tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-275378152024-03-13T04:31:26.244-07:00Gillian Coldsnow's blogRadio host shares thoughts on all sorts of stuff, which <em>might</em> even be related to her work on occasion.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.comBlogger213125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-92069632801508446562010-06-01T10:21:00.001-07:002010-06-01T10:22:18.309-07:00Who Is A Sociopath?<span xmlns=''><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>A comment made during an episode of my guilty pleasure, the "Real Housewives of New Jersey," prompted this post. Dina said Danielle is a sociopath.<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>It triggered distant memories, of one woman who used that term freely, labeling anyone she disliked as a "psychopath" or "sociopath." (According to <a href='http://www.youmeworks.com/index.html'>http://www.youmeworks.com/index.html</a>, "sociopaths and psychopaths are the same thing. The original name for this disorder was "psychopath" but the general public and media confused it with "psycho" and "psychotic" so in the 1930s the name was changed to <em>sociopath</em>. Recently the media again caused a misperception that sociopaths were always serial killers, so now many call the condition "antisocial personality disorder.")</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Hearing the term again prompted me to find out: what exactly is a sociopath, and how can you tell who is a sociopath?<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>I found some very useful information at <a href='http://www.youmeworks.com/sociopaths.html'>http://www.youmeworks.com/sociopaths.html</a><br /> </span></p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Here are some snippets:<br /></span></p><p><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv<br /></span></p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>WHEN YOU SAY THE WORD "sociopath" most people think of serial killers. But although many serial killers are sociopaths, there are far more sociopaths leading ordinary lives. Chances are you know a sociopath. I say "ordinary lives," but what they do is far from ordinary. Sociopaths are people without a conscience. They don't have the normal empathy the rest of us take for granted. They don't feel affection. They don't care about others. But most of them are good observers, and they have learned how to mimic feelings of affection and empathy remarkably well.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Most people with a conscience find it very difficult to even imagine what it would be like to be without one. Combine this with a sociopath's efforts to blend in, and the result is that most sociopaths go undetected.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Because they go undetected, they wreak havoc on their family, on people they work with, and on anyone who tries to be their friend. A sociopath deceives, takes what he (or she) wants, and hurts people without any remorse. <strong>Sociopaths don't feel guilty. They don't feel sorry for what they've done. They go through life taking what they want and giving nothing back. They manipulate and deceive and convincingly lie without the slightest second thought. They leave a path of confusion and upset in their wake.</strong></span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Who are these people? Why are they the way they are? Apparently it has little to do with upbringing. Many studies have been done trying to find out what kind of childhood leads to sociopathy. So far, nothing looks likely. They could be from any kind of family. It is partly genetic, and partly mystery.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>But researchers have found that the brains of sociopaths function differently than normal people. And <strong>their brains function in a way that makes their emotional life unredeemably shallow.</strong> And yet they are capable of mimicking emotions like professional actors.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Sociopaths don't have normal affection with other people. They don't feel attached to others. They don't feel love. And that is why they don't have a conscience. If <em>you</em> harmed someone, even someone you didn't know, you would feel guilt and remorse. Why? Because you have a natural affinity for other human beings. You know how it feels to suffer, to fear, to feel anguish. You care about others.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>If you hurt someone you <em>love</em>, the guilt and remorse would be very bad because of your affection for him or her. Take that attachment and affection away and you take away remorse, guilt, and any kind of normal feelings of fairness. That's a sociopath.</span><br /> </p><p> <br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'><strong>HOW TO KNOW</strong></span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>The big question is, of course, how can you know whether someone is a sociopath or not? It is a difficult question and even experts on the subject can be fooled. If you suspect that someone close to you is a sociopath, I suggest you read both of the books I mentioned and think hard about it. Compare that person to the other people in your life. Ask yourself these questions:</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>1. Do you often feel used by the person?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>2. Have you often felt that he (or she) doesn't care about you?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>3. Does he lie and deceive you?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>4. Does he tend to make contradictory statements?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>5. Does he tend to take from you and not give back much?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>6. Does he often appeal to pity? Does he seem to try to make you feel sorry for him?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>7. Does he try to make you feel guilty?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>8. Do you sometimes feel he is taking advantage of your good nature?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>9. Does he seem easily bored and need constant stimulation?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>10. Does he use a lot of flattery? Does he interact with you in a way that makes you feel flattered even if he says nothing overtly complimentary?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>11. Does he make you feel worried? Does he do it obviously or more cleverly and sneakily?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>12. Does he give you the impression you owe him?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>13. Does he chronically fail to take responsibility for harming others? Does he blame everyone and everything but himself?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>And does he do these things far more than the other people in your life? If you answered "yes" to many of these, you may be dealing with a sociopath. For sure you're dealing with someone who isn't good for you, whatever you want to call him.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>I like Martha Stout's way of detecting sociopaths: "If ... you find yourself often pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, the chances are close to one hundred percent that you are dealing with a sociopath."</span><br /> </p><p> <br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'><strong>WHAT DO THEY WANT?</strong></span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>This is an interesting question. Of course most of our purposes are strongly influenced by our connections and affections with others. Our relationships with others, and our love for them, give us most of the meaning in life. So if a sociopath doesn't have these things, what is left? What kind of purposes do they have?</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>The answer is chilling: They want to win. Take away love and relationships and all you have left is winning the game, whatever the game is. If they are in business, it is becoming rich and defeating competitors. If it is sibling rivalry, it is defeating the sibling. If it is a contest, the goal is to dominate. If a sociopath is the envious sort, winning would be making the other lose, or fail, or be frustrated or embarrassed.</span><br /> </p><p><strong><span style='font-family:Arial'>A sociopath's goal is to win. And he is willing to do anything at all to win.</span><br /> </strong></p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Sociopaths have nothing else to think about, so they can be very clever and conniving. Sociopaths are not busy being concerned with relationships or moral dilemmas or conflicting feelings, so they have much more time to think about clever ways to gain your trust and stab you in the back, and how do it without anyone knowing what's happening.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>One of the questions in the list above was about <em>boredom</em>. This is a real problem for sociopaths and they seem fanatically driven to prevent boredom. The reason it looms so large for them (and seems so strange to us) is that <em>our relationships with people</em> occupy a good amount of our time and attention and interest us intensely. Take that away and all you have is "playing to win" which is rather shallow and empty in comparison. So boredom is a constant problem for sociopaths and they have an incessant urge to keep up a level of stimulation, even negative stimulation (drama, worry, upset, etc.).</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>And here I might mention that the research shows sociopaths don't feel emotions the same way normal people do. For example, they don't experience fear as unpleasant. This goes a long way to explaining the inexplicable behavior you'll see in sociopaths. Some feelings that you and I might find intolerable might not bother them at all.</span><br /> </p><p> <br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'><strong>HOW TO DEAL WITH A SOCIOPATH</strong></span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>There is no known cure or therapy for sociopathy. In fact, some evidence suggests that therapy makes them <em>worse</em> because they use it to learn more about human vulnerabilities they can then exploit. They learn how to manipulate better and they learn better excuses that others will believe.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>Given all that, <strong>there is only one solution for dealing with a sociopath: Get him or her completely out of your life for good. </strong>This seems radical, and of course, you want to be fairly sure your diagnosis is correct, but you need to protect yourself from the drain on your time, attention, money, and good attitude. Healing or helping a sociopath is a pointless waste of your life. That is not your mission. It's not your responsibility. You have your own goals and your own life, and <em>those</em> are your responsibility.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>In Hare's book, he says before you diagnose someone as a sociopath, he recommends you get a full clinical diagnostic, including an extensive interview with the sociopath by a qualified psychotherapist, plus interviews with the sociopath's bosses, co-workers, friends, and family. Yeah, right. Good luck on that one. I agree, that would be ideal, but if you can get a sociopath to submit to an interview, I would be astonished. So you'll have to do the best you can with the information you can get.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>I don't recommend you tell anyone you have diagnosed him as a sociopath. In fact, I strongly urge you not to. I don't even know if it's a good idea to tell <em>anyone </em>about your conclusion. Just get the sociopath out of your life with as little fanfare as you can. The only exception I would make to this rule is if the sociopath is making someone <em>else's</em> life a living hell, it seems wrong to leave her to the wolves while you slink off. I don't recommend you try to <em>convince</em> your friend she is dealing with a sociopath. I recommend that you simply say you got a lot of insight from this or that book or whatever, and let your friend draw her own conclusions. It is not your mission to save your friend, either. Tell her what you know and if she ignores your warning, that's her problem, not yours. Because you said something, she may figure it out eventually.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>If this all sounds cold or heartless, maybe you're not dealing with a sociopath, or maybe she or he hasn't driven you to the point of madness (yet). But remember what the solution is; you may someday need it.</span><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>And besides, <strong>the point of all this dismal information is so you no longer need to think about such negative things and so you can turn your attention to positive, life-affirming, uplifting goals of your own.</strong></span><br /> </p><p><br /> </p><p><span style='font-family:Arial'>vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv<br /></span></p></span>Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-862549110888246832008-09-26T13:05:00.000-07:002008-09-29T06:22:21.849-07:00What Bernanke and Paulson Can Learn From Sweden's Financial Crash<strong>"A banking system in crisis after the collapse of a housing bubble. An economy hemorrhaging jobs. A market-oriented government struggling to stem the panic. Sound familiar?<br /><br />"It does to Sweden. The country was so far in the hole in 1992 — after years of imprudent regulation, short-sighted economic policy and the end of its property boom — that its banking system was, for all practical purposes, insolvent."</strong><br /><br />I came across this article by Carter Dougherty in the New York Times on Tuesday, and found it very interesting.<br /><br />But before we go on to the rest of the article:<br /><br />Last night, I attended an debate at Washington State University. One of the speakers in <a href=http://seb.wsu.edu/seb.aspx>The Great Election Debate</a> was writer and activist <a href=http://mediamatters.org/items/200512100001>Cliff Kincaid</a>, who said more than once that the 700 billion-dollar plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Fed Chairmen Ben Bernanke and the Bush White House is not a bailout , but <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism>socialism</a>. <br /><br />Socialism is widely understood to mean state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, including banks. <br /><br />I grew up in a country that some have called labeled a socialist democracy. In Singapore, the government does own some banks and the like, including a very successful investment company, called <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temasek_Holdings>Temasek Holdings</a>. With a multinational staff of more than 300 people, it manages a portfolio of about S$185 billion, or more than US$127 billion, focused primarily in Asia. It is an active shareholder and investor in such sectors as banking & financial services, real estate, transportation & logistics, infrastructure, telecommunications & media, bioscience & healthcare, education, consumer & lifestyle, engineering & technology, as well as energy & resources. In 2008, The Economist reported that Morgan Stanley had estimated the fund's assets at US$159.2 billion. Late last year Temasek threw a <a href=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/25/BUVJU4DP0.DTL>5 billion-dollar lifeline to Merrill Lynch</a>.<br /><br />All right - back to the NYT aritcle. Here's where the Swedish experience does include socialist principles.<br /><br />Dougherty writes:<br /><br /><strong>"Sweden did not just bail out its financial institutions by having the government take over the bad debts. It extracted pounds of flesh from bank shareholders before writing checks. Banks had to write down losses and issue warrants to the government.<br /><br />"That strategy held banks responsible and turned the government into an owner. When distressed assets were sold, the profits flowed to taxpayers, and the government was able to recoup more money later by selling its shares in the companies as well.</strong> <br /><br />'“If I go into a bank,” said Bo Lundgren, who was Sweden’s finance minister at the time, “I’d rather get equity so that there is some upside for the taxpayer.”<br /><br />"Sweden spent 4 percent of its gross domestic product, or 65 billion kronor, the equivalent of $11.7 billion at the time, or $18.3 billion in today’s dollars, to rescue ailing banks. That is slightly less, proportionate to the national economy, than the $700 billion, or roughly 5 percent of gross domestic product, that the Bush administration estimates its own move will cost in the United States.<br /><br />"But the final cost to Sweden ended up being less than 2 percent of its G.D.P. Some officials say they believe it was closer to zero, depending on how certain rates of return are calculated.<br /><br />"The tumultuous events of the last few weeks have produced a lot of tight-lipped nods in Stockholm. Mr. Lundgren even made the rounds in New York in early September, explaining what the country did in the early 1990s.<br /><br />"A few American commentators have proposed that the United States government extract equity from banks as a price for their rescue. But it does not seem to be under serious consideration yet in the Bush administration or Congress.<br /><br />"The reason is not quite clear. The government has already swapped its sovereign guarantee for equity in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance institutions, and the American International Group, the global insurance giant.<br /><br />"Putting taxpayers on the hook without anything in return could be a mistake, said Urban Backstrom, a senior Swedish finance ministry official at the time. “The public will not support a plan if you leave the former shareholders with anything,” he said.<br /><br />"The Swedish crisis had strikingly similar origins to the American one, and its neighbors, Norway and Finland, were hobbled to the point of needing a government bailout to escape the morass as well.<br /><br />"Financial deregulation in the 1980s fed a frenzy of real estate lending by Sweden’s banks, which did not worry enough about whether the value of their collateral might evaporate in tougher times.<br /><br />"Property prices imploded. The bubble deflated fast in 1991 and 1992. A vain effort to defend Sweden’s currency, the krona, caused overnight interest rates to spike at one point to 500 percent. The Swedish economy contracted for two consecutive years after a long expansion, and unemployment, at 3 percent in 1990, quadrupled in three years.<br /><br />"After a series of bank failures and ad hoc solutions, the moment of truth arrived in September 1992, when the government of Prime Minister Carl Bildt decided it was time to clear the decks.<br /><br />"Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the opposition center-left, Mr. Bildt’s conservative government announced that the Swedish state would guarantee all bank deposits and creditors of the nation’s 114 banks. Sweden formed a new agency to supervise institutions that needed recapitalization, and another that sold off the assets, mainly real estate, that the banks held as collateral.<br /><br />"Sweden told its banks to write down their losses promptly before coming to the state for recapitalization. Facing its own problem later in the decade, Japan made the mistake of dragging this process out, delaying a solution for years.<br /><br />"Then came the imperative to bleed shareholders first. Mr. Lundgren recalls a conversation with Peter Wallenberg, at the time chairman of SEB, Sweden’s largest bank. Mr. Wallenberg, the scion of the country’s most famous family and steward of large chunks of its economy, heard that there would be no sacred cows.<br /><br />"The Wallenbergs turned around and arranged a recapitalization on their own, obviating the need for a bailout. SEB turned a profit the following year, 1993.<br /><br />“For every krona we put into the bank, we wanted the same influence,” Mr. Lundgren said. “That ensured that we did not have to go into certain banks at all.”<br /><br />"By the end of the crisis, the Swedish government had seized a vast portion of the banking sector, and the agency had mostly fulfilled its hard-nosed mandate to drain share capital before injecting cash. When markets stabilized, the Swedish state then reaped the benefits by taking the banks public again.<br /><br />"More money may yet come into official coffers. The government still owns 19.9 percent of Nordea, a Stockholm bank that was fully nationalized and is now a highly regarded giant in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region.