A fascinating article on the Syrian reactor

If you can recall the non-incident, incident involving an alleged fission reactor in Syria a few years ago you might find this article in Salon a fascinating read. Nothing like another good Mossad spy story. Whether you buy into the analysis is more a question of what you think the various players involved are thinking or not thinking these days.

How Israel destroyed Syria's Al Kibar nuclear reactor

Thoughts on Bon Appetit

Well, I finished my last issue of Gourmet and just two days ago received my first two issues of Bon Appetit (which Conde Nast is offering to all Gourmet subscription holders).

Here is my snap judgment: it's just not the same.

Bon Appetit lacks the sense of travel and adventure of Gourmet. It has too many recipes, not enough food writing. It is in a sense like the difference between Road Bike Action (a magazine filled with stats and bike reviews) and Bicycling, which spends more time talking about adventures to have on your bicycle. I think if I wanted Food TV magazine, I would have ordered it.

I will give it a few more months, perhaps with the demise of Gourmet they will tweak the format a bit, but at the moment I am disappointed.

They shot my horse - Gourmet z"l

Well not really, but Conde Nast is taking Gourmet out back and putting a gun to its head. It might make financial sense, but I don't think I will ever feel the same sense of grandeur and delight reading Bon Appetite.

Gourmet Magazine, may your memory be a blessing z"l

More on the sad news over at the NYT.

Why I might never order another hamburger

Even for people like myself who have read Upton Sinclair, Fast Food Nation, Michael Pollan and much more this article was pretty scary.

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection

Gay in Middle School?

Just read this fascinating piece in the NYT about kids coming out of the closet in middle school. Thinking about my own middle schools years in rural Wisconsin it seems all but unimaginable that there could have been anyone "out" in those days. Of course almost all of the friends I had thought might be gay later came out in college- but middle school, no way.

New Project

For anyone who has enjoyed my food based musings I am working on a new blog with my old friend Amiee, find it at jewishfood.wordpress.com

An App for that?

Random thought, for all of the frequent readers of Salon and other on-line publications. There should be an app that blocks Netflix pop-ups (which occur even while running the latest version of Firefox). I don't want to deny Netflix their paid for advertisements, but I already have an account with them.

Deep dish pizza while camping

As someone who has taken the single pot method of cooking to some extremes in the past I felt that this camping trip should live up to the tradition. That said, I wanted to try something new and had the idea to try making a Chicago style deep dish pizza in my dutch oven over a camp stove. A quick Google of the idea yielded almost no guidance. So I offer my experience here for the edification of the next person to give it a try.

Dough:
I made and froze a half pound dough before I left, along with about a cup of marinara sauce. My dough is a simple 1lb flour, 1 tb salt, 1 tb brown sugar, 2 tsp yeast and 1+ cup of water. This was half that.

At the campsite I oiled my dutch oven, stretched the dough and placed it inside the oven working it up the sides. The trick I discovered here is that the dough wants to fall back into the center so you need to have all the fillings close by and ready. I placed a layer of large cheese slices in first, followed by my other fillings, then sauce and then a final layer of cheese.

I baked it on my lowest setting for about an hour. Upon removal I discovered that yes, the crust had baked but that part of the bottom was burned. All of the fillings were hot, the cheese was molten and the side crust was great.

When I attempt this again I will try to spread the heat a bit, perhaps with a heat tamer between the stove and the oven. Or, I could do it in the coals of the fire.

Back from camping

Went camping with the family for the last few days. It was oddly refreshing to have some intense heat (as I write this the sun is finally breaking through the Bay Area fog at 11 am) and to be off the grid for a few days. We camped at Del Valle, a reservoir and park managed by the East Bay Regional Parks district outside of Livermore CA.

I took my bike (actually I had four hung on the back of the car) and took the opportunity to ride in a new area since this is further south than I can roam normally. I rode up Mines Rd, which much to my surprise ran a good 20+ miles uphill from the 700 ft at the park entrance up to 2600 ft just south of the Santa Clara county line.

It was some really good riding though, a weekday morning and the number of cars and bikes encountered did not exceed my total number of fingers and toes over the course of nearly four hours of riding out and back. The road was quiet, the landscape charming and I even spotted a few jack rabbits and wild turkeys trying to decide if I was intent on chasing them. I did have a passing thought about the chance of a mountain lion being in the area, but decided with the large number of deer they would be well fed without me in their diet.

Convergence

Convergence of my two favorite subjects: food and bicycles -

Five-Star Tour Cuisine for Guys Who Eat and Ride

Some additional Tour chatter

So amongst the usual tour chatter with coverage from the NYT, lots of video coverage (see below) there are some nice background stories that emerge during the tour that otherwise would not get written in other seasons. So if you ever wondered why Lance Armstrong rides for Astana (sponsored by the glorious nation of Kazakhstan- insert Borat joke here) this little snippet from the New Republic might help fill in the gaps. It all comes down to who you work with (in this case Bruyneel) rather than who you work for.

Where I'll be for the next few weeks

Tour de France, live streaming.

http://tdf.sbs.com.au/tdf2009/

Update:
That link isn't working anymore. So try this for a list of possible links to live video:

http://www.cyclingfans.com/live_race_coverage

The burger has its "bacon" treatment in the NYT

I think the real question you have to ask yourself after reading this article on burger construction is. "do I need a dedicated food processor for meat?"

The Perfect Burger and All Its Parts

A special nod to the mention of Gus' Pickles on the Lower East Side. For of those not familiar with it, go rent Crossing Delancey where it has a supporting role.

