offers some of the same benefits. Traditionally, the Japanese diet was based on fish, with other products of the sea, vegetables, rice, and fruit. The Mediterranean diet adds olive oil and occasional meat.
There are many cogent reasons in today's environment for becoming a vegetarian/pescetarian. The over-consumption of meat and dairy products by Americans, plus reliance on junk food, has contributed to the U.S. having the highest incidence of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer of any industrial nation.
Other reasons also indicate the benefits of a pescetarian/vegetarian diet. Animals today are fed grains, usually corn,, rather than their natural diet of grass. Hormones and anti-biotics fed to cattle, hogs and chickens often foster drug-resistant diseases. Half the agricultural land in the U.S. is devoted to animal feed. Moreover, three and a half ounces of fish contain the same amount of protein as three and a half ounces of chicken or beef.
One caveat about fish consumption is that our oceans are now polluted and over-fished. Large fish such as tuna contain a high mercury content. Using the Monterey Bay Aquarium Fish list can help to ensure that a particular fish is safe to consume.
These concerns do not even address spiritual or ethical considerations that deter many vegetarians from eating meat. Seeing chickens force-fed or calves cooped up in cramped pens and fed grains causes many to avoid meat consumption.
Arguments abound for eating organic rather than genetically altered grains and vegetables, since these crops have increasing amounts of cancer-inducing chemical additives and are increasingly taking over agricultural land. Indications are that because of all these concerns, many individuals are turning to growing their own vegetables if they have garden space.
Added to all these concerns, I have lived and worked in Japan for a total of ten years and in India for three and a half years, and my diet has evolved partly under the influence of the cuisines of those two countries. I have also spent many months living and working in Southeast Asia, so Thai and Chinese methods of cooking have also crept into my diet.
For all these reasons I have become a pescetarian/vegetarian, the world's healthiest diet. If served meat by a friend I usually do consume it, but this does not alter my preference. I have written a cookbook as yet unpublished, Solo Cooking for a Sustainable Planet. It is unique in combining a pescetariian approach with a concern for sustainability of the planet. Future blog posts will include some of my favorite recipes, begining with some of the twleve healthiest foods, according to the Harvard Women's Health Watch.
It is an established fact that the Japanese, and particularly the Okinawan Japanese, have the world's record for longevity. This is understadable, looking at the traditional Japanese diet. The Medityerranean diet offers some of the same benefits. Traditionally, the Japanese diet was based on fish, with other products of the sea, vegetables, rice, and fruit. The Mediterranean diet adds olive oil and occasional meat.
There are many cogent reasons in today's environment for becoming a vegetarian/pescetarian. The over-consumption of meat and dairy products by Americans, plus reliance on junk food, has contributed to the U.S. having the highest incidence of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer of any industrial nation.
Other reasons also indicate the benefits of a pescetarian/vegetarian diet. Animals today are fed grains, usually corn,, rather than their natural diet of grass. Hormones and anti-biotics fed to cattle, hogs and chickens often foster drug-resistant diseases. Half the agricultural land in the U.S. is devoted to animal feed. Moreover, three and a half ounces of fish contain the same amount of protein as three and a half ounces of chicken or beef.
One caveat about fish consumption is that our oceans are now polluted and over-fished. Large fish such as tuna contain a high mercury content. Using the Monterey Bay Aquarium Fish list can help to ensure that a particular fish is safe to consume.
These concerns do not even address spiritual or ethical considerations that deter many vegetarians from eating meat. Seeing chickens force-fed or calves cooped up in cramped pens and fed grains causes many to avoid meat consumption.
Arguments abound for eating organic rather than genetically altered grains and vegetables, since these crops have increasing amounts of cancer-inducing chemical additives and are increasingly taking over agricultural land. Indications are that because of all these concerns, many individuals are turning to growing their own vegetables if they have garden space.
Added to all these concerns, I have lived and worked in Japan for a total of ten years and in India for three and a half years, and my diet has evolved partly under the influence of the cuisines of those two countries. I have also spent many months living and working in Southeast Asia, so Thai and Chinese methods of cooking have also crept into my diet.
