More on the gas tax holiday

Thomas Friedman at the NY Times agrees: a gas tax holiday is a holiday from good energy policy.

Food and oil prices: no accident their prices are both going up

Watching the cost of food go up, people usually make the obvious connection to the cost of fuel: when the latter is higher, it costs more to grow and transport food.

But people often don't know that the fertilizers that farmers and the agricultural industry use come from fossil fuels, especially natural gas. So when fuel prices are higher, fertilizer costs more... or may become unavailable. Read today's NY Times article on that problem.

I was introduced to this unexpected marriage of fuel and food when I read Richard Mannings "The Oil We Eat" a few years ago. It was the partial inspiration for my starting this blog; indeed, I referenced it in my first major post, "You are what you eat."

Facing facts: the bloom is off the rose

Since we don't get April showers in Vegas, I'm not anticipating May flowers (but it is beautiful and sunny today!).

It's the end of April and Obama's shine has been roughed up a bit over the past couple of months. He has flaws that will make for tough going in the general election. He isn't some pure essence of change and hope... and he's followed his own, sometimes inconsistent path to reach this point in time. The bloom is off the rose, as they say.

And a Democratic president doesn't seem like as much of a lock now. Who would ever have believed it?

I suspect that some of the distaste for Hillary felt by some Obama supporters is related to the fact that she's held responsible for tarnishing him and, indirectly, defeating our own hopes that things really can be different.

No one likes a party pooper.

But there was a reason that so many of us joined the Obama campaign in the first place. We really do hope and believe that things can be different. We really do see something unique in the message he offers. We really are the ones that we've been waiting for, the ones who can finally stand up and build a world that works better for everyone.

It's just not as easy as Obama was making it look for awhile.

Here's the commentary from MSNBC which got me thinking about all of this over lunch.

Gas tax sanity

At least one of people running for president realizes that temporarily suspending the gasoline tax will only have the effect of raising the price of gas, resulting in more money going to the oil producing countries. Not exactly the result McCain had in mind...

Here's Obama's perspective.

Fighting hunger

And while it may be harder to contribute in the face of rising prices here in the U.S., we can still count ourselves very lucky. Mercy Corps has an emergency campaign going on right now to help those who are being squeezed by high food prices.

I figured if I can pay for a new coffee maker, I can send some cash to Mercy Corps as well.

Food crisis discussed on NPR

The soaring price of food and the resulting hunger and political turmoil were discussed on NPR's Talk of the Nation today.

I was already on a kick of cooking at home more, and even with rising prices, buying real, whole foods is a lot cheaper than eating out or eating crap.

And I bought a new coffee maker with a burr grinder today... spending $7-8 a day at Starbuck's has begun to seem a bit ridiculous. Figured that we might as well buy a good one... and since we got a good deal, it will pay for itself in less than three weeks!

Listening in in Las Vegas: wiretaps

There was an article in yesterday's Las Vegas Review-Journal that suggests that the evidence gained from local wiretaps (80 wiretap orders in the last 11 years, with over 91,000 conversations recorded) is being used in investigations beyond the scope of the original warrants.

The Review-Journal was only able to incomplete records from authorities, making it difficult to determine how this evidence was used. And given the obvious temptations and abuses that can occur when the government listens in, it's all the more important that the courts and the press play a watchdog role.

Read the full article "Listening and the Law."

THIS REMINDS ME of something that I wanted to pass on. A couple of weeks ago I heard journalist Dave Davies interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. Davies writes for the Philadelphia Daily News, and Fresh Air originates on Philly station WHYY. He often guests hosts for Gross.

She interviewed him to get the local angle on the Democratic presidential race ahead of Pennsylvania's April 22nd primary. One excellent point he made, unrelated to the race: that local newspapers are having trouble making money in cities across the nation, and the biggest impact may be a decrease in local investigative reporting. The national media are unlikely to investigate local corruption and other such stories.

If it wasn't the Review-Journal, who'd be investigating these wiretaps?

I subscribe even though I get a lot of my news online. If you don't get your local paper, Davies' point is a good one to consider.

Las Vegas drug consumption

An Oregon researcher tested Clark County's wastewater and found scant evidence of illicit drug use for the community as a whole. But our caffeine level was twice that of any other community that she's tested! :-)

Sort of surprising given that this would include any cocaine, ecstacy, etc. drug use from tourists on the Strip. And the tests used don't provide any information on alcohol consumption.

Oil production not expanding

Despite record high prices, there is scant evidence of new production coming online in the next five years. Not good news for oil prices.

An unmoderated debate?

Hillary must have read my mind... I was just thinking the other day that it would be interesting to see the two on stage, debating without a moderator. Then she goes and challenges Obama to just such an event.

While it seems unlikely to happen, it would sure make for an interesting evening!

Barefoot

So I read this article, "You Walk Wrong: How We're Wrecking Our Feet With Every Step We Take," and of course had to give it a try.

I might have gone overboard, lol.

The article basically proposes the idea that our feet are perfectly adapted for walking and running right out of the box, so to speak. Shoes just get in the way. People actually put more force on their joints and have more injuries while running in expensive running shoes than they do in cheap ones because their feet are more isolated from the ground, robbing them of tactile feedback that would normally help the body in adjusting to the terrain.

So Victor and I went to the park where we do most of our jogging. I slipped off my shoes and socks and off we went.

I have to say, it was somewhat liberating. It felt good, though running on dry grass was a little prickly (I stopped once to see if I had picked up some stickers... I hadn't).

After three loops, I realized that I wasn't as fatigued as usual. And when I was rounding the corner on the fourth loop, I thought I'd go one more (which would be one more than normal these days). Just then my left calf muscle/Achilles tendon tightened up, and I abruptly stopped.

I suspect that it might have been due to the backs of my legs being a little more stretched than usual since I didn't have the height of my running shoes' heels to shorten my Achilles. But then again, I had the same problem when I ran in shoes on paved streets in Portland.

I'll have to continue this experiment...

Summerlin Centre

More details on the major development near our house that I recently mentioned. General Growth Properties is leading the effort.

