Olympic sponsorship, China, and Darfur

SaveDarfur.org sends out emails asking people to send messages to political and corporate leaders, pressuring them to take this or that action toward helping Sudan. They give you pre-written messages you can use, or you can change them up and make them your own. The other day they issued a call to write Olympic corporate sponsors and ask them to put pressure on China, as China is in a very influential position with Sudan but currently isn't using their position to help stop the genocide. So I changed up SaveDarfur's message a little bit and sent my email off to coke, swatch, vw, and GE with one click of a button. I got a reply back from Coke today, a stock response that I later saw is an actual press release on their web site. I think it's pretty interesting, and I'll leave it at that. Coke's press release

Well, I guess I won't leave it at that. Maybe a few hundred thousand lives are worth a disruption in Olympic spirit this year. I understand what Coke is saying about the Olympics being a stronghold of unity in the world, and about the Olympic truce making it possible for nations of very 'disparate points of view' to come together even momentarily for something pretty spectacular ... but is there a limit? Would you take kindly to event hosts who had just sold weapons to the group of men who shot your entire family and burned their house down, but first gang raped your mom, your sister, and your daughter? I don't really want to declare a truce with those people. I'll pray for them, but I don't want to a truce with them. Support of genocide is not a 'disparate point of view.' That's like calling the Olympics a junior high track meet.

Now, I'm not saying people should boycott the Olympics or that these companies shouldn't support the Olympics. But I do take issue with a company who believes (or at least states) that pressure on China will not help Darfur, or who suggests that a private company is out of its place to act in any way that doesn't make the most financial sense. It of course would make financial sense for Coke to keep China happy and ruffle no feathers, gliding through the next few months on the highs of pride, competitive spirit, and unity that generally come with the games. But no company, or other entity, is out of place trying——trying, even if not effective——to stop human suffering, especially if the opportunity to do so is staring them right in the face. It's great to do X number of things to help, but if your capacity and moral obligation to help is X + 1 ...

It would be fair of Coke to read this and ask me, then, why I'm eating out for lunch and not donating that $ to relief groups, or why I'm not working for Doctors Without Borders or Oxfam. I don't pretend to have answers to that. I don't know where the line is, where 'X + 1' becomes finite and doesn't lead to X + 2 or X + 3 and so on. I guess we all have to live with making it finite where we choose to. For Darfur, or any other issue in which we're capable of helping.

"Plants have a secret social life."

I read this article this morning and thought it was worth posting. It's about plant 'behavior' and a recent study that found some plants recognize related species and react to them differently than non-related—-something even many animals cannot do.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/science/10plant.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Kind of like how TJ Maxx overwhelms me

I find myself overwhelmed trying to discern what candidates actually believe on different topics. There's so much information, in so many places--even just within a candidate's official web site--that it's hard to know how to make sense of it, how to know you're finding everything he/she has out there on the topic, how to compare it to another candidate when that other candidate has organized and categoried his/her stances in a different way. And it's hard to tell how the info gatekeepers have affected the info and the reader's interpretation of it. I can read who voted for this bill and denounced that one till my eyes fall out (heaven forbid), but without the right context, can we really put much stock into all that listing of votes, pulling of isolated quotations, and whatnot? The context might be able to be found, but it's buried somewhere in that sea of links and related articles. Don't get me wrong; I'd rather have too much information, laid out in platitudes and vetted by campaign writers to ensure just the right balance of detail and complete lack of detail all at the same time, than too little information. But I wish I didn't get overwhelmed thinking I must take every issue important to me and weigh the candidates in complete parallel fashion, with all the relevant facts and details fully and objectively revealed to me, so that I can make the best decision, one that I can be 100% confident is the decision that best fits my agenda ... because I'm pretty convinced that's just not possible, at least for me. And I don't think that's pessimism as much as a realism that on most other days eludes me.

Oh, so I'm voting for your cat.

I think I'll have the ... water. Oh—and with a side of water, please.

From an article:

"Restaurant food is bad for us. You may assume that anything you order at a drive-thru is less than sterling in a nutritional sense, but, in fact, the majority of what we eat at restaurants — even ones with helpful waiters and real tablecloths — is worse for us than we might ever imagine.

A study from the University of Arkansas that found the average diner in this country underestimates his or her caloric intake by up to 93 percent when eating out. Translation: Every time you eat at a restaurant, you're probably eating twice as much as you think."

Yikes! Now, i'm always a little wary of stats that say "up to" x percent ... but still pretty interesting.