For all these reasons I have become a pescetarian/vegetarian, the world's healthiest diet. If served meat by a friend I usually do consume it, but this does not alter my preference. I have written a cookbook as yet unpublished, Solo Cooking for a Sustainable Planet. It is unique in combining a pescetariian approach with a concern for sustainability of the planet. Future blog posts will include some of my favorite recipes, begining with some of the twleve healthiest foods, according to the Harvard Women's Health Watch.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Best Restaurants in Boulder
First, a caveat. I'm a pescetarian/vegetarian with a nod to Indian and Japanese cuisine. This diet, similar to a traditional Japanese or Mediterranean diet, is known to produce good health and longevity. Unlike the typical American diet with plentiful sugar, bottled drinks and junk food, which are responsible for the high incidence of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, the pescetarian/vegetarian approach avoids these diseases
Boulder is known as one of the best cities in the country for dining, with excellent choices across a wide range of culinary traditions. Not only Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in good supply but European and even Ethiopian cuisine can be enjoyed in Boulder. Many Boulder restaurants now offer gluten free selections for diners with this sensitivity.
For good Indian cuisine Boulder offers several excellent choices. North Indian cuisine is best at either the Nepal Restaurant on South Boulder Road or Tandoori Grill in Table Mesa. For South Indian food go to either Jai Ho in Marshall Plaza or Tiffin Wallah in the Safeway shopping area on Arapahoe.
For the best sushi and other Japanese food, in Boulder go to Sushi Zanmae on Spruce or, in the evening try Amu next door to Zanmae. Amu specializes in cuisine other than sushi and has a friendly, intimate ambience and a good selection of sake. For the five star sushi you need to venture to Sushi Leo in Longmont or Sushi Yoshi in the same shopping plaza as CostCo, between Boulder and Denver..
The best vegetarian cuisine is found at Leaf, just north of Pearl on 16th street. The menu here is imaginative, featuring such dishes as avocado tempura. Leaf is definitely not to be missed, even if you are not a vegetarian.
Boulder offers several choices for Chinese food, but for my taste China Gourmet in the North Boulder shopping center at Broadway and Quince is the best. Ordering off the Chinese menu will get you the most authetic dishes.
Chez Thuy on 28th street is the most popular and highly recommended restaurant for Vietnamese cuisine, and Thai and other Asian dishes are also available. here
For European cuisine I favor L'Atelier on Pearl street next to the Red Letter Bookstore. Elegant dining is possible in a private booth, and lunch prices are more reasonable than you might expect with such an elegant ambience. Another excellent choice is Frasca on Pearl and 18th. Reservations are required for dinner, but if you go a bit early you can sit at the bar and enjoy fine wine and tapas. Still another alternative is the Red Lion Inn, a long-term standby on the road to Boulder Canyon, where German cuisine is a specialty..
Though I'm not a Mexican food maven, friends who are like Efrain's on north 63rd street. Boulder is well supplied with many Mexican restaurants but Efrain's is one often recommended.
Boulder boasts two notable Italian restaurants, Carelli's on Baseline and 30th and Laudisio in the 29th street mall. The Gondolier is another Italian restaurant of long standing in Boulder.
No visitor to Boulder would want to miss a visit to one of Boulder's most notable attractions, the Dushanbe Tea House, the elaborately decorated gift to Boulder by its sister city in Tajikistan. The decor offers a spectacular vision and the visitor will have a wide selection of teas as well as cuisines
Finally, anyone with a sweet touth will be delighted to know that Boulder has three superior bakeries.
Erhard's European Baker and Cafe in the Meadows shopping area on Baseline and Mohawk offers
scrumptious muffins,cookies and cheesecakes as well as soups, salads and sandwiches. Another is.
Shamane's Bake Shop, behind the brewery on Wilderness off Valmont. At Broadway and Quince is Lucky's Bake Shope and Creamery where you can find excellent cooking and cupcakes. And if you are partial to pie you're in for a treat if you go to Niwot, Boulder's charming suburb, and to My Mom's Pie, where you'll find fourteen flavors of the kind of pie you thought no one made anymore.
