Pumpkin Custard Bread

Made this today-yummy, healthy!
Kind of a custard, kind of a bread.

1 small can pumpkin,
4 egg yolks,
1/2 C agave and honey blend,
2 t cinnamon (maybe more),
1 t ginger (maybe more),
1/2 t cloves,
1 C raw almond meal,
4 egg whites: beaten to stiff peaks,

Generously butter a 10 inch pie pan,
400'F oven,
Blend top seven ingredients well. Gently fold in egg whites. Pour into pie pan, smooth surface. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Be fearless and passionate about food and life

Cooking is the ultimate expression of true sensuality, passion, and love. It is the essence of a life well lived. Eating and drinking are among life’s greatest pleasures. Preparing a meal is the beginning.....

A well-prepared, thoughtful meal is a celebration of life and of love. Cooking is the ultimate expression of true sensuality, passion, and love. When it is done well, it is the essence of a life well lived. Eating and drinking are among the greatest pleasures in life. Preparing a meal is the beginning. When we take the time to cook food well, we take the time to eat slowly, taste our food, engage in conversation, experience with one another, and enjoy the moment. Nothing is more primal than the desire for love and connecting with what it means to be human. Sustenance is intrinsically linked to that connection. Emotion is felt in the stomach: sadness, fear, happiness, passion, and bliss. Hunger feels reminiscent of butterflies in the stomach.

Being fearless and adventurous with ingredients and preparations is the key to passionate cooking. Dare to throw away your recipes and ‘paint with food,’ be creative, be bold, be an artist. It’s not about necessarily about training, but paying attention helps. My favorite food is fairly restrained and simple but it is still creative. Not everything needs to be a complicated fusion mess of flavors and textures. Pairing a fresh watercress salad with steamed asparagus, leeks, crumbled bacon, and a couple of over easy, fried eggs sprinkled with tarragon is simple and delicious. Add a crisp, cool glass of Chablis and it is heavenly.

Cooking well is about knowing yourself and knowing your surroundings. Being connected to your food is about being connected to the land; it’s about something real. Don’t be afraid to taste some dirt. Plant some herbs or visit a farm. Know where your food comes from. Cooking well implies opening yourself up to diversity in culture, flavor, texture, scent, and color from the world. Perhaps you are traveling to foreign lands or simply traveling vicariously through the cuisine you prepare. It’s about exploring. Living.

When I am dreaming of France I cook simply, yet beautifully. Every time I braise coq au vin or taste a gorgeous Chinon I am transported. While fantasizing about Italy, I make a frothy cappuccino, sprinkled with cocoa and nibble on a crunchy, handcrafted, pinon nut biscotti or I sip smoky Aglianico.

If I crave Spain, I prepare Paella. I painstakingly select every ingredient from the fragrant saffron threads to the freshest scallops, mussels and clams I can find in my mid-western desert. I play Paco de Lucia in the background and serve my guests cool, floral, Albarino. We dine on my creation, drizzled with Vinegar de Jerez and smoked paprika, garnished with lemon and a bit of ripe, red pepper…and we dream.

Living in the city can be isolated and lonely at times. We are busy. We are stressed. Cooking a meal is a perfect time to reconnect with humanity and our loved ones. It begins when I select the dish or menu. I visit the markets to select the freshest ingredients. And then, I cook, and I cook well.

Gluten Free Delicious Rice Pudding

Delicious Rice Pudding

27 August, 2010

1 quart unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup dark agave

¼ cup honey

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon ginger powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch sea salt

1 cup white basmati rice

½ cup raisins

½ cup chopped dates

¼ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup walnuts

In a medium sized saucepan blend almond milk, butter, sweetener, and spices over medium heat until bubbly. Add rice and stir well. Bring mixture to slight boil. Lower heat and simmer. Stir often and continue to simmer. Add fruit and nuts, stir well, continue to simmer. Stir frequently as the rice cooks. Cook for around 30 minutes.

Taste and adjust spice or sweetness. Add more almond milk as desired. Cook a few more minutes until the rice is soft but not mushy.

Health benefits of Natural Mineral Hot Springs

There is nothing that makes me feel better, physically, mentally, or emotionally, than a long soak in searing hot mineral springs. My aches and pains fade away along with my stress and cares. My skin and hair look radiant and vibrant. My spirit becomes more vital. My soul is restored and I feel like myself again.

The art and science of balneology is a practice that is not well known or widely practiced in the United States and other parts of North America. However, the use of hydrotherapy, pelotherapy, thalassotherapy, and balneotherapy is increasing dramatically worldwide.

In fact, in modern Europe and Japan, the medical science of balneology is already an integrated part of allopathic medical practice and preventative medicine. In France and in Japan, “taking of the waters” is covered on the national health care plan. These therapies are extremely popular in Scandinavian countries as well.

Natural hot springs, comprised of geothermally heated groundwater, can be found all over Colorado; a few of my favorites are found atGlenwood Springs, Idaho Springs or Hot Sulfur Springs. There are many natural “hippy dips” along the Colorado and other rivers. These hippy dips are naturally occurring springs along the banks of the river.In some cases, people have painstakingly taken river rocks and build rock wall hot tubs on the banks of the river: hot water captured in the tub and icy cold mountain water swiftly flowing past. It is a true gift to be welcomed into these secret and sacred spaces. I relish my time relaxing and letting the mineral rich water flow into my pores. I make it a practice to visit hot springs at least once a month for my health and for my sanity.

