The point of the story, in case you either missed the article (click here to read it again) or the underlying message, was that even intelligent and well-meaning people sometimes just get things wrong.

The day after President John F. Kennedy was elected, Mr. Phillips made a brief comment to the class before we started our day’s lessons and writing exercises. He warned that the election of a Catholic to the highest office of the country might very well end forever our religious freedoms. His main point was that he wondered what President Kennedy would do if he was given a direct order by the Pope in Rome. Would he obey the head of his church? Or would he make an independent decision based only on what was good for our country.

You’d have to have been there to understand how this was presented to us. Although Mr. Phillips was always able to command our attention, his usual manner was to be soft-spoken and almost casual. That’s the way he began his short – but intense and pointed – little speech to us that morning.

My guess is that thirty minutes after his comments, most of the other students in the class probably forgot about it and went on about their business. For me, however, since I was very much in tune with current events and politics, his words really stuck in my brain – so much so, that I can still conjure up the vision of him standing before the class and hearing his words to this day, nearly fifty years later.

My motivation to write the article about Mr. Phillips was to show that the fear-mongering surrounding the election of President Barack Obama is not something new to this country. It had actually been worse when John Kennedy was elected and Mr. Phillips’ classroom comments at the time illustrated that fact.

In November, I received this very nice email from a very unexpected source:

Wed, November 18, 2009 9:42:57 PM
To: editor@justoneopinion.com

Dear Mr. Hoyle,

I tried to post the following comment to your article mentioning my father Robert Phillips, but, for some reason, the comment couldn’t be submitted. Anyway, here is what I was going to post:

I was Googling my father’s name and found this…[referring to the article published in September]

My father committed suicide in 1990 at age 72 after a lifetime of battling depression. My mother died of cancer in 1972, the year I graduated from North High [Riverside, CA]. Later my dad had a relationship with another woman who also died of cancer. I don’t think he ever recovered from these blows.

Ironically, given your article, he was a staunch atheist who had rebelled against a strict religious background. He was fairly conservative until the Vietnam War, but somewhat radicalized along with my brother Rick (grad – Ramona HS 1968 [Riverside, CA]) and me, and then became extremely cynical about politics in the 1970s, when he told me he agreed with my socialist views and activism in an ideal sense, except he didn’t think anything would ever work to improve our miserable lot.

He was a brilliant man with strong personal ethics, but often very angry and rigid, something his students probably didn’t see. I knew he wasn’t fond of Catholicism, but I didn’t know he singled it out among religions in general – I thought he despised all of them equally.

Millie Phillips, daughter of Bob Phillips

What a pleasant surprise this was for me. Just knowing that an article published in Just One Opinion would connect me with a little girl (all grown up now) that I had met a few times over fifty years ago. Such is the power of the Internet. Over the next few weeks, Millie and I exchanged several emails and got reacquainted.

In part two of this followup to Mr. Phillips’ story, I will share those exchanges with you. I hope you will find them an interesting followup to my original story.

The problem is that very few people will take advantage of The Cure in spite of the fact that it has been known for decades, requires no direct intervention by a doctor, no insulin pumps or blood sugar tests. The Cure would save thousands of lives and billions of dollars of healthcare costs every year. It would dramatically reduce the personal pain associated with thousands of amputations, bypass surgeries, strokes, years of severely degraded quality of life -- and early death.

So why does  this insidious disease continue to spread? In spite of the fact that the consequences of not taking The Cure can be severe, most victims of the disease reject The Cure.

Is The Cure an inexpensive “magic pill” that has been kept from us by some nefarious plot of the drug industry? No, it’s actually much worse than that.

Well-meaning people are often willing to walk or bicycle to raise money to find a cure for this disease for their loved ones and friends. Each year millions of dollars are donated for research into finding a new “magic” (but probably very expensive) pill, when the nearly free Cure is readily available.

Magazines, television and the Internet have touted this cure for years. By now every Type 2 diabetic and obese person has surely heard about it -- and yet most diabetics choose not to avail themselves of The Cure.

So just what is this magic cure? The way sufferers avoid it, it must be a very bitter pill indeed. However, before I tell you about The Cure, lets look at the disease:

Type 2 Diabetes is not a disease in isolation. It is associated with a larger set of health and lifestyle issues called Metabolic Syndrome, and is endemic in American society. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) based on a sample of 8,842 Americans,“The unadjusted and age-adjusted prevalence of the metabolic syndrome were 21.8% and 23.7%, respectively. The prevalence increased from 6.7% among participants aged 20 through 29 years to 43.5% and 42.0% for participants aged 60 through 69 years…”

Metabolic Syndrome, as generally defined by the American Heart Association and others, can usually be identified as having these characteristics:

• Abdominal obesity (waist of 42 for men and 35 for women)
• High triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and high LDL cholesterol
• Elevated blood pressure (more than 130 over 85)
• Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (fasting glucose greater than 100 mg/dL)

It’s true that not all people with these issues will develop Type 2 Diabetes, but if their symptoms are left unaddressed, many likely will. Metabolic Syndrome is a continuum leading to full-blown Type 2 Diabetes, leading to various forms of cardiovascular and organ failure, with dire results.

Diabetes was the seventh leading underlying cause of death listed on death certificates in 2006. Even at that level, diabetes is still greatly underreported as a cause of death. Only about 35 to 40% of those who died with diabetes had it listed anywhere on the death certificate. Only 10 to 15% of studied cases had it listed as the underlying cause of death.

Here’s the kicker: The risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of those without diabetes of similar age.