Future blogs will feature some of my favorite recipes, most of which are in my unpublished cookbook,
Solo Cooking for a Sustainable Planet.
www.joycechapmanlebra is my website.
Boulder is known as one of the best cities in the country for dining, with excellent choices across a wide range of culinary traditions. Not only Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in good supply but European and even Ethiopian cuisine can be enjoyed in Boulder. Many Boulder restaurants now offer gluten free selections for diners with this sensitivity.
For good Indian cuisine Boulder offers several excellent choices. North Indian cuisine is best at either the Nepal Restaurant on South Boulder Road or Tandoori Grill in Table Mesa. For South Indian food go to either Jai Ho in Marshall Plaza or Tiffin Wallah in the Safeway shopping area on Arapahoe.
For the best sushi and other Japanese food, in Boulder go to Sushi Zanmae on Spruce or, in the evening try Amu next door to Zanmae. Amu specializes in cuisine other than sushi and has a friendly, intimate ambience and a good selection of sake. For the five star sushi you need to venture to Sushi Leo in Longmont or Sushi Yoshi in the same shopping plaza as CostCo, between Boulder and Denver..
The best vegetarian cuisine is found at Leaf, just north of Pearl on 16th street. The menu here is imaginative, featuring such dishes as avocado tempura. Leaf is definitely not to be missed, even if you are not a vegetarian.
Boulder offers several choices for Chinese food, but for my taste China Gourmet in the North Boulder shopping center at Broadway and Quince is the best. Ordering off the Chinese menu will get you the most authetic dishes.
Chez Thuy on 28th street is the most popular and highly recommended restaurant for Vietnamese cuisine, and Thai and other Asian dishes are also available. here
For European cuisine I favor L'Atelier on Pearl street next to the Red Letter Bookstore. Elegant dining is possible in a private booth, and lunch prices are more reasonable than you might expect with such an elegant ambience. Another excellent choice is Frasca on Pearl and 18th. Reservations are required for dinner, but if you go a bit early you can sit at the bar and enjoy fine wine and tapas. Still another alternative is the Red Lion Inn, a long-term standby on the road to Boulder Canyon, where German cuisine is a specialty..
Though I'm not a Mexican food maven, friends who are like Efrain's on north 63rd street. Boulder is well supplied with many Mexican restaurants but Efrain's is one often recommended.
Boulder boasts two notable Italian restaurants, Carelli's on Baseline and 30th and Laudisio in the 29th street mall. The Gondolier is another Italian restaurant of long standing in Boulder.
No visitor to Boulder would want to miss a visit to one of Boulder's most notable attractions, the Dushanbe Tea House, the elaborately decorated gift to Boulder by its sister city in Tajikistan. The decor offers a spectacular vision and the visitor will have a wide selection of teas as well as cuisines
Finally, anyone with a sweet touth will be delighted to know that Boulder has three superior bakeries.
Erhard's European Baker and Cafe in the Meadows shopping area on Baseline and Mohawk offers
scrumptious muffins,cookies and cheesecakes as well as soups, salads and sandwiches. Another is.
Shamane's Bake Shop, behind the brewery on Wilderness off Valmont. At Broadway and Quince is Lucky's Bake Shope and Creamery where you can find excellent cooking and cupcakes. And if you are partial to pie you're in for a treat if you go to Niwot, Boulder's charming suburb, and to My Mom's Pie, where you'll find fourteen flavors of the kind of pie you thought no one made anymore.
Future blogs will feature some of my favorite recipes, most of which are in my unpublished cookbook,
Solo Cooking for a Sustainable Planet.
www.joycechapmanlebra is my website.
HAWAIIAN PARADISE?
HAWAIIAN PARADISE?
Hawaii's predominant image is as a tropical paradise, "the loveliest chain of islands anchored in any sea," islands blessed by warm, sunny weather, sandy beaches, and colorful foliage in bloom nearly all year. These attractions are basically still there.
My own childhood began just steps from Waikiki beach, at a time when only three hotels marred the view of Honolulu's beaches--the Royal Hawaiian, the Halekalani, and the Moana. The tourist industry had not yet jinned up to its full frenzy' seeking to attract visitors from around the globe.