Water from Colorado hot springs appears either slightly yellow-brownish or milky and emits a faint smell of rotten eggs (sulfur dioxide). These waters are laden with sulfur, silica, radium, selenium, boron, magnesium, manganese, lithium, calcium, sodium, potassium, silver, and many other minerals. The minerals in the water have positive therapeutic effects on various skin ailments, pms and menopause, asthma, neuralgia, arteriosclerosis, rheumatism and shoulder, neck and wrist pains; they also have a detoxifying and mucolytic effect.

From: Glenwood Springs Pool website:

Health Benefits of Mineral Hot Springs

2009, Glenwood Springs, CO... People have been “taking the waters” at the natural hot springs that feed the Glenwood Hot Springs for centuries. The Ute Indians were the first to discover the miraculous healing powers of the local mineral waters, calling them “Yampah” meaning “Big Medicine.” These early Colorado residents considered this a sacred place and used the waters to heal their sick and wounded.

In the late 1890’s, the hot springs mineral water was bottled by the Glenwood Hot Springs Company under the name “Yampah.” The beverage was served in the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad dining cars and eating establishments and was distributed by druggists. Hot mineral water from the “drinking” or “cocktail” spring, a stone structure built in 1888, was served up in goblets and still exists for those who can brave the pungent sulfur aroma.

The practice of using natural mineral water for the treatment or cure of disease is known as “balneology”. Soaking in highly concentrated mineral water is thought to have many health benefits such as increasing body temperature thus killing harmful germs and viruses, eliminating toxins, increasing blood flow and circulation, increasing metabolism, and absorption of essential minerals. Many have come to the Glenwood Hot Springs to treat their ailments. The famous gun-slinger, Doc Holliday, who suffered from tuberculosis, came to Glenwood Springs to ease his symptoms. During World War II, the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool was used as a therapeutic tool by physiotherapists to rehabilitate emotionally and physically disabled sailors and marines.

Today, heat from the waters continues to have a relaxing, soothing effect on muscles and the mind. The Yampah Spring flows at 3,500,000 gallons per day at a temperature of 122° F (51°C), one of the hottest in the world, and is cooled to 104°F (40°C) before it is piped in to the Glenwood Hot Springs therapy pool. Many come to the Glenwood Hot Springs to rejuvenate, revitalize and get back to nature. Visitors often feel healthier, happier and renewed. Perhaps it is the fountain of youth?

Glenwood Hot Springs 970-947-2954

· Benefits of Sulfur-Sulfur is a mineral naturally occurring near hot springs and volcanic craters. Sulfur has been used medicinally since ancient times, and it is contained in every cell in your body. It is a component of three different amino acids (the building blocks that make up protein). Approximately 0.25 percent of your total body weight is sulfur. It is most concentrated in keratin, which gives you strong hair, nails, and skin. It is known as "nature's beauty mineral" because your body needs it to manufacture collagen, which keeps your skin elastic, beautiful, and young looking. Sulfur is used primarily to ease the red, itchy rashes of conditions such as eczema and diaper rash. It also helps to protect your body against toxins in the environment. In addition, people with arthritis may find pain relief from taking a soothing bath in hot sulfur springs. Sulfur is shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

· Benefits of Selenium-It is a powerful antioxidant and is crucial to the health and function of the thyroid gland.

· Benefits of Silica-Silica is one of the most important minerals for strong, beautiful, healthy skin, hair, nails, and bones. It is also shown to reduce the likelihood of dementia.

· Benefits of Arsenic - While arsenic in larger doses is toxic in the human body, minute amounts may assist the body with plasma and tissue growth. Foot bathing in mineral waters with a high content of arsenic is used to address fungal conditions of the feet.

· Benefits Boron - Boron builds muscle mass, increases brain activity and strengthens bones.

· Benefits of Magnesium - Magnesium converts blood sugar to energy and promotes healthy skin.

· Benefits of Potassium - Potassium assists in the normalization of heart rhythms, assists in reducing high blood pressure, helps to eliminate body toxins and promotes healthy skin.

· Benefits of Lithium-Lithium is a helpful depression regulator and mood stabilizer.Dosage in mineral water is extremely small.

· Benefits of Sodium - Sodium and natural salts assist with the alleviation of arthritic symptoms, and may stimulate the body's lymphatic system when used in baths.

Definitions:

Hydrotherapy: water therapy for pain, such as cold or hot tub soak

Pelotherapy: natural clay therapy, clay packs and massage

Balneotherapy: mineral water spa treatments including soaking, massage, and movement

Thalassotherapy: Seawater specific therapy

Sources:

(www.hotspringspool.com.)

(http://www.alternativedr.com/sulfur1.htm)

Baby Sister’s Birthday Celebration

Today is a beautiful, hot summer day. And tonight is going to be an even hotter summer night. My little sister is having an important milestone birthday. I am throwing a surprise party for her. She will never suspect a thing...

Recently, she fell in love with an incredible, generous, gorgeous man. He is charming, thoughtful, articulate, and he loves her for who she is and she loves him in the same way. I’ve never seen her so happy and so at ease with another person. They swept each other off their feet. They have a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ connection. I couldn't be happier for her!

I’ve enlisted his help with the party.

I’m a bit older than her, so I don’t hang out with her and her friends out on the town that often. I know a few of her favorites and enlisted her Facebook social network to come up with the guest list. I have 20 very special people on the list, siblings and parents included. I’ve booked the rooftop terrace at Tamayo Restaurant on Larimer Square. I’ve never been to Tamayo, so I am looking forward to the experience.