Summerlin Centre is a 100-acre mixed used development: 1.2 million square feet of retail space, 1.5 million square feet of office space, and Summerlin Square, a public space for concerts and other public events. Red Rock Casino has an adjacent 300 acres which is being developed with up to 5,500 residences.

If it all comes to pass, it should have a positive effect on our property value (which would be a good thing these days!).

U.S. increasing food aid...

in response to the world's growing food crisis.

Nevada is third in earthquakes...

after California and Alaska.

I did not know that. Hmm.

Interesting factoid: Portland, Oregon, is the only U.S. city with a volcano inside the city limits (happily, it's dormant).

And the closest I've ever lived to the epicenter of a quake was when I lived in Laurelhurst on Portland's east side. The quake--which I didn't feel, though some did--was centered only a couple of blocks from my house.

More on Reno's recent quakes here.

Bone dry, water poor

I just checked our outdoor humidity guage, which is registering 8%. And that's pretty dry.

If you wonder whether I've questioned the wisdom of living in Vegas, I have, and primarily because I just can't see the boom continuing. Lack of water will eventually limit growth, just as it will across much of the Southwest.

Wired has a great article entitled "Peak Water," a nod to the looming peak oil problem. The article has some surprises about water usage around the world. Who knew it took nearly 2,900 gallons of water to make a pair of jeans, for example.

Here's an excerpt:

This is not to say the world is running out of water. The same amount exists on Earth today as millions of years ago — roughly 360 quintillion gallons. It evaporates, coalesces in clouds, falls as rain, seeps into the earth, and emerges in springs to feed rivers and lakes, an endless hydrologic cycle ordained by immutable laws of chemistry. But 97 percent of it is in the oceans, where it's useless unless the salt can be removed — a process that consumes enormous quantities of energy. Water fit for drinking, irrigation, husbandry, and other human uses can't always be found where people need it, and it's heavy and expensive to transport. Like oil, water is not equitably distributed or respectful of political boundaries; about 50 percent of the world's freshwater lies in a half-dozen lucky countries.

Freshwater is the ultimate renewable resource, but humanity is extracting and polluting it faster than it can be replenished. Rampant economic growth — more homes, more businesses, more water-intensive products and processes, a rising standard of living — has simply outstripped the ready supply, especially in historically dry regions. Compounding the problem, the hydrologic cycle is growing less predictable as climate change alters established temperature patterns around the globe.

Thanks for the tip, Jack.

ON A VERY MUCH RELATED NOTE, here's an article from the New York Times about the pollution and climate impact that results from shipping food around the world. Since it's much easier to ship food than water, the global food trade is one way we deal with the problem of the inequitable distribution of fresh water. But it's also a result of the American consumer's desire for cheap food... and fresh produce in the dead of winter.

Breathtaking...

What an unimaginably huge universe we live in. Check out these amazing photographs from the Hubble Telescope of galaxies colliding.

OMG, get this: Terry McAuliffe on Michigan's delegates

So you already know what my opinion is about Michigan's delegates: they shouldn't be seated. Not only did the state violate DNC rules by moving up their primary, but Obama, Edwards, and several other candidates removed their names from the ballot in deference to an agreement that all the candidates signed to not campaign in the state.

This morning I read Ezra Klein's blog and learned what Terry McAuliffe, now Hillary's campaign finance manager, told Michigan's Senator Carl Levin four years ago when Levin suggested that Michigan would move it's primary up before the date specified by the DNC rules: "I will not let you break the nominating process for one state."

You can read the full story in McAuliffe's own book, What a Party! Here's an excerpt:

"I'm going outside the primary window," [Michigan Sen. Carl Levin] told me definitively.

"If I allow you to do that, the whole system collapses," I said. "We will have chaos. I let you make your case to the DNC, and we voted unanimously and you lost."

He kept insisting that they were going to move up Michigan on their own, even though if they did that, they would lose half their delegates. By that point Carl and I were leaning toward each other over a table in the middle of the room, shouting and dropping the occasional expletive.

"You won't deny us seats at the convention," he said.

"Carl, take it to the bank," I said. "They will not get a credential. The closest they'll get to Boston will be watching it on television. I will not let you break this entire nominating process for one state. The rules are the rules. If you want to call my bluff, Carl, you go ahead and do it."

We glared at each other some more, but there was nothing much left to say. I was holding all the cards and Levin knew it.

You can read it in the book yourself, and you don't even have to buy it: just go to Amazon's online preview of the book and search for Michigan (just type "Michigan" in the Search inside this book box on the left side of the webpage). Then click on the link to page 341.

Similarly, Harold Ickes, a top Hillary staffer, argues for seating Michigan but voted to strip them of their delegates when he was on the DNC committee dealing with the problem.

If this isn't the height of self-serving hypocrisy, I don't know what is.

Game, set... won't someone please call "match"?

Here's a good commentary from MSNBC on the current state of the Democratic presidential race.

Despite what some may assume, I really don't think Hillary Clinton is a bad person. Under different circumstances--had her path to the While House not crossed that of such a strong Democratic adversary--I think she might have become a great president.

But having previously occupied the White House as First Lady has shown itself to be not only an asset but also a liability. She seems to have fallen victim to the presidential trap that Daniel Ellsberg described: the inability to distinguish between the interests of the nation and one's own self-interest. He witnessed Republican and Democratic presidents alike fall victim to this "do anything to stay in office" mentality.

Do what you need to do to put forward the best case as to why you should be elected. It's the business about changing the rules mid-contest that I find so offensive.

I know that she thinks that what she is doing is right for the country. Only time will tell...

Sam Nunn endorses Obama

I must really have campaign fatigue because I missed former Senators Sam Nunn and David Boren's endorsements of Obama last week. I always had a lot of respect for Nunn when he was in the Senate.

Obama in 30 seconds

More than 1100 people have submitted 30 second video ads for Obama to MoveOn.

Check them out.

My only complaint is that it's really hard to go back and find a good one that you've already seen...

Here are three of my favorites:

"Reverse it"

"Inauguration day"

"We know the real thing"

And another good one here. Catch hope! :-)

Look, ma, no cancer!

Apparently masturbation reduces the risk of prostate cancer.

:-D

Thanks, Sully!