Today Hawai'i is a very different place from my idyllic childhood home. The influx of tourists has led to nearly every foot of shoreline being covered by high rises and enormous McMansions, so that in many parts of the Islands the ocean is barely visible. Though initially by law all beach front was public access, today estate owners often limit public beach access if they can get away with it. Traffic on Oahu and Maui is so congested that residents try to avoid the roads in the afternoon if they possibly can.
Real estate and food prices are so high that few can now afford to move there. In some areas the ocean is now so polluted that if you venture into the water with a cut on your finger, it will become infected. No longer do you see tiny crabs running in the sand, as was true thirty years ago, and corals are rapidy dying, turning white. A few years go I moved to Maui in search of my Hawaiian childhood roots. I was so shocked at food prices that for the first two weeks I ate nothing but canned mackerel probably meant for cats.
I encountered ethnic tensions that had never affected me as a child, though no doubt they were there but less on the surface.In Honolulu I was stunned to be twice verbally abused in public spaces in Honolulu by Japanese-Americans, this especially since many of my closest friends are Japanese-American. As a child my main concern was getting to the beach on Saturday, and I had no awareness of tensions that might have festered beneath the surface.
One major exception to the relative absence of ethnic tension in pre-war Hawai'i was the Massie affair of 1933. Navy officers beat up local kids and in one case killed a Hawaiian boy whose only crime was to take to the hospital a Navy wife who lay raped and beaten on the ground (by a Nvy officer). Clarence Darrow defended the Navy culprits, who were further protected by Hawaii's governor, then by the U.S. government, and the Navy criminals were never prosecuted.
Whatever visitors may encounter today, for the years following the arrival of missionaries, sailors, and others in the 1820s and '30s and subsequently, Hawaiian language, hula, and culture generally were systematically
suppressed by the missionary onslaught. Following the arrival of sailors and others, diseases for which Hawaiians had no immunity wiped out a large percentage of the Hawaiian population.
Blowback from the Massie case and from the suppresion of Hawaiian culture, added to the appropriation of land by missionaries and their children on a large scale, added to Hawaiian grievances. The result was the
Hawaaiian Renaissance in the 1970's and earlier. Hawaiian immersion schools today are flourishing, and the Renaiissance has led to a resurgence of Hawaiian culture generally. On Maui the Maui Arts and Cultural Center features programs highlighting Hawaiian music, hula, and other cultural treasures.
On the Big Island in public schools, haole kids are regularly beaten up. Some haole parents choose to home school their children rather than have them exposed to abuse. In addition, one in six adults are forty percent rate of functional illiteracy. Missionary children and other early haole residents chose to send theirf children to the mainland for college after graduating from private schools, and the public school system therefore lacked support. Today one in six adults in Hawai'i are functionally illiterate.
The Hawaiian term for caucasions is 'haole', literally 'without spirit or the breath of life.' The Hawaiian political movement seeks to recover the language, hula and culture that were repressed by the onslaught of missionaries, sailors, and all who followed in the 1820's and '30's. After the Great Mahele law of 1854, designed by missionary Dr. Judd, which for the first time permitted sale and purchase of land, (all of which had belonged to the king,) missionaries and their children appropriated land on a large scale, mostly the best land on each island. This in turn was followed by the plantation economy, based on sugar and pineapple cultivation. These colonial plantations were in most cases owned by missionary descendants, the so-called Big Five.
A particular focus of the political movement in the 1970's was Navy bombing practice on the island of Kaho'olawe, bombing that continued from the end of World War II until 1991, destroying sacred sites and all human habitation there. Today Hawaiians control access to the island and are cleaning up munitions on one corner of the island, using the space for cultural education of Hawaiian children. Some groups in the political movement advocate sovereignty, revival of the monarchy, or even independence.
In 1991 the Congregational Church sent its leader to Honolulu and Maui Hawaiian churches to apologize for its role in suppressions of Hawaiian culture. This apology recognized the church's responsibility but did little to assuage Hawaiian grievances. Be it noted that although the U.S. government issued an apology for internment of Japanese Americans and authorized compensation of $20,000 for each internee, the government has never apologized to Hawaiians or to other Native Americans for genocide, massacres, and taking children from their parents.