No rest for anyone, even when you are told to

There is a nice article in the NYT about how people are coping (or not) with work furloughs. For those of you not familiar with the idea, think of them as mini-layoffs. You get a couple of days of unpaid leave and hopefully the aggregate savings your employer enjoys allows them to keep you on the payroll. I have a friend who works for an agency that is contemplating this measure and I have met others whose companies have gone as far as shutting down for a month as a way of coping with a fall off in business.

The article was most interesting in examing the dynamic with public employess who have not been furloughed in the true sense of the word. Rather they have just had their pay cut. Why? Well it turns out that they have to schedule their furlough days (much like a vacation or personal day) and they are so busy and short staffed that they can't get approval to take the days off. Since the days aren't covered in the normal employment scenario there are no rules to govern their use or lack there of.

In the end it says more about our desire to work (and the role that plays in our self-worth and self-image) than anything else. We all aspire to a life of leisure, but most of us would have a hard time with it even if we could.

30 Rock and the Muppets

A persuasive case for 30 Rock being a rip-off of the old Muppet Show. Now if they could get John Denver to do a guest spot...

How smart is it to have a smart phone?

So I have a smart phone (for the curious it is an HTC S620 aka T-Mobile Dash). I have taken to using it as phone, calendar and most often as a web browser. I probably consume a good chunk of the NYT on that tiny 3 inch screen. Often sitting on BART I see fellow phone readers. They are reading e-mails. surfing the web or in the case of Iphone-ers playing games. There is a nice article in today's Times about our little "problem" and why its been a winner even is a recession.

Does this even need an entry?

Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest

A logical sequel to the bacon craze

Slate has a short piece on the return of lard. It makes sense now that bacon has been put into everything from meatloaf to chocolate. Now if I could find a recipe for pork chops deep pan fried in lard, oh there it is.

Trails riding

Does not actually involve any trails, oddly enough. Mostly it is the use of a modified mountain bike to ride over anything in the urban landscape. I just was passed this by a friend, check it out.

Danny MacAskill April 2009

Some there there

A good friend of mine sent me this article about how the Oakland food scene is taking off. SF'ers read it and weep into your overpriced mixed micro-greens.

Forget Brooks, I want to be Jeff Goldberg

A brilliant distillation of the forces weighing on the current Prime Minister of Israel

Israel’s Fears, Amalek’s Arsenal

Bike Rumours

What do you get if you crossed Engadget with Bicycling? Bike Rumor, a high volume blog about the bike industry. So, if you ever wondered hey, "when is the Hand Made Bike Show in 2010?" then this is your blog.

Visitors

I have been using Google analytics to track my blog visitors and thus far I have hits from 19 different states and one other country (Israel). Help me get to 50, take trips and read me from there. Better still, send me your frequent flier points and I will read me from there.

I want David Brooks Job!

Wow, the life of a NYT columnist is grueling. Travel the world, read books, read magazines- oh my! No, really David Brooks has hit his stride. Since the hire of Ross Douthat as the resident "conservative" David has been freed from commenting on politics in any meaningful way (which is good since he has a man-crush on Obama)

In any event, since the NYT is unlikely to call me up and offer me a writing gig, let me reccomend a reading gig. The Atlantic has an interesting story on a long term study conducted on students at Harvard in the 40's. Its worth reading if only for the insight it sheds on two subjects 1) we are rarely as fortunate as we seem 2) happiness has yet to be successfully quatified. So go enjoy yourself.

They're repainting my childhood news program

How big a nerd am I? Funny you should ask. Big enough the the old MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour was part of my daily diet (supplemented by a weekly dose of the Sunday NYT- love the Week in Review section). Anyhow they are planning a make-over for the show as revealed at the NYT today.

Most interesting factoid? That the web site reader and the program viewer groups have almost no overlap. My take, most of the viewers are not young enough to surf the web (except for all of the ones who have been set up on Facebook by their kids).

Music to my ears

The NYT has an interesting rundown on some of the efforts to build car free communities. My brother lives in one of the new planned communities that were built in the last few years. While there is still plenty of room for cars (he has a garage) the community is planned with a central green corridor that leads to the shopping center. While it makes it easier to get to the store and there is rapid bus service to the airport, he still has to drive to work.

A club to love

This just in from the NYT, guys who take their burgers seriously. Seriously, if I had the time and the Plavix I would start up a SF chapter. Turkey Burgers Don’t Count

A wee bit of pragmatism?

Khaled Meshal has granted the NYT an interview. It is, apparently, the first time in a year that he has spoken to the American press. He used this opportunity to point out a few things. First, the Hamas would stop firing rockets at Israel. Second that Hamas would be happy to have a state in the '67 boundaries (meaning Egyptian Gaza and the Jordanian West Bank). Also Hamas would not recognize Israel, but would be open to a 10 year truce.

For an organization that has been hell bent on the destruction of Israel for the last 30 years, that comes as a refreshing bit of pragmatism. But why? Could it be that Hamas feels like it might get left out in the cold if Obama manages to court the Syrians? Or what happens if the Iranians decide to get friendly (or less hostile) with the new administration? Could Hamas, the least important of Iran's clients get kicked to the curb? If so, how could Hamas forestall such a development? By doing a little outreach on its own? Of course with the current downturn the economies of Iran and Syria might not have as much room for foreign largess as they used to when oil (I know Syria doesn't have any) was $147 a barrel.

