NATURE or NURTURE

The eternal question in education, sociology and science is whether human beings are what they are because they were born that way (Nature) or were trained by their parents or society (Nurture). I believe that the photo to the left answers that eternal question without the expense of a double-blind study or a huge Federal Grant to a major university. It is a picture of a 2 year old whose mother and grandmother, whom we shall refer to as Thelma and Louise, went to the Lily Puliter store on Nantucket and bought these "Legally Blonde"pink sandals.

In the wild, items like this do not exist. Sure, there are flowers in this color, but one would not be inclined to wear them on ones feet. It is only through the magic of the Fashion Industrial Complex that something like this could come into being, and be sold to a gaggle of women shopping at Lily. "Ay, que linda!" or "How, cute!" and pretty soon, Little Miss Muffet has "learned (nurture)" that shoes, particularly with names like Manolo. Lily, Ralph, or Jimmy Choo, are the main reason for getting up in the morning. And the eternal mystery is solved. Once the acorn of style is planted at this early age, the oak tree of con-shoe-merism grows. And "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is shoved out of the way by Isty Betsy Johnson. There, I've saved a bundle of money from the stimulus package so other important scientific studies can be done, like "Why boys pee off the front porch." I'm thinking that's probably nurture too, but I am willing to hear what comes out of the Harvard study.

JIM "CHICKEN LITTLE" CANTORE STRIKES AGAIN

The word "HURRICANE" strikes fear in my heart. No, not because of the actual danger of weather but because the Weather Channel lets Jim Cantore out of his cage and sends him to North Carolina, Florida, or wherever they can take a picture of him standing outside in a windbreaker getting hit in the face with driving rain while holding a microphone. Jim, cousin to Maria Bartiromo the Grim Reaper of CNBC who excitedly reports stock market crashes, has only one job..."scare the living crap out of everyone."

Through the clever use of stock footage from previous hurricanes, tidal waves, and the movie "Armageddon" Jim single handedly causes a rise in plywood futures, batteries, and the sale of Aquafina Water. His "signature move" is to stand at some lonely beach with the wind blowing and waves crashing in the background. The venue is usually an out island in the path of a hurricane. There is an urgency for him to get there and stake out a location before the surfers get into the water and spoil the shot. The other urgency is to get as much 24 hour breaking news in as he can before the hurricane is downgraded. Hurricane Earl started as a category 4 and by the time it reached Nantucket it was a drizzle.

If Jim had been on Nantucket, the only way he could have gotten wet was if someone turned a hose on him. He had more effect on this island than the weather. As a result of "the sky is falling" round-the-clock coverage by the Weather Channel, inhabitants had no other option but to board up their businesses. The above photo was the Ralph Lauren store on Main Street in Downtown Nantucket. The ferry boats were cancelled, there was a run on toilet paper and water at the Stop and Shop, and everywhere you went, the TV was on with Jim standing in the rain. I hope this guy takes plenty of Zicam. I heard a story last night about him placing himself in danger once again and having to re-shoot because some little old lady with a shopping cart walked by.

Among the most famous moments of Hurricane Earl was when Jim was standing in North Carolina and commented that he could smell pine trees and knew that this meant that branches were broken. I heard a rumor that someone had hung a pine scented car freshener on his microphone. I will have to go back to the archive to see if it is visible, and to see if the little old lady that took her life into her own hands by going outside ever got her Polygrip at the Stop and Shop.

I DID NOT NEED BERNIE MADOFF

I did not need Bernie Madoff to ransack my portfolio, in fact I never invested a dime with the bastard. I bought ordinary things like a home and an office for my business, and a number of other safe and sound investments. Well, if you have enough money in America to even have a net worth statement, you may not even want to look at the carnage. So, go back to watching "America's Got Talent." Oh, sure, that's one way of dealing with the fact that even though you will be paying more real estate tax to your local crooks, I mean taxing authorities, your home and office building are worth a fraction of their former value only a few short years ago.

Every year, the property appraiser thought my Medical Office was worth 30% more and they enjoyed taxing it based upon that premise. I fought them in the Value Adjustment Board and lost because they have the "presumption of correctness." I was assured that if and when the value of the building goes down, the taxes would go down. Well the value did, but at the same time, those greedy pigs raised the milage rate so that I actually pay more tax this year despite the building being worth far less. YOU CAN'T WIN. When things get tough in your family you budget and scrimp and save and do without. The government does none of these things, they just tax you more.

So, who needs Bernie when we have Barney? Barack is on the attack and he wants your wallet...maybe you even voted for him. BUT, if you are paying attention to your finances and really care that those who were supposed to be watching the store were actually the thieves who robbed you blind, be sure to remember this in November when you get YOUR ONE AND ONLY CHANCE to throw these criminals out. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM. Yet I see that once again the idiots of our county in Florida have chosen the same person to be our prospective NEXT county commissioner in the latest primary. Oh, puleeze, are we that stupid? Maybe we are just getting what we deserve.