<br /><br />"The politics of Sweden’s crisis management were similarly tough-minded, though much quieter.<br /><br />"Soon after the plan was announced, the Swedish government found that international confidence returned more quickly than expected, easing pressure on its currency and bringing money back into the country. The center-left opposition, while wary that the government might yet let the banks off the hook, made its points about penalizing shareholders privately.<br /><br />'“The only thing that held back an avalanche was the hope that the system was holding,” said Leif Pagrotzky, a senior member of the opposition at the time. “In public we stuck together 100 percent, but we fought behind the scenes.”'<br /><br />Here's a link to Dougherty's <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/worldbusiness/23krona.html?em>article in the New York Times</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-57211566688674700522008-09-07T22:39:00.000-07:002008-09-07T23:07:46.531-07:00Biden, McCain, Obama, Palin....What The Tickets RevealNo partisan red meat offered in this post....this is the vegetarian option. (Hence, the listing of names in alphabetical order.)<br /><br />I really enjoyed two opinion pieces in the Washington Post this weekend. We all keep hearing how the tickets and candidates differ, but in these politically charged weeks, it's nice to take a step back and examine what the Democratic and Republican tickets have in <em>common</em>.<br /><br />First, <strong>David Ignatius writes:</strong><br /><br /><h3>"There's something lovable about the way this year's never-ending political campaign has turned out.</h3> <br /><strong>"We now have two presidential tickets that display the American rainbow in all its eccentric colors. It's as raw and real, and as unlikely, as the nation itself: On one side a suave, aloof African American, twinned with a loquacious Catholic whose manner evokes his blue-collar roots; on the other, a certified war hero paired with a young woman from Alaska who looks like the heroine of a country music song and earns her reputation both as a beauty-contest charmer and a political "barracuda."</strong> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6FN76OwDfRKQw_JJ2RIcN_peSP9H0yWMruWWprs6raEUxaz8xuuUe3IDVGm8Lw9BZr996T4hsoS21Bh50m7DzHRu9XOV9h0Vl2XDDce-Aty4qLweiGoFewcQDo8MX82r2bLM7Q/s1600-h/mccain+palin.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6FN76OwDfRKQw_JJ2RIcN_peSP9H0yWMruWWprs6raEUxaz8xuuUe3IDVGm8Lw9BZr996T4hsoS21Bh50m7DzHRu9XOV9h0Vl2XDDce-Aty4qLweiGoFewcQDo8MX82r2bLM7Q/s400/mccain+palin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243522850742663730" /></a>"Best of all, these four people are each, in different ways, American rebels. They have all made their way challenging conventional wisdom, telling off the know-it-alls, making a place for themselves and their ideas. They all retained their individuality in a political culture that tends to grind down candidates until they are palpable phonies. That didn't happen with these four -- whatever you think of them, they are who they claim to be. <br /><br /><strong>"Stand back a minute and consider what this often shrill and partisan campaign process has produced: The two parties converged toward the center, selecting in Barack Obama and John McCain presidential candidates who promised they would work across party lines to break the gridlock in Washington. The dividers lost.</strong> <br /><br />The victors were a change agent and a maverick. And each of them picked someone who shared his instinct to challenge the status quo. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihy8AVIjrXCFFBt5luu-Ch06ntehk0s7AogKkBIUdvA8iekpcdlEDgfV_KE28U2lyPlUVctlGqL9r7lHUnoJaGFEPgQUdkQnEL0AKl9TuGMRzr8W9rqYWN_IzbtOxks4F_ARw-Rw/s1600-h/obama+biden.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihy8AVIjrXCFFBt5luu-Ch06ntehk0s7AogKkBIUdvA8iekpcdlEDgfV_KE28U2lyPlUVctlGqL9r7lHUnoJaGFEPgQUdkQnEL0AKl9TuGMRzr8W9rqYWN_IzbtOxks4F_ARw-Rw/s400/obama+biden.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243522925861526962" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"It's a refreshingly upside-down composite picture: The African American candidate is the most conventional of the lot, with his Columbia-Harvard pedigree and his elegant Princeton-Harvard wife and their picture-perfect children. It's the gal from Alaska, Sarah Palin, who reminds us of how messy the real world is, with her special-needs child passed from hand to hand, her pregnant teenage daughter and the hockey-star boyfriend/father who looks, weirdly, like he just won the lottery. <br /><br />"And old John McCain, eyes flashing, tighter than a tick, just like old Gramps when he's about to take a verbal shot at someone he thinks is a jerk. And motor-mouth Joe Biden, who can't stop saying what he thinks, even if it's to applaud how well his rival, Palin, did in cutting up Obama during her acceptance speech. <br /><br />"I'm sorry, but this is an American family portrait I like."<br /><br />Here's the full piece, <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/05/AR2008090502972.html>A Tapestry In Two Tickets</a>.<br /><br /><h3>Next, Andrew J. Cherlin makes the observation that despite the candidates' attempts to convince Americans that their families were just like ours, they were undone by a 21st-century reality: There is no typical family anymore.</h3> <br />"In fact, the diversity of American households was the unspoken lesson of both conventions, as four strikingly different kinds of families came into view. First, the Obamas. The Democratic nominee's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, spoke to the Denver crowd, highlighting his biracial family background, dominated by an often single mother and a largely absent father. Obama's wife Michelle also took a powerful turn at the podium, focusing on her husband's biography but also playing up her own high-powered career and modest roots. The Bidens were introduced to a national audience that week as well, a stepfamily formed after the tragic death of the senator's first wife. With the McCains, we see another stepfamily, formed this time after the senator's divorce. Their family also includes Bridget, a daughter adopted from Bangladesh. And the Palins bring to the stage two working parents with five children, including a pregnant teenager and an infant with Down syndrome." <br /><br /><strong>"(N)ever has such an extraordinary range of family histories been center stage."</strong><br /><br />Here's the <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/05/AR2008090502652.html>Washington Post article</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-63155009511919047662008-09-04T11:30:00.000-07:002008-09-10T07:10:40.120-07:00Really, What DOES a Vice President Do Anyway?Vice-Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin in July:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b4gkPXSDtGQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b4gkPXSDtGQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />From government classes in high school, most of us remember that the only responsibilities assigned to the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States>Vice-President</a> by the <a href=http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html>U.S. Constitution</a> are:<br /><br />a) To assume the "powers and duties" of the presidency, should the president die or become disabled while in office; and<br /><br />b) To preside over the Senate, casting tie-breaker votes in the body when needed. <br /><br />Regarding a): thirteen vice presidents have gone on to become president, eight because of the death of a president. (The rest were elected to the office.)<br /><br />So what else does the No. 2 have to do?<br /><br />Here's some wisdom from someone who ought to know.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23jSYthTc4UnWElrRQyqSarSNRxfiS6bsyJFewgWtbOKShy0K2WLtuZHc1FqTS8Ht-KjREL3edkd5jcARN-_SE_gmI2ULkhItnyc1qy1Xs3jxZFsIHHAygVH3ihlPCeGqTuMgDA/s1600-h/mondale.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23jSYthTc4UnWElrRQyqSarSNRxfiS6bsyJFewgWtbOKShy0K2WLtuZHc1FqTS8Ht-KjREL3edkd5jcARN-_SE_gmI2ULkhItnyc1qy1Xs3jxZFsIHHAygVH3ihlPCeGqTuMgDA/s320/mondale.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242237474182091090" /></a>Former senator, former vice president, and, of course, the first presidential candidate to select a woman as his running mate, <strong>Walter Mondale </strong>was quoted in the New York Times on Wednesday: <br /><br />Whether Republicans or Democrats win in November, “there will be messes on the Hill. And that’s what I did a lot of as vice president,’’ he said. “I spent a lot of time cleaning up messes on the Hill.’’ <br /><br />The second is to act as an early-warning radar for brewing problems – which means having deep connections in the government, with people honest enough to say things they might not say to the president. Ms. Palin, he said, “seems like a lovely person’’ but is so detached from Washington that she is unlikely to serve in that role. <br /><br />The third, he said, is to “extend the president’s power abroad.’’ When he was vice president to Jimmy Carter, he noted, he spent a lot of time in the Middle East, and dealing with the Chinese. (Under President Clinton, he came back to government to serve as ambassador to Japan, and he played a significant behind-the-scenes role managing the first nuclear crisis with North Korea, in 1994.) <br /><br />Then there’s the unglamorous part of the job, he said. “Remember, the vice president is the only other officer of the government without a bureaucratic constituency. You have to be able to hear out all sides, and know how what you’re hearing is being affected’’ as members of the cabinet maneuver for more budget, or more authority. <a href=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/walter-mondale-on-sarah-palin/>Full article</a>.<br /><br />Clearly, one role all modern vice-presidential candidates must play is in campaigning. In Governor Palin's case, she is helping to motivate the right wing of her party. The fervent applause given after her speech to the Republican National Convention shows that she is well primed for this particular task. <br /><br />Here are some interesting bits about Vice-Presidents:<br /><br /><strong>Nine succeeded to the Presidency:</strong><br /><br /><strong>John Tyler</strong> became President when William Harrison died. Chose not to seek full term. <br /><strong>Millard Fillmore</strong> became President when Zachary Taylor died. Sought the Whig nomination in 1852, but lost to Winfield Scott. Four years later, ran and lost as the candidate of the American and Whig Parties. <br /><strong>Andrew Johnson</strong> became President when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Sought the Democratic nomination in 1868, but was unsuccessful. <br /><strong>Chester A. Arthur</strong> became President when James Garfield was assassinated. Sought a full term, but was not re-nominated. <br /><strong>Theodore Roosevelt</strong> became President when William McKinley was assassinated; then was elected to full term. Did not seek re-election. Four years after leaving office, ran again and lost. <br /><strong>Calvin Coolidge</strong> became President when Warren Harding died; then was elected to full term. Did not seek re-election. <br /><strong>Harry S. Truman</strong> became President when Franklin D. Roosevelt died; then was elected to full term. <br /><strong>Lyndon B. Johnson</strong> became President when John F. Kennedy was assassinated; then was elected to full term. Did not seek re-election. <br /><strong>Gerald Ford</strong> became President when Richard Nixon resigned; then lost election to full term. <br /><br /><strong>Four sitting Vice Presidents were elected President:</strong><br /><br /><strong>John Adams</strong> (1789–1797) was elected President in 1796. <br /><strong>Thomas Jefferson </strong>(1797–1801) was elected President in 1800. <br /><strong>Martin Van Buren</strong> (1833–1837) was elected President in 1836. <br /><strong>George H. W. Bush </strong>(1981–1989) was elected President in 1988. <br /><br /><strong>Previous positions: </strong><br />Every vice president as of 2008 except John Adams, Chester A. Arthur, Henry A. Wallace and Garret Hobart has served as a congressman, senator, or governor.<br /><br /><br />There's more Veep trivia in <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States>this article</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-39156006348994814652008-08-20T04:26:00.000-07:002008-08-20T08:11:47.811-07:00Remember Gorbachev? He Weighs in on GeorgiaToday the New York Times has an <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/opinion/20gorbachev.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=login>op-ed piece</a> on the crisis in South Ossetia, from none other than <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev>Mikhail Gorbachev</a>, last head of state of the USSR.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxOiydZ4JkSb9iYarLGvE7W8YDjBiI_5-thIVo6GleadevitkR6SpNJu8F4GFcnz1kVNKCuUxK1-nNLYlfmuraukw11unKu5iDmkRiQGrnj-EYs8x56BkvPVUrTeeME023NpGHg/s1600-h/gorbachev.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxOiydZ4JkSb9iYarLGvE7W8YDjBiI_5-thIVo6GleadevitkR6SpNJu8F4GFcnz1kVNKCuUxK1-nNLYlfmuraukw11unKu5iDmkRiQGrnj-EYs8x56BkvPVUrTeeME023NpGHg/s320/gorbachev.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236615343843408226" /></a>"Russia did not want this crisis. The Russian leadership is in a strong enough position domestically; it did not need a little victorious war. Russia was dragged into the fray by the recklessness of the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili. He would not have dared to attack without outside support. Once he did, Russia could not afford inaction."<br /><br />A controversial statement, to be sure, yet Gorbachev is <a href=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20080819_Gorbachev_s_still_in_line_for_Liberty_Medal.html> still scheduled to receive the 2008 Liberty Medal next month</a>. Said the president of the National Constitution Center: "Awarding the Liberty Medal should not be construed as an endorsement by the center of President Gorbachev's views on the Russia-Georgia conflict."<br /><br />The former Soviet leader continues:<br /><br />"It is still not quite clear whether the West was aware of Mr. Saakashvili’s plans to invade South Ossetia, and this is a serious matter. What is clear is that Western assistance in training Georgian troops and shipping large supplies of arms had been pushing the region toward war rather than peace.<br /><br />"If this military misadventure was a surprise for the Georgian leader’s foreign patrons, so much the worse. It looks like a classic wag-the-dog story. <br /><br />"Mr. Saakashvili had been lavished with praise for being a staunch American ally and a real democrat — and for helping out in Iraq. Now America’s friend has wrought disorder, and all of us — the Europeans and, most important, the region’s innocent civilians — must pick up the pieces.<br /><br />"Those who rush to judgment on what’s happening in the Caucasus, or those who seek influence there, should first have at least some idea of this region’s complexities. The Ossetians live both in Georgia and in Russia. The region is a patchwork of ethnic groups living in close proximity. Therefore, all talk of “this is our land,” “we are liberating our land,” is meaningless. We must think about the people who live on the land. <br /><br />"The problems of the Caucasus region cannot be solved by force. That has been tried more than once in the past two decades, and it has always boomeranged. <br /><br />"What is needed is a legally binding agreement not to use force. Mr. Saakashvili has repeatedly refused to sign such an agreement, for reasons that have now become abundantly clear. <br /><br />"The West would be wise to help achieve such an agreement now. If, instead, it chooses to blame Russia and re-arm Georgia, as American officials are suggesting, a new crisis will be inevitable. In that case, expect the worst."<br /><br />Read Gorbachev's full essay <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/opinion/20gorbachev.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin>here</a>. <br /><br />And this morning we have news of a <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7571660.stm>deal</a> to build a U-S missile defense base on Polish soil, which of course is angering Russia. It's hard to see the timing as anything other than deliberate.<br /><br />Among the voices denouncing Moscow's occupation is a Georgian who once had a prominent seat in the Kremlin. In the 1980s, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Shevardnadze>Eduard Shevardnadze</a> served as the foreign minister for the Soviet Union. His comments aired on NPR's Morning Edition today.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pj8OyNL3thLPGxU_iNbD8cznTgdugaHX3z6ruOXBPnzlKdKLwDfqNbssBHrA3LAKxXf9HzKtiIY6Y28bevJ6RrzuHWNbKxXYsChw5mIv5eCCVerYGCMD-fE_3AhulSKV0IP0RA/s1600-h/shevardnadze.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pj8OyNL3thLPGxU_iNbD8cznTgdugaHX3z6ruOXBPnzlKdKLwDfqNbssBHrA3LAKxXf9HzKtiIY6Y28bevJ6RrzuHWNbKxXYsChw5mIv5eCCVerYGCMD-fE_3AhulSKV0IP0RA/s320/shevardnadze.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236615471054133058" /></a>"For 200 years, we were a Russian colony," he said. "When one gets accustomed to controlling another country, it can be difficult to see that country become independent. Eventually, some people reappear who want to re-create the old order."<br /><br />Several years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Shevardnadze became president of an independent Georgia. But in 2003, he was overthrown by opposition protests led by Georgia's current president, Mikhail Saakashvili.<br /><br />Shevardnadze said Saakashvili was unwise to try to reclaim the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia by force earlier this month.<br /><br />But the 80-year-old former Soviet diplomat also had some advice for the current residents of the Kremlin, who have made no secret of their desire to see Saakashvili overthrown.<br /><br />The more Russia squeezes Saakashvili, Shevardnadze said, the more his authority will grow. That, he added, is the nature of Georgians.<br /><br />Here's the full story on <a href=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93784577>NPR</a>.) <br /><br />NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman points fingers all over the place:<br /><br />"If the conflict in Georgia were an Olympic event, the gold medal for brutish stupidity would go to the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin. The silver medal for bone-headed recklessness would go to Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, and the bronze medal for rank short-sightedness would go to the Clinton and Bush foreign policy teams."<br /><br />Read the column <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/opinion/20friedman.html?ref=opinion>here</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-38193257201172862662008-08-19T10:49:00.000-07:002008-09-10T07:13:01.640-07:00(The Other) Georgia on Our MindsNot knowing anyone from Georgia or of Georgian descent, I was surprised to learn that this country of 4.4 milliion in the Caucusus has a devout fan base in the US.<br /><br />Ilan Greenberg: "(I)t is hard to overstate the level of passion felt by Americans in thrall with Georgia. Love for Georgia is uncompromising and consuming. To be American and reside in Georgia is to be locked in an endless meta-conversation about being American and residing in Georgia: how Georgian culture enriches, how Georgian politics fascinate, how Georgian cuisine nourishes."<br /><br />I can only imagine what these Georgia boosters felt when they saw pictures like this.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGAx08vvPZnams6GMQCkToMqsjro9uKA8A-E6qhwPLTQTlIlFkUNpu6Kq5oMpIsVTJ8fph9et34yHy22hXVg59_x5mI6m8bUrC75lh97DT51NkdBNph8_w10-crmWeazqJuIK5g/s1600-h/georgia+tank.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGAx08vvPZnams6GMQCkToMqsjro9uKA8A-E6qhwPLTQTlIlFkUNpu6Kq5oMpIsVTJ8fph9et34yHy22hXVg59_x5mI6m8bUrC75lh97DT51NkdBNph8_w10-crmWeazqJuIK5g/s400/georgia+tank.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236289380767795234" /></a><br /><br />In spite of the media-heavy Olympics, images of Russian tanks in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia have made big news since forces on both sides engaged on the 7th of August. There have also been clashes in another breakaway region, Abkhazia. Russia also launched attacks on other parts of Georgia. (<a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2197155/>Russia Invades Georgia While the West Watches. How Did It Come to This?