What's the big deal?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-petraeus-allen-sex-scandal-20121113,0,29930.story

David Petraeus had an affair with his biographer. The affair came to light when the biographer supposedly sent anonymous and threatening emails to some other woman whom she thought was also sleeping with Petraeus. Somehow, through some convoluted rigmarole that hasn't yet been unearthed, the investigation into these emails not only revealed the affair between Petraeus and the biographer but  has also pulled some other Army chiefs into suspicion.

Tell me again how someone's extramarital affairs has any role on their functions as a professional? Why did Petraeus have to resign just because his extramarital affair became public? Seriously, other than families closely connected to the protagonists of this drama, who cares?

Indiscretions by people in high positions have become the rule, not the exception. And even among the ranks of sexual indiscretions indulged by those in power, Petraeus' seems rather mild. Petraeus didn't tweet pictures of his wiener, like Antony Wiener did, didn't patronize a prostitution ring, like Eliot Spitzer did, didn't solicit male partners in a public restroom, like Larry Craig, and didn't even, like Arnold Schwartznegger, have a secret "other" family. He slept with someone who wasn't his wife. So what? Why should this become media fodder and why should we be subjected to sordid details about who did whom and when every single moment of our waking lives?


Can anyone in this day and world be puzzled and appalled at adultery? And why confine ourself to this day and world? In the history of the world and yes, even the Christian American world, you puritanical hypocrites, adultery is fairly common. The only difference between this age and all the previous ones is that we are so incredibly quick to leap up on our moral pedestal and sneer at someone. And I think we secretly sneer not at the act, but at the discovery.






 

Ranking of the Pittsburgh hospital cafeterias

Hospital cafeterias in Pittsburgh (to the best of my knowledge):

UPMC Presbyterian

UPMC Montefiore

Magee Women's Hospital

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Allegheny General (how many?)

West Penn Hospital (how many?)

I'll rank them using the NIH scoring system (given below, lifted directly from a presentation by Freeman and Friedman on Developing Competitive Grant Applications)




















I'm a vegetarian. So I'm biasing my scores towards how vegetarian-friendly these cafeterias are. You may have different opinions about these places. Go write them on your blog, if you feel strongly enough about it.

Hospital	Score	Reasons
Magee	1	Delicious, healthy food; plenty of options of vegetarians and others with diet restrictions; creative in use of ingredients.
CHP	2	Great food. However, sometimes, only options for vegetarians are pizza and burger. On good days, plenty of choice.
Presby	9	Absolute nightmare. Menu has not changed in 4 years.  Terrible choice of soups and desserts. Exactly 1 vegetarian entrée (“Mediterranean Veggie Wrap”) per week.
Montefiore	?	Have only eaten here once. Greasy, overly salty food. But I’ll give it the benefit of doubt and put it down to a bad day.
Allegheny General	?	Need to assess
West Penn	?	Need to assess

So what brought this on? My new job is at Magee Women's Research Institute, a short walk away from the Magee cafeteria. I can't help comparing the quality of my noon meal at Magee to what I subjected myself last year, when the closest place to eat was the Presby cafeteria.

I lost about 10 pounds last year while subsisting on Presby food, because all I could eat was the salad- the sole dish that was not floating in oil. Compare that to yesterday's vegetarian entree at Magee (quinoa with baked butternut squash. Yummy!) and today's (vegetarian chili with succotash and rutabaga on brown rice. Lovely!)

So, I hope that the Presby chefs take some ideas from the Magee guys. Then again, who cares? I don't have to ever eat there again!