The DOCTOR is IN

As a doctor and an orthopedic surgeon I am supposed to know medical things and have been asked at more than one cocktail party about jogging and its effects of the body. The Mayo Clinic, Stanford, and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons among many others have all weighed in on this issue. Opinions have changed from decade to decade. The current belief is that twisting, turning, stopping, starting, and pounding, all of which are part of running and many racquet sports will wear out your hips and knees. Over a half MILLION total joint replacements are done in America every year. That's a lot of surgery,and a lot of potential complications. It is only going to increase as the Baby Boomers get older.

So you want to stay fit? there are lots of options out there that do not involve high impact. The easiest and most accessible is walking. Get a good pair of impact absorbing shoes and go for it. Bicycling is great too, whether indoors or outdoors. It gets you fit, extends your healthy life, and is low impact on your joints. Swimming clearly removes all gravity and is even more preservative of joint cartilage but does not ward off osteoporosis or thinning bones precisely because our bodies make strong bones in response to weight bearing. This is especially important if you do not get much sun, are post-menopausal, and fair skinned.

In the gym, the treadmill is better than running but allows way more impact than the elliptical machines where your feet remain in contact with the pedals, like on a bike. It's like biking while standing up only with larger circles and more gliding motion. Exercise bicycles whether recumbent or upright also are joint protective. So, you want to stay young, be heart healthy, and lose some weight, there are lots of choices. Some of them may be more fun right now but will get you in the end, or more correctly in the hip. Increase your chances of health while you decrease you chances of an artificial joint but choosing wisely. Less impact...less surgery. It's that simple.

PICTURE speaks louder then WORDS

FAITH and BEGORRAH, Colleen

One of our dinner companions last night at my son-in-law and daughter's home was a beautiful young Irish woman. What started it all was the outstanding meal we had, created by Mark. It was his "signature" Paella which had everything that ever swam in it...shrimps, scallops, fish, clams, mussels along with chicken and yummy vegetables and spices. In my own inimitable way I proclaimed to the table "The best food I have had in Nantucket has been at private homes. Anything made here by Mark or Jennie, our house by the Kitty, or the homes of our friends. Remember the memorable feast in Madaket and another in Naushop which I wrote about?

This began a discussion at our end of the table about which restaurants on Nantucket were even good, regardless of price. There were a couple that I have not gone to, most notably Kitty Murtaugh's and the Hen House. Their fare is Irish food so naturally, let us call her a "Colleen."was in love with the food there. I have cousins in New York who are as Irish as the Blarney Stone and I have eaten Irish food many times. I can't think of ever saying" since I have become an adult "Let go out and get some Irish food." Irish whiskey or Irish beer in an Irish pub, most definitely...there is no better experience. Irish food, not so much, unless it's a home cooked meal made by an authentic irishman, preferably from New England.

So much of New England has Irish roots...something about a potato (Potatoe for Dan Quayle) famine and religious persecution. Mc___ and O___ are very common surnames (excluding O'Bama). The big JEEP company on the cape is O'Hara, for example. The basketball team is the Celtics. You get the picture. I can't wait to go to Kitty Murtaugh's and the Hen House so I can remove any preconceived notions about white potatoes and meat cooked to the point of disintegration. I shall be fair about the fare. I will drink Guinness along with the food to bring out the taste and the fun, but I will bring a small bottle of Tabasco Sauce, just in case. To get in the mood, I shall read some great Irish literature, and poetry, and more than a few sayings like the ones below:

May you live to be 100 years, with one extra year to repent.

We drink to your coffin. May it be built from the wood of a hundred year old oak tree that I shall plant tomorrow.

May God grant you many years to live, for sure he must be knowing, the earth has angels all too few and heaven is overflowing...

May the doctor never earn a pound out of you.

May the good Lord take a liking to you...
But not too soon!

May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous spouse.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT... 60 years ago

We have been on Nantucket for three months and will be here for one more. This is the longest we have ever been away since I was a small child and used to vacation in places like this... The Hamptons (before it was cool and cost so much) or Nantucket (before it was almost as cool and cost so much.) We used to spend all summer in Sag Harbor, which is an "outer" Hampton. My friend Gene says there is North Hampton, South Hampton, and Lionel Hampton where they still have segregation. My parents and my uncles use to take adjacent cottages on the water for the entire summer. Everyone would be there, grandma, the babies, mothers, and on the weekends the daddies would come out on Friday afternoon and stay until late Sunday night. It was play all day with my cousins and going to the beach clamming, crabbing, fishing, boating (a little wooden row boat) and of course swimming.

This vacation was more like that than any other one we have taken. When our kids were young, I overextended summer vacations to almost a month, at great business cost, but they were wonderful long vacations to far away places as a family. I will never regret having spent so much time together with my wife and kids. It looks like our grandbabies will be raised in the model of spending the whole summer on an island. If it were not for my son-in-law's decisive move to buy a house here, we would never have had the chance to relive those days of my childhood, where we rode bikes, did water activities, and hung-out on an island for a whole summer. Their move prompted us to get a place up here, not far from them, but not too close. Hopefully, our son, who is an extremely busy and successful lawyer in Miami, will be able to come up next summer for more than a week. My father used to drive about 3 hours from the city to spend the weekend with us. It is a much bigger "schlep" to come up here from Florida, but make it a 4 day weekend and it's worth it. There is so much a business person can do online and with a phone these days.