Another possible explanation is that Hamas is shrewdly playing off the fact that the new Israeli government is shaping up to be even more rejectionist than Hamas. Is Meshal trying to demonstrate to Obama that Hamas is the more rational and reasonable party to the conflict? It seems a tall order from the people who perfected the art of suicide bombing. However, when you get placed in a line up with Avigdor "Yvette" Lieberman you might have a chance.

Most interesting to me was this line "After all, the firing is a method, not a goal." Methods and goals? Is the leader of Hamas reading management theory? Is Covey available in Arabic?

Everything old is new again

Actually that is a pretty obscure reference for this post. But it holds true for me. In 1995 I visited by my thesis adviser (the recently retired Bruce Fetter) and asked him for advice. I had recently completed a program in Israel (the late, lamented WUJS Post Graduate Institute) and was thinking about embarking on a PhD program in history (I was thinking about an investigation into the historiography of American Zionism- for the truly curious). What I was hoping to hear was some suggestions for professors and programs where I could pursue such work. What I got instead was a stern warning.

Bruce, who never held a punch, gave me a quick lesson in the realities of university economics. He pointed out that upon his retirement (still more the decade off) his corner office and tenured position would simply disappear and the university would likely hire a couple of lecturers to cover his courses on a part time basis. None of them would get health benefits, a pension or any of the other traditional perks of academic life. In short it was a warning, and one I took seriously.

More than a decade later I have pursued an alternate path in another branch of the educational world, with great satisfaction. All of this becomes relevant again with the much read op-ed in the NYT over the weekend End the University as We Know It. Another salient critique of the current situation in academia, which will only become worse in the next few years.

Time to hunker down?

A new study out reports that Americans are moving from home to home at a rate not seen in years. In fact the last time this few of us moved around this little it was 1962 and there were far fewer of us then.

It was only a few months ago that we were still treated to a nightly onslaught of programs on TLC about people moving into new houses with a celebratory display of ikea wares. But that was then, this is now. Now, there is no moving up. Now, we are hunkering down.

Of course hunkering down is both a symptom and a cause of greater economic stress. A symptom as people who are worried about their financial future (even if they have jobs) start to hedge their bets by staying put in homes that they might have deemed too small, or in neighborhoods felt to no longer be desirable. That of course is one more factor in the ongoing meltdown in the housing market. Add it to the constrained credit markets and you start to see why even with a growing stock of ever cheaper homes on the market there are fewer shoppers.

But this immobility is also a cause of further stress. As people hunker down, both by not moving or shopping for smaller goods and services, they depress multiple sectors of the economy. To lure shoppers in, merchants and professionals lower their prices. Buyers then start to sense a pattern of sinking prices and realize that by holding off on a purchase a bit longer they will have greater buying power and their money will be worth more. Welcome to the wide world of deflation.

Deflation is, oddly enough, a situation where money becomes worth more. Spain is now in the early stages of what might be a deflationary spiral as prices come down in an attempt to spur business. But with little disposable income, no one is buying. Merchants, suppliers, professionals and factories shed staff, fewer can buy anything at all.

Of course the upside to deflation is that for anyone who has cash in hand it will be a buyers paradise- so hang on to your piggy bank. The US is unlikely to face such a fate however since the Fed has also said that it will issue up to one trillion dollars of debt to cover losses in various financial firms and housing loans. That is in effect printing another trillion dollars, something that in normal times would trigger inflation- where money loses its purchase power. Will the Fed, and the Obama administration be able to hold this balancing act until the bottom strikes and we start to move back up? Time will tell, but there is always the memory of the stagflation 70's to keep us up at night.

Controlled implosion

In New Orleans when confronted by the fact that an entire district of the city had been washed away (and the rest soaked deep in water) the city punted by not re-zoning the land as non-residential. The reasons for this were mostly political, the reasons to do it have mostly to due with the city's inability to safeguard against a repeat of Katrina style flooding. So today, Brad Pitt and others are building houses in the Lower Ninth and hoping that they will be high enough to stay above the water line, but not so high as to become a sail in hurricane force winds.

Flint MI has different plans afoot to deal with its shrinking population and loss of infrastructure, controlled implosion of residential and commercial districts to use less land and preserve community. Of course another outcome of rejiggering the urban landscape is the creation of less transportation needy environments. How about a LEED certified city?

If your adventure setting is over 7

If your adventure score is over a 7 and you find yourself on our local continental isthmus you should try this: A Sport Erupts on a Live Volcano in Nicaragua

Downtown on the Corner

As a result of some work I am doing I have gotten to spend a bit more time in downtown SF than I have up until now. Actually, I am spending a bit more time downtown anywhere than I have in a while. Years ago I worked in downtown Milwaukee for almost five years. When you work in a downtown area you start to take for granted the environment there. The noise, traffic, smells and the people.

There is no more striking example of a mix of people than standing on a street corner at the edge of a downtown's redevelopment zone. Right there where the suits and the homeless mix brings you an incredible range of the American experience. In San Francisco you get the added bonus of tourists of all stripes (from the backpacking college students to the families with their $800 strollers) digital cameras in hand.

So there I was standing on a street corner just beyond the fancy lunch spots and just where the transitional living facilities start taking in the parts of American society that are hidden from many of us. It is there that you are reminded that there are still a lot of people who are not only struggling, but are in many cases sliding backwards. Actually these folks were sliding backwards during the "Bush boom" (as Paul Krugman calls it) and are now in free-fall today. The coming cuts in social welfare programs, charitable giving and menial employment will undercut the few support systems that are left. The result will be more evocative of the third world than the shiny city on the bay that San Francisco wants to be. But SF is not alone. Go stand on a street corner in Oakland, Richmond or even Concord and you will see the same struggle for survival. Even the Safeway in my neighborhood has acquired a few resident pan-handlers, sitting outside on the bench with a constant request for small change.