Tamayo is a hot spot on Larimer Square owned by famed Richard Sandoval. The creative concept is modern Mexican with a fusion twist. I pre-ordered several servings of ten different appetizers like tangy mahi ceviche, chicken flautas, smoky beef tacos, salmon carpaccio and mole. I am sure everyone will be satiated. We will be toasting the birthday girl with Gruet blanc de noirs methode champenoise from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gruet is an amazing little bubbly, created by a sibling team from the Champagne region of France. It was recently featured in the Food & Wine section of the New York Times.

Topping off the dinner, I’ve selected individual, hand crafted, petit fours from Gateaux to be adorned with the correct number of birthday candles. This is my favorite bakery in the city and the tiny cakes are the best of the best of what they offer....what could be better than trying each flavor instead of just one?

Hopefully little sister will get her wish!

Aspen Food & Wine Festival 2010

The flip side of the snob factor:

Aspen Food & Wine is the ultimate who’s who of the wine and culinary world with a splash of travel lust thrown in. Having been before, and never one to be star struck, I thought it would be just another walk in the park for me. Well, it was a wild walk.

The drive over the very winding and narrow Independence Pass is always beautiful and always a bit nerve wracking. Wild flowers were blooming everywhere and the waterfalls were running fast. Pat, my co-worker, tends to drive fast and aggressively. She’s a New Yorker so she talks with her hands. She talks a lot, so that means her hands aren’t necessarily on the wheel. I am never an easy passenger but by the time we got over the pass I was a nervous wreck and ready for a glass of wine. I really don’t enjoy bumper-to-bumper mountain traffic, no matter how beautiful the sights are. But, this is Aspen Food & Wine. There was a steady stream of cars flowing into the Aspen valley and the town was alive with people scurrying from tent to restaurant and back again.

Walking through the streets of Aspen on this beautiful June day, I could feel the energy of excitement swirling around me. It was in some strange way, very calming. Pat had some friends she was meeting for lunch. She was on the hunt for an entrance pass and they had a lead. I really didn’t care one way or another. I certainly didn’t expect a pass. I was just enjoying watching the people. Many of the people I know and work with in the wine business were mulling around Aspen so I had plenty of people to talk to.

As we walked to the Ute Grill to meet Pat’s friends for lunch we passed the actress Allison Janney and a group of lovely women leaving Gucci. The crowd we were meeting was finishing lunch when we arrived. I sipped on a cool Spanish rosé as Pat and her friend Aubrey strategized finding her a pass. She was in.

I ran into my old friend, Karen Clark, the very successful owner of Wine Connections and my suppliers from Majestic Fine Wines, Ashley Rowe and Jeff Redden near the private entrance to the show. Jeff slipped a pass around my next and told me to go have fun. I was quite surprised by his unexpected gesture. As I was walking in Rick Bayless was walking out. I grabbed a glass and went to work. First stop: Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. Some notable moments included tasting Robert Sinskey wines with Robert Sinskey, sips of Château d’Issan & Château Lagrange, and an unusual Bodegas Valdemar Tempranillo Blanco…

There were gorgeous bowls of strawberries and boards of grapes and cheese propped up around the tasting tables. Chocolove, a local favorite, had one of the longest lines in the tent. I tried a slice of aromatic fig, walnut and hazelnut cake from The Cheese Importers. Blackberry Farms, out of Tennessee, laid out delicious cured meats and various handcrafted cheeses, but the star of their show was a little BLT slider made with deep-fried bacon. I am not sure it is necessary to deep fry bacon but it was truly delicious.

Giada deLaurentiis captivated a crowd as she was speaking in the courtyard. The petite beauty was surrounded by mostly men, and her sparkling smile was entrancing them. I am positive they have no idea what she said, and I am positive they don’t care...

Wine Maker of the Year, Charles Smith, was pouring his wines and chatting up a very different, very attentive crowd in the east pavilion of the big tent. His smoky syrah and lovely blends have always had a special place in my heart and my palate. It is always fantastic to watch the man at work. Have you ever seen vintage clips of John Belushi as Joe Cocker on Saturday Night Live? That’s Charles Smith.

Marnie Old, sommelier du jour and best selling author, relaxed in a chair, under an umbrella, under the Colorado Sunshine.

The Wines of Spain had their own festive tent and the Trade Commission was represented by a beautiful Basque man…what is it about the Basque, this is the second, very exceptional Basque man I have met in recent months. Italian wine expert, Joe Bastianich, was working his way through the representation of Spanish Wines.

My time in side was brief, but it was full of wonderful tastes, splendid sights, and a fantastic opportunity to see everyone in this crazy business under one tent, having fun, working together, and laughing.

Our last stop before returning to Denver was the Little Nell. Pat decided she needed a cup of strong, black tea and a little snack of sweat breads before making the long drive back to Denver. We lounged on the patio watching the sun dipping low in the sky. I sipped on Pellegrino with a sprig of rosemary, still satiated from the festival. Wine legend Richard Betts was holding court by the pool.

The Snob Factor

A few nights ago I was having a simple dinner with my dad and I offered him a glass of Pinot Noir that I had left over from showing it to customers earlier in the day. The bottle was almost empty and the scant glass went down pretty fast. I had a little Chianti left too, so we finished the meal with that. He made the comment that the second wine was fine but he really liked the first wine because it was silky and easier to drink. Good assumption, dad! He did comment that he may have liked the Chianti better if he had tasted it first.