Death is often not the worst part of runaway Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes. Let me illustrate by sharing a personal story:

My best female friend going back to the first grade -- who was also a church choir mate and high school confidant -- became obese during a bad marriage while she was in her twenties. By the time my wife and I reconnected with her when she was fifty, she had taken insulin injections for years. We convinced her to take a medical retirement to better deal with her disease and to also avoid a work environment that fostered her smoking and constant snacking on unhealthy food. We returned to visit her twice after she retired, and found her making slow progress and enjoying life again. On our last visit she crocheted an Afghan for us to use in our motor home. We still treasure her gift and even named it “Linda.” I’m sure you can see where this is going…

Suffering from severely blocked arteries in her heart, brought on by her Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 diabetes, she went in to the hospital for bypass surgery. At her relatively young age of 53, bypass surgery is a procedure assumed generally safe and effective, at least for the short-term.

Unfortunately, our friend went directly from surgery into intensive care, and suffered there for a month before she died. Diabetes severely limits the body’s ability to heal, and in her case her heart never responded. I cannot imagine a worse death -- being hooked up to tubes, feeling helpless -- and then slowly, painfully slipping away.

She was lucky in some ways. She didn’t have to endure limb amputations, or slow organ failure. She didn’t have to manage most of the myriad of health issues facing Type 2 Diabetics as they grow older, dying before her condition could reach that level.

By writing this I am not trying to make those who are Type 2 Diabetics -- or have Metabolic Syndrome and are pre-diabetic -- feel guilty. Guilt is not a motivator. There is a genetic component that contributes to the development of Type 2 Diabetes in those with Metabolic Syndrome, and even some without the syndrome. My mother had “sugar” -- as they once called mildly elevated blood sugar -- and yet she was never overweight. I know that it is in my genetic makeup and it is as important for me to avoid Metabolic Syndrome as anyone else.

Besides all the pain and suffering caused indirectly by Metabolic Syndrome, the direct yearly costs to our economy for diabetes is $174 billion. A number like that spent on just one disease puts total Medicare expenditures in perspective. We could save all of that every year by just using The Cure.

Here is the good news: Several avenues of research have shown that Metabolic Syndrome and even entrenched Type 2 Diabetes can be reversed with The Cure I mentioned at the beginning of this article. This readily available, inexpensive Cure, is not being accessed by most of the millions of Americans with Type 2 Diabetics. For them it must be a bitter pill indeed.

By now you have probably guessed The Cure:

• Weight loss to achieve a desirable weight (BMI less than 25 kg/m2)
• Increased physical activity, with a goal of at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most days of the week
• Healthy eating habits that include reduced intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol

That doesn’t sound so difficult does it? Yes, it takes time, a little sweat equity and changing a few dietary habits. It also requires some lifestyle changes that many people find difficult.

For some the dietary and exercise changes are a threat to their self-image -- even their culture. British television star, Jamie Oliver (“The Naked Chef”), came to Huntington, West Virginia. It’s my home state, and Huntington is a college town. That city had the dubious distinction of being America’s “most obese city” in 2008, with a population suffering a very high incidence of Type 2 Diabetes. Oliver’s mission was to bring his healthy eating program to the children of the public schools. What he found was that the children could not name common vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and turnips. Nor could they identify any of the vegetables that I’d grown as a child on a small farm forty miles away, and available in chain grocery stores everywhere.

Surprisingly, Jamie Oliver was not met with appreciation, but with virulent opposition from many of the locals. They claimed he was trying to take away the culture of the mountains and making them the laughing-stock of the country.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcprJs7euRQ

I suggested through my Facebook posts that doing something about the problem might be a better response. The comments that came back to me were filled with sarcasm about my personal life of exercise and interest in healthy eating.

I tried to point out, with little success, that the original mountain culture did not include fast food, fatty barbecue, pizzas, and popular eating contests. Instead, it included lots of vegetables, whole grains, and local meat. It also included plenty of exercise. My grandfather ate pork most days, and must have had awful LDL numbers, but he was still swinging a mowing scythe when he was ninety.

My friends in West Virginia, and all over America, no longer follow that original lifestyle. Instead, they are eating what the large processed food companies tell them to eat, and are experiencing the consequences of that choice.

I assume this article will upset some readers. We are not a society that likes to take personal responsibility for our health, and we don’t like being preached to or nagged about it. If I have offended you, please know it is not personal. On the other hand, if you have Metabolic Syndrome, or Type 2 Diabetes, I sincerely hope you will reconsider The Cure.

I can assure you that it’s a pill that’s not nearly as bitter as you might think.

I voted for you in November, 2008. I don’t apologize for being a big fan of your style, intelligence, and your dedication to being a good President. A lot of people, including some in my own family, think I’ve lost my mind or gone over to the “Dark Side” because I support you most of the time.

You have a particular talent as a public speaker. I won’t offer any advice to you on how you might improve your delivery, pronunciation, enunciation, or other presentational skills. I personally think that you are the best public speaker to live in the White House since President Ronald Reagan. Reagan had some professional training as an actor and TV host. I think your skill comes from the heart.

Let’s face the facts. If you had managed your presidential campaign like you have the Office of the President, you’d still be a junior Senator from Illinois. Hillary Clinton would probably be president this term – or, heaven forbid, John McCain. We’d all have remembered you only as “that good-looking young African-American fellow from Chicago that ran for President, but lost the primaries to John Edwards.”

Where is the fire in your belly? What happened to your insistence on sticking to the facts? Why won’t you immediately counter-punch whenever someone goes on Fox News and tells a bald-faced lie? When Representative Stupak comes out and says that the new Senate version of the healthcare bill “allows federal money to pay for abortions” – make him prove it.

Don’t just make a sissified statement like, “I’m sure that the Congressman is sincere in his beliefs, but we don’t want to hold up healthcare for the majority of Americans.” Make Stupak quote the chapter and verse in the Senate bill that supports his statement. Don’t avoid the issue to keep from hurting his feelings, attack the falsehood! Make him prove the facts of his statements!