It is regrettable that tourists seldom take the time or effort to learn about Hawaiian culture and history.
Despite some negative features of life in Hawai'i, tourists still come, and I still hope to re-visit my Hawaiian home. If you would like to read further about things that happen there that go unreported in the media,
take a look at my e-book novel, Cane Fires, or its earlier version, Sugar and Smoke, under a pen name, Napua Chapman. (available on Amazon).
Hawaii's predominant image is as a tropical paradise, "the loveliest chain of islands anchored in any sea," islands blessed by warm, sunny weather, sandy beaches, and colorful foliage in bloom nearly all year. These attractions are basically still there.
My own childhood began just steps from Waikiki beach, at a time when only three hotels marred the view of Honolulu's beaches--the Royal Hawaiian, the Halekalani, and the Moana. The tourist industry had not yet jinned up to its full frenzy' seeking to attract visitors from around the globe.
Today Hawai'i is a very different place from my idyllic childhood home. The influx of tourists has led to nearly every foot of shoreline being covered by high rises and enormous McMansions, so that in many parts of the Islands the ocean is barely visible. Though initially by law all beach front was public access, today estate owners often limit public beach access if they can get away with it. Traffic on Oahu and Maui is so congested that residents try to avoid the roads in the afternoon if they possibly can.
Real estate and food prices are so high that few can now afford to move there. In some areas the ocean is now so polluted that if you venture into the water with a cut on your finger, it will become infected. No longer do you see tiny crabs running in the sand, as was true thirty years ago, and corals are rapidy dying, turning white. A few years go I moved to Maui in search of my Hawaiian childhood roots. I was so shocked at food prices that for the first two weeks I ate nothing but canned mackerel probably meant for cats.
I encountered ethnic tensions that had never affected me as a child, though no doubt they were there but less on the surface.In Honolulu I was stunned to be twice verbally abused in public spaces in Honolulu by Japanese-Americans, this especially since many of my closest friends are Japanese-American. As a child my main concern was getting to the beach on Saturday, and I had no awareness of tensions that might have festered beneath the surface.
One major exception to the relative absence of ethnic tension in pre-war Hawai'i was the Massie affair of 1933. Navy officers beat up local kids and in one case killed a Hawaiian boy whose only crime was to take to the hospital a Navy wife who lay raped and beaten on the ground (by a Nvy officer). Clarence Darrow defended the Navy culprits, who were further protected by Hawaii's governor, then by the U.S. government, and the Navy criminals were never prosecuted.
Whatever visitors may encounter today, for the years following the arrival of missionaries, sailors, and others in the 1820s and '30s and subsequently, Hawaiian language, hula, and culture generally were systematically
suppressed by the missionary onslaught. Following the arrival of sailors and others, diseases for which Hawaiians had no immunity wiped out a large percentage of the Hawaiian population.
Blowback from the Massie case and from the suppresion of Hawaiian culture, added to the appropriation of land by missionaries and their children on a large scale, added to Hawaiian grievances. The result was the
Hawaaiian Renaissance in the 1970's and earlier. Hawaiian immersion schools today are flourishing, and the Renaiissance has led to a resurgence of Hawaiian culture generally. On Maui the Maui Arts and Cultural Center features programs highlighting Hawaiian music, hula, and other cultural treasures.
On the Big Island in public schools, haole kids are regularly beaten up. Some haole parents choose to home school their children rather than have them exposed to abuse. In addition, one in six adults are forty percent rate of functional illiteracy. Missionary children and other early haole residents chose to send theirf children to the mainland for college after graduating from private schools, and the public school system therefore lacked support. Today one in six adults in Hawai'i are functionally illiterate.
The Hawaiian term for caucasions is 'haole', literally 'without spirit or the breath of life.' The Hawaiian political movement seeks to recover the language, hula and culture that were repressed by the onslaught of missionaries, sailors, and all who followed in the 1820's and '30's. After the Great Mahele law of 1854, designed by missionary Dr. Judd, which for the first time permitted sale and purchase of land, (all of which had belonged to the king,) missionaries and their children appropriated land on a large scale, mostly the best land on each island. This in turn was followed by the plantation economy, based on sugar and pineapple cultivation. These colonial plantations were in most cases owned by missionary descendants, the so-called Big Five.
