{"id":9760,"date":"2008-08-13T17:31:05","date_gmt":"2008-08-13T22:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2008\/08\/13\/13th-of-august-again\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:22","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:22","slug":"13th-of-august-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2008\/08\/13\/13th-of-august-again\/","title":{"rendered":"13th of August again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"napperPark\" O<\/strong><\/em>n a slow summer afternoon, the f\/k\/a<\/em> Gang is often in a “year ago today<\/em>” kind of mood — having learned long agao that rummaging in our archives can be a cheap, easy way to fill up a weblog posting. It’s been extra-sleepy around here all day, and with the evening approaching and nothing prepared to post, we’ve quickly checked out what was happening at f\/k\/a <\/em>on the 13th of August in other years. We hope you’ll enjoy our reminiscence.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In 2008<\/a>, as in 2007, August 12th and 13th bring the peak of the annual Perseid<\/a> meteor shower. Click here<\/a> for some great photos from 2007. And check your skies tonight for a heavenly show.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

long after
\nthe fireworks
\na shooting star<\/p>\n

\u2026. by George Swede from Almost Unseen<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

trail dust settles\u2014
\na shooting star bobs
\nover a spider\u2019s turret<\/p>\n

… by Michael Dylan Welch – from Thornewood Poems<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

August 13, 2007<\/strong> — Was a Monday, and we were praising \u201cinspired solo\u201d Sheryl Sisk Shelin<\/a> for presenting Blawg Review #121<\/a> without the artifice of an awkward theme. See our post “having no inspiration can be inspiring<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

On a substantive note, we wrote about Our Uninspired Health Care System<\/strong>:, with a discussion of a New York Times<\/em> editorial \u201cWorld\u2019s Best Medical Care?<\/a>\u201d (Aug. 12, 2007). We opined that it was easy to agree with NYT<\/em> that:<\/p>\n

\n

With health care emerging as a major issue in the presidential campaign and in Congress, it will be important to get beyond empty boasts that this country has \u201cthe best health care system in the world\u201d and turn instead to fixing its very real defects. The main goal should be to reduce the huge number of uninsured, who are a major reason for our poor standing globally. . . . The world\u2019s most powerful economy should be able to provide a health care system that really is the best.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/em>The New York Times<\/em> has coincidentally published another eye-opening piece about the American health care system today. In “Health Benefits Inspire Rush to Marry, or Divorce<\/a>” (Aug. 13, 2008, by Kevin Sack), we learn that “it is not uncommon for couples to marry, or even to divorce, at least partly so one spouse can obtain or maintain health coverage.” For example:<\/p>\n

\n

“In a poll conducted this spring by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research group, 7 percent of adults said someone in their household had married in the past year to gain access to insurance. The foundation cautions that the number should not be taken literally, but rather as an intriguing indicator that some Americans ‘are making major life decisions on the basis of health care concerns’.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’ve got to say it again: I’m ashamed to live in such a such a wealthy nation, which constantly lectures other peoples about “human rights,” but whose people are apparently too greedy and selfish — or its leaders too much in the sway of powerful lobbies and bogus ideologies — to grant every American the basic right to universal health care. The number of lives that have been lost, families that have been bankrupted, and decisions (from careers to marriages) that have been skewed, because we lack universal health care coverage is shameful. [For more on how our (non-)system of medical care compares to those in other industrialized democracies, see our prior post “please watch and discuss ‘Sick Around the World’<\/a>” (April 16, 2008).]<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"yinyang\"<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font> F<\/em>or haiku inspiration, a year ago today, we posted the following poems that were selected for the Shiki Haikusphere<\/a> 10th Anniversary Anthology<\/em> (2007) (full cover image<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Valentine\u2019s Day \u2013
\npulling a thorn
\nfrom my palm<\/p>\n

blue heron
\nall paddles
\nat rest<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

melting snow
\nheadlines of war
\nfall apart<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.. by Yu Chang<\/a> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he\u2019s gone
\nand gone too
\nthe hydrangea<\/p>\n

early spring walk
\nthe roughness of the scarf
\nthat was mother\u2019s<\/p>\n

first cold night
\nmy fingers snug
\nin mother\u2019s old gloves<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 by Roberta Beary<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

disinfectant jar \u2013
\nthere must be 14 or 15
\nbarber\u2019s combs<\/p>\n

\n

clouding sky
\nmy finger
\non the bear track<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

broken tennis racket \u2013
\nmy aging father says
\nhe won\u2019t replace it<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 by Michael Dylan Welch<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Two more from Yu Chang from Upstate Dim Sum<\/a> 2007\/I <\/p>\n

\n

just in time
\nto pick blueberries
\nAugust evening<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

lingering heat
\nthe pale color
\nof green beans<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

August 13, 2005 <\/strong>— We posted “first kisses and brain freezes<\/a>“, which was a quickie, featuring the following haiku and senryu:<\/p>\n

first kiss
\ndeep in the woods
\nsunbeams filter down<\/p>\n

\u2026 by Randy Brooks from School\u2019s Out<\/em> (Press Here, 1999)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

lemon-ice stand \u2013
\nthe lawyer-dad looks for
\na Brain Freeze Warning<\/p>\n

… by dagosan<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"napHammock\" August 13, 2004 <\/strong>– Was a “rainy Friday the 13th<\/a>” and found the f\/k\/a<\/em> Gang with eyes closed, in a virtual hammock, listening to the delightful Rumpole Rests His Case<\/a><\/em> (2002), narrated by Tony Britton. We opened our collective eyes long enough to share a handful of one-breath poems:<\/p>\n

rain stopped
\nher silk blouse
\non the chair<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

.. by paul m., from A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices<\/em> (Jim Kacian, Dee Evetts, eds., Red Moon Press, 2001); orig. pub.: Modern Haiku<\/em> XXIV:2<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

the far edge
\nof the sea is lost
\nmisty rain<\/p>\n

\u2026. by jim kacian, from Chincoteagu<\/em> (Red Moon Press, 2000) \"taxi<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

sudden lightning\u2013
\nthe street mime
\nclaps<\/p>\n

\u2026 by michael dylan welch, from snow on the water: The Red Moon Anthology<\/em> 1998 (Jim Kacian, et al, Eds.).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

baker\u2019s dozen of
\nbagels \u2014 we eschew
\ntriskaidekaphobia<\/p>\n

\n

the garbage bag lands \u2013
\nsquirrel and I
\nstartle eachother<\/p>\n

\u2026 by dagosan<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

August 13, 2006<\/strong> — We were in the midst of a posting hiatus — and probably spent the day on a comfy futon, parked in front of a fan or two. Hmmm. Sounds like a great idea. See you in our dreams.<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a slow summer afternoon, the f\/k\/a Gang is often in a “year ago today” kind of mood — having learned long agao that rummaging in our archives can be a cheap, easy way to fill up a weblog posting. It’s been extra-sleepy around here all day, and with the evening approaching and nothing prepared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[555,1414],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haiku-or-senryu","category-qs-quickies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-2xq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12207,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9760\/revisions\/12207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}