health care rally

Covered a protest outside of the the Prospect Street Whole Foods Market on Friday afternoon spurred by company CEO John Mackey's Op/Ed in the Wall Street Journal. A crowd of people very upset by Mackey's call for more individual responsibility regarding health care, as opposed to Obama's interest in a government-funded public option. In his letter, Mackey encouraged high-deductible insurance plans coupled with health savings accounts as an alternative, a system that he says works well for Whole Foods employees. Protesters stressed, of course, that system is not affordable and available to all. They were also pretty riled up by Mackey's statement:

"A careful reading of the both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. That 'right' has never existed in America."

Oof. Along with Mackey's previous comments comparing labor unions to herpes, he's certainly making some enemies.

An important thing to remember, though, is that Mackey's opinion is just that-his personal opinion and suggestions regarding reform, which he is free to express just as the protesters on Prospect Street are. With people boycotting Whole Foods, the company is currently trying to remind people that they don't actually have an official position on health care reform, because that seems to be a common mixup right now. Since Whole Foods is too expensive for my struggling-student budget anyway, I don't have to even worry about boycotting it in the first place. Now I'm on a health care kick, gobbling up articles and looking into different systems in other countries (spoke to a woman at the rally from the Netherlands who was interesting)!

Update: The full article from the protest is now posted, if you want to read some quotes!

spectator and sport

While reporting on the Area 4 Neighborhood Pride Day this afternoon in Cambridge, I watched (and shot) a basketball game between a Cambridge youth team and a Medford one. The girls watching from behind the fence were from a high school team up next, and after learning a few names and asking them about the game, they let me snap some photos of them observing the boys. Once I went through the photos today, I realized I was just as interested (if not more) in capturing the female spectators as I was in the male athletes. Juxtaposed, they give a neat sort of teen girl/guy interaction from afar. The fence in this case acts as a barrier between the genders as well as between spectator and athlete. Don't want to make too many leaps, but this might be something to explore?

just one of the guys

So the big story in Cambridge for the past week or so has, of course, been the Henry Louis Gates arrest. It spread like wildfire within what seemed like an hour, starting as just one article and becoming hundreds all over major news sites. I don't think anyone has ever read the Cambridge paper more!

It's really hard to pick sides on the issue, at least from what I've read and heard. From the police report to the recently released 911 tape, a lot of details regarding the incident seem unclear. The other day, I went out to get some "man on the street" reactions from Cambridge residents. The opinions ranged from calling the incident a "black mark" on the Cambridge police, to accusing Gates of "playing the race card," to describing the hype as an overreaction and backing up both Gates and Crowley as stand-up guys. I do agree that in light of the situation, the Cambridge police training and protocol regarding racial profiling should be reexamined, and there's no doubt that racial profiling is still a problem across the US today, whether or not it is specifically for this case.

One thing I do want to comment on is Obama's role in all of this-undoubtedly part of what made it into the overwhelmingly publicized story that it is. The president unfortunately chose his words unwisely when he said the Cambridge police acted "stupidly," leading to a media frenzy that didn't make Obama look so hot. But even more interesting was the way he handled the aftermath of his comment-in a way that is, I think, both absurdly entertaining and incredibly humble. The president personally called up Sergeant Crowley (who was just chillin' and having a Blue Moon in a Cambridge pub) to make amends, and arranged a reconciliation beer with Gates and Crowley at the White House. Talk about just being one of the guys.

Kudos to you, Obama, for a) making me laugh throughout this media madness, and b) being so damn cool about your mistake.

All I have left to say is: how can I get in on that White House beerfest?

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overheardinmyoffice

Inspired by the ever-entertaining original, here are some snippets overheard in the newspaper office. Most of them from one crazy (hilarious) day and straight from the intern's ears.

Staff Writer: "Ok, I have to leave. I'm not talking to anymore people about anymore things. Talk to my hand!"

Editor: "Why do you want to leave here? It's the most awesome place in the land!"

Editor: "That's my facebook status update. Job drives me to drink. So does breathing though. And talking to stupid people."

Editor, almost to himself: "What does FML mean?"

Everyone in the office: "FUCK MY LIFE!"

Editor: "We like words! I can haz journalism? I can haz copywriter?"

Staff Writer, singing: "And I am living in a material world..."

Editor 1: "Why is the blog being GAY?!"

Editor 2: "Don't be homophobic! Don't be bloghomophobic, now!"

Editor 1: "Please. I'm the biggest fruit fly there is."

Editor: "Imma call up Michelle [Obama] and be like 'hey gurl hey'."

Me: "If the crazy lady tries to call you again on my phone, what do you want me to do?"

Editor: "Say that I'm dead."

short stuff

My editor mentioned the One in 8 Million series to me the other day, and wow, am I impressed. I can't believe I missed this on NYTimes-they've got quite the collection of profiles already. Another example of the type of reporting I love the most-quirky, human stories. I've made it through some of the slideshows already (did I mention the layout is just as impressive as the concept?!) but still have a bunch to catch up on. I love hearing the voices of the individuals too. It really makes the story feel more intimate.

At the Chronicle, we've started up our own little series based off of this model and others that we're calling "In Short."I started off the first one with the hippie puppeteer in Harvard Square (pictured above), and it turned out to be one of the most read articles on the site for a good week or so. Brainstorming some more "In Short" targets, but I want my next one to require a little more digging!