The darkness

Last night was the first time I've been afraid of the dark since moving to Vegas. Victor and I watched Zodiac, David Finch's movie about San Francisco's serial killer of the same name. The killer, who was never caught, was active in the late 60s and early 70s.

The movie was as much about the lives of the Zodiac's pursuers as it was about the crimes themselves. A police detective, a reporter, a cartoonist (the latter two employees of the San Francisco Chronicle which received many letter from the killer)... all obsessed with identifying the Zodiac long after the case had turned cold.

I'm not sure about why the movie affected me as it did, but when it was over, I found myself rushing to turn on the lights.

I hadn't felt that kind of fear for a long time.

It got me thinking about the BTK strangler, the serial killer who had been active in Wichita, Kansas, when I was a child. I grew up about 40 miles from Wichita, but somehow I remained mercifully ignorant to his killings. The only time I remember talking about him was 1979. It was the 100th anniverary of Edison's invention of the light bulb, and my junior high science teacher had taken another student, Chris, and me to Wichita to attend the Centennial of Light, a wonderful two-day science extravaganza for students. To save money we had stayed with one of my teacher's friends, and playing in his basement, Chris and I had joked that we'd found evidence that this guy was the BTK strangler. Clearly BTK's reputation was vague to us... while I've no doubts that there was plenty about him in the newspaper and on television, it was still a more innocent time. We were kids, we hadn't yet learned to focus on the affairs of adults.

Not like today when seven-year-olds are already carrying purses, lol.

The BTK killer returned to the headlines in 2004 when he inexplicably began sending letters to the Wichita Eagle & Beacon again. Not long afterwards, he was caught. What struck me most about the case was that the man had been married throughout the period when he was killing, that he, in fact, remained married to this same woman until the day he was arrested.

I just couldn't imagine the feelings she must have experienced as she realized who she'd been sleeping next to for over 30 years.

I read more about the BTK Killer's story here, and I began to understand the obsession of the characters in Zodiac (who, of course, represented equally driven real people).

THINKING ABOUT ALL OF THIS reminded me of the nearest brush I myself had with this sort of violence. One beautiful September morning, I awoke and looked out my window to see four or five sheriff's cars parked in the street in front of our house. I lived on a quiet street, three homes to a block, on the edge of a town of 800. I am as surprised now as I was at the time: I had woken at my normal hour, oblivious to the commotion outside.

I went outside and talked to my father. Judd Durner, who ran the Burrton Bank, lived across the street with his wife Rosie. Early that morning, while I slept with my window open less than 50 yards away, three people rang their doorbell, kidnapped them, and tried to rob the bank. They nearly killed Judd with a shotgun when he tried to lock himself in the vault. Rosie leapt from one of the kidnapper's cars and flagged down a passing car.

It was a shocking experience. Judd had recently won a "Workhorse" award from a Wichita television station for his contributions to our community, and my friends and I had been caught in the background playing football while Judd was interviewed. This fresh footage was replayed repeatedly in the subsequent days, making the whole event even more surreal for me.

The kidnappers were caught. One died in prison, a second is serving a life sentence. The third may be out; this 2001 Newton Kansan story was the only reference to the crime I could find online.

Rosie wrote a book entitled Don't Open the Door. I don't think I've seen a copy for at least 20 years. And I've rarely thought of those events in the last ten.

Zodiac. BTK. The Night Stalker. Dan White. Judd and Rosie's kidnappers. These are the people whose crimes have intruded on my life in one way or another.

I don't believe the world is as dangerous a place as you'd think from watching the news on television. But last night for two and a half hours, Zodiac reminded me that there are times when Rosie's advice to not open the door is the smart way to go.

Arms for oil

I have an idea: rather than linking our arms sales to the Saudis to their pumping more oil for us, why don't we just not sell them any more weapons?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24298840/

Rice "rationing" in the U.S.

Rice prices are up 70% since January. Riots have results in places like Haiti. Here in the U.S., there's now even rationing of sorts at Sam's Club and Costco.

Gas prices... too high?

I heard on the radio yesterday that gas prices have reached $4 a gallon in the Bay Area. Ouch!

But I generally agree with this post that gas prices aren't "too high":

Look, in all seriousness. High gas prices are NOT an economic or political problem. They are the result of the natural workings of markets. There is nothing wrong with the market--and no reason, other than self-preservation and the false appearance of being able to do something, for politicians to intervene. Supplies are decreasing--both temporarily through unexpected refinery shut-downs and permanently through stock depletion. Demand is increasing--both in the U.S. and worldwide. Both of these will cause gas prices to rise and that's good. If gas prices don't rise, we will consume gas even faster and run out sooner. Higher gas prices encourage conservation and encourage investment in alternatives. High gas prices might be uncomfortable while we search for viable long-term solutions, but they're more comfortable than the alternative: no gas and no solutions.

To be sure, I don't personally know whether or not the petroleum market is working perfectly or not. But how much is gas supposed to cost, anyway? The fact is, we're running out of it and demand is high. Prices are going to go up, and unless people feel some pain, they have no incentive to change their behavior or find new solutions. You can't legislate more petroleum into existence, after all.

Likewise, McCain's gas tax holiday is idiotic.

Thanks to The Daily Dish for the first link.

Organized crime (Enron-style)

In an increasingly interdependent world, malicious--or even merely greedy--attempts to manipulate energy and financial markets have the potential for disastrous impacts.

But an equal danger exists in concentrating too much power in the hands of the state. Threats based solely on classified information are difficult to assess.

More on the Attorney General's report on organized crime's latest activities here.

Strange Days (and your footprint) on Planet Earth

My dad is watching it as I type, but I've only heard interviews about it on NPR. What is it? It's a program from National Geographic called Strange Days on Planet Earth. Apparently it's the brainchild of Ed Norton, and while I thought it was new, it's actually from 2005 (and available for rental).

One fact I've picked up from listening to the interviews: overfishing is causing unexpected effects, like dwindling populations of large inland predators. Why? Coastal communities that depend on fish for their food supply are having to hunt inland more often, cutting in to the other predators' own hunting ranges.

Strange days indeed...

I HAD MY OWN DOCUMENTARY IDEA a few months ago but National Geographic beat me to the punch on this one, too: Human Footprint. It explores how much stuff a typical person consumes in their lifetime. Be afraid...