You might well ask, what can be done? Well in addition to all the volunteering that is going on these days (which is laudatory) I would encourage folks to continue to donate in whatever way they can to agencies that are engaged in direct service. Also, people might want to start thinking about how the tax structure of our communities, counties and states has contributed to the current problem. Think Global- Act Local.

More cycling news upon us, we have been discovered!

Good news, cycling to work is officially a trend as deemed by no less than the New York Times (or "The Paper" to its friends). Now, as someone who never rode to work in a suit (or even a tie) I cannot vouch for how good an idea it is to risk your dry cleaning bill to the elements of the city streets. But it goes without saying that more exposure for non-oil burning alternatives in urban areas are good ones. My big gripe is the reporter's focus on Dutch bicycles (it was the style angle). For my money style points should also go to the old school Cannondale city bikes that were made with bent wood fenders in the 90's. Electra cycles has a much more Cali hipster vibe (not surfer, more punk writer) but are a homegrown phenomenon nonetheless. Also there should be a bit more attention paid to the emerging single-speed scene. Not the messenger fixee no brakes part of it. But the more refined offerings like Haro's Beasley which comes in a single speed and 1x9 configuration. And we would be seriously remiss if I did not mention the champion of retro design and the company that made upright riding hip, Rivendale.

Well then, perhaps we could get congress to recognize bicycle purchases as eligible for commuter Flex funds just like parking and transit passses. Call your representatives and demand action.

Bike Month and some questions

So, for those of you who are unaware, May is BIKE month. That's a whole fun month for those of us who derive spiritual bliss from those two wheeled human powered vehicles. Of course during May, and the other 11 months of year we still get to dodge traffic, put up with poorly maintained roads and the occasional moron who has confused his privilege of driving a car with a right to run everyone else off the road.

When oil prices where up to $140/barrel last year many of us in the cycling world (especially the cycle commuter set) were pretty sure that for some parts of the US northern European style cycling was just around the corner. But with the drop in oil removing the incentive for people to reconsider their driving habits (and the fact that buying a bike does not seem like a good move in a recession) one might wonder where exactly we are headed. But all of the upsides remain. More bikes=fewer cars. Fewer cars=less oil purchased from non-democratic regimes, fewer greenhouse gases and of course healthier people (which also saves a lot of money).

As many before me have noted, most of America is set up to make driving the easiest option. Big parking lots, freeways, suburbs, even office parks are all a byproduct of how people move from place to place. There have been a few stabs in the other direction. The newer bridges here in the Bay Area have bike lanes (including the new Bay bridge- whenever its finished), many cities have designated bike lanes and bike streets. All that is great, but it does not seem to be making a dent in the amount of traffic headed down I-80 each morning. So, short of uprooting 50+ years of infrastructure what can we do to effect this change? We could jack up taxes on cars or oil (a carbon tax?) but that might be a tough sell in the middle of a huge recession.

How about providing more tax incentives to cycle commuters? Perhaps a depreciation schedule for bicycles used for commuting. How about a tax incentive to live within 10 miles of your job? That alone might not only encourage smaller commutes (and more cyclists) but also help to stabilize communities in cities that are otherwise suffering from brain-drain and capital flight.

Imagine if on your tax form you had a chance to take a credit based on your distance from work? This would not be a tax on your commute, but a credit for not having one. I am sure there is someone out there who could do the math and tell me if this is practical.

Free-Range Trichinosis?

Ok, everyone once in a while the NYT crosses the line with its op-ed lineup from interesting perspectives not often considered by regular readers, to the typewritten equivalent of the infomercial.

James McWilliams piece on the 9th was one such piece of rubbish. Without delving too deeply into the numerous bits of flotsam and jetsam that McWilliams places in our path (I am sorry he won't try wild boar) lets reduce his argument to its little tiny nub. As he puts it:

IS free-range pork better and safer to eat than conventional pork? Many consumers think so. The well-publicized horrors of intensive pig farming have fostered the widespread assumption that, as one purveyor of free-range meats put it, “the health benefits are indisputable.” However, as yet another reminder that culinary wisdom is never conventional, scientists have found that free-range pork can be more likely than caged pork to carry dangerous bacteria and parasites.

So here it is, the quality of life of pigs (and their flavor) is less important than eliminating a disease that is easily dealt with by cooking and engaging in safe food handling procedures. That's it. What is he defending? Industrial hog production. What does that give us? Well for starters, very unhealthy pigs. Now, I am not sure about McWilliams but as a child my parents kept a sow that we bred each year. Pigs (as opposed to wild boar) are a domesticated species. They seem to be at their happiest rooting, wallowing and being with other pigs. Pigs are perhaps the most intelligent of the barnyard animals (even exceeding horses- who I am told are roughly as smart as a 3 year old which explains many horse temper tantrums). Are they, and we, better off when instead of being free to do these things they are confined to small pens and subjected to so much stress that their systems are flooded with cortisol (to a point where some say that it affects the flavor of the meat). Also, what of the giant lagoons of pig shit that litter the Midwestern landscape? Perhaps those too are to be explained away by the bogyman of trichinosis.

The truth be told, it is long overdue that consumers take a good hard look at the meat (and everything else) in the supermarket and contemplate exactly how much fuel, toil and suffering is represented in a box of cheap bacon.