</a>)<br /><br />Barely a day after the conflict began, President Bush sat a few seats away from Vladimir Putin at the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing. But there was no outward sign of tension between the two leaders. Leaning over, Bush and the Russian prime minister engaged in the sort of chummy socializing we've seen between them since their first meeting in the summer of 2001. Back then, Bush <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1392791.stm>said</a> he had looked Vladimir Putin in the eye, gotten ``a sense of his soul'' and found the Russian leader to be ``very straightforward and trustworthy.'' That fall, Putin headed to Crawford, Texas, where the two world leaders again gave all appearances of being the <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1659048.stm>best of buddies</a>.<br /><br /><strong>"The more I get to know President Putin, the more I get to see his heart and soul ...the more I know we can work together in a positive way." </strong><em>- Bush, 2001</em><br /><br />But how his expression changed after a few days of continued fighting in South Ossetia.<br /><br /><a href=http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1547288320080815>"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century."</a> <em>- Bush, 2008</em><br /><br />Bush is well known for standing by his bosom buddies no matter what their transgressions (Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, for example.) Yet he was scolding his pal publicly. Is this another sign of America's abiding affection for the former Soviet republic that shares a name with the Peach State? (<a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2197437/>Why the same name?</a>)<br /><br />Here's more of Ilan Greenberg's piece in <a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2197597/pagenum/all/#page_start>Slate</a>.<br /><br />"Georgia is something like the Italy of the former Soviet Union, where mothers are considered saints and histrionic displays of emotion are roundly approved, where traffic police refuse to write tickets to pregnant women and grown men worship fresh produce. Television viewers getting their first taste of Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili (Misha to everyone in Georgia), this week are not wrong to detect a surprising emotionalism, volatility, and American-style openness from a leader of a country sandwiched between Turkey and Russia. It is not a stretch to say [President Mikhail] Saakashvili's qualities are emblematic of the nation as a whole.<br /><br />"I got to know Georgia—and Saakashvili—when I profiled him for the New York Times Magazine. For almost two months I shadowed Misha. In Slovakia for a regional summit, walking next to Saakashvili along Bratislava's cordoned streets, the Georgian head of state hooked his arm on my elbow and offered to trade gossip about his senior staff. In Tbilisi, Saakashvili gave me carte blanche access, not once ordering me out of his office. In a region where governments routinely conflate tribe with nation, Saakashvili pointedly switched languages to inclusively address ethnic minorities. One evening I answered my cell phone to hear the cackling voice of the then 37-year-old president, who called to tease that his evening was more interesting than mine. I had been crank-called by the president. Stockholm Syndrome was inevitable. <br /><br />"Georgia's charm doesn't end with Saakashvili. Few sights are as beguiling as barrel-chested Georgian men greeting each other on the street with the traditional cheek kisses. Georgian toasting is a triumph of rhetorical theatrics. Then there is Georgian hospitality. The mother of a friend I had visited shined my shoes while nobody was looking. Before arriving in Tbilisi, I called a Georgian friend to ask if I could stay in her three-room apartment "for maybe 10 days." I stayed three months. <br /><br />"My friend's boyfriend was an important presidential adviser with a late-night pizza addiction. Receiving delivery was an ordeal: The delivery man, schooled in the pre-Rose Revolution tradition of refusing payment from high government officials, would knock on the door, drop the pies, and try to make a run for it. The adviser, dedicated to ending a culture of corruption, usually was able to head him off, money clutched in his fist.<br /><br />"So there are many reasons to like Georgia. But for the Americans trafficking in Georgia-thrall, enthusiasm for the country of 4.8 million can be extreme. In Tbilisi, the picturesque Georgian capital that is now a precarious 40 miles from the Russian occupation zone, I met American expats—veterans of any number of other-country postings—who quit their jobs rather than accept a new country. Of course, at the government level, assiduous courting of Americans is all part of the plan. Saakashvili has been reaching out to American politicians, especially Republican ones, since he took office. When I spent time with the president, he was obsessive about influencing American opinion-makers in the press, and his chief of staff complained to me he was spending more time dictating responses to articles in American newspapers than governing Georgia. <br /><br />"For Westerners, Georgian cultural idiosyncrasies can be intoxicating. But for Russians, Georgia is also innerving. The two peoples are badly handcuffed. Russian women falling for Georgian men is a stereotype in both countries, and ethnic Georgians populate the upper reaches of Russian pop culture as celebrated singers and actors. Long before the Russian army rolled into Gori, Russian tourists streamed into the country to enjoy its warm Black Sea coast and to hike its soaring green mountains.<br /><br />The signature traits of Georgian identity—a romantic, somewhat lugubrious sense of national fate; male machismo; the Orthodox Church; even good toast-making—are claimed by Russians. The two countries rarely resist tormenting each other, and if this week has underscored the lack of equality between the two in hard power, there is an equanimity in national psyche. Both peoples find the cultural aspirations of the other to be intolerable.<br /><br />American fans of Georgia, a good number of them anyway, have located a far-away dreamscape, a colorful Caucasian people kissing each other on the cheeks and speaking a strange, unique language in a fairy-tale land, where poor men will sell the shirts off their backs to buy a woman dinner. Ironically, a lot of Russians look south and see something similar. Too much love is never a good thing."<br /><br />Here are more articles analyzing the situation in Georgia:<br /><br />New York Times: <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/washington/18diplo.html?scp=1&sq=rice%20georgia%20bush%20putin&st=cse>U.S. Watched as a Squabble Turned Into a Showdown</a> <br /><br />Slate: <a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2177829/>After The Counterrevolution: Georgia is yet another country where Washington declared "mission accomplished" too soon.</a>Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-77188197038773154652008-07-08T12:03:00.000-07:002008-07-10T07:22:14.537-07:00Stretch Your Gas Dollar with “Hypermiling”<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJi4iDdp0iDt0JZXEctSU4GE5nkp0TR6ZdoiQKGn1om9HXrBX2qhfjbnThBzdZ9lqvaIoKkqv5jFp-_ytQzbpnbr4Jn0HACEJEujfHm2zZNAScLZq_5qLllMkq7ZSvRjuFNKGKyw/s1600-h/fuelgauge.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJi4iDdp0iDt0JZXEctSU4GE5nkp0TR6ZdoiQKGn1om9HXrBX2qhfjbnThBzdZ9lqvaIoKkqv5jFp-_ytQzbpnbr4Jn0HACEJEujfHm2zZNAScLZq_5qLllMkq7ZSvRjuFNKGKyw/s400/fuelgauge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220745825638190594" /></a>You know how those EPA fuel economy estimates usually oversell? Well, some people manage to exceed those values, just by modifying their driving habits.<br /><br />The practice is called <a href=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91259501>hypermiling</a>.<br /><br />“The terms "hypermiler" and "hypermiling" originated in the online communities of <a href=http://www.cleanmpg.com/>Clean MPG</a>, which is devoted to raising fuel economy and lowering emissions,” writes Nate Chapnick in <a href=http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/120880/article.html>edmunds.com</a>.<br /><br />“The actual practice of hypermiling likely dates back to World War II gas rationing; in fact, during the fuel crisis of the 1970s, Reader's Digest published a guide for consumers that included many techniques now commonly used in hypermiling. Today, however, hypermilers are not only more serious about their craft; they also rely heavily on new technology to achieve such astounding fuel economy.”<br /><br />How astounding?<br /><br />Try 52 miles per gallon with a Toyota Corolla.<br /><br />Try 75.6 miles per gallon with a 2001 Honda Insight. (<a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301403.html>Source</a>)<br /><br />Bear in mind the typical mileage you get from these cars: according to the US Department of Energy, the 2008 Corolla’s fuel economy is 29 mpg, city and highway combined, and the 2001 Insight is rated 48 mpg in the city, 60 on the highway. (Source: <a href=http://www.fueleconomy.gov/>www.fueleconomy.gov</a>).<br /><br />So how do we squeeze that sort of mileage out of a gallon of gas?<br /><br />Whether we choose to follow them or not, most of use know the basic hypermiling techniques.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0_tjey0vScGb_kRGllWXAUr2850iryvspJippSmIqfWZkzWvgAwp1O87v6zW4C2TrWFlm8W5vCbgsZnXiPylENLNCu0BGZnsvT943DlBHFo3xR-aM2DU1gGnRggY2XfV5fZSng/s1600-h/steeringwheel.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0_tjey0vScGb_kRGllWXAUr2850iryvspJippSmIqfWZkzWvgAwp1O87v6zW4C2TrWFlm8W5vCbgsZnXiPylENLNCu0BGZnsvT943DlBHFo3xR-aM2DU1gGnRggY2XfV5fZSng/s400/steeringwheel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220750501087250034" /></a><strong>DON’T SPEED.</strong> <br />Maintaining an efficient speed is an important factor in fuel efficiency. The optimum speed varies with the type of vehicle, although it is usually reported to be in the range of 35 to 55 mph. For instance a 2004 Chevrolet Impala had an optimum at 42 mph, and was within 15% of that from 29 to 57 mph. (<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiler#cite_ref-impala_7-0>Source</a>)We know that the faster we drive, the lower the fuel efficiency – yet how often do you drive at the speed limit, only to be passed by vehicle after vehicle roaring by at 75 mph, drivers flashing you surly looks? (They ought to look surly – think about how much extra gas they’re burning!)<br /><br />The national speed limit could drop back down to 55 mph, though. Senator John Warner (R-Virginia) asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit. (<a href=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/03/warner.speed.limit.ap/>more</a>)<br /><br /><strong>DON'T IDLE.</strong> <br />Here's a rule of thumb: If you're in a drive-through restaurant/business line or waiting for someone and you'll be parked and sitting for 10 seconds or longer... turn off your car's engine. Why?? For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses about the same amount of fuel it takes to go about one mile. Today's cars use electronic fuel injectors, which rigorously control the amount of gas delivered to the engine when you hit the ignition. As a result, virtually no fuel is wasted during startup, and only a thimbleful is burned as the car roars to life. <br /><br />Research indicates that the average person idles their car five to 10 minutes a day. People usually idle their cars more in the winter than in the summer. But even in winter, you don't need to let your car sit and idle for five minutes to "warm it up" when 30 seconds will do just fine. (<a href=http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/idling.html>More</a>)<br /><br /><strong>OTHER TECHNIQUES </strong><br /><br />Accelerate slowly over the longest possible distance. The slower you accelerate, the more you extend it over time and the less gas you use. <br /><br />Go easy on the brakes - you used gas to move, but when you brake you're turning that motion (and the money spent on the gas) - into heat. Therefore, the more you move without braking, the less energy wasted.<br /><br />MORE TIPS from the edmunds.com article on hypermiling. <strong>Note that some of the techniques could <a href=http://www.wsls.com/sls/business/consumer/article/aaa_warns_of_hypermiling_dangers/13498/>compromise safety</a>.</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnsRXr0e_4RMERpKP-fGjpa83rmTMmvtAGnPyqrzNR4DY_xkmYZOQPcEm5pWmlemzEVaZekl3bZuu8YIiIAUPlDwaed7MbELMlq-9_YBeraScj3nvnbj13r7Ke_CCknuEHu3hUw/s1600-h/tires.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnsRXr0e_4RMERpKP-fGjpa83rmTMmvtAGnPyqrzNR4DY_xkmYZOQPcEm5pWmlemzEVaZekl3bZuu8YIiIAUPlDwaed7MbELMlq-9_YBeraScj3nvnbj13r7Ke_CCknuEHu3hUw/s400/tires.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220751008060050002" /></a><strong>Overinflate tires</strong><br />Larry Singleton, a systems analyst in Phoenix and the owner of a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid, overinflates his tires by about 15-20 pounds. "I consider it safe because most of my driving is around town and under 50 miles per hour," said Singleton. According to Singleton, putting less rubber on the road gives him an edge in beating the EPA's rating by decreasing rolling resistance. <strong>However, such a practice could lead to uneven tire wear or worse, a loss of vehicle control.</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC3Eu7IMf_1vROzqyehXPeg4nOaU4ScYBvkrJvUDNgo4I8k0ldxr4ChjTVpTeiU30dEti9O4YlfFkqcX7_kS9vWHNRYW9CmOYwUPHr_NV3FhT5VaSlzLUUhqaLab0G4Hb19PDdA/s1600-h/mpg+display.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC3Eu7IMf_1vROzqyehXPeg4nOaU4ScYBvkrJvUDNgo4I8k0ldxr4ChjTVpTeiU30dEti9O4YlfFkqcX7_kS9vWHNRYW9CmOYwUPHr_NV3FhT5VaSlzLUUhqaLab0G4Hb19PDdA/s320/mpg+display.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220752509542042354" /></a><strong>Watch the real-time mileage display</strong><br />Some vehicles are equipped with readouts that compute your real-time fuel use on a miles-per-gallon basis. Singleton watches the onboard display and adjusts his throttle inputs based on the readout to maximize his fuel economy.<br /><br /><strong>Pay attention to wind conditions</strong><br />James Cullen, a retired locomotive engineer and Toyota Prius owner, has found that his fuel mileage is significantly impacted by favorable wind conditions. "On long highway rides, having a tailwind has made a big difference in my fuel economy." If you know it's a windy day and you don't have to take that trip, then don't," said Cullen.<br /><br /><strong>Place cardboard over the radiator </strong><br />Chuck Thomas said that a cold engine reduces fuel-efficiency. How can you warm up the engine faster? Office Depot's silver-colored cardboard. Yes, that's right, cardboard. Thomas covers his radiator with cardboard to block the wind, thus retaining heat and keeping the engine running at a warmer temperature. Cautioning about the risk of overheating, Thomas said, "I'll take off the piece of cardboard if I know that I'll be driving a long distance, say 100 miles, but it's fine for my daily commute."<br /><br />Of course, a cold engine's thermostat already remains closed until the engine is warm, so the cardboard isn't necessarily really helping it warm up faster but it will make the car's engine run at a higher operating temperature. In cold climates this might promote better fuel economy.<br /><br /><strong>Minimize stoplights and stop signs on your route</strong><br />Before leaving for an unfamiliar location, James Cullen maps out his route to ensure that his pathway has the fewest stops. "Every time you stop and start, you waste fuel. So it's easy to go on the Internet and map out a route with fewer stoplights and stop signs," said Cullen. If you can't avoid the stoplights, determine the optimal speed for the timing of the stoplights. "Taking this small step has a marked effect on your fuel economy," said Thomas.<br /><br /><strong>Ride the ridge</strong><br />Riding along the painted white line used to be reserved for road bikers looking for a surface with less friction. Friction decreases your fuel economy by adding drag to the vehicle. However, hypermilers now use this white line to increase their fuel economy, a tactic that's especially useful in the rain when puddles form in the grooves of the road, which significantly increases rolling resistance.<br /><br /><strong>Run without the A/C and keep windows closed</strong><br />This tip could have you sweating bullets, but just think about all the water weight you'll lose. Alison McKellar of DeLand, Florida, recently purchased a new Prius. McKellar quickly became interested in conserving fuel and said she "found the strategy on a site for Prius owners. I realize substantial fuel economy gains by not running the A/C, so before I head out for a trip, I make sure to bring plenty of ice water to stay hydrated," said McKellar.<br /><br /><strong>Baby the brakes while being "surroundings aware"</strong><br />With this technique, hypermilers treat stop signs as though they are yield signs — and slowly glide through. Cullen, a Prius owner, said, "If I see no one is there [at the stop sign], then I just roll through it, which keeps the car in electric mode." This technique is especially important for non-hybrid hypermilers, whose vehicles do not feature regenerative braking, a technology that recharges the hybrid's battery, which runs the electric motor.<br /><br />Driving as if you don't have brakes requires constant anticipation and planning, dubbed "surroundings aware," which hypermiler advocates say promotes defensive driving. But the technique may sometimes require hypermilers to tailgate or take corners at speeds that aren't truly safe, all in the hopes of never touching their brake pedals.<br /><br /><strong>Keep up with maintenance</strong><br />Even non-hypermilers will find this tactic easy to follow. Keeping your vehicle properly maintained by changing the air filter and oil according to the manufacturer's scheduled tune-ups will have a positive effect on your fuel economy. Hypermilers also recommend regular balancing and aligning of your tires.<br /><br /><strong>Get rid of what you don't need</strong><br />Hypermilers always travel with the bare essentials. Chuck Thomas said that he never "leaves junk that I don't need in the trunk." He also recommends removing the roof rack when not in use, as it creates unnecessary drag on your vehicle. "The more drag on your vehicle and the heavier it is, the worse mileage you'll get," according to Thomas.<br /><br /><strong>"Potential parking" and "face-out"</strong><br />According to Wayne Gerdes, winner of the 2006 Hybridfest MPG Challenge, "Park at the highest spot in the parking lot and face out." This technique allows you to exit by rolling forward in neutral without turning on the engine, thereby saving gas. The technique does away with the backing up and braking required by nose-in parking, while also reducing the time the engine runs. This strategy is easiest to use where there's at least one corner of the lot without other parked cars.<br /><br /><strong>"Pulse and glide"</strong><br />This is perhaps the most complicated technique employed by hypermilers. On a Prius, the optimal speed for this tactic is around 30-40 mph, said Prius owner Cullen. The first step in the pulse-and-glide technique is to pulse, which is to accelerate the vehicle to around 30 or 40 mph. In the Prius, once the speed has reached 40 mph, ease slightly back on the accelerator until no energy arrows appear on the energy monitor, indicating that the vehicle is neither relying on the engine nor recharging the battery. As a result, the car begins to glide. When the vehicle slows to about 30 mph, repeat the whole process again, pulsing and then gliding.<br /><br />The pulse-and-glide technique improves fuel economy by minimizing use of the internal combustion engine. There is a version of this technique that can also be applied to non-hybrid vehicles, but be aware that <strong>it is outlawed in several states </strong>because it would require actually turning the engine off, which causes the power-assist for the brakes and steering to fail. If the key is in the off position, the steering will also lock.<br /><br /><strong>Coaxing an "auto-stop"</strong><br />Similar to the pulse and glide, auto-stop simply involves placing the vehicle's transmission into neutral, turning off the engine and coasting to a stop. This seems innocent enough, but any time a car is moving without the engine running, vehicle control is compromised. <strong>Some devoted — and dangerous — hypermilers do this while driving down a hill at rather high speeds, refusing to brake even around corners. Some people might even call this technique irresponsible.