My dad is the classic example of his generation’s Everyman…a hard working Joe with a taste for the good life. He doesn’t really know anything about wine but he knows what he likes and in this case he liked the $50 Pinot Noir rather than the $7 Chianti. To answer the eternal question…yes, you can taste the difference. He may not have known why he liked the higher priced, higher quality wine, but he did. I could have gone into a lengthy monologue about the differences between the two wines, but I just let him enjoy his discovery.

My dad has a friend whose wife loves “pink Chablis” and it’s all she drinks, everyday. Is it my place as a wine professional to correct her, to tell her she is wrong and that Chablis comes only from Burgundy, France, and that what she drinks is a cheap imitation? No, of course not. I just ask her, “What do you like about it?” I give her the respect to enjoy what she is drinking.

Like what you know, and know what you like…is my favorite comment about wine. Yes, it is good to take a risk now and then, try new things, and experience the world of wine, but it is just fine to stick with what you enjoy. I enjoy trying new wines all the time. Not everyone feels that way.

Staring down a 100 bottle wine list in a restaurant can be daunting for anyone. Just what is Albarino or Carmenere, and why should I try it? Will is go with my dinner? Is it just a weird wine that the geeky wine director picked for fun? A well-written list with tasting notes and wine and food pairing hints makes selecting a wine much easier for most of us. Unfortunately, few wine directors take the time to write a list like that. And, most customers pretend they know more than they do about wine because nobody wants to appear stupid in front of their friends, the other guests, or the wait staff. These people often miss out on the pleasures of a really beautiful, be it obscure, bottle of wine.

People should take a moment to remember that they are in great company with the majority of Americans. Few people, wait staff included, know that much about wine. It has simply not been a part of our culture to learn about wine and to consume wine regularly. For the most part, we don’t grow up tasting watered down wine with Sunday dinner with our families. That is changing in many pockets of society, but I doubt that wine in America will ever reach the exalted levels it finds in centuries old cultures like Italy, Spain, or France. I wonder, do people even have Sunday dinner with their families anymore?

There are some elitist type, wine and restaurant industry people who fiercely hold onto the idea that wine is strictly a luxury item, which tends to alienate the very people who support them. These are the people who talk down to their guests or clientele. These are the people who write lofty and irrelevant wine articles and blogs that only other industry people can understand. These are the people that treat wine like it is really something special, reserved only for those individuals willing to pay for the status of claiming to have a cellar full of collectible vintages they will never enjoy because they let them go too long. Wine should never be a platform for demeaning people.

Don’t get me wrong, I think wine is special…so special that I have devoted my life to devouring every word I can read on the subject. I spend my days tasting wines and my nights dreaming about my next wine experience. I plan my life around wine and spend my vacations visiting vineyards and exploring restaurants for their wine and food pairing adventures. Nevertheless, my beloved wine is simply sauce, created to accompany food, to enhance the flavor and pleasurability of the dining experience. It shouldn’t matter if you are eating your favorite Thursday night staple of a quick pasta dish or dining in an elegant restaurant. There is a perfect wine to fit the bill.

Like what you know, and know what you like.

Wine tasting at the Lobby

Last night I attended the first wine and food-pairing event at The Lobby, An Inspired American Grille. The Lobby is a fun little restaurant bar located in the historic Paris Hotel. The gorgeous Victorian building was first established in 1891 and completely renovated in the late 1990’s maintaining the flavor and ambience of the original elegant structure. The Paris is now primarily private residences and the former hotel lobby houses The Lobby. Current owners maintained the lovely hardwood details and have exposed brick to give the room a vintage feel. There is a beautiful and spacious patio located in the courtyard hidden behind a brick wall and shaded by ancient trees. The courtyard is scattered with fragrant flowers and an elegant fountain.

The cuisine surprised me as much as the atmosphere. The first pairing was a steely mineraly crisp sauvignon blanc from South Africa that paired with a pungent prosciutto wrapped prawn. Although the wine pour was scant, the pairing played well on my taste buds. This was followed with a delicious sun dried tomato, goat cheese and chicken pinwheel drizzled with buffalo beurre blanc in a difficult pairing with an aromatic torrontes from Argentina. During this course, the patio filled up with Denver’s beautiful people. The women were decked out and sitting together. Yet the men, who showed up in flip flops or athletic shoes, were congregating separately at their own tables…typical of Denver. The third, and best pairing was a smoky tempranillo from Spain with a slice of seared tuna dressed with mint and cherry coulis. The last pairing of an Argentinean malbec and a seared rib eye doused with a tangy sauce, although very good, left me wanting to revisit the third.

The skies quickly turned dark. Lightening cracked and as it began to pour down rain the tasting wrapped up. The party scrambled indoors where the wine continued to flow. It was a fun night and everyone had a good time. The Lobby will be hosting wine and food pairing events on the third Tuesday of each month through the summer. Check it out for a splash of interesting wine and a taste of delicious cuisine in a fantastic hidden little corner of Denver.

Business Ethics Final Exam Question 3/Answer...