But let me be clear, this is not an argument for vegetarianism. I would only suggest that McWilliams and everyone else be willing to look that animal in the eye before you eat it. But the real hand tip about McWilliams' true agenda is revealed at the very end where we are promised that he is hard at work on a book about the terrible things that locovore movement will visit upon us.

Was there a prince in Egpyt?

Well its Passover again, and its yearly infliction on the digestive systems of the Jewish people as we struggle to find fiber substitutes for our oatmeal. As part of our family observance my kids like to watch the Dreamworks movie, the Prince of Egypt. It is by far the best of the many movies about the exodus story with great art, good music and a basic adherence to the biblical text.

Of course the one thing it cannot overcome is the factual basis of the exodus story overall. It is at this time every year that Slate or someone else feels the need to run a piece on how the exodus story might have happened (the darkness was a eclipse, the Red sea was actually a small lake and the parting an odd wind). But none of these work-arounds can get around the big problem. There is no evidence that the Jews were ever in Egypt in the first place.

And that lack of evidence, both in the Egyptian archives and the absence of physical remains (600,000 people schlepping across the desert would leave a wide trail, even thousands of years later) is compounded by the chronology problem.

Simply put, the window of opportunity for the exodus exists between Ramses II construction of the cities of P'tom and Ramses (he ascends the throne in 1290 bce, and the bible mentions these cities as being built by the Israelites) and Merenptah's campaign in the Levant circa 1208 bce. There he mentions Israel as one of the people/places he has laid waste to during the course of re-subjugating the area to Egyptian rule. It is actually the first written reference to Israel anywhere and certainly provides evidence of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel for over 3000 years (take that, revisionists).

So, that leaves a short 80 year period for the exodus and 40 years in the desert to have occurred. Therefore, all of the events described in the book of Joshua (i.e. the conquest of the land of Israel) should be reflected in the archeological record. This is simply not the case. Many places, especially Jericho and HaAi are simply not inhabited at this time. Others like Hazor were not burned or destroyed at this time (it's easy to see ash in the strata).

Nonetheless, its a great ritual and a great story of national origin. It might be that is more myth than fact- but it is a 2000 year old ritual (the seder) and a wonderful way to celebrate family and community. Perhaps most importantly, its ours. Our ritual, our collective memory and our own story of redemption and origin- that makes it worth celebrating. Even without a mention in the royal archive.

Now, if I could just find a high fiber corn cereal.

Go nuts for the Food section

The Atlantic now has a large food section with blogs, reviews and all sorts of fun food thinking. From the joys of press pot coffee to the thoughts of Bill Niman there is plenty here to chew on.

The New York Times Discovers Neuro-Science

There is a convergence going on over at the NYT over the last few days. First, this interesting article on how researchers are unlocking the chemistry of memory, and have demonstrated how to disrupt that reaction in lab rats (i.e. induced amnesia) Fascanating, but for a longer view about the origins of the field (which is not as new as the NYT thinks), a good read is Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain--and How it Changed the World.

Of course for those of you of a more philosophical bent, please read David Brooks this weekend as he muses about the evolutionary roots of morality. Its actually an interesting question, I have often held that morality is simply a construct we use to identify the line where we cease to believe that the ends justifies the means.

Unfortunately for the absolutists out there, that line moves. It moves for each individual and every society. It changes for each action, big or small. Can I take this penny off the floor? Can I eat the last piece of bacon? Is it OK to plunder the pension fund of a small town in east Kansas? All of these questions require making a decision about ends and means. Draw that circle too tightly and you will cease to be effective in the world. Draw it too wide and you risk becoming a monster. According to the people Brooks is speaking with, those choices are influenced by two competing ideas. The idea of competition with other groups of people balanced against cooperation within our own group.

I believe that ultimately all human behavior can be reconciled in some way to an evolutionary imperative, our task at this stage of our history is to figure out what they are without resorting to the easy answers of theology or compulsion.

After all, the first step towards a cure is identifying the problem.

David and Jonathan

So, for those of you who have not caught wind of this there is a new drama series on NBC, called Kings. It is a modern rendition of the story of the rise of King David, and the downfall of Saul. The show, set somewhere in the present day is complete with cell phones and paparazzi. It centers on the royal house of a kingdom called Gilboa (site of Saul's death in the bible) and its mortal foe Gath (one of the five city states of the Philistines in the bible). The writing is good, the acting solid and the occassional slip of whole sentences from the King James bible are a nice touch for those of us who a familar with them.

So, the big question is this. Did the writers trace their narrative arc beyond the death of Saul (Silas)? Will they (in a second season) show us the rise of David? Will there be a Bat Sheva on the roof top and an old David whose chief enforcer (and assassin) is Yoav?

We will see, for myself I am simply happy that I can watch on-line since I am pretty bad at remembering to watch shows when they're really on.

College for All?

There are several articles (Salon, NYT) in the last week or so describing the new playing field in post-secondary education. Namely, private colleges (their endowments shrunken like dried fruit) are very excited by candidates who can pay full fare. If that sounds a tad old fashioned- well perhaps it is. Old fashioned in an elitist, whites only kind of way.

What should be interesting is how the public universities react to this. Each year the best public institutions are flooded with applicants. As more qualified, but non-rich, applicants set their sights on Cal instead of Harvard (or even Drexel) the competition will increase. That will have a knock-on effect into the next tier of schools (Davis, KU, etc) where those students who were on the back edge get tossed back into the smaller state schools.

At the end of this little food chain are the community colleges and third tier state schools. What they lack in name recognition they make up for in value. Community Colleges in California are $20/credit, unsurpassed value in America.