</strong><br /><br /><strong>Draft at your own risk</strong><br />A "draft-assisted" auto-stop involves tailgating a semitruck. By taking advantage of the draft generated in the truck's wake, wind resistance is markedly reduced for the hypermiler's car. "This is particularly dangerous," said Thomas, "as you must travel dangerously close to the 18-wheelers for the technique's full effect."<br /><br />Read the whole article at <a href=http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/120880/article.html>edmunds.com</a>.<br /><br />Regarding drafting: Discovery Channel's Mythbusters, in their June 6, 2007, episode, took a series of measurements where they drove a Dodge Magnum Station Wagon at 55 mph right behind a Freightliner tractor trailer. As they got closer their results ranged from a baseline (no truck) figure of 32 mpg, to 35.5 mpg (11 percent improvement) at 100 feet, and then progressively up to 44.5 mpg (a 39 percent increase) at ten feet, as a result of decreased drag consequent of drafting. They strongly emphasized that drafting a big rig at such close distances is life-threatening and extremely dangerous. They recommended a minimum safe driving distance from a big rig is 150 ft. (<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiler>source</a>)<br /> <br />For hypermilers, the task of improving their fuel economy is an entertaining game, albeit a serious one. Every drive for this elite group of fuel-sippers is an opportunity to break their own mileage record. They may never stop — literally — in their quest for ultimate fuel-efficiency.<br /><br /><br />VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV<br /><br />More hypermiling and fuel-saving articles:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREB4eAdpz7phTSvXFDfg1S2N0JIEuefL5Tda4cn7uamJM-P6qJ0Xi_4HWG15LJlZi5u3du5V93A3qsPfmgBdXB6kOcLJajHObngNvsEe3RElvTZ-6PEqmVG7qkuNGtZSOVFspeg/s1600-h/waynegerdes.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgREB4eAdpz7phTSvXFDfg1S2N0JIEuefL5Tda4cn7uamJM-P6qJ0Xi_4HWG15LJlZi5u3du5V93A3qsPfmgBdXB6kOcLJajHObngNvsEe3RElvTZ-6PEqmVG7qkuNGtZSOVFspeg/s400/waynegerdes.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220750064416674530" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />First, meet the Grandaddy of Hypermiling, Wayne Gerdes: <br /><a href=http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/king_of_the_hypermilers.html>This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk.</a> (Mother Jones) Here's another article on Gerdes from <a href=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/03/btsc.hypermiling/>CNN</a>.<br /><br /><a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301403.html>How to Increase Your Gas Mileage</a> (Washington Post)<br /><br /><a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2192187/>Is an Idle Car the Devil's Workshop?</a> (Slate)<br /><br /><a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2194536/>Does it Really Save Gas to Roll Down Your Windows Instead of Flipping on the AC?</a> (Slate)<br /><br /><a href=http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/local_state/index.html?nvid=261252&emb&shu=1>Dallas hypermiler Chuck Thomas demonstrates his techniques</a> (Video, Dallas Morning News)<br /><br /><a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiler>Fuel economy-maximizing behaviors</a> (Wikipedia)<br /><br /><strong>Note that the Automobile Association of America says hypermiling is dangerous when taken to the extreme.</strong><a href=http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/aaa_warns_drivers_about_hypermiling/11170/>(Article)</a><br /><br />Read the rebuttal from hypermilers at <a href=http://www.cleanmpg.com/cmps_index.php?page=AAA>Cleanmpg.com</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-15409739589150185442008-05-30T10:26:00.000-07:002008-05-30T11:26:26.456-07:00Guard that Grease! (And Bird Droppings!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwLycJgkSk9ZYaXku1xSMAJhxf_X0wzTR7siBR40uuxS1C5TcjS75nN4MEKBjl_Nrs5a9o1bAjwAOwnVZXSGajqkzvQ0k_C4iuz2ieMp_xNKkWEWwiql6DVS-5WgcHG01hQWxcg/s1600-h/damiandis.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwLycJgkSk9ZYaXku1xSMAJhxf_X0wzTR7siBR40uuxS1C5TcjS75nN4MEKBjl_Nrs5a9o1bAjwAOwnVZXSGajqkzvQ0k_C4iuz2ieMp_xNKkWEWwiql6DVS-5WgcHG01hQWxcg/s400/damiandis.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206235968944254706" /></a><br />Ever deep-fried a turkey, or had a tempura party?<br /><br />Great fun, good food. But what to do with that rancid used oil? We're not supposed to pour it down the drain, and it would kill your compost pile.<br /><br />Thanks to high fuel prices, you might just leave a container of it by the garbage and hope someone steals it. <br /><br />The New York Times <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/us/30grease.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=grease&st=nyt&oref=slogin>reports</a>: <br /><br />"Outside Seattle, cooking oil rustling has become such a problem that the owners of the Olympia Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Arlington, Wash., are considering using a surveillance camera to keep watch on its 50-gallon grease barrel. Nick Damianidis, an owner (pictured above), said the barrel had been hit seven or eight times since last summer by siphoners who strike in the night.<br /><br /><strong>“Fryer grease has become gold,” Mr. Damianidis said. “And just over a year ago, I had to pay someone to take it away.”</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO5bgmlfVxD2XeWuOEzXtTEJ1nRJtD6Y2-0J5gN9XlM9IcfsnSiClmBtXPsg019pZwnuJw9VqcAMTKHi3Te3_Dp_-gbHO8jpVcuMEqqKRCwohX1J83-xAusd3WvmDlFaTsw0leA/s1600-h/oil.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO5bgmlfVxD2XeWuOEzXtTEJ1nRJtD6Y2-0J5gN9XlM9IcfsnSiClmBtXPsg019pZwnuJw9VqcAMTKHi3Te3_Dp_-gbHO8jpVcuMEqqKRCwohX1J83-xAusd3WvmDlFaTsw0leA/s320/oil.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206236475750395650" /></a>"Much to the surprise of Mr. Damianidis and many other people, processed fryer oil, which is called <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_grease>yellow grease</a>, is actually not trash. The grease is traded on the booming commodities market. Its value has increased in recent months to historic highs, driven by the even higher prices of gas and ethanol, making it an ever more popular form of biodiesel to fuel cars and trucks.<br /><br /><strong>"In 2000, yellow grease was trading for 7.6 cents per pound. On Thursday, its price was about 33 cents a pound, or almost $2.50 a gallon." </strong>"<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaB7AdlKc5kAaNsqp9ga3cV0MPsp71SXU-CIKATwD5m7-Iwo5frb9BlFg7MWcG1W0K_1UodGMjQRohwxw86fgg_7XfJzowAh9s3Iv2fBG2MsydeqlWiVzpyvYB6CcPZOYz8ZEswg/s1600-h/wasteoil.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaB7AdlKc5kAaNsqp9ga3cV0MPsp71SXU-CIKATwD5m7-Iwo5frb9BlFg7MWcG1W0K_1UodGMjQRohwxw86fgg_7XfJzowAh9s3Iv2fBG2MsydeqlWiVzpyvYB6CcPZOYz8ZEswg/s320/wasteoil.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206238150787641106" /></a>Well, this is one aspect of the restaurant industry that doesn't get much attention! Grease thieves aside, though, there are several outfits that are well aware of this goldmine. <br /><br />There are specially-outfitted <a href=http://www.keevac.com/grease-collection-trucks.htm>grease collection trucks</a> available for the purpose.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ_lPtST8r7KyzuYqXEM21sds9cjRi_hq6pD33nxoB9aLB4o9izFj8LrqTgMQTdLNDh28KnVEpUn-59UwEQVCU4uOMVy615oeUy4G1uPU0TIzq3E0jhWqBGuyA8dRMfM3N3NTxw/s1600-h/biodiesel_cartoon.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQ_lPtST8r7KyzuYqXEM21sds9cjRi_hq6pD33nxoB9aLB4o9izFj8LrqTgMQTdLNDh28KnVEpUn-59UwEQVCU4uOMVy615oeUy4G1uPU0TIzq3E0jhWqBGuyA8dRMfM3N3NTxw/s400/biodiesel_cartoon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206233417733680866" /></a> (Cartoon from <a href=http://johnoh.multiply.com/journal/item/138/BIODIESEL_AND_GOVERNMENT_HELP>Mumblings from a Padded Room</a>)<br /><br />NWPR's Traffic Manager <a href=http://www.nwpr.org/07/About/AboutSoandSo.aspx?Name=Laura%20Hartner>Laura Hartner</a> was once a grease collector. With dreams of making her own biodiesel, she went from fryer to fryer, asking for their used grease, which they were only too happy to give to her. After all, it meant they did not have to pay for the oily (and sometimes stinky) stuff to be removed from their premises! Unfortunately, Laura wasn't able to realize her wishes, so I put her in touch with a friend of mine, who converts the grease into biodiesel in his backyard. He runs a couple of very nice European diesel cars on the stuff!<br /><br />I wonder if the price of commercial diesel is going to put a crimp in the fuel line of home biodiesel manufacturers.<br /><br />The price of oil is also affecting the price of fertilizers made from the black stuff. And that's reviving an industry in Peru, for <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano>guano</a>. Bird (or bat) droppings. <br /><br />Also in the New York Times:<br /><br />"Guano in Peru sells for about $250 a ton while fetching $500 a ton when exported to France, Israel and the United States. While guano is less efficient than urea at releasing nitrates into the soil, its status as an organic fertilizer has increased demand, transforming it into a niche fertilizer sought around the world."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavXhRouduPDK_MFROuVo0QtCihpELQEKSWBgTiWXNQMwOWJfVEiKzSImA0njAa9oDAV9H4dn6ud4sz1Rszz9N8_GDrhYOblAPkDzPWhKS9FEyIk6BUyd0H55Ea9eCunfGEmW7KQ/s1600-h/guanay.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavXhRouduPDK_MFROuVo0QtCihpELQEKSWBgTiWXNQMwOWJfVEiKzSImA0njAa9oDAV9H4dn6ud4sz1Rszz9N8_GDrhYOblAPkDzPWhKS9FEyIk6BUyd0H55Ea9eCunfGEmW7KQ/s400/guanay.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206231515063168722" /></a>The guano comes from birds such as these guanay cormorants, found on Isla Asia, one of Peru's guano islands (picture from <a href=http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/blog/2007/10/peru-pelagic-part-2.html>Bill of the Birds</a>)<br /><br />According to one guano collector: <br /><br />"There might be 10 years of supplies left, or perhaps 20, and then it will be completely exhausted,” he said, referring to fears that the seabird population could be poised to fall sharply in the years ahead. It is a minor miracle that any guano at all is available here today, reflecting a century-old effort hailed by biologists as a rare example of sustainable exploitation of a resource once so coveted that the United States authorized its citizens to take possession of islands or keys where guano was found.<br /><br />As a debate rages over whether global oil output has peaked, a parable may exist in the story of guano, with its seafaring treachery, the development of synthetic alternatives in Europe and a desperate effort here to prevent the deposits from being depleted.<br /><br />“Before there was oil, there was guano, so of course we fought wars over it,” said Pablo Arriola, director of Proabonos, the state company that controls guano production, referring to conflicts like the Chincha Islands War, in which Peru prevented Spain from reasserting control over the guano islands. “Guano is a highly desirous enterprise.”<br /><br />Little wonder then, that the Peruvian government restricts guano collection, and station armed guards at each of the islands to ward off threats to birds, which produce 12,000 to 15,000 tons of guano a year.<br /><br />Read the whole article: <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/world/americas/30peru.html?pagewanted=2&sq=guano&st=nyt&scp=1>Peru Guards Its Guano as Demand Soars Again</a>. You can get a close-up look at Peru's guano islands at this blog entry on <a href=http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/blog/2007/10/peru-pelagic-part-2.html>Bill of the Birds.</a><br /><br />And here's the grease story: <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/us/30grease.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=grease&st=nyt&oref=slogin>As Oil Prices Soar, Restaurant Grease Thefts Rise</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-11782022086398672922008-05-19T19:08:00.000-07:002008-05-19T19:16:16.664-07:00Preventing food waste at all-you-can-eat buffetsHere's what many restaurants in Singapore do at their smorgasbords: diners are charged one flat price to indulge as much as they wish, but at the end of the meal, any <strong>uneaten food is weighed, and the diners charged accordingly.</strong><br /><br />From what I hear, one pays a few dollars for every 100 grams (about a quarter pound) of food left uneaten on their plate.<br /><br />Could that strategy work in the United States?Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-50765543268476369822008-05-19T11:56:00.000-07:002008-05-19T19:06:42.332-07:00The Environmental Impact of Food WasteA lot of attention's been given to world food shortages and their soaring prices, but what about the question of food waste?<br /><br />First, how much food do Americans throw out? Bear in mind, much of this is perfectly edible food.<br /><br />From the New York Times:<br /><br />"In 1997, in one of the few studies of food waste, the Department of Agriculture estimated that two years before, <strong>96.4 billion pounds of the 356 billion pounds of edible food in the United States was never eaten.</strong> <em>(That's 27 percent! - GC)</em> Fresh produce, milk, grain products and sweeteners made up two-thirds of the waste. An update is under way. <br /><br />"The study didn’t account for the explosion of ready-to-eat foods now available at supermarkets, from rotisserie chickens to sandwiches and soups. What do you think happens to that potato salad and meatloaf at the end of the day?<br /><br />(For cafeterias, restaurants and supermarkets, it [is] just as easy to toss food that wasn’t sold into trash bins than to worry about somebody getting sick from it. And then filing a lawsuit.)<br /><br />"A more recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year, which is about 12 percent of the total waste stream. All but about 2 percent of that food waste ends up in landfills; by comparison, 62 percent of yard waste is composted. <br /><br />"The numbers seem all the more staggering now, given the cost of groceries and the emerging food crisis abroad." (Full article: <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18martin.html?oref=login>One Country's Table Scraps, Another Country's Meal</a>.)<br /><br />And that's just the United States. Together with the food wasted in other developed countries, it's mind-boggling.<br /><br />In the UK, the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) found that a third of all the apples sold there were tossed. "Besides apples, households are also dumping 5.1 million potatoes a day, 2.8 million tomatoes, 1.6 million bananas, and 1.2 million oranges. These were not scraps or peelings but whole items in good condition. <br /><br />WRAP revealed before Christmas that about 6.7 million tonnes of food a year is dumped in bins. This represents a third of all food bought for consumption at home and is worth a total of £8 billion, or an average £400 (USD 780)for every household. (<a href=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3701660.ece>Source</a>)<br /><br />Back to the NY Times article:<br /><br /><strong>And consider this: the rotting food that ends up in landfills produces methane, a major source of greenhouse gases.</strong><br /><br />"The federal government tried once before, during the Clinton administration, to get the nation fired up about food waste, but the effort was discontinued by the Bush administration. The secretary of agriculture at the time, Dan Glickman, created a program to encourage food recovery and gleaning, which means collecting leftover crops from farm fields.<br /><br />"He assigned a member of his staff, Mr. Berg, to oversee the program, and Mr. Berg spent the next several years encouraging farmers, schools, hospitals and companies to donate extra crops and food to feeding charities. A Good Samaritan law was passed by Congress that protected food donors from liability for donating food and groceries, spurring more donations.<br /><br />“We made a dent,” said Mr. Berg, now at the New York City hunger group. “We reduced waste and increased the amount of people being fed. It wasn’t a panacea, but it helped.”<br /><br />With the current food crisis, it seems possible that the issue of food waste might have more traction this time around."<br /><br />Jonathan Bloom, who writes the blog <a href=http://wastedfood.com/>Wasted Food</a>, said he was encouraged by the increasing Web chatter about saving money on food, something that used to be confined to the “frugal mommy blogs.” <br /><br />“The fundamental thing that I’m fighting against is, ‘why should I care? I paid for it,’ ” Mr. Bloom said. “The rising prices are really an answer to that.”<br /><br />Sounds like a very good time to resuscitate that food recovery program, doesn't it?<br /><br />"Of course, eliminating food waste won’t solve the problems of world hunger and greenhouse-gas pollution. But it could make a dent in this country and wouldn’t require a huge amount of effort or money. The Department of Agriculture estimated that <strong>recovering just 5 percent of the food that is wasted could feed four million people a day; recovering 25 percent would feed 20 million people.</strong>"<br /><br />Here again is that report, <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18martin.html?oref=login>One Country's Table Scraps, Another Country's Meal</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-12845003665472220572008-05-15T03:57:00.000-07:002008-05-15T08:12:29.639-07:00The Blame Game of Rising Food Prices<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NxZTt8SLjnYDixu1SrRU5NsKufWDlNmYOmzSQ_o3sowXLSuhXQWYpPR9JnOXjHyplkXGLvI2gWfETB0-GS5DRN4bGyaDyL_Y4McRszZrzYGPe7Zt2xoDDSgxPYMEP0YDrLq-2Q/s1600-h/shopping+cart.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NxZTt8SLjnYDixu1SrRU5NsKufWDlNmYOmzSQ_o3sowXLSuhXQWYpPR9JnOXjHyplkXGLvI2gWfETB0-GS5DRN4bGyaDyL_Y4McRszZrzYGPe7Zt2xoDDSgxPYMEP0YDrLq-2Q/s400/shopping+cart.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200620509816909522" /></a><strong>“When you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.”</strong> – <em>George W. Bush, on India’s burgeoning middle class </em>(May 2, 2008)<br /><br /><strong>If Americans slimmed down to the weight of middle-class Indians, “many hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa would find food on their plates.” </strong>- <em>Pradeep S. Mehta, secretary general of the center for international trade, economics and the environment of CUTS International.</em><br /><br />Mr. Mehta also said, tongue firmly in cheek, the money spent in the United States on liposuction to get rid of fat from excess consumption could be funneled to feed famine victims. <br /><br />Indians from the prime minister’s office on down frequently point out that per capita, India uses far lower quantities of commodities and pollutes far less than nations in the West, particularly the United States.<br /><br />There may be some foundation to Indians’ accusations of hypocrisy by the West. The United States uses — or throws away — 3,770 calories a person each day, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization collected in 2001-3, compared with 2,440 calories per person in India. Americans are also the largest per capita consumers in any major economy of the most energy-intensive common food source, beef, the Agriculture Department says. <br /><br />So who’s more to blame for rising prices, the US or India? The argument is in today’s New York Times: <a href= http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/business/worldbusiness/14food.html?em&ex=1210996800&en=3b3467c609f22a06&ei=5087%0A>Indians Find U.S. at Fault in Food Cost</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-39453669434779242892008-05-13T12:48:00.000-07:002008-05-16T07:12:30.113-07:00Earthquakes, Cyclones, Superstition….and Political ChangeToday, NPR’s Morning Edition had a very interesting conversation with reporter <a href=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4569077>Frank Langfitt</a>, who spent more than five years in China as a correspondent for the Baltimore Sun. <br /><br />The subject: <a href=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90394707>the politics of natural disaster in China</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeY1lM3e_pG_DMIg3Cb4HJ4bAo2F88ts0exFryi_YODppn1kLv3yLVBBoX9Znv32IwYDlZtuxkM6TkC8ZYF2TIp0jcZaN9jG37TzhqN1g74CwWBS2SduHumQBtO49w614b9ad3kA/s1600-h/langfitt.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeY1lM3e_pG_DMIg3Cb4HJ4bAo2F88ts0exFryi_YODppn1kLv3yLVBBoX9Znv32IwYDlZtuxkM6TkC8ZYF2TIp0jcZaN9jG37TzhqN1g74CwWBS2SduHumQBtO49w614b9ad3kA/s400/langfitt.