What do you see as the most significant element of the feminist movement that is concerning the development of the global economy over the past number of years? How does this movement reflect on doing business at the international level, and why? You may wish to draw on the analysis of Simone de Beauvoir, and her notions of the other in your reply.
The greatest contributing factor of the feminist movement to the global economy has been the rapid increase of the labor pool, and a cheaper labor in general. At the beginning of the last century, only 1% of workers worldwide were female. Between the 1970’s and 2000, that number rose to about 45%. In 2010, 49.83% of all workers in the United States are female and 50% of all workers worldwide are female. With the great increase of viable workers, most areas of commerce exponentially grew. Fewer men needed to work in agriculture, education, service, and sales, which meant more men could work in manufacturing and manufacturing could experience significant growth. Now, in nearly every field, there are basically equal numbers of each gender employed. There are a few industries such as heavy construction and manufacturing that experience vast occupational segregation and imbalance, but for the most part, things are divided fairly equally.
Feminism has not ushered in equality throughout the majority of the world. Employers worldwide, the United States included, still continue to exploit and subjugate women. In 99% of all fields, women earn less money for doing exactly the same job. Statistics vary, but on average the American female worker earns between 69% and 73% of what a male worker earns according to the US Census. My favorite way to illustrate this point is follows: If a female student and a male student take exactly the same multiple choice exam and they both answer every question correctly, the male would receive a grade of 100% and the female would receive a grade of 69-73%. He would get an A+ and She would get a D+ or a C- at best. Is that fair? No, of course it is not, but it happens every day, all over the world, in business.
The United Nations Human Development Report 2004 shows that in rural areas, women work 20% more than men (102 minutes a day) and in urban areas women work 5% more than men (20 minutes a day). These statistics do not necessarily reflect the often-lopsided gender division of domestic duties such as child rearing, cleaning, shopping, and other domestic duties such as personal accounting and administration. Women in general and in the work force experience significantly higher levels of exploitation, oppression, harassment, violence, violation, retaliation, are responsible for fewer decisions, and earn much less than their male counter parts. In the United States women experience the glass ceiling 84% more than men do. Only 16% of all executives in the United States are women. Strangely, the market fails to consider that women make nearly 70% of all private purchases made in the United States, including automobiles and technology.
On a global economic/business level, industry and business greatly benefit by having women in the work force. Not only do women work more, work harder, do more menial jobs, but also on a whole they are paid much less, which inevitably increases the bottom line profit margin for businesses across the globe. The most disturbing aspect of this analysis is that women put up with unequal pay and oppressive treatment in the guise of “making forward progress.” To quote a long standing advertisement slogan, “You’ve come a long way baby!” It is disgusting. Currently, women are just as much to blame as the businesses and men who oppress them. It is time for women to put a stop to this unfair treatment and continued oppression at the hands of men, other women, and an unbalanced society.
Feminism has lead to an interesting mix of liberation and continued oppression of women. In most places in the world, women are free to work and gain an education, and in many cases they have no choice in the matter. Yet, feminism also set women up for even more oppression, harassment, violence, and frustration through that employment and education. I am not saying that these conditions did not exist before feminism, because, of course they have always existed. This second-class citizenship for women has existed since men decided to dominate women and swing society from matriarchal to patriarchal systems of governance and control. Simone de Beauvoir illustrated this very well in her book, The Second Sex. She discussed the oppression of women in great detail. She argued that men chose to dominate women for the specific purpose of creating a patriarchal society, and their method was to create the myth of woman as the emotional, hormonal, incapable, unintelligent, weaker sex: a woman couldn’t be understood by a man so it is better to dismiss her and control her than to deal with her. This tactic worked quite well and it continues to work in nearly every society in the world.
It is amazing to think that just 150 years ago, most women were not even considered citizens or people for that matter. In many places in the world they still are not. I guess we should be happy at how far women have come, but I for one, am not. Yes, I am thankful for my education and for my employment, however unequal my work and pay are to my male counter parts. But, I think it is a disgrace to the United States, to men, to women, and to all humanity, that in 2010, in America, women are still unequal, still fighting an uphill and thankless battle for gender equality. The Scandinavian countries including Iceland have the best record for gender equality and they also top the lists for education, happiness, and for quality of living standards. These countries demand equality by enforced laws and the citizens happily embrace equality as the only logical political and economic system.*
* Norwegian gender equality policies attract attention partly because of Norway’s relatively high birth rate (top five in Europe). Having a strong female professional participation and top score on gender equality while still maintaining birth rates is made possible much thanks to the legislation in Norway:
• All big companies must have 40% representation of both genders in their board.
• The Gender Equality Act prohibits all discrimination on grounds of gender.
• Parents are entitled to one year leave after birth, and the parents can divide this between them as they wish. Six weeks are reserved for the father.
• Government ensures full day care coverage
An employee with small children has the right to flexible working hours, regardless of gender.
Norway: - Gender Equality is Smart Politics
http://www.norwayun.org/NorwayandUN/Selected_Topics/Gender_Equality/030209_CSWAHintro/

Cauchon, Dennis. Women Gain and Men Lose Jobs,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-02-womenwork_N.htm

www.ilo.org (International Labor Organization)

Ten Surprising Statistics About Women in the Workplace, Feb 15, 2010
http://collegetimes.us/10-surprising-statistics-on-women-in-the-workplace/

The United Nations Human Development Report 2004
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr04_complete.pdf

The Global Gender Gap Report 2009
http://www.weforum.org/en/Communities/Women

Business Ethics Final Exam Question 1/Answer...

1. Some may assume that the values of Democracy are consistent with the values of free-market Capitalism. Others would deny such relevance. Armatya Sen provides a compelling argument for the universal appeal to Democracy, and claims that economic growth works best when melded with democratic principles. The question is, is Democracy a necessary condition for there to be economic growth, or is rather merely sufficient?

