Come Clarity

So, I basically dropped off the blogging earth for a while there.  Sorry.   It is not for lack of things to talk about.  Quite the opposite, I find myself inundated with ideas for writing.  Unfortunately, much of it has been of a personal nature relating to my life over the last 2 months.  I told myself I was not going to turn this into a place for me to turn emo and as the various travails of life have been my primary focus I have chosen not to write.  I think I am past it now, or at least, I have missed blogging about other things so much that I am done thinking about it. 

Maybe not tonight or tomorrow, but soon.

This could have been about so many things with such an ambiguous title, but it will be something far less political than you probably expect.  I frequently get into, for the sake of simplicity we will call them debates, with people over issues.  This is especially true of the more vocal conservative leaning people I encounter.  As I usually have far more knowledge of whatever it is we are debating I typically dominate the encounter and as a result we usually end up flowing down endless tangents.  That seems to be the escape method of choice for many.  By the end of the debate we have usually covered such a wide range of topics that people who caught the spectacle are forced to give up and ask, “who won?” (more…)

I get around the progressive blogosphere and have encountered much consternation against Obama over various issues recently.  He is not fighting FISA at an acceptable level.  He is screwing up by advocating that religion take a role in fighting poverty.  He is trying to hard to “move to the center”.  Going further back there were complaints about his AIPAC pandering, his healthcare plan, and a number of other things.  I agree with many of the criticisms.  I understand the concern and outrage.  But Obama is not the problem here. (more…)

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan is as great a read as his previous work, The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  I stumbled onto his book on accident about a year ago when I read several reviews.  I had often held views which I have come to learn belong to a whole movement.  The Ominvore’s Dilema was on Amazon’s best seller list a few years ago and after reading the short description I thought to myself, “why would I want to read that?”  Well I was wrong.  I purchased both books in January and quickly delved into Dilemma.  It was an amazing read that was enlightening and informative.  Pollan has a comfortable writing style that makes you feel like you are right in the room with him, learning and enjoying the tales of his research.  In Defense of Food was a welcome companion to the ideals Pollan began in Dilemma.  What it eventually boils down to is a short list of rules, or guidelines, for healthier eating.

Rule 1:  Don’t  eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t consider food.

Rule 2:  Avoid foods products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronouncable, more than 5 in number, or that include high-fructose corn syrup

Rule 3:  Avoid food products which make health claims.

Rule 4:  Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. 

Rule 5:  Get out of the supermarket whenever possible.

Those who have had to suffer my rantings know that I have been preaching the benefits of one, two, and more recently three.  Rule 2 also came with the caveat of avoiding foods which can not rot, which to me warrants its own rule.   What on earth is a Twinkie anyways?

The book is shorter than his previous offering, but not short on information or anecdotes.  I recommend it as highly worth a pickup and it makes a very quick read.  Anyone interested in eating better or merely understanding more about our diets and the consequences of eating the way we do would get a lot out of the work.  Pick it up or feel free to borrow it from me if you are interested.

I was thinking about how utterly depressing work can be the other night when I remembered a poll I had read.  The poll was demonstrating people’s desire to have a President who worked like corporate America.  Normally I ignore things like this and I probably ignored it at the time, but now it has started bothering me.

Much like the oft used excuse of voting for the president you want to “have a beer with”, the idea of wanting to bring the corporate world into our political life is appalling.  The corporate world is a dictatorship.  In the instances where the CEO does not hold all the power we have panels of ultra rich investors who clandestinely dictate the path the company will take.  The employees are generally exploited, working very hard with very little hope of achievement or promotion.  Loyalty replaces cleanliness as the thing most like godliness.  Your emails, phone calls, and other electronic media are recorded and scrutinized at will.  Your actions and movements are restricted and tracked.  You have no rights.

Replace all the instances of the corporate world with instances of our current political world and the paralells are uncanny.  I guess we are getting what we asked for.