To reduce my own footprint, I found a website that helps to deal with the annoying pile of catalogs that keeps arriving. I just signed up so can't report on how effective it is, but I'll let you know. It's called Catalog Choice.

Potential danger from a common plastic, BPA

I have to admit that since starting my organic chemistry class, I've started to pay more attention to what I put in my body. While the chemical industry has undoubtedly improved the lives of countless people, it has harmed just as many.

The complexity of the chemical reactions that are occurring in your body right now dwarf our industrial counterpart. But the latter has the ability to dream up and manufacture compounds that never occur in nature, or that are sufficiently close to natural ones to confuse or harm living cells.

The U.S. government has recently issued a warning that there may be some danger from bisphenol A (BPA), a common ingredient in plastics (particularly polycarbonate). Note that polycarbonate is often used in the manufacture of baby bottles.

BPA can mimic the effects of estrogen in developing mammals and may increase the risk of prostate and breast cancer later in life. It has been used since the 1950s.

If you want to avoid BPA:

Under normal conditions, low levels of BPA leaches into contents from polycarbonate plastic bottles, which can be recognized by the number 7 in the recycling code or the letters PC. Recent studies show that the chemical leaks at faster rates after a lot of wear and tear or when exposed to hot liquid. "If this is of concern to parents or pregnant women, then clearly they should use plastics that don't leach BPA," Bucher says. "Don't mistreat polycarbonate-containing plastics by putting really hot things in them or things that would make migration more rapid."

Note that BPA is also used as part of the lining in cans used by the food industry.

Universal health care... without the bickering

Tired of the argument about whether Hillary's or Obama's health plan covers more people? Then check out this website, CareYouKeep.com.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon has written the Healthy Americans Act which allows you to change jobs without losing your health care.

Today's NY Times editorial: Call off the dogs

The New York Times, which endorsed Hillary for President before the New York primary, appears to have had had enough based on today's editorial:

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election....

It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box. Mrs. Clinton once had a big lead among the party elders, but has been steadily losing it, in large part because of her negative campaign. If she is ever to have a hope of persuading these most loyal of Democrats to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs.

Las Vegas' downtown building boom(?)

Development of a new Las Vegas city center is moving from the drawing boards to the construction site (note that this isn't the huge City Center development taking shape on the Strip itself). Meant to revitalize (or replace) Vegas' existing downtown with residential development, a performing arts center, and a 60-story $700 million international jewelry trading highrise, it exemplifies the local "neverending growth" myth that has taken root here in the desert.

My guess is that with the slowing U.S. economy and the rising cost of oil, we may be overshooting the mark.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article;jsessionid=078BC0F92E46300C947FFB986E6617FC.w5?a=158646&f=21

Maybe Bill should use the twinkie defense

Yesterday Bill Clinton was asked by radio station WHYY about his "Jesse Jackson" comment last January on the date of the South Carolina primary. He replied (and the tape is on YouTube) that Obama's campaign had played the "race card" on him with respect to that whole controversy.

Today he was asked about yesterday's "race card" comment by NBC. Bill strongly denied on camera uttering that phrase yesterday.

Given all of the fuss that has arisen about his comments on this subject, does he really not remember what he said yesterday? His "misspeaking" is straining credibility to the point of farce.

Maybe he should try the twinkie defense. He's certainly professed a love for junk food in the past.

Offsetting our Mexican emissions

And I'm not talking about the beans, lol!

On my way back from class today I remembered that it's Earth Day and to go to TerraPass to buy carbon offsets for our trip to Puerto Vallarta. Their website calculated that Victor's and my share of the carbon dioxide generated by our roundtrip flight was 2,200 pounds. Over a ton!

For $14.85, I bought a 3,000 pound offset. TerraPass uses the money to finance wind farms for electrical generation and methane recovery projects from livestock and land fills (like CO2, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas).

Wheat disease on the move

A virulent new strain of rust, a disease that attacks wheat and other grains, has spread to Iran a year or two earlier than expected due to a cyclone in the region last year. The move into Iran is an unwelcome harbinger given other stresses to the world food supply, such as Australia's drought and soaring grain prices.

Scientists warn that UG99's arrival in Iran is unwelcome because of it's proximity to major Asian wheat-growing regions. UG99 has developed resistance to all the rust-resistant strains of wheat grown worldwide, and new strains to replace them are several years away.

Here's a New Scientist alert on the problem last month and an article with a U.S. perspective, as well as some former posts on related topics: ethanol's impact on grain prices, the increasing interdependence of world food markets, and the growing political turbulence that's developing around the world in response to spikes in grain prices.

Last week's debate, MoveOn's petition

I just signed the MoveOn petition to register my disappointment with ABC.

If you missed the Democratic presidential debate on ABC Wednesday night, Editor & Publisher called it "perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years."

Moderators George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson spent the first 50 minutes obsessed with distractions that only political insiders care about--gaffes, polling numbers, the stale Rev. Wright story, and the old-news Bosnia story. And, channeling Karl Rove, they directed a video question to Barack Obama asking if he loves the American flag or not. Seriously!

I just signed a petition to ABC and other media that says: "Debate moderators abuse the public trust every time they ask trivial questions about gaffes and 'gotchas' that only political insiders care about. Enough with the distractions--ABC and other networks must focus on issues that affect people's daily lives."

Over 200,000 people have signed so far. Want to sign it too? We need a bunch of signers for ABC to take this concern seriously.

Click here to sign. Thanks!

Video here.

April's day, Earth's day

Today is Earth Day, and after a crazy weekend in Puerto Vallarta celebrating my dear friend April's birthday, I'm still trying to get my feet firmly back on the ground. I've been dealing with my allergies here in Vegas, and my left sinus got really screwed up on the flight to Mexico. I was dealing with a serious headache and bloody nose for the first 24 hours and acid reflux for the last 24. Guess I'm getting older, too! :-)

In any case, we had a wonderful time and stayed in a gorgeous villa (coincidentally, another group of friends rented the same house last year when Tommy, Ken, a few other friends, and I were there). We had 15 people in our group, and we split our time between the villa, the beach, and Mañana, our favorite local club. I'll post a few more pics soon!

