PolitiCook.net

The CSA Media Hype… Think Localer…

YES! CSAs are a wonderful and necessary step toward a more sustainable way of life that we all must embrace. Yes! But, they are getting shoehorned into a model, and getting suddenly and sorely pressured.

There are just not enough of them of scale (Centennial Farm sized) right now, and all the media push toward them is going to hurt the whole excellent idea by overwhelming it.

This will be corporatized soon, I fear. I see “Whole Foods Own Exclusive CSA Produce Bundles– Variety Priced Right!” CSA.com bubble here we come, so it is good to bring the CSA radius closest to home. I hate to sound like the Concern Troll, but, the push is pretty severe, especially right now.

PSSSSST!!! I’ve got a hot little secret for you– CSA is short for “Community Supported Agriculture,” and dig this– you can do it on a neighborhood level. Read more »

A New Constitition II, with Respect to the other One

Crossposted at Dailykos.com

My initial entry in this series was not what I would call shown a carpet of roses on which to tread, but it did perform the intended purpose of getting people to think. I will continue tonight.

We will begin with Article I, and cover as much of it as reasonably possible in this space. As always, the original text is shown in blockquote, the replacement wording in normal text, and my reasoning in italics. To make long sections easier to follow, I will slice and dice up paragraphs after the blockquote.

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Paradigm Shifts, Y2K and the Green Blowback

While muddling through a pile of throw-away books at work yesterday, I found this: The Complete Y2K Home Preparation Guide. And oh what a gem it is!

Now, bear in mind that I’ve been haunting online survivalist enclaves and befriending well-armed mountain men for years now, so it’s pretty hard to catch my eye. But this book did, not because it’s the best out there — far from it — but because, beyond its TEOTWAWKIness, it contains countless useful links.

So I grabbed it and tucked it into my bag, to be added to my ever expanding collection of dystopia-wrangling tools.

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Asking your help

Friends,

My daughter is getting married in March or April of next year. She is marrying her long time friend-they are both 30. She’s in TX, I’m in WA. We need some input into what makes a wedding special. It’s not money or flash, I know a few things. but what do you think?

What weddings have been special to you? We do have the option of indoors or outdoors.

Thanks for your input.

Green Lollies for a Clean Conscience!

Want to buy a day’s worth of carbon offsets with your chocolate bar? How about donating to breast cancer research with your breath mints? Or saving the animals with a candy dispenser?

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Think Twice Before Drinking Energy Drinks!

Clinicians should consider screening energy drink use in their patients to ensure a greater understanding of the possible impacts of long-term exposure to the high-dose caffeinated products, new findings have suggested. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts’ Division of Medical Toxicology, reviewed how the products’ ingredients are absorbed, digested and then expelled from a body amidst concerns over increased reports of caffeine poisoning.

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Speculators Pushing Up Food Prices?

My email box this morning bristled with an inordinate amount of messages from various food agencies but the one that I opened up straight away came from the FAO, with a link to their latest pdf prepared & published for next week’s high level conference on world food security in Rome. Speculators outside of the food industry pouring money into financial mechanisms in the commodity markets could be cause for concern.

In a far-reaching report on global food prices, the UN questions the contribution of institutional investors to the recent turmoil in commodity markets.

“A key concern now is the participation of new agents that are perceived to be motivated by risk-diversification to the exclusion of serious assessment of price levels.”

A month ago I wrote a diary which, gasp, dared to suggest that indeed there was a tidal wave of investors and speculators pouring into the futures markets for corn, wheat, rice and other commodities and who were driving up prices. Read more »

The Gardener’s Medicine Cabinet: Heat Exhaustion

With an eye to Peak Oil, global warming and spiraling costs, I’ve been relying on fans and haven’t yet put in the window air conditioners for the season. But, alas, the time has come.

True, the houndie grrl is thriving, which, I suppose, is to be expected, given her coonhoundy pedigree. But Moose Boy (aka my lab) and I are suffering. He’s starting to really drag and is going through gallons of water a day. Unfortunately, this morning, I woke up downright nauseated.

Not a good sign. And I have way too much to do over the next month or so to live in front of the giant fan or become debilitated in any way. So Chore One is putting in one of the air conditioners and getting myself recharged. Read more »

Red Wine’s the Drug!

I knew it! Fresh evidence that supports the potential protective health properties of wine with a US study suggesting a glass of red wine a day could actually protect against liver disease. People who drank up to one glass of wine a day saw the risk of liver disease due to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) cut in half, report researchers at California university’s San Diego School of Medicine, who carried out a study of nearly 12,000 individuals. Don’t drink the whole bottle though!

NAFLD, almost unknown over two decades ago, is the most common liver disease in the US. Affecting over 40 million adults in the US alone, its prevalence is expected to grow worldwide as nations become increasingly obese. Read more »

McCain Watch: Another Iran Gaffe!

McCain’s New Iran Gaffe: If The ‘Average American’ Thinks Ahmadinejad Is In Control Of Iran, Then So Do I!

Yesterday, the Wonk Room’s Matt Duss noted that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) often incorrectly portrays Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as if Ahmadinejad has a significant role in formulating Iranian foreign policy. He doesn’t. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran’s National Security Council set Iran’s foreign policy.

Yesterday, Time’s Joe Klein pressed McCain on the issue, but McCain refused to concede he was wrong, saying he disagreed that Khamenei runs Iranian policy behind the scenes. McCain added that because the “average American” thinks Ahmadinejad is Iran’s leader, that’s good enough for him:

MCCAIN: I mean, the fact is [Ahmadinejad’s] the acknowledged leader of that country and you may disagree, but that’s a uh, that’s your right to do so, but I think if you asked any average American who the leader of Iran is, I think they’d know.

Well the average American, Mr El Stupido, happens to know that the power in Iran rests with the Ayatollah, and has been for the last, oh well, three decades. And this is the guy who wants to be the president?