A particular focus of the political movement in the 1970's was Navy bombing practice on the island of Kaho'olawe, bombing that continued from the end of World War II until 1991, destroying sacred sites and all human habitation there. Today Hawaiians control access to the island and are cleaning up munitions on one corner of the island, using the space for cultural education of Hawaiian children. Some groups in the political movement advocate sovereignty, revival of the monarchy, or even independence.
In 1991 the Congregational Church sent its leader to Honolulu and Maui Hawaiian churches to apologize for its role in suppressions of Hawaiian culture. This apology recognized the church's responsibility but did little to assuage Hawaiian grievances. Be it noted that although the U.S. government issued an apology for internment of Japanese Americans and authorized compensation of $20,000 for each internee, the government has never apologized to Hawaiians or to other Native Americans for genocide, massacres, and taking children from their parents.
It is regrettable that tourists seldom take the time or effort to learn about Hawaiian culture and history.
Despite some negative features of life in Hawai'i, tourists still come, and I still hope to re-visit my Hawaiian home. If you would like to read further about things that happen there that go unreported in the media,
take a look at my e-book novel, Cane Fires, or its earlier version, Sugar and Smoke, under a pen name, Napua Chapman. (available on Amazon).
Thursday, April 18, 2013
The Sake Industry
JAPANESE SAKE INDUSTRY
The brewing of sake, rice wine, is Japan's most ancient industry, its origins dating back before written history. According to the earliest chronicles, sake brewing was originated by a goddess, who chewed mouthfuls of rice to achieve natural fermentation. One theory of the beginnings of brewing in Japan is that virginal girls chewed rice ,stimulating the release of enzymes in their mouths that thus achieved natural fermentation. They would then spit the mixture into large bowls, which were sealed for three days, whereupon the brew was drunk with proper ceremonial at the harvest festival. Support for this theory of the origins of sake comes from Okinawa, where one octogenarian reported that as a child she sat in a circle of young girls and participated in just such a method of production, chewing rice until her jaws ached.
Despite this theory of the female origins of sake brewing, in more recent eras women were banned from breweries. The proverb "Let a woman enter the brewery and the sake will sour" was common thorughout brewing families. A combination of Buddhist, Shinto, and folk beliefs regarding pollution banned women
not only from breweries but also from climbing certain sacred mountains and other sacrosanct spaces.
Sake brewing in historic times was thus an all-male occupation.
Sake is not only Japan's oldest industry but was for centuries brewed throughout Japan, wherever farmers
had surplus land and rice. In each village the sake brewer was thus the wealthiest and most prestigious individual. From what became in the nineteenth century large commercial brewers in the Kobe area to the small local brewers in the north and even south in Kyushu, sake was the universal beverage and was especially important at major events-- marriages, funerals, and end-of-season cereemonies following completion of the year's brewing.Inhabitants of every part of Japan were loyal to local brewers and were their chief markets. In part because of the antiquity of brewing and its concentration in the wealthiest families wherever it was brewed, the industry became closely embedded in proud family traditions.
Looking at family occupations in Japan, I began researching five separate occupations: Jodo Shinshu priests, doctors and medical practitioners, weavers and dyers in the Nishijin area of Kyoto, used bookstore dealers,
and sake brewers. After preliminary research in each of these occupations, I was attracted especially to the sake industry with its ancient and familistic character. As a historian, I felt there was no other choice. What I learned was fascinating and led me on an odyssey throughout Japan, where I enjoyed the hospitality of
many brewers, sometimes for a week or a more as a house guest. Brewers, despite their secret recipes, were in many cases eager to display the details of this ancient art. Sake brewing, despite its dependence on the coldest winter season, was transported even to Hawaii, where it was brewed in refrigerated facilities.