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199952560798002850" /></a>Besides discussing how politics are influencing the response scene, about three and a half minutes into the conversation, Langfitt talked about natural disasters in Chinese political culture.<br /><br />He explained that in this view, major natural disasters such as floods, famines and earthquakes can signal the end of what’s known as the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_of_Heaven>Mandate of Heaven</a>.<br /><br />Similar to the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Right_of_Kings>Divine Right of Kings</a>, under this concept, the heavens bestow powers to earthly leaders. Should the celestial forces be displeased with the way those leaders are wielding power, they will take those powers away – and can signal this change with a great natural disaster.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJdsMuxnEtnqMXsLqmDhNaNYIvayA1FVz91xN11LwSpxZ0WInwH1cmIxs6tdLaxdSYnWsWDu7m7YXyLxHLkJ9-igWwobTRz42fruhudwhGi1glsfxJxqeQTWm-GD_Pyogsxjv3w/s1600-h/pomfret.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnJdsMuxnEtnqMXsLqmDhNaNYIvayA1FVz91xN11LwSpxZ0WInwH1cmIxs6tdLaxdSYnWsWDu7m7YXyLxHLkJ9-igWwobTRz42fruhudwhGi1glsfxJxqeQTWm-GD_Pyogsxjv3w/s400/pomfret.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199954914440081074" /></a>Journalist <a href=http://www.johnpomfret.net/>John Pomfret</a> of the Washington Post takes this further in his blog, <a href=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/pomfretschina/>Pomfret’s China</a>:<br /><br />“On July 28, 1976 at 3:42 A.M., an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale shook Tangshan, a coal mining town to the east of Beijing. Sixteen hours later another 7.8 trembler rocked Tangshan again. Chinese official sources say 242,000 died, making the Great Tangshan Quake the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century and the third deadliest of all time.<br /><br />“To the Chinese, however, the Tangshan Quake didn't just spell disaster, it augured change. Six weeks later (on Sept. 2), Chairman Mao died, ending the Cultural Revolution and sparking a battle to change China won ultimately by Deng Xiaoping. Two other major Communist figures had already "gone to meet Marx" that year.<br /><br /><strong>“Natural disasters in China mean more than they do in the West. Many Chinese hold a view that the government is responsible for maintaining the harmony under heaven. If the earth buckles and shakes, it's a harbinger of political or social upheaval.</strong> <br /><br />“China's Communist government spent decades trying to stamp out superstitions and feudal beliefs such as these, but it has failed. The last two decades of economic reform have sparked an explosion of traditional beliefs and a renewed interest in Chinese Buddhist-like sects.”<br /><br />Today’s Chinese leaders may publicly eschew superstition, but I suspect that Frank Langfitt was rught when he said they this quake has probably rattled them internally, making them ask what it all means under the Mandate of Heaven. (How does I Ching, the Book of Changes, relate to the Mandate of Heaven? Read about it <a href=http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zql6MeESOCg/Ru1h06DA5UI/AAAAAAAAAJA/apsuIjaE2Rc/s400/synapticdayandnight1.gif&imgrefurl=http://tenthousanddays.blogspot.com/2007/09/mandate-of-heaven.html&h=400&w=400&sz=202&hl=en&start=5&sig2=6Z9gE7OyInq_f4dox3sllQ&um=1&tbnid=K0JoRY4-XhGSKM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=124&ei=efEpSNbnEKaEpwTq-PDHCw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmandate%2Bof%2Bheaven%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DGGLD,GGLD:2004-29,GGLD:en%26sa%3DN>here</a>)<br /><br />Whether by Mandate of Heaven, Divine Right of Kings or common sense,here’s one florid example of not using power responsibly: we turn our attention to the military government of Myanmar, formerly (and preferably, to many) known as Burma.<br /><br />Reports from that secretive military state in the wake of Cyclone Nargis have been alternately chilling, repulsive and infuriating. The international community continues to <em>plead</em> with the ruling junta for access to deliver aid to the hundreds of thousands of survivors in dire straits, but are met with one ridiculous rule after another: visas denied to aid workers, demands that all relief supplies be distributed only by the government. Many say that the government is hoarding these relief supplies for itself, while it distributes rotten food to the cyclone survivors. (More from the BBC, <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7392662.stm>World wrestles with Burma aid issue</a>.)<br /><br />Newsweek’s Melinda Liu notes the Myanmar government is missing in action. <br /><br />“The 400,000-strong military kept an unusually low profile last week, suggesting serious dysfunction at the top. Sr. Gen. Tan Shwe, the nation's leader, was nowhere to be seen. Buddhist monks and nuns appeared to be spearheading community clean-up campaigns—although state censors instructed the media to report only on military relief efforts. But some troops seemed more concerned with social control than social welfare. Instead of helping emergency services, for example, some soldiers conducted surveillance of local NGO staffers who were offering free funeral services to the bereaved families, according to <a href=http://www.aungzaw.net/>Aung Zaw</a>, a Burmese exile and editor of The Irrawaddy, a Thai-based magazine about Burma.<br /><br />"Burmese dissidents who planned to sabotage the [constitutional] election (scheduled for May 10th)," he says,"feel the cyclone has done their work for them" by driving ordinary Burmese into the arms of the opposition. <strong>Many citizens in this superstitious country seem to believe that the storm represented nothing less than divine retribution—cosmic payback for the violent sacrilege committed by the junta last September, when the military put a bloody end to the "Saffron Revolution." Crowds of monks had taken to the streets with an estimated 100,000 civilians to protest the country's deepening economic hardships, including an abrupt fuel-price hike. The regime responded with fury, beating and imprisoning clerics and laypeople alike and killing as many as 138. Now many Burmese see the monster cyclone as proof that Than Shwe and his junta have lost the "mandate of heaven"—the supernatural right to govern.” </strong><br /><br />Liu looks to other countries to see what natural disasters can do to regimes.<br /><br /><strong>Mexico City, 1985</strong>: “After a massive earthquake hit, the authorities and the country's aloof president, Miguel de la Madrid, went AWOL for days, leaving citizens to organize rescue efforts themselves. When the president finally did appear, he initially announced that Mexico "didn't need outside help." With more than 10,000 estimated dead, survivors had quickly taken to the streets to denounce the government's weak response. These protests energized a new crop of community activists and opposition leaders, lighting a spark that eventually brought down Mexico's long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) years later.<br /><br /><strong>Tangshan, China, 1976</strong>: “By the time that quake hit, killing up to 600,000, the Cultural Revolution was nearing its end, Mao was ailing and moderate leaders were already plotting to oust his most zealous accomplices. When the government then proceeded to badly fumble relief efforts— refusing international aid, among other things—it strengthened the hand of reformers who wanted to end China's isolation. Three months later, Mao was dead, the extremist "Gang of Four" was behind bars and the reins of power were passing to Deng Xiaoping—now famous for his unabashed embrace of capitalism.”<br /><br /><strong> “In each of these cases, the chain of events leading to political change was long and complicated, but the governments' incompetence in the face of great tragedy helped tip the scales.”</strong><br /><br />"One shouldn't count out Burma's leaders yet. The military has managed to cling to power for 46 years now, despite losing an election in 1990 to the party of opposition leader <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi>Aung San Suu Kyi </a> who's been under house arrest nearly ever since. <br /><br />And <strong>the regime has a ready reply to deny it has now lost its heavenly mandate. In 2005, heeding astrologers' advice, the officers moved the country's capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw, a hardscrabble town some 250 miles north. This location helped the new capital escape the worst of Nargis's wrath—though of course it's unclear whether this was a sign of blessing or just dumb luck. Still, the generals must know that surviving a cyclone is one thing. Avoiding the human earthquake it provokes is a whole other matter. </strong><br /><br />Read Melinda Liu’s article <a href=http://www.newsweek.com/id/136365/output/print>Winds of Change</a>Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-1385784821808010582008-05-06T20:50:00.001-07:002008-05-06T20:53:53.466-07:00Does Mom REALLY want a card and roses?vvvvvvvvvvvvvv<br /><br /><strong>ORIGINALLY POSTED MARCH 19, 2007<br /><br />And reposted ahead of Mother's Day 2008 in the U.S.</strong><br />vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv<br /><br /><br />Sunday, March 18th was Mothering Sunday in the UK, roughly two months before its equivalent in the US: Mother's Day, where it falls on the second Sunday in May. On this occasion, the BBC reports that the woman who invented the celebration spent 40 years of her life fighting the commercialism that sprang up around the day.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiganvduIMmVCXGWmGhTk8AvY0JW6nMzRfeK33Epsw0kh-6lgD4FffcmIsFGBawzv7XMvX5sywycN92KdQCCYvpIWFHBGM89kfLVB0FSso8426SBbJElHZ7BlA1LupYrnDiNUNrhA/s1600-h/anna.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiganvduIMmVCXGWmGhTk8AvY0JW6nMzRfeK33Epsw0kh-6lgD4FffcmIsFGBawzv7XMvX5sywycN92KdQCCYvpIWFHBGM89kfLVB0FSso8426SBbJElHZ7BlA1LupYrnDiNUNrhA/s400/anna.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5043399442658682626" /></a>Anna Jarvis campaigned for over a decade before President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, dedicated a day to mothers.<br /><br />Within a few years, the occasion became commercialized, to Anna's horror. <br /><br />"Along with her sister Ellsinore, Anna spent the entire family inheritance on trying to undo the damage done to Mother's Day. One of her protests even got her arrested for disturbing the peace. She died in 1948, in poverty and without success. <br /><br />"In one respect what Ms Jarvis wanted from the day lives on - it has taken on huge significance and is a celebration of motherhood. However, how most people chose to celebrate it would make her turn in her grave." <br /><br />"Consumers are pressured by advertising and businesses to measure goodwill in terms of presents, says branding expert Jonathan Gabay. <br /><br />"Mother's Day has become a yearly windfall to business. It's an opportunity to market everything from cut flowers and greetings cards to nostalgic CDs, perfume and beauty products." <br /><br />The commercialism that accompanies so many holidays in the U.S. truly sickens me. Christmas as it is celebrated today was created by Coca-Cola, Montgomery Ward, Hallmark and other corporations, who saw immense opportunities which I'm sure have far exceeded their early expectations. People have completely caved to advertising and corporate propaganda. How many times have you heard of people going into serious credit card debt over Christmas presents? Did Jesus ever say "be sure to go into debt in My Name"? And yet, here we are. Valentine's and Halloween? Wouldn't be surprised at all to hear Hershey's and other candy companies had a big hand in turning these days into what are now the two biggest sugar high days of the year. <br /><br />Fortunately, Thanksgiving seems to have escaped most of that commercial frenzy. It's one thing for which I DO give thanks every November.<br /><br />But back to Mother's Day. <strong>I hardly claim to speak for all mothers</strong>, but for me a Hallmark card and a dozen roses don't do a thing. Going out to brunch on usually involves a crowded restaurant and waiting, which isn't my cup of tea. As much as chocolate is a lovely gift, it gives me nowhere the pleasure of my children's handmade cards and notes, awkward as they may be. THAT'S a present! I had told the kids to stop buying me stuff, so the handmade cards started coming, along with "Mom's Day Off," and the occasional surprise. One year, my son handed me a little basket of morel mushrooms he'd picked in the woods. He'd heard me say I missed the taste of morels. Three years ago, my daughter gave me a jar with little strips of paper in it, on which she wrote things that she loved about me. She told me to remember to open the jar and read the strips whenever I had a bad day. Really made me tear up. <br /><br />Hallmark and FTD can't top these. <br /><br />What do I really want for Mother's Day?<br /><br />Pretty much what I have with my children every day. Good conversation, honesty, humor and respect. I want what any Mom wants: happy, fulfilled children. I want to look at them and see gentle souls, loving hearts, humor, generosity and good judgement; to know they've been equipped properly to be independent and responsible adults. The best thing my kids could give to me on Mother's Day is to let me know how I'm doing in my efforts to bring them up to be all these things.<br /><br />Anna Jarvis was right to be horrified at the commercialization of the holiday she championed. Showering Mom with gifts and some pampering one day a year is no compensation for taking her for granted the rest of the year.<br /><br />More mothers are taking up Anna Jarvis' fight against the commercialization of Mother's Day. The BBC piece quotes Carrie Longton, a founder of Mumsnet (in the UK):<br /><br /><strong>"There is a real movement among mothers at the moment to think about mothers who are less fortunate. We are encouraging people to make a donation to charities that help mothers worldwide rather than buy flowers.</strong> <br /><br />"I will be working on a cake stall on Mother's Day to raise money for HIV mothers in Africa. It costs just £7 to buy the medicine to make sure they don't pass HIV onto their children." <br /><br />It's this type of action that Ms Jarvis would approve of. Especially as she hated Mother's Day cards, calling them "a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write". <br /><br />Hear, hear!!<br /><br /><a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6409411.stm>Read the whole BBC article here</a>.<br /><br />vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv<br /><br />UPDATE 2: <strong>NPR</strong> had a piece on the marketing of Mother's Day, then and now. It aired on Friday, May 11. <a href=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10131839>Listen to the Morning Edition piece here</a>.<br /><br />vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvGillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-19323126928976543002008-04-23T09:34:00.000-07:002008-04-23T11:46:23.752-07:00Juan Diego Florez Breaks Met's Ban on Encores<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRF6HIdBJfT9TW-uJRnQJIx69oIVxNxQg0cfGzIs11ZDWMqbwsYcqUudS4TAPT4N-h_I1Dcvutli9oD5A85Uct7QpYonZUPObPfbDpsakQB5DE8ekgUMRskxqZtDk-pxhMBYS-A/s1600-h/ldf2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRF6HIdBJfT9TW-uJRnQJIx69oIVxNxQg0cfGzIs11ZDWMqbwsYcqUudS4TAPT4N-h_I1Dcvutli9oD5A85Uct7QpYonZUPObPfbDpsakQB5DE8ekgUMRskxqZtDk-pxhMBYS-A/s400/ldf2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192481266599531010" /></a><big>JDF DID IT AGAIN!!</big><br /><br />Donizetti's opera <em>La fille du regiment</em> (Daughter of the Regiment) may be best known for the aria <em>Ah mes amis</em>, notorious for bearing all of NINE high Cs. For that reason it's called the Mount Everest for tenors. And Monday night, Juan Diego Florez not only hit those difficult notes, he did an instant encore.<br /><br />What's the big deal? Encores are banned at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.<br /><br />That's not all: last year, JDF did a encore (or, its Italian equivalent, <em>bis</em>) of that same aria in Milan, where the practice of <em>bis</em> was banned by Toscanini.<br /><br />First, here's the deal with that aria. From <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_fille_du_r%C3%A9giment>Wikipedia</a>: "(The) 9 high Cs....come comparatively early in the opera, giving the singer less time to warm up his voice. Many lesser tenors do not quite hit the notes (hitting B natural instead), especially as they come in rapid-fire succession and require considerable vocal dexterity."<br /><br />Now here's the deal with the ban on encores.<br /><br />"Bear in mind, an encore in an Italian opera house is not the same as an encore in most places – that is, at the very end of the concert. Rather, their version of an encore (a French word) is called bis (the Italian word for again, as in biscotti, the twice-baked cookie.) The bis is done in the manner of an instant replay. The audience doesn’t want to wait for the very end of the opera (or even an act of the opera). So with prolonged applause, cheering and calls of “bis! bis!” the conductor picks up the aria again, and the singer pipes up - this time usually out of character. I’ve read that the bis has been requested at the end of a death scene, which entails the now-dead character resurrecting temporarily to appease audience demand, then reassuming the death pose when the opera action resumes. As I’ve noted in previous posts, ludicrousness is just one of the things that make me love opera so! But Toscanini hated the way these encores broke the flow of an opera and put a ban on the practice." (From <a href=http://gcoldsnow.blogspot.com/2007/02/turning-la-scala-tradition-on-its-ear.html>my blog entry</a> last year.)<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH585YopqpFTRCSQBSWeLFdiAyWuHdADBF2v4Ae2jxJSSv2uZMlG_PRcEsolYa9Z97CIhnUHpgas1smRIA5Y-PQBBWBX2ngqpzIbiGNn1_e4LpCrCx8VxgVaU6Pt8SxOVv4n-hYw/s1600-h/jdf.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH585YopqpFTRCSQBSWeLFdiAyWuHdADBF2v4Ae2jxJSSv2uZMlG_PRcEsolYa9Z97CIhnUHpgas1smRIA5Y-PQBBWBX2ngqpzIbiGNn1_e4LpCrCx8VxgVaU6Pt8SxOVv4n-hYw/s400/jdf.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192481189290119666" /></a><a href=http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=b61ab3fded80d245e2adc807bdc6978acd32a08b>Watch the video</a> of Florez singing <em>Ah, mes amis</em>.<br /><br />Here's the New York Times' account of the encore: <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/arts/music/23aria.html?em&ex=1209096000&en=fdb8804905ec832f&ei=5087%0A#>Ban on Solo Encores at the Met? Ban, What Ban?</a><br /><br />Before JDF, it was Luciano Pavarotti who thrilled audiences with his high Cs. You can read more about the allure of that note, and why Pavarotti's execution of it took the opera world by storm, in <a href=http://gcoldsnow.blogspot.com/2007/09/addio-maestro-pavarotti.html>this blog entry.</a>Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-35564428320867669292008-04-17T03:23:00.000-07:002008-04-21T12:56:28.194-07:00A Northwesterner's View of Obama's "Bitter" Remark<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGL-oBN8oRic2mSZ1zmg4zVBZF5xWmTsTQp0VBaAvCWgMGsnigkcwnVpLfXw5S3nhfr6K0ctc86H55qPWKZqlkqSeCP5KbRcyyPIAz6OcqT7diZgYOps0jV10mTY2oKbYy0ScrA/s1600-h/obamabitter.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGL-oBN8oRic2mSZ1zmg4zVBZF5xWmTsTQp0VBaAvCWgMGsnigkcwnVpLfXw5S3nhfr6K0ctc86H55qPWKZqlkqSeCP5KbRcyyPIAz6OcqT7diZgYOps0jV10mTY2oKbYy0ScrA/s320/obamabitter.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190276558790597378" /></a>Last week <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/12/AR2008041201031.html>Barack Obama said Pennsylvania's small town voters are bitter</a> about losing jobs and to explain their frustrations, they "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them." <br /><br />Of course, those comments were abundant grist for the mills of the other presidential hopefuls, and pundits. But it's been nearly a week since his comments, and STILL it's a hot topic of discussion in the media. Is it the case outside newsrooms? Maybe - but none of my friends and acquaintances - usually not at all shy about voicing their views - have uttered a word about it to me. They had a much stronger response after Obama delivered his speech on race.<br /><br />Among those offended by Obama was New York Times columnist <strong>Maureen Dowd</strong>. She's generally had positive things to say about the Illinois Senator, in contrast to Hillary Clinton. But his "bitter" remarks turned her off. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4KSIU8OojSSsaIOOk_k4r1lFocSxvW5J_pdyFE2OwiId2tVq2yqm_CJ0b_QjC9m6rK2nD9nPNo1GOBUOQI0EH3onW9KMwxzkMQCq6_p1Ip5tLdzlaqdOWb67v2GuiWaLED-rTA/s1600-h/MaureenDowd.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4KSIU8OojSSsaIOOk_k4r1lFocSxvW5J_pdyFE2OwiId2tVq2yqm_CJ0b_QjC9m6rK2nD9nPNo1GOBUOQI0EH3onW9KMwxzkMQCq6_p1Ip5tLdzlaqdOWb67v2GuiWaLED-rTA/s320/MaureenDowd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190278998332021554" /></a><strong>"What turns off voters," she wrote, "is the detached egghead quality that they tend to equate with a wimpiness, wordiness and a lack of action — the same quality that got the professorial and superior Adlai Stevenson mocked by critics as Adelaide. The new attack line for Obama rivals is that he’s gone from J.F.K. to Dukakis. (Just as Dukakis chatted about Belgian endive, Obama chatted about Whole Foods arugula in Iowa.) Obama did not grow up in cosseted circumstances. [But] his exclusive Hawaiian prep school and years in the Ivy League made him a charter member of the elite, along with the academic experts he loves to have in the room."</strong><br /><br />(Dowd's piece is titled <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/opinion/16dowd.html?em&ex=1208577600&en=b72e81dc5cc801fb&ei=5087%0A>Eggheads and Cheeseballs</a>.)<br /><br />Commentators say Obama's comments were elitist, insulting, and out of touch....yet that <a href=http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/15/poll_obama_bitter_comments_havent_hurt/2199>has not translated into a significant drop in his poll numbers</a>. Why the discrepancy in response? <br /><br />Another Times writer tackles that issue. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnlrv9GYOJf67GWeeFwkEq5Jf71PETJ0Ce5mTPmIMU2oYHskk4cdms4trA4KWS3f9QLRrNAo1ud9E5DoF5tHUgo0PfoJ2AQIIH2MgVyKF5RCaNrd3ZHWnu87kC5jnZgC9ZvDbjA/s1600-h/timothyegan.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnlrv9GYOJf67GWeeFwkEq5Jf71PETJ0Ce5mTPmIMU2oYHskk4cdms4trA4KWS3f9QLRrNAo1ud9E5DoF5tHUgo0PfoJ2AQIIH2MgVyKF5RCaNrd3ZHWnu87kC5jnZgC9ZvDbjA/s400/timothyegan.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190279075641432898" /></a><strong>Timothy Egan is originally from Spokane</strong>, and shares his view in his blog post, <a href=http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/lost-town-blues/>Lost Town Blues</a>. Many of the readers' comments come from Washington State and northern Idaho.<br /><br />Here's the blog entry, plus excerpts from some comments.<br /><br /><em><strong>Lost Town Blues</strong></em><br /><br />In the town where I grew up, men had new trucks in their driveways, and three weeks of vacation for chasing deer in the fall and fish in the summer. They drank beer at a morning happy-hour after the graveyard shift ended, and voted for Democrats because they cared about the little guy, or so it was said.<br /> <br />In less than a generation’s time, the life jobs at the aluminum factory disappeared and the men lost their health benefits, their pensions, their self-confidence. You could say, without starting a fight, that some of them turned to God or guns for comfort — or at least for diversion. And then there were those who turned to alcohol. <br />It’s an old story, the grinding of winners into losers, a sort of geographic lottery. My town was Spokane, Wash., which has rebounded somewhat from the collapse of Kaiser Aluminum. But it could be McKeesport, Pa., or Utica, N.Y., or any of the 900 counties across the country that have lost jobs or population for decades. <br /><br />People who live in small towns that have been passed over don’t need to be told that they’re bitter, or heroic. They’re stuck, is what they are. The honest ones say they would follow their kids out of town, if only they had the means. A few years ago, a University of Nebraska survey of 3,087 people in rural counties asked people how they felt about their lives. Only 11 percent of them said they were satisfied with where they lived. Optimism, as much a part of the landscape as winter wheat, was disappearing.<br /><br />This sentiment, real but wrapped up in pride over place, may be in part why the polls show little change in Barack Obama’s standing since his comments about the bitterness of small towns and the working class. The pundits and voters are having two different conversations, not for the first time.<br /> <br />In that sense, the arc of this controversy is typical of how these things go: struggling towns are props, not issues. <br /><br />One side rushes to drape themselves in flags, guns and the kind of Norman Rockwell hagiography that is far removed from the 2008 reality of meth labs and foreclosure frontiers. The other side says religion is for fools, and if only they had a new Starbucks in town, some of those Bible-banging gun nuts could learn to love Sundays with Norah Jones and a Scrabble game. <br /><br />The low point in this discussion was Hillary Clinton talking about how she learned to shoot — “behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton.” Yes, and after that it was Wellesley, Yale, the White House and the $109 million fortune she made with her husband trading in their name and influence. She’s got elite cred with the best of them. <br /><br />Obama can counter with the endorsement this week from Bruce Springsteen. Nobody in American literature or politics has done a better job than the Boss of describing (as in “My Hometown”) the heartbreak of a foreman who says, “these jobs are going boys and they ain’t coming back.” <br /><br />But for a presidential campaign, we should forget rock lyrics, guns and God, and who can throw back a boiler-maker like a real man. The only question should be how — or whether — rust belt and rural towns can join the tomorrow economies. <br /><br />For that matter, we should retire the test over which presidential candidate voters would most like to have a beer with. <em>[YES, PLEASE!!!!! - Gillian]</em> George W. Bush, when he was drinking, was probably a fun guy in a bar — all those frat boy tricks, flatulence jokes and arcane stats on long-retired major leaguers. <br /><br />But he’s run the country into the ground, even if the only measurement is how blue collar workers fared under his watch. And he is the only leader who has actually embraced the elite label. At a fundraising dinner during his first term with the “haves and the have-mores,” as he referred to them, Bush said: “Some people call you the elite — I call you my base.” Now, he was joking, but there’s an element of truth there. And for the record, median hourly wages in Pennsylvania are down 16 cents from five years ago, adjusting for inflation. <br /><br />So, solutions? On John McCain’s Web site, he talks as much about reviving small town America as he does about Lindsay Lohan’s love life — zilch. Clinton and Obama each have detailed, multi-point proposals. They’re heavy on new energy solutions — solar, wind, converting crops to fuel, with faded factory towns doing the work. The problem, as we’ve seen with the huge rise in commodity crop prices, is that when food and fuel compete for the same source, family budgets strain. Hillary is out with a new ad in Indiana, promising to keep defense jobs in the state — pork as public policy, another sleight-of-hand trick for small town America. <br /><br /><strong>Is it too much to ask one of these candidates for an honest but painful statement suggesting that perhaps a lot of these towns may never come back? Or that the way to economic revival is to lose the pipe dream that Google is going to relocate to an old steel town because they have a tax-free enterprise zone and some cool mountain-bike trails?</strong> <br /><br />“By the time November rolls around,” said Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, Hillary’s top surrogate in the state, Obama’s comment “will be long forgotten.”<br /><br />So will small town America. Again. <br /><br />vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv<br /><br />From the readers' comments:<br /><br /><br />"People tend to focus on Barack’s comment about people clinging to guns and religion but ignore the preceding statement about decades of unfulfilled promises from politicians from both parties. When taken out of context, his statement sounds petty and mean. The complete statement hints at an “inconvenient truth” of another kind, that none of the political elite wish to acknowledge." <br /><br />"I largely agree with Mr. Egan’s and Mr. Obama’s sentiments on small-town America. Although there is plenty of pride in cities and towns alike, it’s hard to miss the lack of interesting opportunities in small towns. For my fellow Washingtonians just consider the struggles people have had to endure in Forks, where significantly reduced logging has dramatically cut incomes. Or, Omak or Wilson Creek or Soap Lake, a place that’s [sic] best bet is tourism and the world’s largest lava lamp. All these towns have their charm but in global economy everyone’s best bet are the large metro areas, like Seattle." <br /><br />"I worked for Kaiser in Spokane and also the steel industry in the 60’s to 80’s. I share your feelings about the “Lost Town Blues”. It’s painful to see all of the people hurt by the greed and shortsightedness of those like George W Bush that have run this country into the ground. My family rebounded from our difficulties and because of this I still have optimism that we - this country - can dig ourselves out of this big hole that we are in. What we need is an uplift by new leaders such as Barack Obama to get people working again in areas that will address our infrastructure needs, global warming, energy independence and others." <br /><br />"I too was flummoxed by the reaction to Obama’s statement of the obvious. Why the bruhaha? I lived in a small town (Port Angeles) where the jobs in timber and fishing were gone and never coming back. I worked in legal aid and saw the ravaged lives of former loggers from Forks. (Hopefully the vampire industry generated by the Eclipse series will bring some tourism dollars to this suffering town…) Unfettered gun rights, anti-gay sentiment and seething hatred of environmentalists ran rampant. On a more positive note, religious communities took the place of the union hall and we took care of each other. We knew who the people in need were among us and we looked after them. It’s a different world."<br /><br />"Some portray his words as being worse than the loss of the jobs — or that they need Hillary to come protect them from elitist comments. Please. What are yoins thinkin’? But our otherwise eloquent wordsmith Senator Obama needs a better word choice describing people’s religion, to be sure."<br /><br />Here's a <a href=http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/lost-town-blues/>link to Timothy's Egan's blog entry</a>, where you can also read all the comments.<br /><br />Meantime, here's just one of many analyses of Obama's comment.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PyDxHPC74X0&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PyDxHPC74X0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-30146739365234169032008-04-15T04:50:00.000-07:002008-04-15T08:12:31.546-07:00A Very Punny Wine.<small><em><strong>I've been so busy lately that this blog's been relegated to the legendary back burner. So while I try to get caught up, enjoy this recycled post - and if you have tasted any of these wines, please do share your impressions! This was originally posted in February 2007.</strong></em></small><br /><br />The Rhône River Valley produces good and reasonable red wines made from grapes such as Syrah and Grenache. These are the popular <strong>Côtes du Rhône</strong> wines.<br /><br />And for the last few years, they've had to tolerate a cheeky nudge from South Africa.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoS-USgotqDkZQRyxwGN2-0OCqmt9ihkSVp2ogcZgt9B08bbfWwkYkTQMt_EA4pjEnhza1yQYTeDPvjaqEvfgsxlFPZc7jiUERDdFvz7Cw57mY1rp9exR4WZmFSwIXrGBlsqg4Zw/s1600-h/goatsdoroam.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoS-USgotqDkZQRyxwGN2-0OCqmt9ihkSVp2ogcZgt9B08bbfWwkYkTQMt_EA4pjEnhza1yQYTeDPvjaqEvfgsxlFPZc7jiUERDdFvz7Cw57mY1rp9exR4WZmFSwIXrGBlsqg4Zw/s400/goatsdoroam.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039403868394265714" /></a><br /><br />Vintner Charles Back created this “Rhône-style blend but with a Cape flavour” in 1999, using a blend using of Rhône varieties such as shiraz, cinsaut, carignan and mourvèdre with a dash of South African pinotage.<br /><br />Back says he wasn’t trying to take a dig at the French. Fairview Winery’s “legend” recounts how some of its goats (which provide milk for Fairview’s internationally acclaimed cheeses) took advantage of an open gate and headed for the winery’s famous <strong>goat tower</strong>. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELhw1Eg6gA5FgeEouqJjUU4VDAd-sg-RBZ_9mbsf3yj-HcR0Kw3Ls2V61SvzokjcvIOvE48cmqR2SxzFFO7rUK95aaQWH3l6AnsI68WqF2yhLLWKV26CyjWwSTmEZNnify9YP3A/s1600-h/goattower.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELhw1Eg6gA5FgeEouqJjUU4VDAd-sg-RBZ_9mbsf3yj-HcR0Kw3Ls2V61SvzokjcvIOvE48cmqR2SxzFFO7rUK95aaQWH3l6AnsI68WqF2yhLLWKV26CyjWwSTmEZNnify9YP3A/s400/goattower.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039407557771172994" /></a> The little group happily roamed among the vineyards, and supposedly nibbled on different grape varieties that made up the blend that birthed this cheeky little wine. <br /><br />Likely story! <br /><br />Nonetheless, it has its fans, one who describes it thus:<br /><br />“Dark ruby in color with reddish glints, it shows spicy black-plum aromas with just a hint of earthiness. Its ripe, peppery and plummy flavor is shaped by tangy, lemon-squirt acidity.” <br /><br />The success led Charles Back to have a little more pun with his next wines.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAy-PqolElQvu_15pfcwQWkECi4FHoYqfG4ystv7eRVhjElm66P9xkUJSx4cqi72svFWSLrOczr0m_mwhc0CNrEg1RBKntZEnfyThHaDtOBpykAp1d2HusMy6YTnyF0Nm2ZCiG-Q/s1600-h/villages.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAy-PqolElQvu_15pfcwQWkECi4FHoYqfG4ystv7eRVhjElm66P9xkUJSx4cqi72svFWSLrOczr0m_mwhc0CNrEg1RBKntZEnfyThHaDtOBpykAp1d2HusMy6YTnyF0Nm2ZCiG-Q/s400/villages.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039613595942296802" /></a><br /><br />France may have <strong>Côtes du Rhone Villages</strong>, but South Africa's <strong>Goats do Roam in Villages</strong>, <a href=http://www.decanter.com/news/47909.html>in spite of objections</a>. <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkHvXvFJyPRqP1YqXowEUw3ABHB46-RsPl9048pyxtvaPcoMF1vMe8X6mxLbTfna9NbqEfeuUya4Idoqa1ylNHOXQRhyphenhyphenPIID0614zet2SiqsPBYbMso3Gj6bO_Lu4_ZgQEukrGQ/s1600-h/bored+doe.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkHvXvFJyPRqP1YqXowEUw3ABHB46-RsPl9048pyxtvaPcoMF1vMe8X6mxLbTfna9NbqEfeuUya4Idoqa1ylNHOXQRhyphenhyphenPIID0614zet2SiqsPBYbMso3Gj6bO_Lu4_ZgQEukrGQ/s400/bored+doe.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039425510734470322" /></a> <br /><br />More South African humor here, riffing on Bordeaux and Cotes d'Or:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQ4t0F49BhN3zlpYc2OqEfrZgZ2UoAWH2TFdtrkwHrRwbipa8IMrKZoRXnaeWD0OecgJ6CiFerW6pT9eNJmfIb_q_t4mdaja76QLDjdxV27BAgy-_oau5kRYPk2u9WwpNZd_7qg/s1600-h/goat+door.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQ4t0F49BhN3zlpYc2OqEfrZgZ2UoAWH2TFdtrkwHrRwbipa8IMrKZoRXnaeWD0OecgJ6CiFerW6pT9eNJmfIb_q_t4mdaja76QLDjdxV27BAgy-_oau5kRYPk2u9WwpNZd_7qg/s400/goat+door.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039426189339303106" /></a><br />Bored Doe and Goat Door Chardonnay. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And did these playful labels upset the French? <br /><br />"You bet," <a href=http://info.detnews.com/wine/columns/silfven/details.cfm?id=362>writes Sandra Silfven in the Detroit News</a>, "but not until Fairview tried to register the Goats do Roam in Villages name in the U.S. The French INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), which polices France's appellations, took legal action to block Fairview's trademark registrations and stop them from using the Goats Do Roam and Goat-Roti names. Apparently, they thought Americans were too dumb to know the wines weren't French. The tiff attracted so many yuks and headlines that the French quietly dropped the matter." <br /><br /><br />That's PUNishment, indeed.<br /><br />And how about <strong>The Goatfather</strong>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgian5qwhOo_xpyFyPLn2SiE_bKVi3Ih3L_mNTWpmbMzpg7BRvAAWVMMqAVDMx5jIU_A3gh1DhDBKdZHBAdbqOlfSlKChFvQ_46bsQuSeOhFuxQQDEVkLTzJf5BZhPjclFqBGBgFA/s1600-h/goatfather.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgian5qwhOo_xpyFyPLn2SiE_bKVi3Ih3L_mNTWpmbMzpg7BRvAAWVMMqAVDMx5jIU_A3gh1DhDBKdZHBAdbqOlfSlKChFvQ_46bsQuSeOhFuxQQDEVkLTzJf5BZhPjclFqBGBgFA/s400/goatfather.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039408829081492642" /></a><br /><br />"With the rise to prominence of the Goats do Roam Family, challengers to their position have emerged on many fronts. <strong>Don Goatti</strong>, in true Sicilian tradition, fiercely protects the herd, their loyal customers and the winemaking secrets of the family. While few in the family know the final blend, The Goatfather always includes a selection of Italian varietals, maintaining their omertá over quality and consistency through the family of wines. The Goats will roam…Capisce?!" <h5>(From the <a href=http://www.fairview.co.za/goats/wines.php>Goats do Roam website</a>)</h5><br /><br />I raised some sheep when I lived in Oregon; they are close relatives of goats. From firsthand experience I can tell you, leave an opening, and sheep <em>as well as</em> goats DO roam far and wide and damn, they run FAST! You'd best not have been at the bottle if you have to chase down your goats or sheep.<br /><br />Here's a link to <a href=http://www.goatsdoroam.com/><strong>Goats do Roam</strong> and <strong>Fairview</strong></a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-71362779562379240082008-03-13T17:19:00.000-07:002008-03-19T12:21:31.390-07:00Seven (Updated) Deadly SinsPride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. <br /><br />SO 1500 years ago!<br /><br />So on Sunday the Vatican issued a new list of seven deadlies, also dubbed the "social sins":<br /><list><br /><ul> ``Bioethical' violations such as birth control</ul> <br /><ul>``Morally dubious'' experiments such as stem cell research</ul> <br /><ul>Drug abuse</ul> <br /><ul>Polluting the environment</ul> <br /><ul>Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor</ul> <br /><ul>Excessive wealth</ul> <br /><ul>Creating poverty</ul></list> <br />If you are unfamiliar with the Catholic philosophy of sin, here's a <a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2186416/>good primer from Slate</a>.<br /><br />So, why the updated list now? <br /><br />The Rev. John Wauck from Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross: "In different times, in moments of history, cultural moments, technological moments, sins dress themselves up, so to speak, in a different way," <a href=http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/03/13/new.sins/?iref=mpstoryview>speaking to CNN</a>. <br /><br />"The underlying sin tends to be the same -- a variation of a theme of selfishness, a lack of respect for others, of lying, cheating , stealing or killing," Wauck said. <br /><br />In the modern age, people find new ways to commit the seven deadly sins.<br /><br />"Our wrath has new outlets and we have new technology with which to deceive people or even kill people," Wauck said.<br /><br />Technology is a blessing, he said, but it can also be a danger. Take pollution, for example. Wauck said it's a variation of the original mortal sin of gluttony or selfishness. <br /><br />Protecting the environment comes from the Bible's book of Genesis, he said: God created the world and placed man in it to thrive and not destroy. But the population explosion and the production of extremely toxic materials make the stakes much higher.<br /><br />"We're seeing now that the kinds of sin that have an impact not on particular individuals -- I stole my neighbor's property or I damaged his property -- but [rather] I polluted in a way that damaged the entire environment, which doesn't belong to me and doesn't belong to my neighbor either. It belongs to mankind and so it's a sin in a certain sense against all of us," Wauck said.<br /><br />Pope Benedict XVI "wants every person to stop and think about their actions and how it affects not only their own soul but the community and the world at large," said CNN's Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher.<br /><br />"I think he thinks that by doing so this, by making people reflect on what they are doing, in the long term that is what is going to create a better world."<br /><br />Discuss amongst yourselves!Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-57044909463830083092008-03-12T09:44:00.000-07:002008-03-13T17:22:49.973-07:00New York Gets Its First Black Governor<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zYK4crQAq5MReXzRzDeHbok1AbQErhk0CbpXyixwUxnAA1-ZTo7CW1TjqpAdl43NA6_DwBAKEZQEJ_nyZqZFPvoEJE6gOeFsb5Y3Wv5eMZwf1BknEpdguiONOwmjtlr0gZPalA/s1600-h/davidpaterson.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zYK4crQAq5MReXzRzDeHbok1AbQErhk0CbpXyixwUxnAA1-ZTo7CW1TjqpAdl43NA6_DwBAKEZQEJ_nyZqZFPvoEJE6gOeFsb5Y3Wv5eMZwf1BknEpdguiONOwmjtlr0gZPalA/s400/davidpaterson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176897086484978370" /></a>Taking the office after the spectacular fall of Eliot Spitzer, David Paterson becomes only the third black governor of any state since Reconstruction. <br /><br />The 53-year old Paterson is widely reported to be liked by pretty much everyone - in contrast to his disgraced predecessor. The New York Times describes the Brooklyn-born and Harlem-bred Paterson thus: "Widely considered smart, amiable and disarmingly candid."<br /><br />He's also <a href=http://www.slate.com/id/2186489/>legally blind</a>. <br /><br />"Former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo recalled playing basketball against him in a charity game a decade ago.<br /><br />“David was on the other side,” Mr. Cuomo said. “I said: ‘What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be blind.’ He said, ‘I’m guarding you.’ Just what I wanted: a blind guy to guard me. The second time down the court, he stole the ball.”<br /><br />He’s got a wonderful sense of humor, a very gentle man,” said Betsy Gotbaum, the New York City public advocate. “In that sense, he’s the opposite of Eliot.”<br /><br />And yes, what about Eliot? <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2glnwblg35WWvz2fdc_MrfPfzXKLx1TRyXP1dAFAfGVFZfHox9RpwYOj1Pw1HHI4lEpXRmWA4byyv7s8aixrBvapl3m_sziYdp8fi_l4OUdD6xcjV7QfXR7zkGViXccdnOLEe2g/s1600-h/eliot_spitzer.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2glnwblg35WWvz2fdc_MrfPfzXKLx1TRyXP1dAFAfGVFZfHox9RpwYOj1Pw1HHI4lEpXRmWA4byyv7s8aixrBvapl3m_sziYdp8fi_l4OUdD6xcjV7QfXR7zkGViXccdnOLEe2g/s400/eliot_spitzer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176905994247150290" /></a>Spitzer seems to have had a knack of insulting and antagonizing, usually unnecessarily. The New York Times recalls Spitzer's inaugural address: "delivered in his usual from-the-mount cadences, stood out for a singular lapse into gracelessness.<br /><br />"With his predecessor of the previous 12 years, George E. Pataki, sitting in front of him, the new governor likened New York to Rip Van Winkle, a state that “has slept through much of the past decade while the rest of the world has passed us by.” Even if one accepted that assessment, having it delivered with Mr. Pataki sitting right there reflected both self-righteousness and <strong>exceptionally poor manners</strong>." On another occasion, Spitzer referred to the State Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno as “old” and “senile” in startlingly vulgar language.<br /><br />(Read the rest of the article, <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/nyregion/11nyc.html?scp=4&sq=pataki&st=nyt>Long a Public Scold, Now Facing Life as a Punch Line</a>) <br /><br />As Margot Adler said on NPR today, it seemed like Spitzer had no friends. Republicans and Wall Street clearly hated him, but even Democrats didn't show much love lost. His downfall began when banks, acting on rules Spitzer <em>himself</em> instituted as New York Attorney General, uncovered questionable money transfers. The irony approaches the proportions of Greek tragedy. (NPR's Adam Davidson did a fascinating piece on how and why banks were looking into Spitzer's financial transactions in the first place - <a href=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88132229>listen to it here</a>.)<br /><br /><strong>Still, is David Paterson be too nice to be a governor? </strong><br /><br />Former Governor Cuomo thinks Mr. Paterson “will make a more than good governor.” But, he added: “I think in his heart of hearts he’d rather be a legislator. It’s easier to intellectualize, to deal with problems as a senator, because you don’t have to solve them.” <br /><br />Here's what we know about the David Alexander Paterson. <br /><br />He was born into a powerful Harlem political family. Father Basil was former state senator, who in 1970 became the first black nominee for lieutenant governor and later served as deputy mayor to Mayor Edward I. Koch and secretary of state to Gov. Hugh L. Carey. <br /><br />"As an infant, Mr. Paterson developed an infection that left him blind in his left eye and with severally limited sight in the other," <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/nyregion/12paterson.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>reports the New York Times</a>. <br /><br />"Because the public schools in New York City could not guarantee him an education without placing him in special education classes, his parents bought a house in Hempstead, on Long Island, where he became the first legally disabled person to attend the district’s public schools. He did well enough to be admitted to Columbia University — he graduated in 1977 with a degree in history — and Hofstra Law School. <br /><br />"His impaired vision has helped make him a good listener. Aides brief him by leaving lengthy voice mail messages. He memorizes his speeches. <br /><br />“When I say I saw something, it’s more like I sensed it,” he said in a recent interview. “I think people’s perception of me sometimes is that I see more than I actually do.”<br /><br />"Mr. Paterson, who has completed the New York City Marathon, has said that his “truest disability has been my ability to overcome my physical disability.” <br /><br />“As soon as people see that I can be independent, then they hold me to the standard that everyone else is,” he said. As a result, “I don’t act the way I did when I was 17, like I can do everything myself, because I realized the minute I do that, no one helps me. So I learned to be a little more pragmatic about life.”<br /><br />"He remembers becoming furious when Shirley Chisholm, the former congresswoman from Brooklyn, said she had encountered more bias because she was a woman than because she was black. <br /><br />“Internally, I probably felt myself more discriminated against as a disabled person,” Mr. Paterson said in 2006. “And when I would experience discrimination from another African-American I would go ballistic. I thought black people were supposed to understand.”<br /><br />In the state senate, Paterson became minority leader, where he borrowed a page from Mario Puzo in dealing with the Republican majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno. <br /><br />“When I came to the Senate minority, I thought that we were very bellicose and very antagonistic at times out of frustration of failure,” Mr. Paterson said. “So what I followed with Senator Bruno was something I read in ‘The Godfather,’ in the actual book, that you should have your friends underestimating your strengths and have your adversaries overestimating your weaknesses. So I always acted as if I was trying to — and I sincerely was trying — to have a more collegial atmosphere in the institution.”<br /><br />"In the Senate, Mr. Paterson offered small gestures to Mr. Bruno that helped smooth their ideological differences, agreeing to adjourn early on days when Republicans were holding fund-raisers and to shorten debates. But he also helped orchestrate campaigns in 2004 that cost the Republicans three seats."<br /><br />So a politician CAN be civil and cooperative, and still be effective! <br /><br />"As lieutenant governor, Mr. Paterson has advanced his own agenda, focusing on stem-cell research, domestic violence and improving opportunities for women and minorities in business. <br /><br />Asked what kind of governor Mr. Paterson would be, Mr. Green, who befriended him during the 1993 campaign, replied: “One word: different. Obviously, Eliot Spitzer got where he is by being pugnacious. David has gotten where he is by being accommodating.”<br /><br />Where Spitzer once proudly called himself a *&^%$@!* steamroller, the consensus is, Paterson is no steamroller. In fact, <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/nyregion/12cnd-albany.html?hp>Shift in Tone Likely With New Governor</a> (New York Times.) <br /><br />Paterson becomes governor when Spitzer's resignation takes effect on March 17.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-23503224664113467302008-02-18T10:02:00.000-08:002008-02-18T10:41:49.490-08:00Full Hips? Do the Bobaraba!<strong>A skinny behind is no asset.</strong><br /><br />Seattle-born rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot won a Grammy for his hit that celebrated rotund bottoms, "Baby Got Back."<br /><br />Jennifer Lopez made that feature of the female anatomy so enticing, that women began asking for, er, cheek implants. <br /><br />And in Ivory Coast, a dance craze is responsible for a black market in substances touted as enhancements to that part of the female anatomy.<br /><br />The dance is the <em><strong>boboraba</strong></em>, which in the local Djoula language means <em>big behinds</em>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XjKZBB8fIqaTLfPD8cIjx29wk8riRA__2jkZ826sRyjpmkpWukWgm0HhWDI6ZWcoH4w1-g3SdJnSNxYXyM3bi4Y_0nMKXsr79w__pX7v6AtEy8A2oB6TsSc-DlVCBWnl6En2Kw/s1600-h/ivorydance.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XjKZBB8fIqaTLfPD8cIjx29wk8riRA__2jkZ826sRyjpmkpWukWgm0HhWDI6ZWcoH4w1-g3SdJnSNxYXyM3bi4Y_0nMKXsr79w__pX7v6AtEy8A2oB6TsSc-DlVCBWnl6En2Kw/s400/ivorydance.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168386585545862146" /></a><br /><br />It sounds like a national dance craze, along the lines of the Twist, Hustle, and Macarena.<br /><br />According to the BBC, when Ivorian DJs play the boboraba, people swarm on to the dance floor and start shaking their groove things. <br /><br />The <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7233565.stm>report</a> goes on to say:<br /><br /><strong>While the dance has been embraced by both sexes, DJ Mix says it was inspired by women. <br /><br />"We made it as a tribute to women, because African women are defined by the shape of their bottoms," he says. "Move your bottom, jump, you see, it's alive." <br /><br />Kady Meite, one of his dancers, says the song is a message for women. <br /><br />"There are women today with large bottoms who are embarrassed, so it's to say don't be ashamed - be comfortable," she says. <br /><br />The message seems to have been taken on board - so much so that some women are now going in search of a "bobaraba". <br /><br />In the sprawling Adjame market just north of the city centre in Abidjan, women sell "bottom enhancers". <br /><br />"You need to inject this liquid into your bottom once a day," says a market trader, showing a vial of coloured liquid labelled "Vitamin B12". <br /><br />Each vial costs $2. The label claims it is made in China.</strong><br /><br />No ingredients list, no prescriptions. Doctors are justifiably concerned! Even if the stuff is Vitamin B12, there is no scientific evidence that vitamin B12 can be used to treat anything except vitamin B12 deficiency, says Dr Victoria Drake of Oregon State University's <a href=http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/>Micronutrient Information Center</a>.<br /><br />From Ivory Coast we have another dance story, this one going back to May 2006. (I missed this one!)<br /><br /><strong>In a nightclub in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan, DJ Lewis stretches his arms out either side of his body, bends his arms at the wrists, and begins trembling like a man possessed. <br /><br />A man possessed? Three seconds later, the DJ and musician sets that impression straight, by clucking loudly in his best imitation of a dying chicken. <br /><br />"It's like a chicken with Parkinson's disease trying to dance to hip-hop," said one onlooker. <br /><br />Welcome to the latest craze in Ivory Coast's ever-inventive night life: the bird flu dance. <br /><br />The deadly avian disease was discovered in Ivory Coast last week, and within days DJ Lewis had come up with the bird flu dance. <br /><br />"I created the dance to bring happiness to the hearts of Africans, and to chase away fear, the fear of eating chicken" he told the BBC. <br /><br />"If we kill all our chickens and poultry, our cousins in the village will become poor. <br /><br />"So I created the bird flu dance to put joy back into our hearts." </strong><br /> <br />The story on the bird flu dance is also from the BBC, and you can read it <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4766391.stm>here</a>.<br /><br />As for dance crazes in the Western world, they go back a <em>very</em> long way. Long before Chubby Checker and others his ilk, the minuet, the allemande, the schottische, the mazurka and the waltz were the fads of their day. Check out this Wikipedia article, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fad_dance>Novelty and fad dances</a>.<br /><br />Tango, anyone?Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-15787750803261818592008-02-07T10:06:00.000-08:002008-02-07T11:03:24.465-08:00Idaho and ObamaI know it's been a while since my last post - chalk it up to a super-hectic schedule and long hours spent on snow removal. What a winter. <br /><br />Other events besides our epic amounts of snow have caught my attention in recent days. Surely I'm not the only one who was surprised by the Super Tuesday's results from Idaho, the reddest of the red states. More than <em>four times</em> as many voters showed up to caucus as did in 2004 -- nearly 30,000, <a href=http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/286707.html>according to the Idaho Statesman</a>. <br /><br />Obama captured 80 percent of Idaho and easily won all of the state's 23 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. It was one of Obama's most decisive Super Tuesday victories.<br /><br />Here's the view from the New York Times' Timothy Egan: <br /><br /><strong>Take a look at what happened on Tuesday in the nearly all-white counties of Idaho, a place where the Aryan Nations once placed a boot print of hate — “the international headquarters of the white race,” as they called it. <br /><br />The neo-Nazis are long gone. But in Kootenai County, where the extremists were holed up for several decades, a record number of Democrats trudged through heavy snow on Super Duper Tuesday to help pick the next president. Guess what: Senator Barack Obama took 81 percent of Kootenai County caucus voters, matching his landslide across the state. He won all but a single county.<br /> <br />The runaway victory came after a visit by Obama last Saturday, when 14,169 people filled the Taco Bell Arena in Boise to hear him speak – the largest crowd ever to fill the space, for any event. It was the biggest political rally the state has seen in more than 50 years. <br /><br />“And they told me there were no Democrats in Idaho,” Obama said.</strong><br /><br />Egan says those numbers "make a case for Obama’s electability and the inroads he has made into places where Democrats are harder to find than a decent bagel." <br /><br />Read Egan's whole piece <a href=http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/obama-the-shock-of-the-red/?em&ex=1202533200&en=4d5577feed253688&ei=5087%0A>here</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-37925520244956166252008-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:002008-01-10T12:11:47.970-08:00What Bush Could (and Should) Have DoneThis week, George W. Bush made his first visit as US President to the West Bank.<br /><br />I'm not sure why he waited till his final year in office to do it, but it got me thinking about what else he could - and should - do in his final year.<br /><br />He said "I'm a uniter, not a divider." Yet his policies often seem to do anything but unite. Loved by some, they are loathed and derided by others.<br /><br />But here's something that would most likely be accepted widely, is unlikely to offend, is something of national importance, and seriously, GWB is the most appropriate president to do this. Which is why I can't figure out why he and his advisers have not done it sooner:<br /><br /><strong>A national fitness campaign.</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW87HbYItYlLO0ZCu4T0RMpWsfNzL1YgUHvl45qh2PwrD8v_MnF65JLud_3sWr-fF0ve29zLJ7GzVJjJ-9SYMg6Q9Sf_1_f0MphPtVn3liEoASWaa8-2KYHjyJOdjz8cH0DeyOUw/s1600-h/bush+run.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW87HbYItYlLO0ZCu4T0RMpWsfNzL1YgUHvl45qh2PwrD8v_MnF65JLud_3sWr-fF0ve29zLJ7GzVJjJ-9SYMg6Q9Sf_1_f0MphPtVn3liEoASWaa8-2KYHjyJOdjz8cH0DeyOUw/s400/bush+run.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153928405074438354" /></a><br /><br />While every administration proudly distributes pictures of the Commander in Chief involved in one sporting activity or other, Bush really is the ultimate fitness fanatic. He once <a href=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E6DE133CF936A1575BC0A9649C8B63>said</a>: <strong>"Even when I travel, there's always a treadmill in my room. I have a treadmill on Air Force One. On long trips -- for example, when I went to Europe recently -- I ran for 90 minutes on the flight over there. When I came back from China, I ran on the flight."</strong> <br /><br />Exercise-reports.com, in an article entitled <a href=http://www.exercisereports.com/blog/_archives/2005/1/10/237069.html>George Bush - The Fittest President</a>, reports:<br /><br />"In January, 1993, he finished the Houston Marathon in 3:44:52 (that's about an 8:30 pace); he's the only president ever to complete that distance. <br /><br />"...Runner's World...reported his normal routine is to run five or six times a week. "When I run," he said, "I run hard. On Sundays if I'm at Camp David, I'll go for a hard, morning run -- these days about 20:30 to 20:45 for three miles on a tough course." In June, 2002, he ran a three-mile road race in an official time of 20:29 at age 55-years-old.<br /><br />Good heavenly days.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTQQ7Yg1ZR7iO9ZgSFP5X9ayjxJqjKFo0fwo3WYn-bC2HHushLAQMwW2RjCoCJgL8bIoNNF6daRXQAxiUouRevW5ACJVWZjRWdhPLQWX9y8lObsM2ippQVrSwr-LrbNPteB1xvg/s1600-h/bushbike.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTQQ7Yg1ZR7iO9ZgSFP5X9ayjxJqjKFo0fwo3WYn-bC2HHushLAQMwW2RjCoCJgL8bIoNNF6daRXQAxiUouRevW5ACJVWZjRWdhPLQWX9y8lObsM2ippQVrSwr-LrbNPteB1xvg/s320/bushbike.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153928495268751586" /></a>"Bush also mountain bikes at the Crawford, Texas, ranch, pushing hard for four-hour rides. According to AP reporter Scott Lindlaw, who rode with Bush on a mountain bike, "He (Bush) watches his heart rate very, very closely. He was reporting to me regularly what his heart rate was. ... He likes to exercise in the zone."<br /><br />Wouldn't a fitness campaign be one thing Bush could do - easily - with loads of credibility?<br /><br />True, there was his <a href=http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/fitness/>Healthier US Initiative</a> of 2003, "designed to help Americans, especially children, live longer, better, and healthier lives" and encourages taking "steps to improve personal health and fitness." It even inspired a <a href=http://www.amazon.com/White-House-Workout-President-Initiative/dp/1578261333/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199993487&sr=1-4>book</a>.<br /><br />Do you remember it?<br /><br />I don't, and there's a good chance you don't either. <br /><br />It's possible the media gave the initiative short shrift because it's not an exciting story, involving guns, oil or money....or one that people would probably ignore. But doesn't the White House have the power to say, look, this is a really important thing - everybody should sit up, pay attention and get moving - Americans just need to be healthier, and we are going to do whatever it takes to help them get there?<br /><br />Given that we've been told for years now that that Americans don't exercise enough; given that health professionals say this inactivity is the source of many medical conditions, which in turn are straining the country's health care resources - I really wonder why the President didn't seize the opportunity to make this a national priority and, quite possibly, improve his dismal approval ratings.<br /><br />The case could be made that the healthier we are, the better our economic shape... or that a fit nation is in the interests of national security.<br /><br />With the analysis of the recent caucus and primary results indicating an exhaustion with partisan politics, fitness is an issue that has the potential to unite people of vastly differing political stripes.<br /><br />It's not too late for the administration to step on it.