Now, the real question is whether state governments (and the Feds) will step forward to maintain or even increase the number of opportunities for students in the coming years as Cornell and Yale wait for their broker statements to recover.

DSL Update

Hey,

My DSL is back up and running. The problem? Well it seems that ATT (actually PacBell) placed a small transistor in the junction box a few decades ago to remotely test the line. Turns out these little devices wreak havoc with DSL signals. So, if your DSL goes off when you pick up (or hang up) the phone or otherwise acts odd, call ATT and have them come out and yank that sucker.

Late to the car park

David Brooks (who I am trying to read more of- as an act of exposing myself to thoughtful opposing viewpoints) has an insightful column today. What struck me most was his characterization of GM as being in the restructuring business. To wit,

Some companies are in the steel business, some are in the cookie business, but General Motors is in the restructuring business. For 30 years, G.M. has been restructuring itself toward long-term viability.

It reminded me of a course I took many, many years ago as an undergraduate back there in the Middle West where I grew up. I cannot remember the exact course title, it was one of those upper division special topic courses. It might have been the course on the history of capitalism, not sure. In any event the course reading list included Brock Yates masterful account of Detroit's major business entitled The Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry. Published in 1983, it is almost eerie how little has changed. Which is odd considering that all of the managers who drove GM off that particular road are long since retired. In fact most of the new guys running the place are in their early 50's. Perhaps it cannot all be blamed on the management, after all, the share holders, unions and board own some of this. But, I am reminded of a definition of insanity that remains popular: repeating the same experiment, the same way and expecting different results.

Duh!

Can working or going to school near fast food make you fat? Well some recent studies suggest that having fast food outlets within 500 feet of a school will drive up obesity rates. The LA Times did a follow up article. It would seem to reinforce the idea that no one should be eating edible non-foods, no matter how tasty, cheap or convenient.

More that I didn't know

The NYT has a fascinating profile of Freeman Dyson, a guy who seems to embody the word "polymath". I had never heard of him, but then again I have only a passing familiarity with high end physics. If you want to talk about historians, well then that's another story.

Anyhow, I found this piece interesting not only for his take on global warming (although unqualified to offer an opinion- I think we should work towards controlling it) but for the amazing place he works at. It puts the tank in think tank. Imagine if you had an opportunity to just sit around and think about different problems all day. No need to publish, grade papers or even lecture. As the bratwurst commercial says, "heaven on a bun".

Read the whole profile here

Back from Sac Town

I just spent the last 24 hours in Sac Town (otherwise known as Sacramento CA). I have to say having been there before, this might be the perfect time of year to visit. First off, everything is in bloom: trees, flowers, people (well, they are marching around in less clothing). Second, it has not gotten crazy hot, which does happen as I remember well from summer time visits in the past. Summer in that part of the state is like a real time add for air conditioning. Hot, muggy and like a similar climate in Kansas City (where I lived for a few years) not a beach in sight.

But having said all that, Sacramento is a great walk/bike around town. Now, this time I was staying downtown as opposed to hanging out in Carmichael (where I have relatives) and I was really struck by how mellow it all was. The landscape is perfectly flat which has allowed the growth of a huge cruiser/single speed scene with people wandering around at all hours of the day and night on fixees, chopper bikes and all manner of non-hill climbing machines. There is also a nice bar and restaurant scene around town both near the convention center and also over near Fort Sutter.

Now if they could do something about those summers, I would start looking for jobs up there.

Oh, and a quick nod to Brew it Up, for their marvelous double IPA

Outage

My DSL is acting up, as a result I will be posting less until it gets resolved. I have now checked every damn cable section from the modem back to the pole, so its ATT's problem. They promised to be out on Tuesday (Tuesday!) to fix it.

Thanks, "your world delivered"- my ass!

What's your adventure setting?

Outside Magazine has an interesting article on people's disposition towards either adventure or stasis. Although my using that terminology probably tips my own hand on the subject you can find your own rating with their handy on-line tool. Take this test and find out if your comfort level can tolerate my cooking.

Tool: outsideonline.com/adventurespectrum

The article isn't online yet, so let me tell you how the scoring works according to the editors:

2- Mini golfers
3- Hacky Sackers
3.5- Bocce Players
4- Soccer Players
5- Cyclists
6.5- Skiers
8- Kayakers
8.5- Alpinists
9- Big Wave Surfers
10+ BASE Jumpers (people who jump off cliffs with parachutes)

BTW, I scored at 10, but I do not have a parachute.

HFC - High Fructose Corn Syrup

So, there are several articles on the NY Times over the weekend the refer to the local food movement, eating better, and our good friend HFCS.

This alongside the commercials that the Corn Refiners Association (who knew such a thing even existed?) is running on TV and it might be worth going back to the main question about HFCS. The question should not be about whether the stuff is good for you, get a high enough dose of anything and it could kill you. No, the real question should be about what it takes to get all the cheap corn syrup in the first place. Michael Pollan lays out in glorious detail what it takes to grow that corn in his opus, The Omnivore's Dilemma. The impact on our environment to grow that corn, refine that corn and then shove it into a plastic container filled with, as Pollan puts it "edible non-food" is enormous. Now, it might not be a better deal in oil consumption to suck down Coke made with cane sugar, but it will be a better deal for the farm land of Iowa, the Mississippi river basin and therefore for everyone living there.