BUT BACK TO EARTH DAY... I heard a good segment on Fresh Air yesterday about making smart seafood choices, i.e. those that are healthy both for the diner and for the environment. You can check out the Environmental Defense Fund's seafood guide online. They even have a version that you can view on your web-enabled cell phone.

More on food prices

And the global political ramifications.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=156835&f=19

Network cynicism

"I'm mad as he'll, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

If you've never seen the 1976 movie Network (or if it's been awhile), you should consider renting it.

ABC's dismal democratic debate last night and this article about the withering reviews it's getting reminded me of the movie and has me wondering: are the execs at ABC ashamed today? Or are they laughing cynically about all of (negative) press they're getting?

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/thecaucus/4850

Happy birthday, A-Lo!

Victor and I are heading to Puerto Vallarta today to celebrate our gorgeous friend April's birthday. The rest of the gang is already there; we're getting a late start because of my organic chemistry exam today (on which I'll defer commenting :-).

I will say I am ready for "una mas cerveza, por favor!"

Shared risks

You might think that global trade gives the world a "safety net," but there's an article in the latest New Scientist magazine that suggests living in an increasingly interdependent world is actually making us more vulnerable. I'll write more about it next week, but here's an example which supports their case: the skyrocketing price of rice.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=156403&f=25

Perfect timing... antioxidants and your health

My biology literature review paper was due today... it's title is "Effect of Antioxidants on Tumor Progression." My basic finding, based on the the ten journal articles that I referenced in the paper, is that the conventional wisdom on antioxidants is wrong. Despite the claims made by the food industry and consumers' huge appetite for health in pill form, antioxidant supplementation may actually speed the formation and growth of tumors. Far from preventing cancer, too many antioxidants may promote it.

Scientists at Copenhagen University have just reported that antioxidant supplementation "increases mortality" after reviewing 67 studies.

From my paper:

Take a walk through your typical American supermarket’s aisles and you’ll likely find dozens of products touting their antioxidant content. Whether advertising their natural antioxidant content, as with pomegranate juice and green tea, or the fortified variety, such as breakfast cereals and artificially flavored “fruit” punch, a large and growing number of products proclaim the health benefits of the antioxidants that they contain....

In spite of the public’s conventional wisdom and the relentless marketing of antioxidant-fortified foods and supplements, antioxidants may, in fact, carry a significant danger of promoting the growth of existing tumors. In some at-risk individuals, they may even increase the risk of developing pre-cancerous changes in cells. While antioxidants play an essential role in metabolism, they may also accelerate damage resulting from environmental stress or aging. Further research to track long term effects on humans is necessary, including studies to determine if antioxidants occurring naturally in food have effects similar to those supplied by supplements. The results of the beta carotene study highlight the importance of designing these new studies so as to minimize potential harm to the participants.

The folks in Copenhagen are making the same recommendation that Michael Pollan makes in In Defense of Food: "eat well."

I've been taking supplements since I was 12 or 13. As soon as I had an income (how many newspapers did I deliver over the years????), I spent a fair amount of it on vitamins.

So while I haven't been able to completely wean myself off those appealing bottles on the health aisle's shelves, I have made a point of eliminating antioxidants. My only sources of vitamins A, C, E, etc. are... food. :-)

ONE OTHER NOTE: Several of the articles I read for my paper reported that dietary antioxidant supplements have the ability to speed tumor growth by short-circuiting the body's natural ability to kill off damaged cells before they become cancerous. I have read no articles that found or suggested that topically applied antioxidants might do the same thing for pre-cancerous skin cells, but the possibility certainly occurs to me. You might want to think twice about slathering on lotions containing antioxidants.

I read an article in Stanford's Alumni magazine last summer. It reported that early research at Stanford suggested that early removal of pre-cancerous cells by chemical peels and other procedures often considered "cosmetic" may be beneficial:

A number of interventions already exist for squamous and basal cell carcinoma. But surgery—the gold standard—can be disfiguring to patients with multiple lesions. Stanford researchers have conducted early studies that suggest cosmetic treatments for wrinkles, such as laser facial resurfacing, chemical peels and topical creams, could be beneficial.

These treatments resulted in an 83 percent to 92 percent decrease in actinic keratoses, rough patches of skin that appear on sun-exposed areas and are considered precursors to cancer. All, according to a 2006 Stanford study, may reduce precancerous lesions and lower the risk of skin cancer.

ABC... what a joke of a debate

I have to agree with Andrew Sullivan on this... what a lame debate! We are halfway through and all the moderators have asked about is Rev. Wright, flag pins, the Weathermen, and lack of sniper fire in Bosnia.

HOW FRICKIN' STUPID IS ABC? Are these truly the issues that they think are important???

Housing starts are at their lowest since 1991, the overall economy is taking a dive, oil and food prices are soaring, we're bogged down in a war, and we pump ever more CO2 into the atmosphere every day... and they are asking about flag pins?

Maybe I'm just an "elitist" but I think people are a little smarter than this.

I refuse to watch CNN anymore. Fox's "fair and balanced" coverage is a joke. Let's add ABC to the list.

Let me just say this: if you wonder why fewer people tune in to network television, ABC, try watching your own programming.

AND AFTER THE DEBATE ENDED, you could hear folks at ABC's local affiliate whispering to each other for almost a minute. How embarassing.

You are a miracle

I have a biology exam tomorrow, and I've been studying the past few hours. Getting some ZZZZZs now but wanted to take a second to remind you how amazing you are. Each one of us contains innumerable miracles and brings new ones into existence with every thought.

You could start with the miracle of conception: two tiny cells, one from each parent, uniting and growing into a complete human being.

Add to that the fact that you're able to contemplate that original miracle, that you somehow bring forth a state of consciousness, of self-awareness.

I'd wager that there's more going on inside a single one of your cells than everything we have learned about the body as a whole... that the as yet unknown complexity of a single cell exceeds the sum total of what we've learned up to this point about your organs and tissues and systems.

And every minute of every day we take it all for granted and think that what's going on outside of us in the world is what matters.

Except this one. Enjoy who and what you are... and then go back to acting human. :-)

No more Review-Journal...

If you're staying at one of Harrah's properties here in Las Vegas.