Too lazy to walk 20 feet to the door, really?

Would it be unreasonable to find out where my neighbor's ride to school lives, go to her house each morning 30 minutes before her alarm goes off, and honk my horn twice right outside her bedroom window?

Wednesday, April 9

Afflatus is from Latin afflatus, past participle of afflare, "to blow at or breathe on," from ad-, "at" + flare, "to puff, to blow." Other words with the same root include deflate (de-, "out of" + flare); inflate (in-, "into" + flare); soufflé, the "puffed up" dish (from French souffler, "to puff," from Latin sufflare, "to blow from below," hence "to blow up, to puff up," from sub-, "below" + flare); and flatulent.

Looking for organically grown rosemary in Kosciusko county?

A coworker showed me this Web site today, and it's kind of interesting: www.inmarketmaker.com It "connects farmers, distributors, food retailers, & consumers." The part I thought was most useful to general consumers is in the 'Begin your Search' section. Click that, then in the 'Find a Business' drop-down menu choose 'producers/farmers.' From there you can select the type of product you're interested in (meats, herbs, etc.), any product attributes you want (organic, hormone-free, etc.), and how locally you want to search (county, state, etc.), and it'll generate a list of sources for you. There's also a place to search for farmers markets (in the 'Find a Business' menu). Pretty great!

how much is a pair of pants worth?

I visited Kyle Nobbe this weekend. He's in downtown Cincinnati, in Over the Rhine, which is not the fanciest part of town. As I walked out to my car to leave yesterday, there were 3 men passing time sitting along the sidewalk and street area a few feet behind my car, and another one sleeping at the side of one of the buildings. They'd been there when i arrived a couple hours earlier, and they were there when i left. I said hi, but all i was thinking was that my scrubby clothes consisted of $30 Adidas swoosh pants. I was walking up to these guys wearing $30 name brand lounging pants.

My bad idea is better than your bad idea

I realize I tend to post things that bother me a bit more often than I post positive things. Which kind of amuses me, as there's so much I enjoy in life that I could write about. even when i do post on positive things, like being kinder than necessary, it's with an inherent suppostion that people are not doing enough of this already. oops. :) Perhaps I'll see what I can do about posting more positive things. But not now. Now I have some more complaining to do ...

Who thought that a show called 'My dad is better than your dad' was a good idea? I recognize that kids have influences other than tv, but do we really need a tv show inculcating young folks with the idea that one person is 'better' than another based on his ability to complete physical tasks or answer trivia questions? is that kind of familial patriotism (i straight up stole that phrase from c.s. lewis) healthy, when it's in the context of putting down another family? when it embarrasses the likely 'leader' of another family?

beyond that, it just grates on my need for harmony, i guess. the idea of these dads feeling like they've let their kids down as they get eliminated b/c they couldn't lift as much or didn't know as much on a certain topic ... it just makes me uncomfortable,and makes me feel awful for the ones who lose straight away. i know it's all a game and it's all for ratings, but even by titling the show they way they have, they're helping further the notion that achievement determines worth--even if only by giving that kind of notion a spot in a in kid's mind. even if the producers explain to kids that the show doesn't mean anything, they've still introduced yet again the notion kids pick up from so many other sources--that it's external manifestations that determine worth, not internal attributes. and by this re-introduction, they can inadvertently be lending it credence in the sponge that is a kid's brain.

humor my aside here ...
in psychology, there's a term for this inadvertent influence ... though i can't think of it now ... when mere re-introduction of a concept that already has a place in a person's schemas helps to bolster that idea--even when it's being presented in a negative light. like when a mom one day tells her young daughter how bad ice cream is for her, and even though it's being presented as something negative, the daughter then wants some ice cream. or, in another vein, take racism--some believe that if we just stopped talking about it so much, kids would not even realize that racism is an option to them; keep bringing it into their awareness, however, and you take the risk that they'll adopt it. (i'm personally not suggesting we shouldn't talk about it, btw.) so, in the tv show's case, let's say they actually do tell the kids that physical strength does NOT make one dad better than the other; even still, just the mention of that--just the mere title and game concept themselves--will re-introduce into the kids' consciousness the fact that there IS a concept out there by which strength makes one dad better than the other. and the producers run the risk of inadvertently reinforcing that idea in their contestants and viewers.

oh my, i didn't intend to write this much. i began when the show started, and it's over now. talk about inadvertent ... i watched the whole thing. i actually had a couple more topics to complain about in this post, but i think i've said quite enough. :)

Good things to remember

There are good things to remember, and I think this is one of them. It was at the bottom of a forward I got this morning.