It’s already been proven numerous times by several TV, radio, and newspaper commentators, House Leader Nancy Pelosi, and other prominent House and Senate leaders that the new bill specifically does not include any allowance for payments for abortions using federal money. However, a fair majority of American voters DO BELIEVE what Stupak is asserting. Why? It’s because you’ve avoided calling him out on the issue. You’ve lost the battle before it started because you refuse to shoot back or defuse the bomb that Stupak has dropped on healthcare reform.

All this does is make voters like me, who have continued to support you all this time, wonder if your hands are also in the pockets of the big insurance cartel. If not, why won’t you speak up – loud and clear?

Instead of appealing for the support of the vast majority of people who voted for you and supported your plans to reform government, provide universal healthcare, and bring the war in Iraq to a close — you’ve been in Washington negotiating with special interest groups and wasting your time trying to appease the Republicans in Congress. They have made no secret that they despise you and have vowed to oppose you at every turn. Your choosing to ignore them has put the brakes on all the momentum you had when you were elected our President. By trying to be “Mr. Nice Guy” you’re barely treading water at this stage of your first term.

Well-funded opponents of health reform continue to gain ground by convincing the American middle-class that your plan is a false choice: Keep the healthcare plans they have now, or gamble on “Obama’s government takeover of healthcare with his socialist ideals and lose everything.”

You’re losing the battle because you’re still wasting your time trying to appeal to members of the Republican Party who hate you. Quit trying to be friends with the enemy. The truth is that they will not play your game and they don’t play fair. They don’t give a damn about America’s middle or low-income classes, only the insurance companies and their lobbyists who are financing their next election. You must take control and directly confront their cynicism and deceptions. Don’t be afraid to call them out on their lies and ties to the insurance industry, Mr. President.

If roles were reversed and the Republicans were still in power, do you think they would be playing nice with a minority of Democrats? Well? Did they play nice during the Bush Administration? How many bills did they pass using “Reconciliation” in the Senate?

Mr. President – you must explain clearly and forthrightly that a financially secure future for middle-class families, and for the entire nation, depends on reforming the entire health care industry and finding ways to control its runaway costs before it bankrupts the country and each and every individual.

It’s ironic that middle-class families have the most to lose if healthcare reform fails to pass. The problem is that most of them have yet to realize that fact. You’ve got to impress upon them what personal and financial pain they have to look forward to if you fail in your quest for universal, low-cost healthcare.

Without reform, it has been estimated that in ten years premiums for the average family’s health insurance coverage will cost nearly $25,000 per annum, and that’s based on current low inflationary rates. According to the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund, rates could reach as high as $30,000, pricing all but the wealthiest families completely out of the health insurance market. With costs that high, most medium and small businesses will be unable to afford to contribute anything toward subsidized health insurance plans for their employees.

The very rich can afford the best available health care with or without private or public insurance. Unfortunately, the American middle class, even those who are comfortable with their present insurance coverage, could soon find themselves under-insured or unable to get any affordable insurance coverage.

Your Republican and Fox News opponents are buying hundreds of daily sound bites accusing your program of being “socialized medicine” and allowing a “government takeover” of the “best healthcare system in the world!” They accuse you of wanting to set up “death panels” and using government bureaucrats to deny quality healthcare to the elderly and the sickest among us. They present this as a future probability under your plan, while at this very moment insurance companies are doing this every day in every state to every class of patient. Insurance companies are already making decisions about patients’ health care with only one objective: increasing insurance company profits.

I hate to admit it, but the Republican Party and Fox News’ decision to promote lies and half-truths are working – and continue to destroy your standing with American voters in all parts of the country. Why? Because so far you’ve refused to take a stand for truth and justice for middle-class and average working families. So far you have done far too little to effectively counter those charges. I sometimes wonder if you really care. Is your heart really in the fight?

Mr. President – now is the time to speak out forcefully against the liars and propagandists in and out of the political arena. Make it clear that simply because they wrap an American flag around their shoulders and carry a King James Bible in their hands, that does not make everything your opponents say “The Truth.” They have to realize that it’s not just for the maintenance of your political reputation that you should come out and force the truth to be told. After all, healthcare reform is for the benefit of those very same Bible-thumping, flag-waving, tea-bagging Republicans – and for the rest of us who depend on affordable access to doctors, clinics, and hospitals when the need arises.

If your healthcare reform programs fail, it will be the middle-class and low-income families, the very people who tend to believe most of the Republican Party’s lies, who will ultimately pay the highest price for the least amount of healthcare.

Help them. Help us all. Fight for us, Mr. President!

I want to thank our old and new visitors for sticking by us these past couple of months. There are a few die-hard readers that check in from time to time, and we still get a lot of hits from first-time visitors. This traffic is surprising considering the fact that we’ve put very little new up on JustOneOpinion.com since Christmas. It’s clear that some of our articles have gone well-past their “do not sell” date.

My excuse is that I’ve simply been overwhelmed for the past three months due to construction work going on in my home. Just before Christmas we had a hard freeze here in Oregon that resulted in frozen pipes bursting all through the Willamette Valley. In my home, a pipe froze and burst in mid-day causing minimal damage to my garage. A few hours later, it burst again in another location while we were away, effectively destroying the garage and doing extensive damage to our laundry room, tiled front entryway, and our hallway.

While we suffered a rather alarming loss just before the Christmas holiday weeks, we were able to get plumbers, restoration contractors, and other craftspeople out to the house to help us. This was in spite of the fact that the freeze damaged hundreds of homes and businesses in the area, most as a result of broken pipes, leaving homeowners scrambling to find any available contractors to repair their homes.

