Meat is on the defensive

Today I ate and much enjoyed a hamburger for lunch (it was grass-fed beef, the restaurant said).   I eat burgers about once every two weeks, and I eat chicken quite often. Once in a while someone will offer me a processed meat like hot dogs or bacon, and eat that sort of food about once a month.  I don't buy pork or order it at a restaurant, but if it is offered to me by a host, though, I will gladly eat it. Two years ago I decided that pork would be a meat that I didn't eat, after seeing and hearing a truck full of squealing pigs being taken to slaughter in the middle of Springfield, Illinois.  I eat fake meat about once per week: I typically use the popular brands of veggie burgers and fake sausage sold at the grocery story (such as Morningstar's "burger" patties and "sausage" links).  If you haven't seen these products cooked up, here are some photos. At bottom, I enjoy eating meat, but I'm an ambivalent meat eater, and that ambivalence has been made all the worse with two recent articles I've recently read. One of the articles is by Neal Barnard, M.D., who brings this bad news:

At least 58 scientific studies have looked at the issue, and the jury has rendered its verdict, which is now beyond reasonable doubt. The more hot dogs people eat, the higher their risk of colorectal cancer. And it's not just hot dogs. Any sort of processed meat -- bacon, sausage, ham, deli slices -- is in this group. And here are the numbers: Every 50 grams of processed meat you eat on a daily basis (that's about one hot dog) increases your risk of colorectal cancer by 21 percent. And just as there is no safe level of smoking, no amount of hot dogs, bacon, sausage, ham or other processed meats comes out clean in scientific studies.
I'd like to know more about this study, but if this is accurate, it gives me serious pause about eating hot dogs and other processed food. The other bad news comes from the Environmental Working Group, which warns of the harsh environmental impact of eating meat. Check out the damage caused by meat-eating in the at-a-glance brochure. There is a lot more information here. These brochures also mention studies indicating that high rates of meat eating are associated with high rates of cancer and heart disease. If you'd like to take the first step to cut back on meat eating for yourself and for the planet, here's an easy way to start: Meatless Mondays.

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Take that damned right turn on red!

Right turns on red have been legal in my state (Missouri) for many years. Could someone please . . . PLEASE . . . tell me why so many people are so hesitant to take that right turn on red, even when it is perfectly safe to do so, and even when they will sit for along time at the light if they fail to turn right on red? I took the attached photo while waiting for several cars to turn right on red. The front car never made that turn, and therefore all of us sat there. I honked, but it did no good. When the light turned green, all of these cars turned right. I witness this reluctance all the time. What is the deal? Are they afraid? Ignorant of the law? Obstinate? Sleeping?

Continue ReadingTake that damned right turn on red!

Mars Rover Opportunity is still knocking

As reported by The Independent, the Mars rover called Opportunity is still up and running (unlike its companion rover, Spirit, which stopped sending signals last year). And there is still a lot to explore, including a huge crater at which Opportunity has just arrived. This is an incredible story and a laudable accomplishment for the many scientists who have worked behind the scenes. At least, it's a laudable story for those of us who still appreciate first-rate science. This inspiring story of the Mars rovers makes it all the more frustrating that every year the U.S. spends as much money air conditional soldiers' tents in Iraq and Afghanistan ($20 B), as it spends every year for the entire budget of NASA.

Continue ReadingMars Rover Opportunity is still knocking

Michelle Bachmann’s crusade against sustainability

In "First They Came for the Lightbulbs," Tim Murphy of Mother Jones explores Michelle Bachmann's war against sustainability. Bachmann has described the enemy as follows:

"This is their agenda—I know it's hard to believe, it's hard to fathom, but this is 'Mission Accomplished' for them," she said of congressional Democrats. "They want Americans to take transit and move to the inner cities. They want Americans to move to the urban core, live in tenements, [and] take light rail to their government jobs. That's their vision for America."
Murphy explains that the Republican fears about "sustainability" have mushroomed into something even much larger. Under the environmentalists' plans, people would be:
instructed to live in "hobbit homes" in designated "human habitation zones" (two terms embraced by tea party activists). Public transportation would be the only kind of transportation, and governments would force contraception on their citizens to control the population level. A human life would be considered no more significant than, say, that of a manatee. "Sustainability," the idea at the heart of the agreement, became a gateway to dystopia.

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Dylan Ratigan explodes with common sense

Finally, I've discovered a prominent media spokesperson who has the guts to acknowledge that America is faced with a dangerous problem based on mathematical facts, a problem that is fueled by systemic financial industry corruption that thoroughly permeates both major political parties. He argues, loudly, that the first step to deal with this danger is for the President of the United States to take to the bully pulpit and to clearly acknowledge our problem rather than suggesting that the debate is between cutting $2 trillion or $4 trillion, both of which are merely kicking the can a few feet down the road (to 2017). I literally stood up to applauded to my computer monitor after hearing Dylan Ratigan cut through the bullshit and nail this critical issue.

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Finally, someone is out there forcefully saying what needs to be said, with the right idea for a first step. Obama could make up for many of his previous sins if he dared to throw the Hail Mary pass Dylan Ratigan suggests. He needs to tell himself "screw 2017," and begin a campaign based on getting into the faces of all politicians, Democrats and Republicans. He should shout from the highest pulpit to root out electoral/banking/trade/taxation/media corruption and he shouldn't stop talking about this issue of monied political corruption, because there will not be any meaningful debate on any other issue until we dare to admit that private money in politics has completely perverted the political process. As Ratigan states, we shouldn't be talking about $2 or $4 trillion. At least nine trillion, (and see here) and arguably dozens of trillions, as much as $70 trillion, are being siphoned out of the system thanks to the complicity of powerful people and entities that couldn't care less about the future of the United States. During his speeches, Obama should hold up traditional grade school civics textbooks and and then set them on fire because they are full of lies. They do not describe how the system works. Not even closely. The predominant political truth is that Congress is bought and paid for by big monied companies that currently control all three branches of government. Consequently, there are two Americas, and you are not part of the America that pulls any meaningful strings. Your vote is severely limited to support only members of the club of which you are not a member. Skip writing emails to your representatives, because those emails just annoy them. They are trying to work in a whirlwind of D.C. money that turns them into functional psychopaths. Good luck getting any federal agency to pay any attention to the needs of ordinary Americans, whether it be the FCC, the FDA or the SEC. The politicians who treasure the somewhat elevated stature of their jobs know deep down that they need to keep voting to further powerful corporations or else they will be swiftly boated from their jobs. We are in the era of Citizens United, where yes, you have a vote, but your choices have both been pre-ordained, pre-approved. I wish I didn't believe the things I've just written, but I've seen far too much evidence establishing that this country is not run by you and me, despite the popular rhetoric to the contrary. Let's take that first step to force our politicians, especially the President, to admit that we absolutely need to discuss and deal with systemic corruption caused by private money drenching politics. Until then, everything we hear is merely a bunch of hot air dressed up to sound like meaningful conversation.

Continue ReadingDylan Ratigan explodes with common sense