Want to do something? Urge Congress and the Ag Dept. to undo the Nixon era changes to corn subsidies and restore some sanity to the marketplace. Right now farmers are rewarded for planting more and more corn. Lets try this on, less corn more pasture and other crops. If this means that the cost of corn goes up- then they might have to stop feeding it to cows, who cannot digest it without being loaded up on drugs and mashed into tight pens. The cost of a steak might go up, but at least it would taste like a steak again.

My fantasy come to life

Not many know this, but I have a half developed idea for opening a small lunch/dinner place. I want to go with quality food, fresh prep and of course decent lunch time prices (less than ten bucks). So here we, are with the Atlantic declaring it a trend. Great, anyone want to invest in a Taco Truck with me?

Locovore Steak

I was chatting with a freind on BART today and she told me about the meat CSA that she and her husband had just subscribed to, she was waxing poetic about the quality and taste of the meat so I pressed her for details of who the CSA was and what were the particulars of it. She then mentioned to me that she had just read a write up of meat CSA's in the Contra Costa Times that mentioned serveral different ones that served the area. So, having arrived home and deleted all my spam, I surfed over and here it is.

So, my friend subscribes to Marin Sun (www.marinsunfarms.com) and swears by the tastiness of the meat. I might have to check it out for myself.

Republicans in Cali

Salon.com has a long and interesting summary of the GOP's state of affairs on a state by state basis today. While I was interested in some of the reports about states that I had lived in or near, the one on California struck me as clearly off.

CALIFORNIA

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE 2000: Gore 53-42 2008: Obama 61-37
U.S. SENATE 2005: 2D 2009: 2D
U.S. HOUSE 2005: 33D-20 2009: 34D-19
STATE HOUSE 2005: 48D-32 2009: 51D-29
STATE SENATE 2005: 25D-15 2009: 26D-14

In the state that has always the nation's leading indicator of social trends, recent Democratic dominance has been based on the same coalition of urban liberals, suburban social moderates, and minorities that elected Barack Obama last fall. After a few wipeouts, the GOP learned how to survive in that environment and nominated Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose politics would make him a Democrat in most non-coastal states. With the voting population getting less white by the day, there's probably no turning back for California Republicans, though conservatives keep trying. The decision by six GOP lawmakers to side with the Democratic majority in the state Legislature and pass a state budget containing tax increases brought demands for censure from the party's conservative base. State chairman Ron Nehring urged conservatives to cool off and concentrate on growing the party instead. In 2010, when Arnold is termed out, expect eBay exec Meg Whitman and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner -- both suburban, business-oriented, moderate millionaires -- to fight for the Republican gubernatorial nod.

Memorable quote: "We have to get out of the doldrums from the November election. We need to rally people." -- State GOP vice chairman Tom Del Beccaro

Here is the problem, the GOP did not nominate the Governator, they never would and never could have. For those with short political memories the recall was a wide open election with dozens of candidates running against Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger simply won the most votes in an open field with no party primary beforehand. That was the key, Schwarzenegger couldn't have won election to represent the California Republicans for dog catcher, let alone governor. I would suggest that both of the candidates fighting to carry the Republican banner in 2010 will have shot themselves badly in the foot with moderate voters after doing what is required to win a majority of the state's Republicans. The best thing the Republican party could do for itself in the next year is try to become a bit more pragmatic about the budget before people start heading to Sacramento with pitchforks.

The Stimulus is Paving the Way

I live in Richmond CA. Richmond has many points of interest to the outside observer. It has been called the most dangerous city in California. It is home to Chevron, complete with oil refinery and an odd smell in the air nearby. It was the site of the first day care/preschool operations in the USA (during WWII, when women were working at the Kaiser shipyards), and to go along with that home to the Rosie the Riveter Museum. It also has its own brand of politics, the mayor is liberal. By local standards that tells you that she is a member of the Green party (really) and the more conservative city council is populated by Democrats (it is the Bay area).

More striking for me, is that I think I can see the Obama Stimulus at work outside my living room window this morning. A few years ago Richmond was so broke that the city teetered on the edge of bankruptcy and real financial ruin. The replacement of the city administrator and a number of other senior level civil servants seemed to put that city back on a path to solvency. However in the ensuing year, many city services and programs had been cut back to subsistence levels. One of these was street paving. In fact the Contra Costa Times ran an article describing how Richmond had, by downsizing its street maintenance operations created a situation where they would never catch up on street repair, given the normal course of attrition to a city street.

Indeed the road that runs past my house was so riddled with potholes that when a crew came through two years ago t fill them people stopped and applauded as they worked their way down the street- when was the last time you saw anyone applaud a street crew?

Right now, even in the midst of what must surely be a huge revenue shortfall, there is a crew outside laying down shiny new pavement (not to mention that its raining). I can only attribute this continued to commitment to spending money on the stimulus package. Without those promises of funding from the state and federal level I cannot see my fair city blithely spending away like this. While my street was pretty awful, it was not a matter of life or death by any means, and if nothing else it slowed folks down a bit, making it safer for kids in the neighborhood.

Where I get quoted in a real newspaper

I was pulled up to the Costco gas pumps the other day, just filling up the tank on the family car and this woman strides up to me and says, "I see you're a biker, can I ask you some questions". Now, normally there is not a lot of chatting at Costco gas. You pull up, do your thing and move on- more like the men's room than a coffee house. But I had been stopped just the week before by a fellow who wanted to ask me about the bike rack I had (its a hitch rack) so I was less startled than I would be normally.