Our insurance company gave us immediate and excellent service so that we could get everything cleaned up and repaired. This is not a paid plug, but an honest testimonial for Ameriprise Homeowner’s Insurance, the company that provides customer service and underwriting for Costco here in the western states. I have nothing but good things to report about how their claims representative, Scott Miles, handled our account, immediately paid contractors for the emergency work that had already been done, and then quickly cut us a check that was fair and representative of the repairs we needed to get everything back to normal.

We were also fortunate to have a great local contractor referred to us by our Realtor, Rhonda Marshall. Eric Sorenson exceeded our expectations by making absolutely sure that everything was completed in an organized, timely, and professional way. His dedication to high-quality work was commendable, his quotes were reasonable, and he made sure that everything that was done met our expectations. The walls and ceiling work in the garage looks great and the updated flooring in the entry-hallway and laundry room give our home an entirely new look.

But for me, it has been three months of demolition, restoration, installation, and reconstruction going on right behind my head. That’s my main excuse for why my recent productivity has absolutely sucked.

I’ve been working with Dick Kelly on a book project since last summer and my goal was to have my part completed by Christmas. Finally, just after Thanksgiving, I told my wife that I wouldn’t shave again until I’d completed the project - and I haven’t shaved since. She hasn’t left me yet, but if this project isn’t done within the next few weeks, one of us will be sleeping in our new garage.

On the other hand, being creative is very difficult when you have hammers, saws, nail guns, staplers, paint sprayers and what-all making noise just a few feet away from your office door.

Although most of the blame sits squarely on my shoulders, the other contributors to JustOneOpinion.com have also been quiet over the past few months. Everyone seems to have a lot on their plates these days.

Dick Kelly has been finishing up his sequel to his first book, Growing Up in Mama’s Club. He and his wife have also been living with contractors working in their home in Tucson during the past six months. I hear that they had much of the interior redesigned and updated. I can’t wait to see the results.

Craig Bieber is finishing his new book and hopes to have it published later this year. He was able to take a break and contributed a most interesting article about his Christmas trip to New York that continues, even at this late date, to get a lot of hits from our readers.

Bob and Claire kept us entertained as well as on the edge of our seats during the fall. Their trip all over southeast Asia was exciting and nerve-wracking for all of us during the several weeks they were gone. Not only did we understand the danger and complexity of the trip that they were taking, but we’d also worry every time they would go completely silent for several days. Eventually they would come to a village or city where they could once again access the Internet and finally send us some updates, photos, and videos. They are home now and resting up for their next grand adventure later this year. I’m hoping that they can swing through central Oregon and pay us a visit for a few days.

In the meantime, Bob and Claire are sharing some of their favorite recipes on their website at NewBohemians.net. Go check them out.

Chi Newman maintains a busy schedule with speaking engagements and her usual rounds of bridge parties and other social activities.

I hope that we can all get back in the writing groove over the next few months and expand our readership again. I realize that we’re no Huffington Post, and probably never will be, but we do have a great number of readers and fans – and we thank them all for their patience.

I’ll try to do better over the next few weeks – now that I can hear myself think. Please come back and check us out.

This is a question Claire and I get from Americans when they hear of our tandem bicycle travels in third-world countries and our perseverance in spite of difficult conditions. Of course, there is no answer to such a pejorative question. By using the phrase “possess you” they are saying they think us possessed – maybe even crazy. Perhaps we are. Crazy – but also fulfilled.

Many JOO readers visited our New Bohemians website between early September and late December of 2009. We hope you enjoyed the journals, photos, and videos you found there, and we hope you learned something about Asia.

Just in case you joined us in the middle, I’ll give you a snapshot of our journey, and what inspired us to pick our difficult route.

The first part of our plan was to ride our tandem bicycle across the mountains of historic Tibet and into Yunnan province, to the mythical and literal land of Shangri-la. The concept of seeking out Shangri-la the hard way, on a tandem bicycle, came from ongoing motivations:

• To see our World from a unique perspective, at a speed that allows for contemplation of its many mysteries.
• To challenge ourselves against the unknown, find adventure, excitement, and fulfillment doing what we love.
• To represent a side of America foreigners seldom see on TV: wholesome, optimistic, open and caring, with a physical work ethic like their own.
• To share with diverse peoples our joy in life. From Urumchi to Winnemucca, from Alice Springs to Baku, the love for a spouse and shared labor is universally appealing.
• To gather material for our magazine writing, Just One Opinion, and NewBohemians.net.

This is not our first such adventure. Our tandem bicycle, somewhat inappropriately named Zippy, has carried us 40,000 plus miles (nearly 1.6 times around the world) over the last few years. “In Search of Shangri-la” was our second tandem journey in Asia, our first being our Silk Road Crossing from Beijing to Istanbul. Despite the difficulties of that trip – language, political unrest, route location, illness, and food – we wanted to go back.

We chose the most mountainous route possible to Shangri-la, over the steep fingers of the east end of the Himalayas. This turned out to be almost too much for this not-so-young-anymore tandem team, but by cooperation, tenacity, and thanks to a lot of help from friends we made along the way, we prevailed. There was the Tibetan family who took us in when a snowy night overhauled us. Later, a road crew shared their space and dinner with us as high winds, sleet, and our own exhaustion threatened our ability to go on.