In the early nineteenth century, the sake tax accounted for as much as seventy percent of the government's revenue. Over a hundred years ago there were 28,000 breweries scattered throughout Japan. Today the number has shrunk to something over one thousand. Sake as a beverage today competes with whisky beer, and even Western-style fruit wine in restaurwants. The tradition of brewing in a family dies hard. Many brewers comment, "I can't quit this occupation that was handed down to me from my ancestors." Though brewing may have ceased to be profitable, many continued brewing on a smaller scale, relying instead on other occupations such as real estate, opening schools, or simply renting out urban space for parking to maintain themselves.
My research was predicated on the assumption that I would write a history of the sake industry, and during the 1980's as I worked I intended to do just that. Something happened to change my mind. One large brewery in the Kobe area had two museums, one displaying traditional brewing tools and the other an art museum. The curator at the art museum showed me a large photograph of a woman who one hundred and fifty years ago had built her house the largest sake empire in Japan. A woman! And when I saw her face I knew I had to write her story. The result is historical fiction, incorporating information from all the breweries I had studied and imagining how a woman must have felt and acted in these circumstances, given all the prohibitions and women in this occupation. . This novel is titled The Scent of Sake and was published in 2009 by HarperCollins Avon imprint. It has also appeared in Spanish and German translation.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
JAPANESE HOSPITAL CARE
JAPANESE HOSPITAL
CARE
On December 26th last year in Tokyo
I was packed to go to Maui the next day.
Instead, I tripped, fell, and broke my hip. Fortunately, the woman on duty at
the desk that night was in charge of that department. I crawled to the phone.
she came up and, together with a man. got me into a wheelchair and called the
ambulance. The negative part of this event was that it took the ambulance three
hours to find a hospital that could accept me. The problem is that though there
are approximately one thousand hospitals of this size (one hundred beds) in Tokyo Tokyo
Once I was accepted, it was necessary to provide a deposit
of the equivalent of $4,000 in yen in cash. In this emergency I did not have
that amount in cash with me. The woman from the front desk had accompanied me
on that three hour ride, and it was now midnight. She loaned me her phone, and
I called a long-term Japanese friend who came to the hospital at midnight and
paid the deposit. Not only that, he
slept all night on a plastic sofa in a cold lobby to check on me the next
morning.
I was taken for an X-ray shortly later and, to be sure, the
hip was broken. I was told a patient often must wait a month for a surgery
date.
Fortunately, the surgeon
performed the hip replacement two days later, on the 28th. My
rehabilitation began the next day, walking with a walker which enables a
patient to walk without bending over, as with an American walker. The next two
weeks in Honda Hospital were an eye-opener.
First, the surgery was perfect, though I have often heard
of hip replacements in the US
What
I will always remember especially is the exceptional nursing care, something I
know from experience I would not have expected in an American hospital. Nurses
were so caring that I marveled. I was so impressed that I tried to remember the
names of as many nurses as possible. One or two of them behaved somewhat
comically to induce patients to laugh or at least to feel better. One of them
sang as she came to our beds in the morning, and we never had to wait more than
two minutes if we rang for them, even during the night. If that were not
enough, one of the nurses brought me a gift two nights before I was discharged.
I suppose the fact that I speak Japanese and that I was only the second foreign
patient this hospital has had helped. Friends both Japanese and American came
to visit daily during my two weeks there, bringing books, newspapers and
delicacies.
I
must say also that the hospital diet was far more healthful than the typical
American diet, even in hospitals. I was intrigued by the dishes brought three
times a day. The hospital nutritionist came to see me three times to see if I
was satisfied with the fare. Other than being unable to eat rice three times a
day I was more than satisfied. The
hospital nutritionist came to visit as
well, and went beyond the call of duty, buying some special yogurt for me.
The office staff was also more than accommodating, bringing
a
phone to my bed when
concerned friends and family called from the U.S.
Fortunately I had purchased
insurance to cover such an exigency, and all this superior care was provided at
about one-tenth what it would have cost in an American hospital.
Why is it that we in the U.S.
When I returned home to the U.S.
My reply was always that Japan
with excellent care far
beyond what I could have expected in the U.S.
Joyce
Lebra
www.joycechapmanlebra.com
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