Unread by their guests? Cost-cutting? Retaliation for the R-J's stories on permit problems at their hotels?

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/thelede/1121

The deed is done

I have e-filed my taxes.

If you know me personally you're probably thinking that doing so wasn't too hard...

Ha!

(Okay, 2.5 hours, not all that bad at all. :-)

Too good to be true

Alas, the McCain Girls were a hoax.

Good luck, George

While making progress on climate change this year would be amazing, I'm skeptical of President Bush's ability to provide the necessary leadership. Still, we can hope.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/dotearth/226

Methamphetamine: a devastating and difficult-to-kick habit

Here's more evidence why it's such a difficult drug for people to beat.

In 2005, the New Yorker ran an excellent article about the impact of methamphetamine on the gay community and HIV transmission. I have the sense that the peak of the crisis has passed, at least in San Francisco, but that doesn't mean that it's not still a huge problem.

And in 2004, the Portland Oregonian published a five-part series on the crystal epidemic, highlighting the fact that the supply of meth can be restricted much more easily than other drugs due to the unique nature of the raw materials used in its manufacture.

Obama clarifying his remarks (video)

Obama takes some time in Indiana last Friday to explain the point of his remarks about why people are bitter in small towns with struggling economies. Video here.

At last... Bush connects with the "reality-based" community

Last Friday, President Bush admitted to ABC News that he was aware that his senior aides discussed and approved specific interrogation techniques. Given the nature of the techniques and the widely held belief that they constitute torture, this was a stunning admission on the President's part. Read more here.

The ACLU has been instrumental in obtaining the so-called "torture" memos. Click here to add your name to those calling on Congress to investigate the government's actions fully.

Engaging the Obama "bitter" controversy

So I've not been following the presidential race all that closely the past few days (and, in fact, almost forgot to show up and vote at the Clark County Democratic Convention on Saturday), but I've been hearing bits and pieces of the controversy about Obama's remarks at a fundraiser in San Francisco. He made some remarks about small town Pennsylvanians while answering a question, and many--Hillary and John McCain, of course--have interpreted his words as being elistist or condescending.

I had seen the quote, but just now went back to the source, the original Huffington Post article where his words were first reported. Here is the quote; the full quote, which you should read if you already have an opinion or may form one in the future, lol, is after the jump:

You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

I grew up in a town of 800 in the middle of Kansas... and thank God we were only 45 minutes from Wichita because it sure makes travel easier now that I no longer live there. When I was a kid the town was vibrant and self-sufficient in many ways. Today downtown is largely boarded up... a sad, sad transformation for a town that my "big city" cousins once loved visiting. I don't know if I'd say that people there are bitter, but like so many other small towns across the midwest, it's slowly dying, the victim of agribusiness replacing farming, Wal-Mart killing off local stores, and manufacturing jobs largely moving overseas.

I read Obama's words, and they have the ring of "truth" to me. And upon actually reading the whole quote, you notice that he's not knocking guns or religion... he's simply saying that people who've seen a good way of life slowly slip away, and who've heard promises from politicians and the government that now can only be described as broken, are going to do what any of us would do: seek to make sense of their predicament. You turn to what you know, to what is familiar, and to what hasn't deserted you.

And when a politician talks about restricting gun ownership, it becomes a lightning rod... a way to protest. You stand up for your Second Amendment rights.

Or when your way of life seems to have been overrun by a dizzying set of changes--people behaving in ways that just weren't acceptable when you were growing up, or immigrants holding on to bits of their own culture in ways that your own immigrant forebears didn't--it can feel threatening. And when we're threatened we tend to dig in our heels and see issues as black and white with no softening shades of gray. (I'm reminded of Sally Mill Gearhart's remarks in The Times of Harvey Milk when she describes the clash of two ways of life--gays and lesbians enjoying their new freedoms, and the heterosexual community being forced to adapt--that sparked the anti-gay Briggs initiative in California in 1978).

When your community's economy is heading down, your security is threatened. Your survival is threatened. Because face it, the idea of a safety net is a pretty new development, and from an evolutionary perspective, we're primed to experience abstract threats as strongly as physical ones.

What is sad about this whole situation is that everyone jumping on Obama about this is essentially proving his point: that guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiment have been used as tools for manipulating and distracting voters, just as they are being used now.

I THINK EVERYONE IS AN ELITIST in this sense: we're each convinced that we see the world clearly. We like to believe we're right. And it's hard to realize how rarely we examine anyone's behavior except through our own limited experience of the world.

That goes for me. For Obama. For Hillary. For you.

But there is a door that opens to a larger world when we become a little less sure of ourselves. For some it comes with age. For others a transformative experience lights the way. A few or most--I am in no position to know--may end their days still believing with absolute certainty that their reality is reality.

So the presidential race continues, and we will eventually find out whether people are willing to listen, to examine someone else's shades of gray, and to begin to notice that possibly, just possibly, that they are simultaneously less like their neighbor than they thought... and more connected than they ever imagined.

The broader context of Obama's quote:

OBAMA: So, it depends on where you are, but I think it's fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre...I think they're misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to 'white working-class don't wanna work -- don't wanna vote for the black guy.' That's...there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today - kind of implies that it's sort of a race thing.

Here's how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn't buy it. And when it's delivered by -- it's true that when it's delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But -- so the questions you're most likely to get about me, 'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing.

Clark County results

The final results are in from the Clark County Democratic Convention re-vote. Hillary earned 1330 delegates, Obama 1133. That's a slight improvement for Obama over the original 55.5 to 44.5% caucus results in January.

Read more here.

I had hoped to be elected to the state convention, but I was too far down the slate to be elected.

Just for the record :-)

The Clark County Democratic Re-Vote

After a day in the sun (poolside with Victor, fun!), I just went to the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV to vote for Obama at the Clark County Democratic Convention. Last month the original convention ended in near chaos due to a large (but expected) turnout. Voting was re-scheduled for today.

Let's just say things were far more organized today. In and out in less than ten minutes!

It was my first experience with an electronic voting machine. Apparently we used the actual equipment that Clark County uses for voting. While I'm not a big fan of electronic voting, at least this particular model had a paper trail.