After descending into Yunnan, China we found the literal Shangri-la, and were somewhat disappointed by its touristy reality. On the other hand, it did have a certain charm, sheltered us for three days, and provided better food to help us continue our trip. Did we actually find the mythical Shangri-la? Read on:

The “Shangri-la” most of us know is the mythical place of perfect happiness. The word and the concept were invented by the British author James Hilton in 1933. He described a Utopian kingdom where people lived to healthy old age, content and happy beyond the understanding of most Westerners. His “Shangri-la” was located in the mountains of northern Yunnan Province and western Sichuan Province where the Tibetans and most of the other fifty-three minorities of China live. It is a spectacularly beautiful part of the world, from the plateaus and barren gorges of Tibetan Sichuan, to the botanical paradise of the mountains of Yunnan.

Unfortunately, life is not always easy for the people living there. The terrain is brutally steep, the rivers violent, the winters high-altitude harsh, and the ethnic majority Han population of China is not always kind to them. Some residents are stoic and others are happy – not too different than those of us from the West – but their happiness quotient is very high considering the challenges they face in their daily life.

Further along in our journey we found the people who would be most like the mythical Shangri-la people – and in a most unlikely place.

Laos has been the whipping boy for Southeast Asia for much of its ancient history. In recent history it has been misused by its neighbors and colonial powers alike. During the “American War” (as southeast Asians call the Vietnam War), more total tonnage of bombs was dropped on Laos than by all sides during World War II. Even now, hundreds of people are killed and maimed every year by unexploded anti-personnel ordinance dropped over 40 years ago.

We felt the fear they live with every day when we were lost for two days in an area not cleared by bomb disposal crews. They go to work in their rice paddies or hunt in the jungle each day, knowing there may be a “bombie” out there with their name on it. And yet they bear no grudge against the Americans who salted their land with death.

The Lao we met are happy, well nourished, and live a rich family and village life. Laos has one of the few Communist governments left in the world, but it seems to have little influence on the lives of the people.

Is Laos Shangri-la? As we worked our way up a Lao mountain, we met a German with a story to tell. He was bicycle touring nine years ago when he became ill with food poisoning in Laos. While recovering, he met his future wife, and they now have two children. He runs his father-in-law’s pig farm, and has become Lao in every way except for his race. I asked if he would ever return to Germany. “Never!” was his answer. He has found his Shangri-la.

After eight months of bicycle touring in Asia over the last few years, the continent has again left me staggered. Just as I think I have the real Asia nailed, I find myself blindsided by the reality, the vitality, the sheer size and complexity of the continent.

Some will say I should just stay home and absorb the opinions of the talking heads, those government and politically motivated experts – most who have never set foot in Asia outside the capitals. I don’t believe that accepting observations from someone riding in the back seat of a Mercedes with darkened windows – never stopping, but just driving past the toiling masses – necessarily offers a true picture of that great continent.

Westerners have always misunderstood the Asian ethos, and underestimated the tenacity of the people. We need to get past stereotypes and open our eyes. Those of us living in the West will be competing with Asians and need to understand their hopes and desires, allowing us to work with them in mutual respect and to our mutual benefit.

Both Claire and I will be writing about Asia for a long time, for Just One Opinion and on our own website. If you would like to read our stories and see our photos and videos during our “In Search of Shangri-la” journey, follow the link to NewBohemians.net.

Editor’s Note: Chi Newman is a frequent contributor to Just One Opinion. She is our expert on all things Asian, especially Chinese food and culture, because she was born and raised there. Chi wrote this article for her own website at Chi-Newman.com and offered to let us publish it here. I bet you’ll have a craving for Chinese food that will last for days!

Its been several months since I contributed an article to my website and here at Just One Opinion. I’ve been really busy lately, but I felt like writing and sharing some of my Chinese recipes with you. These are not banquet dishes, these are family dishes.

In China, family dishes are called “shia fan,” which literally means dishes that make the rice go down. For common people this type of food can be quite inexpensive, but the ingredients are cooked with so much flavor by the adding of hot peppers, garlic, ginger and onions, that sometimes these “shia fan” dishes taste better than banquet dishes.

You do not need a big piece of meat. One chicken breast, a few shrimp, a pork chop or small piece of steak would be enough to feed a whole family. To these ingredients we add a little bit of this and a little of that – ingredients that are already in your refrigerator. You might have half a green pepper or red pepper, a carrot, some celery sticks, green onions – or some nuts like cashews, almonds or peanuts. Include ginger, garlic, hot pepper sauce, or flakes. Add these to the meat you have to make a very healthy and flavorful meal that will feed the whole family. Chinese hosts always serve rice on the side.

Once you know the art of stir frying, you can always find some things to make a beautiful dish. The actual cooking time is very short, but the preparation and cutting can take time. You’ll need many little bowls to keep each ingredient separate. Marinate the meat in the sauce you will have prepared, but each vegetable should be stir fried separately to retain its color and consistency.

Even in cooking we never forget to practice the “Yin-Yang” philosophy. There is never a Chinese dish that is all white or all dark. There are always contrasting colors and textures in keeping with our philosophy of balance and opposites.

CHICKEN AND CASHEWS

2 chicken breasts, cut into squares

2 egg whites, unbeaten
2 Tbs.of good white wine
1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch
Mix the above ingredients, and toss into the chicken breasts, let stand

2 slices of ginger, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
3 cloves crushed garlic

1 cup of cashews, or peanuts
1/2 green pepper (cut into squares)
1/2 red pepper (cut into squares)
5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in boiling water till soft. Squeeze dry and cut into squares. (Any kind of fresh mushrooms can be used.)
2 stalks of celery, cut into cubes
Oil (preferably vegetable or peanut oil for frying)

SAUCE

1 1/2 Tbs red wine
1 1/2 Tbsp ketchup (for color)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsps soy sauce
1 Tbsp Hosing sauce (can be bought at any supermarket)
2 Tbsps of hot red pepper sauce (can be bought at any supermarket) I like the Sambal Oilek (ground fresh chili paste, it is made in the USA) (optional)

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp water

Cut chicken breast into squares and mix with unbeaten egg whites, wine and cornstarch. Let stand.
Heat enough oil to fry nuts, season and remove to bowl. Heat oil to fry green pepper, red pepper and celery till cooked but still crisp, season and remove to bowl. Heat oil to fry mushrooms, season and remove.