I do not believe that Democracy is a necessary condition for there to be economic growth. It may seem as though Democracy is consistent with free market Capitalism, but it isn’t necessarily so. While, from the western point of view, Democracy may seem like a universal value, it is not now, nor has it ever been valued universally.
The obvious case in point is China. The Communist Party of China wields vast and strict control over all areas of life in China including religion, communication, entertainment, education, labor, and politics, however they have relinquished small amounts of control over economy, industry and agriculture. China began moving toward economic liberation in the 1970’s under the unofficial rule of Deng Xiaopeng after the death of Chairman Mao in 1976. Deng Xiaopeng astutely moved the Soviet style planned economy into a more functional mixed economy under the one party rule. This system is termed Market Socialism. The transition first occurred in Special Economic Zones set up to experiment with pseudo-private ownership of agriculture to estimate if there were increases in productivity. The increase was dramatic enough for the government to extend the idea of pseudo-private property ownership to manufacturing as well. Although there is privatized industry, it is strongly controlled and regulated by the single party government.
The result of this economic liberation is that China has become the fastest growing major economy. China is the largest exporter and the second largest importer of goods. China’s economy has averaged 10% growth annually since 1981. The poverty rate in China has moved from 53% in 1981 to just 8% in 2001, which is extraordinary considering the population is estimated to be around 1,338,613,000. The standard of living is lower than that in the United States. The current poverty rate in the United States falls between 13 and 17%. According to the World Bank website, China is the third largest economy behind the United States and Japan. The Gross Domestic Product of China is slated to surpass that of the United States by 2027. In January of this year, China co-founded the Association of South East Asia or the Asean 6 Free Trade Zone, comprised of six countries and over 2 billion people. It is the largest free trade zone in the world.
The United States established their “economic engagement” policy toward China in 2000. This policy allows for trade with an otherwise closed country. When the United States granted China basic trading rights, it was with the hope that China would gradually lean toward democracy as a result of the influx of international (US) money and western cultural influence. The Chinese government relaxed travel restrictions both in and out of China. The Chinese became aware of the outside world and the Communist Party of China could only censor the inflowing information and news so much. Ten years later, the hope of democracy in China has not been realized, to the disappointment of the United States and most of the western world. This is largely in part to Chinese Nationalism, which is greatly misunderstood and underestimated. That, coupled with the rapid industrialization of industry and the enormous decrease in poverty, has only strengthened Nationalism. Communism is stronger than ever in China, and with the general increase in the quality of life, there is less and less resistance toward the communist government. China has become a major economic superpower without Democracy; therefore Democracy is not a necessary condition for economic growth.

Shirk, Susan. China, Fragile Superpower, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007
Spence, Jonathan, The Search for Modern China, Norton & Company, New York, 1999
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html/China

San Francisco in the Morning

Morning is quiet downtown. There are only a handful of tourists wandering about and the occasional native scurrying to work. I am sitting outside the “Il Café” at Union Square with my steaming coffee, watching. It is brisk and damp. The square is filling with artists and their easels peddling their wares, a lifetime of their labours, to hopeful buyers seeking an alternative to the trinkets found in tacky souvenir shops scattered across the city.

It is a life long tradition for me to take a little piece of art home from where ever I travel, so, I feel particularly lucky today as I watch the artists unpacking their volumes of work.
Paintings, drawings and photos are carefully displayed showcasing their best features and carefully concealing the reality. Prices are rarely high and never on display. Mostly, there are the typical sketch painting street scenes in duplicate and European city photography intermingled with fantasy done in acrylics or pastels, colorful landscapes, and harsh abstracts. I generally gravitate toward the street scenes representative of the city scenes of my travels, but today I am drawn to a piece of fantasy. Not usually my style. This piece is vibrant and strangely comforting. It is a smattering of flowers on the surface of a pond cut at a cross section. The scene reveals a book resting in the sand at the bottom of the water. Streams of light and flowers flow upward from the book, like knowledge or wisdom. Quite an interesting concept. Art fascinates and provokes.

In a city like San Francisco, the people often become works of art glazed in fashion embellished with monochromatic accessories. An older woman in an orange Capri length track suit, matching sun visor, sandals, and bag, trimmed with a salmon colored silk scarf, floats past me, coffee in hand and newspaper tucked under her arm. Blue and white nautical stripes appear on men, women, and children, jazzed up with splashes of vibrant red. Dark crisp suits and glossy polished shoes on a cool Saturday morning prove that elegance transcends even on the weekend, in the city. Ladies, young and old, are teetering on sky-high heels, patterned tights, swathed in scanty shirtdresses or mini skirts. Confections of jewels and encrusted glitter dripping from their subdued attire are starkly contrasting with the scrubbed clean, freckled and blond, natural types in faded levis and skin tight tee shirts that show off their taut forms.

San Francisco doesn’t seem like a city for lovers but more for faded companionship. The coolness and indifference lingering in the air extinguishes the passion and lusty sensuality found in Rome and the romance exuding in Paris. Yet, there are tinges of deep seeded intellectualism similar to that of New York City but San Francisco lacks the pretentious nature. This is a town that is for sale. The city is a chameleon that blends to meet your needs and wants. Truly cosmopolitan in that everyone can find a place to feel at home or completely alone. It’s a sentiment that is left completely up to the level in which you let yourself mesh with the vast diversity. Ultimately, San Francisco is like a beautiful watercolor painting caught in a sudden rain.

If I were moving to Paris

I am moving into a tiny apartment from a slightly larger house. I am having a difficult time thinning out my possessions, clutter, and stacks of old papers. Yesterday, I nearly had a petite anxiety attack. Then, after hours of sorting, I had a thought, and it made me ‘get real’ about my situation. “If I were moving to Paris on Saturday, instead of just moving across town, what would I be taking with me?” I also received a nice little piece of advice for clearing out the clutter: “Would you buy it today?” If not, toss or donate it immediately.