Idiotic subsidies

So get this: if someone imports biodiesel into the U.S. and mixes a splash of regular diesel with it, our government pays them a subsidy. They can then re-sell the fuel at below market rates, and that's angering the Europeans. Apparently a lot of biodiesel from Argentina is being sold this way.

It's angering me, too! How stupid can we get?

CORRECTION: Didn't mean to say below market rates... it's really that they're able to sell with below market costs due to the subsidy.

Bill on the campaign trail

MSNBC questions whether Bill might have become President had YouTube and instant fact-checking been available back in the 90s. He misspoke multiple times yesterday, bringing Hillary's own misstatements about Bosnia back to the campaign foreground... as well as questions about whether he is a hindrance to her presidential bid.

Now Bill “misspoke” -- twice: Stumping in Indiana yesterday, Bill Clinton resurrected the Bosnia sniper fire story, per NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli. “[T]here was a lot of fulminating because Hillary, one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated, and immediately apologized for it, what happened to her in Bosnia in 1995,” he said. “Did y'all see all that? Oh, they blew it up.” He went on to say, “I think she was the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone. And you would’ve thought, you know, that she'd robbed a bank the way they carried on about this. And some of them when they're 60 they'll forget something when they're tired at 11:00 at night, too.” He said something similar at a later stop. How many things were wrong in his remarks? She didn’t just once misspeak -- at 11:00 pm -- about the Bosnia story; she did it numerous times, and not just at night. The trip, moreover, took place in ’96, not ’95. And Hillary wasn’t the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to visit a combat zone; Pat Nixon went to Saigon in 1969, as Politico’s Ben Smith reminds us. What was Bill thinking?

Friday fun

The Independent Film Channel and Nerve.com list the top 50 comedy sketches of all time... many with video. One of my all-time favorites: Save the Liver!

The Advocate interviews Obama

Obama sits down for an interview with The Advocate to discuss issues facing the lesbian, gay, and transgender communities. Read it here. An excerpt:

Both you and your wife speak eloquently about being told to wait your turn and how if you had done that, you might not have gone to law school or run for Senate or even president. To some extent, isn’t that what you’re asking same-sex couples to do by favoring civil unions over marriage -- to wait their turn?

I don’t ask them that. Anybody who’s been at an LGBT event with me can testify that my message is very explicit -- I don’t think that the gay and lesbian community, the LGBT community, should take its cues from me or some political leader in terms of what they think is right for them. It’s not my place to tell the LGBT community, "Wait your turn." I’m very mindful of Dr. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” where he says to the white clergy, "Don’t tell me to wait for my freedom."

So I strongly respect the right of same-sex couples to insist that even if we got complete equality in benefits, it still wouldn’t be equal because there’s a stigma associated with not having the same word, marriage, assigned to it. I understand that, but my perspective is also shaped by the broader political and historical context in which I’m operating. And I’ve said this before -- I’m the product of a mixed marriage that would have been illegal in 12 states when I was born. That doesn’t mean that had I been an adviser to Dr. King back then, I would have told him to lead with repealing an antimiscegenation law, because it just might not have been the best strategy in terms of moving broader equality forward.

That’s a decision that the LGBT community has to make. That’s not a decision for me to make.

Do you have any regrets about the South Carolina tour? People there are still sort of mystified that you gave Donnie McClurkin the chance to get up onstage and do this, and he did go on sort of an antigay rant there.

I tell you what -- my campaign is premised on trying to reach as many constituencies as possible and to go into as many places as possible, and sometimes that creates discomfort or turbulence. This goes back to your first question. If you’re segmenting your base into neat categories and constituency groups and you never try to bring them together and you just speak to them individually -- so I keep the African-Americans neatly over here and the church folks neatly over there and the LGBT community neatly over there -- then these kinds of issues don’t arise.

The flip side of it is, you never create the opportunity for people to have a conversation and to lift some of these issues up and to talk about them and to struggle with them, and our campaign is built around the idea that we should all be talking. And that creates some discomfort because people discover, gosh, within the Democratic Party or within Barack Obama’s campaign or within whatever sets of constituencies there are going to be some different points of view that might even be offensive to some folks. That’s not unique to this issue. I mean, ironically, my biggest … the biggest political news surrounding me over the last three weeks has been Reverend Wright, who offended a whole huge constituency with some of his statements but has been very good on gay and lesbian issues. I mean he’s one of the leaders in the African-American community of embracing, speaking out against homophobia, and talking about the importance of AIDS.

And so nobody is going to be perfectly aligned with my views. So what I hope is that people take me for who I am, for what I’ve said, and for what I’ve displayed in terms of my commitment to these issues, but understanding that there’s going to be a range of constituencies that I’m reaching out to and working on issues that we have in common, even though I may differ with them on other issues. And that’s true, also, by the way … well, I think that’s going to be true so long as I’m reaching out beyond the traditional Democratic base.

News round-up

A couple of stories that caught my eye earlier in the week:

• Time Magazine's Joe Klein comments on Obama's questioning of General Petraeus when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations committee this week. The full transcript here.
• ABC News reports that high-ranking Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific "enhanced interrogation" techniques:

  The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic. The advisers were members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy.

  At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

  The Bush administration's denials on the use of torture are just so many lies.

Too funny!

A candidate for President with a campaign that can't spell his own name! LOL

The mainstream media

Megan McCardle at The Atlantic shares her (insightful!) thoughts on why the mainstream media showcase the stories they do...

Which reminds me of one of my most absurd and surreal TV experiences ever: last June I caught a bit of Larry King while I was on the treadmill at the gym. He was interviewing Judge Judy of all people about Paris Hilton's legal woes. OMG who cares!? LOL

And I just did a Google search for Judge Judy images and found this... guess she's taking a page from Paris' book! [Picture removed, I've learned that it was probably a fake.]

Inspired by Michael Pollan

So I'm continuing to read Michael Pollan's latest book, In Defense of Food. And in doing so I realize how much I talk up the importance of good food yet, even though I generally eat pretty well, fresh fruits and vegetables play only small roles in my diet.

So I stocked up today. And then made a tasty dinner for Victor: wild salmon with a wasabi and soy glaze, white asparagus steamed over sauteed Gala apples, and whole wheat couscous with butter and a touch of truffle salt.