Heat 6 Tbsp oil till very hot, add ginger, green onions, garlic, till very hot and fragrant, add chicken till it turns white, then add the premixed sauce. Stir till completely mixed. Add the cornstarch and water to chicken to thicken. Now add vegetables and nuts to blend. Remove immediately to platter. Serve with white rice on the side.

Note: This dish has all the ingredients to make a healthy meal. You can exchange the vegetables to broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or any other vegetables. Remember to keep the vegetables crisp and colorful in contrast with the dark meat. Also note how inexpensive it is to serve a whole meal that is not only healthy but delicious with just a few things you have at home.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP

This is an exciting soup full of contrasting flavors and texture, and a perfect example of the Yin-Yang that I talked about. It ranges from soft bean curd to chewy bamboo shoots. The pork blends well with the smoky shitake mushrooms, and the hot and sour taste is perfect for a cold winter day.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes:
5 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 Tbsps soya sauce
5 pre-soaked Chinese shitake mushrooms sliced, or any other mushroom of your choice
1/2 cup of bamboo shoots sliced into strips
1 cup pork sliced into thin strips

Add:
2 cakes of firm bean curd cut into cubes (well drained)
2 Tbsps fresh ground pepper
3 Tbsps rice vinegar, or any vinegar of your choice
3 Tbsps cornstarch mixed with some water to thicken

When soup comes to a full boil add 3 beaten eggs slowly to the broth. To serve add a few drops of sesame oil in each bowl for flavor and sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves.

SWEET AND SOUR PORK

A
1 lb. loin of pork
1 Tbsps sherry or red wine
2 Tbsps soya sauce
1 1/2 Tbsps cornstarch
Enough oil for deep frying

B
1 big yellow onion, cut into squares
1 big carrot, quartered
Enough oil to fry carrot and onion till cooked.
1 medium size can pineapple chunks, drained.

C
6 Tbsps sugar
4 Tbsps soya sauce
1 Tbsp red wine
2 Tbsps vinegar
4 Tbsps catsup
2 tsps pickle relish
a few drops of Tabasco sauce

1 Tbsp of cornstarch, mixed with 1/2 cup water.

Cut pork into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Mix well with A ingredients, except oil. Heat oil till very hot, and fry till golden brown. Turn out on a plate.

Heat about 4 Tbsps oil and stir fry carrots and onions till cooked. Add pineapple and remove to plate

Mix C ingredients in a large pot, except for the cornstarch. Add A and B ingredients. Let it come to a boil, add cornstarch mixture to thicken, remove immediately and serve.

CUCUMBER SALAD

6 pickling cucumbers, or 3 English cucumbers (unpeeled, or peeled if you wish)
3 slices of ginger, cut into thin strips
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 green onions, cut into small pieces
Mix well and add enough salt to coat. Cover and let stand for an hour or so. Drain well and wash with cold water. Pat dry completely.

Mix above ingredients and place in a serving bowl.

SAUCE

2 Tbsps soya sauce
2 Tbsps rice vinegar (or any vinegar of your choice)
2 Tbsps toasted sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp hot pepper sauce.
1 Tbsps white sesame seeds

Mix above ingredients, and pour over cucumbers. Mix well and place in refrigerator. Serve with the above dishes.

I hope you enjoy these dishes and if you have problems, contact me through my website.

Love, Chi

Be sure to check their website for their personal holiday greeting video. They’ll share some of their experiences that they’ve had along the way along with their personal feelings about the people and places they’ve visited.

Bob also shares some news on their plans for the near future and for next year. I’m already getting excited for them.

As the Senior Editor of Just One Opinion, I’d just like to let them know how much we’ve enjoyed following along and keeping updated on the progress of their long bicycling trip. I personally am amazed and totally in awe of their accomplishments – and their personal strength of character and courage to take on such an adventure.

So our thumbs up to Bob and Claire Rogers! Good going! You’ve made us all proud to be Americans and to have had you representing us to our Asian cousins.

Bob and Claire’s website, NewBohemians.net, along with some of their most recent adventures, can be reached from the links found in the right sidebar. Be sure to check out all of their past adventures and photo galleries as well. Your visit will be well worth your time.

We all know about New York City. It’s in front of us in the media every day. It’s a part of commercials, morning shows, nightly news, entertainment stars, sports stars, magazine ads, and sadly, 9/11. We know New York as the center of everything… it’s the so-called “Greatest City in the World.” I had only been there once before. That was twenty years ago, and my memory of it was fuzzy good.

If you spend just four nights in New York City now, like my wife and I and a couple who are our close friends did on a boondoggle trip weekend before last, you come away with the feeling that you have seen a great deal of what is good and important in America. This time, I also saw a little of what is not.

We approached the Newark airport at almost five-thirty in the afternoon on Thursday. It was dark, and Manhattan Island looked like a sparkling wonderland across the Hudson River in the distance.

Flying from Alaska to New York is no small journey, but we were drawn there by an unexpected connection. A family friend, the daughter-in-law of our traveling companions, had been selected to dance in the chorus line of the Rockettes this year in their annual Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall. Blair Chenoweth Robinson, who was Miss Alaska in 2005 and Miss Alaska USA in 2007, is a professional dancer and proud product of the 49th State. She had just landed the biggest gig of her life.