'Be kinder than necessary, because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'

ouch!

a little bit ago i was in a meeting with two coworkers. one of them said something about 'two-thirty,' and as i pictured my hand coming up to my jaw and recited the joke in my head (i'm a little too new to be foisting jokes on people here ... yet) i realized my teeth really did hurt. i'd just gotten back from the dentist. the one time of the year that i can put sincere emotion and genuine inflection into the delivery of that joke, and it's wasted because the opportunity reveals itself in front of strangers. go figure.

however, i think i'm going to get braces again. so i'll soon have monthly opportunities to grab my jaw in genuine pain.

Eggs!

In case you've ever wondered what all the labels on different egg cartons actually mean, here's a list (from the same site that had the cow video):
http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/pubs/animal_welfare_claims_on_egg_cartons.html

I've read before that the ones labeled organic are the most decently treated and healthiest, all things considered. Probably explains why they're the most expensive.

Ethical buying

Hmmm ... ConAgra is here in Dining today, doing their sales pitch. How do I feel about that? I don't appreciate their business practices, and they're part of the reason I don't eat beef and try to buy my meat locally.

On a similar note, the evening news last night had a story exposing unethical/unsafe practices for getting sick animals accepted at slaughterhouses; a hidden camera showed pretty disturbing tactics for getting animals past the rules that are put in place to prevent cows with mad-cow and other diseases from getting into the food chain. http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7798872 (click on the 'graphic evidence' link in story for the video). For example, cows who couldn't stand on their own being dragged through inspection. The story says, "The US Department of Agriculture says it's investigating the allegations of abuse, but claims there is no immediate health risk." So please explain—how do you know there's no immediate health risk? I know there are lots of reasons a cow might not be able to stand, but mad cow is one of them. Maybe he meant to say, "We hope there's no immediate health risk." These happened to be animals whose meat was going into Indiana's school lunches.

Sometimes when people ask why I don't eat beef, I have a hard time coming up with an answer that doesn't make me sound like a conspiracy theorist or a left-wing nut; but this kind of story, and numerous others like it, are why.

By the way ...

I feel like clarifying--With all the talk about 'anti-smoker sentiment' out there recently, I want to make sure people know my beef is with tobacco companies, not with smokers. Yes, I would love smokers to quit, primarily for their health, but also so that their (many) dollars are not supporting tobacco companies. But my anger is toward the companies that promote and sell cigarettes, the people who sit down at the table and strategize ways to pull in more customers and develop whatever product—no matter how unsafe—will generate more revenue (several examples of that in the article below).

Kudos, Philip Morris International. Your caring spirit—you know, the one in your PSAs—shines again.

I have a hard time expressing how angry/sad/hurt I get when I'm reminded of the purpose of tobacco companies, so I won't even try this time. But here's the culprit in my latest surge of anti-tobacco soapboxing. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120156034185223519.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone

Another reason KEXP is pretty great:

http://www.kexp.org/support/ownapiece07.asp

Ceremonies for the unceremonious

I want to start having ceremonies for normally uncelebrated, even unrecognized, happenings. This is perhaps too much information, but you know those Big Lots underwear I bought that got holes in them the first time i washed them? I'm sure you don't. I'd like to have a throwing-away ceremony for them. It would end with a pledge to never buy undergarments at Big Lots again, followed by snacks. Attendees will always be wecome at my ceremonies, if I happen to announce them. And I'll be open to suggestions for ceremony-deserving mundanities, should you have any.

kexp.org

Every once in a while a station out of Seattle that I listen to, www.kexp.org, enlists listener help to promote the member-supported, commercial-free (at least when streamed) station. So, here I am doing my part to thank them for providing a great mix of interesting music the likes of which I've not found anywhere else. I especially like listening to the 'variety mix' in the a.m. So far today, a sampling of what they've played: Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Elliott Smith, The Narrator, Bright Eyes, Dead Can Dance, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, The National ... If you tune in, be sure to pull up the playlist page at the same time so you can find out what you're hearing; it's often new stuff/newer artists. I'd never heard of half of those I just listed, but they were great. KEXP has tons of other cool features too to help educate folks about music, not just play it for them. Check out the 'learn' section of the site for that. Plus, being out of Seattle, you can stir up all those warm (yet very cool) fuzzy feelings you have for '90s music. Has anyone seen my flannel shirt?