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-37851566850504934092008-01-08T09:41:00.001-08:002008-01-08T11:18:44.573-08:00Australia Needed Rain, Not Floods<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXUisGNBh8QIYDOATOVgGgphSuiKq1KtDWIX2YJx0PsOuRXQGLsWVpL9RoAtBqWgYy5jgCjAAV2MccwOLe6shNr0C4_yrXUfVXeb4YOfM8xKxPi4lXQPOFgYZR5E_h7ZJ7EvULg/s1600-h/aussieflood.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXUisGNBh8QIYDOATOVgGgphSuiKq1KtDWIX2YJx0PsOuRXQGLsWVpL9RoAtBqWgYy5jgCjAAV2MccwOLe6shNr0C4_yrXUfVXeb4YOfM8xKxPi4lXQPOFgYZR5E_h7ZJ7EvULg/s400/aussieflood.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153162526506215506" /></a>Australian farmers have been suffering through years of the worst drought on record. Called "Big Dry," the drought was so severe that in April 2007, then-prime minister John Howard <a href=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article2465960.ece>warned about turning off all but drinking water</a> to the continent's food bowl, the Murray-Darling basin in the southeastern part of the country...unless heavy rains broke the epic drought. <br /><br />And the torrential downpours came this week. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JaKU0Pr7xcAKyHwhi4y0huhpsIV278sxUYa1eHM-KsTnj22bF1LZ7FeNhojC1tCdhG39HS202e82Odq0wCEOeP_OdA8UUqwY52umZmQHgl_vDOe3xBx7C_6PEGlF8Lwl8RRFxw/s1600-h/aussieflood2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JaKU0Pr7xcAKyHwhi4y0huhpsIV278sxUYa1eHM-KsTnj22bF1LZ7FeNhojC1tCdhG39HS202e82Odq0wCEOeP_OdA8UUqwY52umZmQHgl_vDOe3xBx7C_6PEGlF8Lwl8RRFxw/s400/aussieflood2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153173736370858098" /></a>Parts of New South Wales north of Sydney have been cut off by heavy rain and declared natural disaster zones. Queensland has also been hit hard. Hundreds of people remained trapped by floods today even though <a href=http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/reports?ARCHIV=0&LANG=en&JJ=2008&MM=01&TT=08&MENU=Topics&FILE=b3.txt>waters had begun to recede</a>. The damages could could run to tens of millions of dollars. <br /><br />Obviously, the rain is a mixed blessing for the parched country. Some irrigators who had been facing zero water supplies <a href=http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKSYD9753420080107>have seen their water rations restored to 100 percent</a>. But others are still staring at bone dry paddocks, while some farmers already on government drought assistance are now applying for flood aid after rivers burst banks.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFvIQ_zDKTioHgVWnBgEEg4RtxxRwFFoNLUj7muvLArCdb3EVnGE23Ph0qRFz43hyphenhyphenVf5eBA2ASL5FcX5rgI9adieOcs9zbO58fgGhTZ4hMoYbmq3al_Nulu1chI4wUhUK3bty3A/s1600-h/johnhoward.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFvIQ_zDKTioHgVWnBgEEg4RtxxRwFFoNLUj7muvLArCdb3EVnGE23Ph0qRFz43hyphenhyphenVf5eBA2ASL5FcX5rgI9adieOcs9zbO58fgGhTZ4hMoYbmq3al_Nulu1chI4wUhUK3bty3A/s320/johnhoward.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153185405797001394" /></a>Al Gore talked about increased drought and flood in <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inconvenient_Truth>An Inconvenient Truth</a>. And for his warnings on global warming, he was mocked by many, including <strong>John Howard</strong>.<br /> <br />The conservative former Australian prime minister's <a href=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1904781.htm>skepticism</a> on climate change <a href=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17158964>cost him his job</a>. <br /><br />The conservative Howard was decisively beaten at the polls by <strong>Kevin Rudd</strong>, in an race with heavy emphasis on climate matters. One of Rudd's first actions after the election? <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Hfd_q-eLReVoYhNfl24aqCUQlbEfYdqsDixLvtbWGi90afhbnaqvTQgGKn8H-CfMWiYbabDi7xJKH2Gte0PHWWyXvMINhLHI2oyhy7ALAVVMnEw5GAVJKUNuKhiJ0ZWsQR7vKg/s1600-h/rudd.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Hfd_q-eLReVoYhNfl24aqCUQlbEfYdqsDixLvtbWGi90afhbnaqvTQgGKn8H-CfMWiYbabDi7xJKH2Gte0PHWWyXvMINhLHI2oyhy7ALAVVMnEw5GAVJKUNuKhiJ0ZWsQR7vKg/s200/rudd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153183593320802450" /></a>Rudd <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/world/asia/04briefs-KYOTORATIFIC_BRF.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>signed documents to ratify the Kyoto Protocol</a>. The action reversed a decade of Australian environmental policy, left the United States standing alone among industrialized nations in its refusal to ratify the treaty, and brought prolonged applause at a United Nations climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia. (<a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/world/asia/04briefs-KYOTORATIFIC_BRF.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>New York Times</a>.)<br /><br />Read about <a href=http://skywatch-media.com/search/label/Floods>recent floods around the globe</a> (scroll past the videos at the top of the page). These include Mozambique, threatened with what could be its worst flood ever; and reports from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Great Britain - just in the last 30 days.<br /><br /><small>(From <a href=http://skywatch-media.com/>The Great Red Comet - Earth Science Chronicles)</a>.</small>Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-48715445170238823612008-01-03T07:47:00.000-08:002008-01-04T08:15:33.121-08:00The truth behind $100-a-barrel oil.<br /><h2><strong>Vanity.</strong></h2> <br /><br /><big>That's the reason the price of oil <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7168664.stm>broke the $100 mark</a> yesterday, January 2nd.</big><br /><br />At first sign of the news, many reports attributed the record price to "violence in Nigeria, Algeria and Pakistan, the weak US dollar and the threat of cold weather." (BBC)<br /><br /><strong>But now it turns out the century mark was broken by a single trader, who bought a thousand barrels, the smallest amount permitted. He sold it immediately for $99.40, at a $600 loss. </strong><br /><br />Said Stephen Schork, a former floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the editor of an oil market newsletter: <strong>"He paid $600 for the right to tell his grandchildren that he was the first in the world to buy $100 oil."</strong><br /><br />What happens, though, is that when psychological price barriers are broken, some start panicking, filling their fuel tanks and what not....and of course, some traders will be willing to pay higher prices on the market. All adding price pressure.<br /><br />Right on cue, Bloomberg <a href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aNHtH77zC810&refer=canada>reports today</a> that crude oil is trading near that record mark. <br /><br />And OPEC says it's unable to counter the rally, Libyan and Qatari officials said today. Further, the U.S. doesn't plan to tap strategic reserves, a spokeswoman for President Bush said yesterday. <br /><br />Though I have no doubt that record would have been broken sooner or later, it's still interesting to note that this particular price jump stemmed from one man's vanity. His identity is not known at this time.<br /><br />Here's the BBC's <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7169543.stm>full report.</a> And here's an opinion piece in today's Washington Post, by <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112000918.html?hpid=opinionsbox1>David Fleischaker: In Praise of $100 Oil</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-49752227416827853472008-01-02T04:23:00.000-08:002008-01-02T06:35:36.094-08:00Let's Hear it for the Granny Underwear!The What Not To Wear crowd sneers at oversized panties, but they have their utility. <br /><br />From the BBC comes today this little nugget from the UK:<br /><br /><big>Giant knickers put out house fire</big><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdIBtBV68zLulWFN8y7ZBcrsk3OxJEyfLF8AzMrzx98ugXcrktVr4qAqSy0Ue6sTiBnZVSzwjbJXAuOYxkWuKaUYQk1_lGX4vK0Lbu1TxqSSZRrM5XSkms0ky0wsMPDhX9X2_DQ/s1600-h/pants.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtdIBtBV68zLulWFN8y7ZBcrsk3OxJEyfLF8AzMrzx98ugXcrktVr4qAqSy0Ue6sTiBnZVSzwjbJXAuOYxkWuKaUYQk1_lGX4vK0Lbu1TxqSSZRrM5XSkms0ky0wsMPDhX9X2_DQ/s400/pants.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5150885704213063746" /></a>Jenny Marsey's size 18-20 cotton pants were a lifesaver when they were grabbed to cover a frying pan fire at her home in Meryl Gardens, Hartlepool, Teesside. <br /><br />Her son and nephew were trying to fry some bread when the blaze broke out. <br /><br />But the quick-thinking pair used the Marks & Spencer underwear from a pile of washing, doused them in water, and threw them over the fire. <br /><br />Mrs Marsey, 53, said: "My £4.99 parachute knickers have come in handy for something. We've had a good laugh that they were a bit like a fire blanket." <br /><br />The incident happened on Sunday, while Mrs Marsey was out for the day. <br /><br />Her son John and his cousin Darren, 23, were cooking, when they went to answer a knock at the door, only to return to a blazing kitchen. <br /><br />Mrs Marsey said: "When they found the pan on fire they did what most people do and panicked. <br /><br />"But they found a pair of my knickers in a washing basket and basically used them as a fire blanket to put out the fire." <br /><br />Mrs Marsey, who is also mother to Sarah, 23, Joanne, 24, and Donna, 27, added: "I think if they had been my daughter Sarah's skimpy knickers they wouldn't have done any good. <br /><br />"I'm taking it all in my stride and it's quite a funny start to the New Year." <br /><br />The BBC article also contains a video! See it <a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7160000/newsid_7167600/7167632.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&ms3=54&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2>here</a>.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27537815.post-20379090206518058612007-12-25T06:23:00.000-08:002007-12-26T08:46:59.632-08:00Jonathan Safran Foer Riffs on Hanukkah and Christmas (and Kwanzaa)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_jugOky73i2YcMxbmd5E0A0byuKb-tfNXZlKc5l19J1Fhwhb4TLomGoZic0yUAD351FwtrktlESjqNlkOThgOcZEX7CCWLoOVWiEjXYUZ_VqH-koKAipA-K5-vG-t9DmAZRteA/s1600-h/foer.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_jugOky73i2YcMxbmd5E0A0byuKb-tfNXZlKc5l19J1Fhwhb4TLomGoZic0yUAD351FwtrktlESjqNlkOThgOcZEX7CCWLoOVWiEjXYUZ_VqH-koKAipA-K5-vG-t9DmAZRteA/s200/foer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148291597249013330" /></a>The author of the highly-acclaimed novel <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_Is_Illuminated>Everything is Illuminated</a>, and most recently, of <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_Loud_and_Incredibly_Close>Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close</a> is known for his tongue-in-cheek humor. Here's <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Safran_Foer>Jonathan Safran Foer's</a> op-ed in the New York Times.<br /><br /><a href=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E6DF1530F930A15751C1A9639C8B63><strong>A Beginner's Guide to Hanukkah</strong></a>:<br /><br />CHRISTMAS -- Christmas is a holiday that Christian children have been given to celebrate because they aren't Jewish. Instead of eight nights of presents, there is only one. And instead of getting to eat delicious and nutritious latkes, they are forced to drink something called nog, which isn't even a real word. They touch each other's sweaters while they sing together around pianos, they get into ''the spirit,'' and here's another bad thing about Christmas that should make Jewish children excited about celebrating Hanukkah: Christmas trees are terrible fire hazards. <br /><br />SANTA CLAUS -- Santa Claus is an obese fictional being who supposedly ''visits'' Christan homes the night before Christmas for the alleged purpose of delivering ''presents'' to ''children'' who have been ''good'' the previous year. It's a bit pathetic that Christian chilldren are fed this lame make-believe, instead of having a really interesting true hero like Hanukkah Harry. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvuK0DtEPWxfyvxs5t4iweKeRxbT4yTbLzzwWNellbAi6pC0Gv-85x3fp2xxoOBkUY3Y1z9Um5OHlN9enlrBuzQ00dTPTyphx0v7qH-YPLRCSao-CZnjCYydIAmwo0pEyYtqL2Bw/s1600-h/hharry.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvuK0DtEPWxfyvxs5t4iweKeRxbT4yTbLzzwWNellbAi6pC0Gv-85x3fp2xxoOBkUY3Y1z9Um5OHlN9enlrBuzQ00dTPTyphx0v7qH-YPLRCSao-CZnjCYydIAmwo0pEyYtqL2Bw/s400/hharry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148290295873922626" /></a>HANUKKAH HARRY -- Hanukkah Harry is a real person who drops in on Jewish homes each of the eights nights of Hanukkah to deliver gifts that are in no way dependent on children's good behavior. Harry spends the off-season in Florida, Keeping out of the sun and faxing missives to Jewish craftsmen in Vietnam to make more dreidels. On Hanukkah nights, Harry flies through the sky in a 1991 Volvo 240 wagon (Champagne exterior, mocha interior), pulled by his legal team of Schlepper, Pischer & Blintzes. <br /><br />MISTLETOE -- It's hard for anyone, especially those of us who wore aviator glasses in high school, to find a problem with mistletoe. (Allergies aside.) Which is why Hanukkah Harry invented it in the first place. <br /><br />LATKES -- Latkes are a kind of oil, into which small quantities of shredded potato have been infused. <br /><br />HANUKKIAH -- A hanukkiah is like a menorah, but with room for eight candles. Or is it nine? An object of supreme importance, the hanukkiah is passed down from generation to generation and is sometimes the only item in a Jew's suitcase. If you don't have the firmest of grasps on the supreme importance of the hanukkiah, you should buy your children very expensive gifts this year. And if you don't have children, would it kill you to have some?Someone needs to inherit the hanukkiah. <br /><br />TWICE-A-YEAR JEWS WHO ARE ONCE-A-YEAR CHRISTIANS -- There is a certain kind of Jew who, despite knowing that Christmas is simply isn't his holiday, and that it would severely distress his relatives (particularly the dead ones) if he acknowledged feelings of Christmas Envy, much less acted on them, get a Christmas tree anyway. And does the leaving-a-cookie-out-for-Santa thing. And the sweaters and nog. But of course he never lets any of it interfere with the Hanukkah celebrations, whatever they are. And you have to admit, ''Silent Night'' is a seriously beautiful song. <br /><br />Then one day this twice-a year Jew who is a once-a-year Christian walks in on his children talking about Baby Jesus. So he sends them to Hebrew school, where over time, they learn Christmas Envy. And the cycle repeats itself. <br /><br />CHRISTMAS TREE -- Christians chop down trees to make houses to put trees in. The absurdity of this need not be elaborated on. Which is not even to mention that they hang perfectly dry socks over the fireplace, and rack up enormous electricity bills with the lights they put outside their houses. That's right, outside their houses. <br /><br />KWANZAA -- No one is quite sure just what Kwanzaa is. <br /><br />DECORATING THE HOUSE -- While Christmas decorations are recognizable and straightforward -- mistletoe, a tree, red-and-green knee socks above the fireplace -- no one has figured out how to decorate a Jewish home on Hanukkah. Some might say that the hanukkiah is decorations, but it isn't; the hanukkiah is a ceremonial object, with specific, non-decorative purposes. Perhaps the Stars of David that many string about are appropriate Jewish decoration? They are blatant imitations of Christmas decorating. Dreidels? They're toys. Latkes? They're food. What does it look like to celebrate Hanukkah? <br /><br />This poses the larger problem of Jewish decorating: What does a Jewish home look like? How can a Jew identify without resorting to imitation, kitsch or the display of ceremonial objects? With Chagall prints on the walls? With trinkets bought in Israel when it was hard to go to Israel? With the Philip Roth backlist on the shelf? This paper on the stoop every morning? <br /><br />Is it necessary to decorate at all? <br /><br />And if not, what do we do with that feeling of necessity? <br /><br />CHRISTMAS SPIRIT -- The following Christmas carols were written by Jews: ''O Holy Night'' (Adolphe Adam), ''Christmas Song'' (Mel Torme), ''White Christmas'' (Irving Berlin), ''Let It Snow, Let It Snow'' (Sammy Cahn and Jules Styne), ''Silver Bells'' (Jay Livingston and Ray Evans), and ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' (Johnny Marks). The Grinch in ''The Grinch That Stole Christmas'' WASN'T Jewish, but the composer, Albert Hague, was. No one has contributed more to Christmas spirit than the Jews. We contributed the birthday boy himself, for God's sake. <br /><br />Window displays are always more attractive than the gifts you receive -- even if you receive what was in the window. Jews engage Christmas in its ideal form: for the outside. Unspoiled by family friction, or commerce, or anxiety about the wrong gift, we can experience the purest spirit. Someone else's spirit that we compose music for. And look at from the other side of the window. Christians should envy us envying them. <br /><br />HANUKKAH SPIRIT -- Hanukkah spirit is the Christmas spirit as experienced by Jews. <br /><br />HANUKKAH GUILT -- You don't pay enough attention to your grandparents, or your parents, or spouse, or siblings, or children or dog. Or yourself, for that matter. Your life has no meaning. You can't even remember just what, exactly, a hanukkiah is, even though one was schlepped acre=oss an ocean for you. <br /><br />HANUKKAH GELT -- The only known antidote to Hanukkah guilt. <br /><br />THE GREAT MIRACLE THAT HAPPENED THERE -- In the second century before the Common Era, the Maccabees led a rebellion against the Greek occupiers. Against all odds, and outnumbered 20 to 1, the scrappy band of Jews was victorious. The temple in Jerusalen was reclaimed, and the hanukkiah (then known as a simple menorah) was lighted in celebration, using the scant oil that was found lying around. It shouldn't have been enough to burn through the night, but when the sun rose the next morning, the flame was still going strong. It burned through the third night, and the fourth and the fifth. The oil lasted eight nights. A great miracle happened there. <br /><br />THE GREAT MIRACLE, CONTINUED -- It lasted a ninth night, and a 10th and a 20th. After a month, the hanukkian began to melt under the heat of the miracle it proclaimed. It spilled over the bimah and onto the floor. The fire spread, Hallelujah! The stained-glass windows were illuminated to those standing outside, watching the miracle engulf and swallow the building, and those trapped within it. The fore spread -- the chosen people, we are a light unto the nations! -- and has yet to be stamped out in many places. It is unknown just when we can be expected to get back to normal, non-miraculous living. <br /><br />DREIDEL -- The dreidel is a spinning toy, painstakingly fashioned out of plastic polymer by Jewish craftsmen in Vietnam. Used for tabletop gambling games during Hanukkah, the dreidel often ends up on the floor and sometimes in the dog's small intestine. There is a Hebrew letter on each of the dreidel's four sides. These letters abbreviate the statement: Spin it again. You have no idea what is means. You spin it again. You try to make sense of it. Spin it again? You spin it again. <br /><br />THE MYSTERIES OF HANUKKAH -- What, exactly, does the dreidel have to do with Hanukkah? Why is Hanukkah celebrated like this only in the United States? Why is Hanukkah a minor holiday and not a High Holy Day, and why are we proud of that, and why don't act we act as though it's minor, and why are we worried about decorating our homes? Is it possible to celebrate Hanukkah without succumbing to imitation, kitsch or commerce? Is there anything morally inconsistent, as Jews and as American, in celebrating a holiday that is ostensibly about the removal of occupiers? Could Hanukkah exist without Christmas? <br /><br />Like all Jewish Mysteries, the mysteries of Hanukkah can be taken in one of two ways: they can serve either to undermine or sustain. The questions frustrate some to the point of walking away. Some find resolution in the questions themselves. <br /><br />Is there any good reason to continue to celebrate Hanukkah? <br /><br />If you have to ask, then no. <br /><br />Is there any good reason to continue to celebrate Hanukkah? <br /><br />If you have to ask, then yes. <br /><br />Jonathan Safran Foer is the author, most recently, of ''Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.'' <br /><br />Here's the <a href=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E6DF1530F930A15751C1A9639C8B63>link</a> to the December 23rd op-ed.Gillian Coldsnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09784346633321618779noreply@blogger.com0