That left me stunned for a few moments and with a new plan of attacking this daunting task of packing up my life and moving it forward. That is really what this is all about. Moving my life forward, from a tedious, dramatic, tumultuous, difficult, past few years toward a brighter, simpler, and quieter present and future. Leaving the past behind can be difficult because of the memories, both good and bad, that are attached to the things and the people who are left behind.

I have a few main areas of excessive accumulation…books, music and movies, papers, wine, clothes, and kitchen stuff. I also have more furniture than I may need.
Let me start with the furniture. I have some new pieces but mostly old, inherited or found pieces make up my collection. I have my two beautiful Borgese mirrored dressers. I have my antique writing desk and chair, a birthday gift from my mother. I have my over-stuffed chair and my antique loveseat. I have my new Japanese inspired armoire ( I traded a box of great wine for it!). I use my two black cabinets as a desk and tuck my file cabinet underneath. I have a French bistro set and my old, kitchen table with two rickety chairs I found. I have a black coffee table my friend Rick gave me but I painted it black, and three other little end tables. I have my dad’s old Navy chest filled with blankets. And then I have a baker’s rack and a butler both given to me by old acquaintances. I have several, wooden, folding bookracks….

That leads me to my books. I have hundreds of books. I have been avidly collecting books since I was a teen. Many are special, but many are simply out dated for who I am today. This is the area, more than any other, where I need to be brutally honest with myself. Books are heavy, and they take up a lot of space. I have way too many books. Can I part with the past? It was always my dream to have a library wall of interesting titles. I can still thin them out. Perhaps, I can keep one or two by category—past interests, and then keep the books pertaining to my current interests. That might not be a bad idea. Think about that for a few hours.

I thinned out my music and my movies and finally put each cd or dvd in a book, getting rid of all those bulky jewel cases. I now have four books of cd’s and three books of dvd’s. Not so bad. I’d actually like to get rid of some of that music. I rarely listen to most of it any more and with I Tunes, I can just get the songs I want. Did I mention that I still have my record collection-1000 albums and a tiny record player? I love them, but they are in my mother’s garage….

Clothes: what can I say? I have way too many clothes and the funny thing is, last summer I went through my clothes and reduced my wardrobe by half! Most of my clothes are business or business casual clothes, which for the last four years, I haven’t had the occasion to wear. With my current job, these clothes are finally out of the closet. But, why do I need six crisp white shirts and six crisp black shirts? I have five pairs of black, side-zip pants…but, not one is the perfect fit. I may just have to invest in a great tailor. I have countless tee shirts. I have weeded out the concert tee-shirts (former career) and gone to strictly solid coloured, ¾ sleeve, boat neck or scoop neck: mostly
black. I love skirts and dresses and I have a good collection that I wear. I have eight pairs of jeans. All fit well and look good. Two pairs of dark, two pairs of slightly faded, one white, one Diesel, one black skinny and one blue skinny. I have an excessive amount of coats…and shoes. I don’t even want to think about my coats and shoes!

My kitchen. I have lovely Le Cruset pans and a set of Farberware saucepans. I have cookie sheets, pie pans, and cake pans….I do bake on occasion. I have every utensil a girl should have. I have the appropriate dishes and glasses, silverware, and glass storage containers. What has to go is all the crazy Tupperware….ok, I have to stop thinking about it…it’s a bit overwhelming and it makes me want to drink more wine…I have become the occasional and temporary alcoholic…(stress related).

Shutting out the world for an hour..Part Two

I found her in a little lot near the end of a day driving around with my dad, looking at car after car. Beautiful, cobalt blue, pretty little racing stripes, clean as a whistle, and oh so sexy. She is the exact car I’d been wanting for eight, long years. Finally, with my other car in a totaled mess, now was the time for me to take the plunge and buy my first car payment car. It took four days, but I was finally approved and got to take her home with me on a Monday afternoon. She was perfect.

Friday evening I drove up the mountain to Idaho Springs to celebrate my nephew’s fourth birthday. My friend and I met my brother and his friend in town for a cocktail at a seedy little bar my brother recommended. He cleverly weaseled my keys away from me and announced he would be driving my car to his house, up the canyon…I protested, but realized, he’d do it anyway and I may as well take the path of least resistance. History warned me against fighting him off. If he was going to drive my car, I was going to ride with him…no, I didn’t trust him. Never have….history is telling. My intuition that moment was right. He took off up the winding and icy road toward his house, shifting roughly and hauling ass. I was terrified and asked him to slow it down. He was passing cars and taking the sharpest curves at 70 to 80 miles per hour. He screeched at me to relax, claiming that the car was made to be driven hard like that. As he pulled into his snow packed drive, I cringed. Parked on the other side were my uncle Dennis’ Jeep and my dad’s truck. My brother pulled up hard on the parking brake to spin the car around and as he did it glided smoothly, rear end first, directly into the Jeep. He wrecked my car, of course he did. I was furious! He got out of my car, smiling that sheepish smile and laughing. He said he would take care of it and said he was sorry.
I couldn’t help being angry and sorry is not a simple band-aid.