(And yes, Hillary, I sip lattes, too. :-)

Another reason we need new leadership

Someone needs to look beyond our narrow and short-term interests and inspire the American people to meet the challenges that have the potential to radically degrade the next generation's future. Bush doesn't have the character for it.

Case in point: climate change.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23960152/

Lie detectors for the military

What a frightening concept... and so clearly a tool of an occupying (imperial?) force.

Leave aside the fact that I doubt the developers of this $7500 portable lie detector--which is less accurate than a standard paragraph--took into account any cultural factors that may be relevant to identifying lies. Put this device in the hands of stressed-out soldiers and it's bound to be used in ways totally inappropriate for its capabilities.

People have a habit of placing too much faith in technology. My guess is that a properly trained soldier is far more adept at catching liars than this machine will ever be.

But hey, there's money to be made from selling a device, and the government loves its toys as much as the average American does. Look for the consumer model in a SkyMall catalog soon!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23926278/

Beyond comprehension

The infrastructure that we depend on in much of the country was built early in the 20th century, and we can't even comprehend the complexity of what lies beneath our feet.

And as it ages, it's becoming increasingly costly to maintain... and the day will come when it needs to be replaced.

Today's AP article on the problem, specifically looking at the pipeline that delivers fresh water to NYC, states:

The tunnel is leaking up to 36 million gallons a day as it carries drinking water from a reservoir to the big city. It is a powerful warning sign of a larger problem around the country: The infrastructure that delivers water to the nation's cities is badly aging and in need of repairs.

The Environmental Protection Agency says utilities will need to invest more than $277 billion over the next two decades on repairs and improvements to drinking water systems. Water industry engineers put the figure drastically higher, at about $480 billion.

More on the Clintons and Colombia

Certainly an interesting situation, with Hillary stating her opposition to the Colombian free trade agreement and Bill not only backing it but receiving $800,000 in speaking fees from a group backing the pact.

MSNBC had this to say yesterday:

A Clinton house divided: So Bill Clinton, it turns out, supports the Colombian free trade agreement that his wife opposes. In fact, according to our count, this is at least the fourth policy disagreement Bill and Hillary have had -- Colombia, NAFTA, whether to boycott the opening Olympics ceremony, and torture (as we found out at the September debate at Dartmouth). "Like other married couples who disagree on issues from time to time, she disagrees with her husband,” Clinton spokesman Jay Carson told the AP, regarding Bill’s support for the Colombian deal. Those of us who are married know that Jay is right: Married couples can disagree on almost anything, including policy. But then again, not every spouse is Bill Clinton, a former president who would be his wife’s most important adviser and confidante if she wins the White House. His positions on issues -- even when they disagree -- do matter, especially when groups supporting one side give him $800,000 in speaking fees.

Cropland dilemma

To the extent that taking farmland out of the U.S. conservation reserve may put marginal soil back into use, this is a bad idea.

I have to admit that I don't have the answer to balancing the needs of farmers, consumers, and the environment, but doing more of the same (industrial farming and corn for ethanol) doesn't seem like the smartest path. Ultimately, our health is tightly bound to the health of the world we live in... and to the soil itself.

We the corporate world

Obama and Hillary (and maybe Lou Dobbs) have one thing right: the current President is more focused on looking out for corporations than serving the American people.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=154437&f=19

A leader's words

Last night I was lying in bed and for some reason the words of Elizabeth I and Winston Churchill came to mind. I thought about how a leader's words can inspire during difficult times. I thought of the stirring speeches that have survived the passage of time, and it occurred to me that George W. Bush is clearly a weak link in this chain. And should anyone doubt the power of words to make a difference in the lives of a people, read on.

Queen Elizabeth I, speaking to her troops at Tilbury as the Spanish Armada sailed toward England:

My loving people,

We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit our selves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.

Thomas Jefferson, from the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Abraham Lincoln's address at Gettysburg:

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt first inaugural address:

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

Winston Churchill speaking in the House of Commons during World War II:

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963:

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

John F. Kennedy speaking at his inauguration:

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation," a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Ronald Reagan speaking at the Berlin Wall:

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace....

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner: "This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality." Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.

Barack Obama speaking in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. in January, 2008:

For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.

And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.

We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.

So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others - all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face - war and poverty; injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.

Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts....

So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this church, and may God bless the United States of America.

Economic woes

Economic news continues to look bleak, with the latest Federal Reserve minutes indicating some concern about the possibility of a "severe and protracted downturn."

Here in Vegas, anecdotal evidence I'm hearing from a variety of people I know who work in retail suggests that things are slowing down. And in the housing market, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports today that existing homes are now selling for less than it would cost to build new ones.

Cartoon for the day

From the Miami Herald:

Faith

Found this site while reading The Daily Dish this morning. It's called Live Love Hope and explores the experience of living and loving with HIV in Jamaica. Check out the poem "Faith" in their poetry gallery.

Lions for Lambs

Lions for Lambs is now available on DVD... rent it!

There is a woman in Somalia...

"Pearls" by the elegant and incomparable Sade:

Oh, those were the days...

William F. Buckley, Jr. on Laugh In.

Thanks to the Daily Dish...

Mommy, mommy, make them stop!!!

Quite possibly the most horrible thing I've ever seen on YouTube: the McCain Girls return.

In Defense of Food

I have finally gotten around to starting Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. As I get through more of the book I'll share more about it. One of my first and, I think, best posts here on Torqopia ("You are what you eat") discussed Pollan's earlier book, The Omnivore's Dilemma.

In the meantime, Paul Krugman at the NYTimes writes about the rising cost of food and the various causes, including the rise of China and American ethanol subsidies. He also makes this observation:

Governments and private grain dealers used to hold large inventories in normal times, just in case a bad harvest created a sudden shortage. Over the years, however, these precautionary inventories were allowed to shrink, mainly because everyone came to believe that countries suffering crop failures could always import the food they needed.

This left the world food balance highly vulnerable to a crisis affecting many countries at once — in much the same way that the marketing of complex financial securities, which was supposed to diversify away risk, left world financial markets highly vulnerable to a systemwide shock.