My wife and I and our friends have all lived in Alaska for forty years…and we can’t see Russia from our houses. We are not wide-eyed backwoods people, and in fact are frequent and experienced travelers. I was wide-eyed the first time I visited Manhattan, but this time I experienced real life on this crowded island with millions of other people.

Making the “Ugly” Fun -- The Theme from our Apartment

Our arrival began with a thud. Beware of vacation rentals by owners!

On one of the busiest weekends of the year, we were unable to find a decent hotel room for under four hundred dollars a night per couple. We didn’t realize we were planning our trip on a “tree lighting” and “shopping” weekend in Manhattan.

Using the internet, we found a vacation rental by an owner for a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment on West 47th Street -- right in the heart of the Theater District in Manhattan -- for a little over four hundred dollars a night.  The internet pictures looked fine -- certainly not luxurious, but fine.  The fact that they wanted seventeen-hundred dollars in cash or a cashier’s check up front should have told us something.

Renting an apartment in New York City…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT54OxWsWw8

Arriving at our “home away from home,” we discovered that it was in a less than shiny part of West 47th Street.  As we climbed up the narrow, poorly lit, rickety stairway (no elevator here!) in the ancient building, we were hit with the overwhelming smell of marijuana. I looked up the stairwell as far as I could see, and thanked the gods that our apartment was on the second floor.

Reality began to set in when we opened the door. One of the first things I noticed was the tiny refrigerator leaning against the wall. As we explored the place, we discovered that the promised third bedroom (which we actually didn’t need) was just an alcove with a bed stuffed into it that filled the entire space. I pity the next renter who actually needs a third bedroom.

The bathrooms were a special adventure. The bathtubs and sinks in both bathrooms did not have drain plugs in them. Our tub featured big rusted spots and bugs that crawled out of the drain in the night. There was a big hole in the wall next to it. I jokingly told my wife that the mice and rats used that hole to come out at night. She calmly replied that no self-respecting mouse or rat would live in the place.

The bathtub in the other bathroom would not drain, so our traveling companions had to use our bathtub for two days…the time it took to get someone to come by and unplug the drain.

When I entered the street-side bedroom that my wife and I were to use (our traveling companions outran us), I discovered that our bed was a mattress and box springs sitting on the floor. The nice internet picture of the bed showed it sitting on a frame. A cheap broken window shade was lying on the floor. When I tried to close the flimsy shear over that window, the thing fell on my head.

The ad described the apartment as being fully furnished with three queen sized beds. In fact, we had only one small garbage can, one garbage sack, and no cloth or paper towels in the kitchen. The TV only received a few local channels, and the “Internet hookup” never worked. There was no heat control in the place. It was unseasonably warm our first night, so we ran the in-window air conditioning unit all night to combat the heat coming into our bedroom. The next three nights were very cold, so we had to pack towels and pillows in the gaps around the two window air conditioning units to keep the cold air out.

Our contact, “Mo,” didn’t really seem to care about anything. Of the many things we asked for help with, the only one he repaired was the plugged bathtub…after two days.

By the way -- the Internet listing for this place claims that the monthly rent is $5995!

So, how did we deal with it? We bought a six-pack of good beer, a couple of bottles of good wine, a bottle of good scotch…and laughed our way through it all! The reality was that we were all so tired by the time we got back every night that we could have slept on the floor. However, taking a shower in the light of day…that was a different story.

If this is an example of how the slumlords I have always heard about do their business (and the neighborhood looked like it has hundreds, if not thousands, of places like ours), I can understand how they get rich at other people’s expense. As I lamented to our friends, one good cleaning woman and a handyman with a six-foot ladder and two hundred dollars worth of supplies could turn it into a decent place in a couple hours.

Having been inundated with the glamor of New York for years, I found myself unprepared for its underside. There were piles of garbage everywhere off of the main streets. Thousands of dogs (or maybe hundreds of thousands of dogs?) were peeing on the only place they could -- the sidewalks. We had to endure the odors of the dirty, crumbling neighborhoods located just a few short blocks from the high-profile, high-fashion areas we see featured in the media every day. For us this was a rude awakening about the other side of New York. I realize that all large cities have their seamy sides, and I know this was not even the worst of what we could have seen in New York -- but it was still surprising to me.

It all got better. In spite of our rough start, I did not intend for this article to be a put-down of New York City. It really is one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

The Food

Manhattan assaults the senses in many ways, and the attack began the first night when our beautiful Rockette hostess took us on a culinary excursion. It began at a funky little restaurant tucked into a small, narrow space in an old building -- like many other New York restaurants. It was loud, glitzy, and fun -- and the food was great. It was also a good place for me to condition myself to the eclectic mix of people we would see over the next four days. There just aren’t that many places in Anchorage, Alaska where you’ll see two men sitting in a booth, holding hands, and looking dreamily into each other’s eyes. That is not a social comment -- it’s just a fact.

On Friday, we hiked from the Financial District to Katz Delicatessen in the Lower East Side for a late lunch. Opened in 1888, and advertised as the oldest and best deli in New York, it lived up to its billing. It is also the place where Meg Ryan did her famous faked orgasm in the movie, “When Harry Met Sally” (I’ll have what she’s having!) Diners packed the place at two o’clock in the afternoon. The line of people in line to pay their bill wound to the back of the large dining area. Our rewards for being patient (and our rapidly growing recognition of the push-your-way-in New York mentality) were five-inch tall hot pastrami sandwiches too big for one person to eat.

We followed that lunch with a wonderful dinner that night at Carmine’s in the Theater District -- a big, noisy, happy, family friendly Italian restaurant. That was probably the best of the several great meals we had. Running a close second the next night was “Brazil Brazil,” a restaurant we stumbled into out of a cold rain as we searched for a dinner spot near our apartment.