I went into the house visibly upset and my mom, dad, Dennis, and my brother’s wife all asked what was wrong. I told them, and then Josh came in…he got very angry that I was still angry and asked me to come outside and talk to him. We walked to his entry way and he snapped, screaming at me, and then he physically picked me up and threw me out his door. I was screaming and fighting him off. I was terrified of him; for my safety. I made my way past him and back into the house where everyone else was standing in awe. My brother followed, spewing his venomous anger at me, ranting about things that happened 25 years ago….and not even getting the details correct. He belittled me, humiliated me, physically and verbally abused me, until finally, he said if I didn’t leave he’d call the cops on me. I kept my cool throughout the entire event and invited him to call the cops. Then I went upstairs to apologize to his kids, and his friend’s kids. I apologized to everyone else for the fact that my nephew’s birthday was ruined. I tried to leave. He followed me to my car, prying the door open, and continued to scream at me. At the end of his rant, he evicted me from my home, which I rented from him…typical, and expected.

Within days I discovered that my grandmother was dying of cancer, which was completely unexpected. She was always vibrant, stubborn, strong, and feisty. How could this be happening? I was taken completely off guard. My dad was shattered. The next day we realized that she was much worse off than expected. We left the next morning for a long drive from Denver to McGregor, Iowa. We hit the worst possible weather conditions but we finally made it. We each got a few precious moments with her and made our peace. That night she fell asleep and she never regained consciousness. She died a few days later. I am still in shock by the surrealness of it all.

And now, just a few short weaks later, I am packing up my life to move. Not my choice, and terrible timing. It is amazing how much stuff I have to sort out, thin out, and pack up. I am looking toward the future and I am looking forward to living somewhere new and fresh. I need a clean break and a fresh start. I need a new perspective. I need to let the drama of the past few months slip away. I need to cultivate my secret garden, my own life, my own home, and learn to be myself again. I feel somehow lost, as if I have forgotten who I am and what is important to the true me. I will discover those important things over the next few months, living on my own, with my dog and my cat, in peace and in quite. Solitude.

Shutting out the world for an hour..Part One

Sometimes it takes everything I have to make it through the day. The last two months have been particularly challenging for me. I finished the bulk of college in December and am only taking two classes online this semester. Business Ethics and Entrepreneurship. Both are interesting but I am having difficulty finding the time and inspiration to do the work involved. Each class requires a half an hour on line each day at minimum. There are texts to read and papers to write. It doesn’t sound like a lot until it is combined with the rest of my schedule.

Knowing I would be graduating in May, I began looking for a job in November. I figured that in this recession and in my luxury goods field, that it would take me months to even get an interview. Well, I had six companies interested in the first week of my search. I was flattered and surprised. I quickly settled on three companies and began the in-depth interview process with each. Each company made me an offer. I carefully selected the best company for my current circumstances. A woman with whom I had wanted to work with for a long time recruited me. She gave me the difficult Boulder territory and I started with them on January 4th. That same day, she told me she was retiring at the end of the month. She knew it when she hired me but really wanted me on the team anyway. I was secretly devastated and may not have taken the job had I known. I wondered if I made a mistake. To top it off, the company had not found her replacement. To further complicate matters, the man I was replacing was promoted to DM in July so the territory was largely ignored for six months. This man was to take on the responsibilities of the woman who was leaving, train me, and do his own job. Poor guy. The downside is that my training was lack luster. I was hoping I had not been set up for failure.

In my fourth week of employment, I was required to give a “State of my territory” presentation to a panel comprised of the VP’s and CEO’s of my company. Each member of my six-man team were required to present. My presentation had nothing to do with me…as I was reporting on the previous year. (It had everything to do with me and how I would repair the broken territory.) The DM, who was responsible for that territory, did very little to assist me in the creation of the presentation. I actually had to call on the woman who hired me to help me find the information I needed. This was a source of extreme tension between the DM and myself. He basically dumped his failures in my lap. In the end, the presentation was a success, the panel was compassionate but firm, and I was able to convince them that I will do everything in my power to turn the territory around. I realized through my research that the territory is in much worse shape than had been revealed to me. Great.

I was having dinner in front of the tv after a very long day at the end of January when I heard the loudest crash and then screaming coming from the street outside my house. My roommate ran out and I followed, cell phone in hand. What I saw in the street shocked and amazed me. My Ford Explorer was attached to a Lincoln towncar by the grill and it had been pushed fifty feet down the block into yet another car. The driver of the towncar was desperately trying to free his car. People were in the street and my roommate was pounding on the driver’s side window trying to get the man to stop. He finally stopped and then he took off running. My roommate chased him down and the man along with his passenger and brother were all arrested. He got a DUI among the other charges. He had just been released from jail two days prior with yet another DUI.
The fire department and nine cops showed up. They were amazed at the sight of the wreckage. The man had wrecked into my roommates car, my car, and then used my car to wreck into yet another car. All of the cars were totaled.

This boded particularly well for me as I am required to drive to Boulder everyday for work carrying boxes of wine. Because of this requirement, I had just added full coverage insurance to my car when I accepted my new job. In fact, I just paid the bill a few days before the accident….

To my horror, the insurance company informed me that they had no record of the upgrade but had processed my ‘early payment.’ I had the bill in my hand and they said the burden of proof was on me. I am not in the habit of recording my telephone conversations so, obviously, I had no proof, and no full coverage. My car was a total loss unless I could track down the insurance for the towncar. Thankfully, the loser had a cheap policy and I would be getting some money, very little, but at least I got something.

As it goes, I am required to have a car for my new job. I drive, on average, 80 miles a day. I don’t really like driving and don’t really like cars but I have always wanted a Mini Cooper. My dad took me looking the day after my car was totaled. We had been looking at Mini’s before-it is something fun we do together. We looked at a few dealers and then as luck would have it, my dad found the perfect car in the web. But…more about that later…