Ah, Sunday! Sunday…football and big screens, dozens of them. While the women took the subway to Wall Street to visit another high achieving beautiful young woman friend from Alaska, the men hit the ESPN Zone. The Bloody Mary’s were great, every football game being played was available somewhere in the building, and the crowd was raucous -- particularly when the one o’clock games started and the guy running the control room went to the bathroom and left bowling on the main screen. We couldn’t help but laugh as the bartender stood in front of us yelling, “Football, football,” at the empty control room.

The Entertainment

Saturday was our day to see the matinée performance of the Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular. It truly was spectacular, and, like all the rest of the Rockettes, our girl was flawless. The show begins with a wonderful 3D trip on the back of Santa’s Sled, and continues to feature amazing digital special effects using one of the largest floating LCD screens in the US. An actual motorized, double-decker bus with the Rockettes on it, travels throughout the city, displayed on the huge screen in amazing detail. I loved the history and precision of the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.”  Everything is entertaining, and the Rockettes are beautiful and precise.

2009 Rockettes: “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utq-vTQhhI0

After the show, Alaska’s only Rockette treated us to a backstage tour, and we got to pet one of the two camels that were part of the lead-in to the Nativity Scene.

On Sunday, we had tickets for Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theater, which features the lives and music of The Four Seasons and their star lead singer, Frankie Valli. For me, it was a trip back in time. The music was wonderful and the performers were outstanding. The show was surprisingly adult as it took us through their meteoric rise out of obscurity in New Jersey, their clumsy fall, and their eventual recovery, all accompanied by their hit songs. If you like great music, and if you had a pulse in the 1960’s, you would love this.

The Sights

Ground Zero was on my radar screen from the first day we decided to make this trip. As they say, there are a few events that will live in our memories forever…J.F.K’s assassination, the Challenger disaster, and 9/11 for me.

I also felt drawn to visit the World Trade Center site because my wife and I had gone to the top of the Twin Towers to have a drink and take in the view the first time we visited New York. As I walked around the construction area for the new Freedom Tower, I couldn’t help trying to imagine the hysteria, the fear, the grief, the shock and the heroism that had taken place there. I remembered how 9/11 changed the world forever.

We dressed for the weather with warm coats, gloves and umbrellas. From our apartment on West 47th Street, we walked or rode the subway everywhere.  Even though the streets and the subway were incredibly crowded, we always felt safe and confident. There are policemen at every corner, a tainted legacy of 9/11.

Pre-Christmas in New York City is a special time. On our last night we visited Rockefeller Center to see The Tree and took a carriage ride in Central Park. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to see everything. Maybe we’ll go back…and just pay the price for a hotel room.

He Was My “Santa Claus”

Somewhere deep inside of me
There’s a special memory,
Of my father dressed as Santa
Standing by the Christmas tree.

It was our custom Christmas Eve
That Santa would appear;
Our basement had both oats and grain
To feed his nine reindeer.

My father always dressed down there,
I never checked it out;
Mom told me reindeer needed time
To learn their Christmas route.

Dad headed out the back door,
As we prepared for fun;
Sleigh bells could be heard outside,
We knew that he had come.

My mom would open up the screen
And Santa would come in,
With pillows piled inside his suit
And whiskers on his chin.

I wondered how he knew which gift
Was for a girl or boy?
Strange, also, were my parents’ names
Which appeared upon each toy.

We all sang “Jingle Bells” off key,
I thanked old Santa Claus
For showing up again this year;
He never did get lost.

I didn’t know that Dad was him,
Pop had a taller frame,
He couldn’t be that fat, short guy
Who always knew my name.

I was sixteen when Daddy died,
He left me such good thoughts
Of love and sharing of himself-
He was my “Santa Claus”. . .

Joyce Hodges

Wrapped in plastic as carefully as though it were an original, the book I wanted had a full color cover, plasticized, just like an original, but something was fishy. The photo quality was poor and the alignment skewed. A medallion featuring the Kiriyama 1999 Pacific Rim Book Prize was flat and fuzzy. I rattled the loose spine, flipping through the unevenly trimmed pages. The tilted text, a blurry slate gray, lay flat against a too white field, cratered with distracting stray pockmarks. The photocopied pages irritated my skin like a million little paper cuts and lacked the warm eggshell color and texture of a real book. Leaves squeaked rather than rustled.

I was revolted; why would anyone want to even hold this book, much less read it? It didn’t even smell like a book. It was as annoying as scratchy Muzak or fuzzy red and gold wallpaper.

Bob’s patience wore thin as we rounded the block, combing shop after shop, looking for an original of the book I wanted. Again and again, I left the shopkeeper looking confused after they went to the trouble to dig out the title I asked for. Flipping through the flaky pages, I left, crestfallen, time after time.

The irony was the book was Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam, by Andrew X. Pham. Pham, a Vietnamese American, returned to the country of his birth, only to find it far astray from his own culture. He’s been carefully explaining to me, page by page, why I found Vietnam so maddening: aggressive vendors, raucous drunks, deafening horns, and unshakable beggars. Like Pham, I wanted to like Vietnam and felt guilty for not being able to, after all, I was born here too. There must be something I can bond with. I appreciate his honesty. I appreciate having found a genuine volume.

Asian sentiment lacks an appreciation for original work, for intellectual property or the concept of copyright. Everyone in Asia seems to work so hard that it doesn’t seem to matter that your occupation is simply to make copies of something. Same-same.

Pirated books and tapes in Saigon…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=167RNHVTYMw

I wondered at my visceral reaction to the fakes. Was I feeling sorry for the unrewarded authors? I was upset that the vendors expected me to take part in their farce and willingly accept an inferior product. Maybe my puzzling behavior will set the knock-off vendors to consider what the big deal is.