It turns out she had no interest in my bike rack, rather she is a reporter for the Contra Costa Time and she wanted to ask me for my thoughts on the current state of gas prices. I always feel torn in those moments, because I know that people are not looking for a full blown lecture on the impact of the recession on commodity prices, or why we should as a society be using this moment to retool in ways that make us less dependent on fossil fuels while the costs associated with that change are lower. So, I struggle to create some concise and meaningful comments that would fit into a small piece in the paper.

I must have succeeded because a quick Google News search a few day later kicked up this:

Bay Area gas prices edge down

The quote:

"If we're smart, we'll figure out ways to use less of it (gas) while the price is cheap so we're using less of it when the economy gets running again," said Gordon Gladstone of Berkeley, who said he has been getting around by bicycle more often. "The price of gas went down because people are driving less often, but at some point that will turn around and the piper will have to be paid."

Now, if I could get booked on a cable news show...

Single Speed

I own two single speed bikes (keeping with my motto of more bikes than I need, fewer than I want). One is an old rigid mountain bike stripped of everything but brakes and a single cog. The other is one of the pseudo track bikes that are very popular these days. Mine is a Schwinn Madison, not a true track bike since it comes with brakes, but for those of us who fancy our bodies as younger than they really are- its fine.

For the last year or so I have been riding it as my commute bike. The rear wheel came built with what's known as a "flip-flop" hub. That is, one side of the hub has a freewheel (allowing coasting) and the other is a fixed gear. A fixed gear bike ties the pedals and the rear wheel together so that one cannot move independently of the other. If the bike moves, the pedals move, and your legs move.

If look carefully around town you will see folks riding these rigs with real grace and without the benefit of brakes (they brake by locking their knees, thus stopping the rear wheel and riding a skid to a halt). Its pretty impressive. Less impressive was my own riding when I decided to flip my wheel over earlier this week and ride to meet a friend for lunch.

When you have been riding for years, there are little habits that become ingrained, like coasting up to a stop sign, or down a hill. This is not an option on a fixed gear bike and each time you try to pull one of those little stunts your legs get jerked around by the pedals with surprising amount of force. I can only imagine what I looked like in those moments, a scarecrow on the end of a fishing pole perhaps. A few of those incidents and suddenly you are paying more attention to your riding than you have in years.

My knees and calves are sore- still, but I am probably going to leave this set up in place until I either decide that its really going to hurt me badly, or I master it to some degree. Just don't expect me to take the brakes off anytime soon.

A visit to an Oakland School

I have been doing some part time work for a social service agency that coordinates volunteer projects in the Bay Area. Today I was out on a site visit for an upcoming project at one of Oakland's elementary schools. To say that these schools have seen better days physically would be understating the situation dramatically. The playground I stood on had a set of climbing bars that I remember from my own childhood, and that was 30+ years ago. The auditorium was small, dark and in need of not just a fresh coat of paint, but really of being brought into the 21st century altogether.

Now, its not all bad. The staff I met struck me as caring, hard working and determined to make a difference in the lives of their students. The fact that California leads the country, perhaps the world, in so many intellectual fields (Cal, Silicon Valley, etc) but lags so far back in public education is amazing. That it seems to be the norm among upper middle class folks to send their kids to private school is mind boggling.

I been told that a good chunk of the education system's problems can be traced back to Prop 13 and the distortion it inflicted on school districts revenue stream. This in turn has made all school districts dependent on the state for funds and we all know how well that is working out these days.

Of course in some schools and some districts the PTA steps in and funds all those "luxury" items- like art, music and sports. It seems so odd that a state that is so progressive on so many issues (environment, work place laws, etc) could be so regressive in hurting the most at risk for the sake of insulating folks from the true costs of the communities they live in.

That's my rant for the day. Thanks for reading.

Ode to Liver

I recently enjoyed a meal of chicken livers. For many of you that might not sound too tasty, but for me chicken liver represents comfort food of the highest order. Liver is fatty and high in cholesterol among other things, but its a childhood favorite and few things are as tender, tasty and yes fatty as liver.

Another issue is the fact the livers tend to accumulate all sorts of nasty toxins (yours included). With most chickens you might have second thoughts about ingesting them with the antibiotics and all of the other novel things they feed to them. So, let me suggest going with the organic/free range variety available at Whole Paycheck Foods and other places (if you can find something in a true free range bird so much the better).

The traditional preparation in my Ashkenazi family is chopped chicken liver, a nice mash of liver, onion, seasonings and perhaps a bit of wine for good measure. But on this occasion I was out to recreate a truly faboulus sandwich I had eaten a several weeks ago in New Orleans. It was a fried chicken liver poboy with a topping of coleslaw and a light mayo dressing. Since that particular sandwich could have fed a family of four I decided that something smaller was in order.

Thus, I created the chicken liver slider. Directions below, enjoy:

Chicken Liver Sliders
(feeds 2-3)

1 lb organic chicken livers
6-8 small dinner rolls
1 lb coleslaw (you can make your own, but this is a quick lunch)

Place livers on plate, pat dry with paper towel, season with salt, pepper, and a dash of creole seasoning if desired.
Heat a cast iron pan to med-high heat with a small bit of oil (peanut is best)
[don't own a cast iron pan?? Go to Target (WalMart for Democrats) and pick one up, less than 20 bucks and it will last you a lifetime]
Place livers seasoning side down in pan, set timer for 3 minutes.
While the livers are cooking (and do not move them) toss the rolls in the oven at 300 to warm up.
Turn livers and cook again for 3 minutes.
Remove livers from pan to a cutting board and allow to rest for 3 minutes.
Remove rolls and slice open and place on plates.
Slice livers into bite sized pieces and distribute on rolls evenly.
Top each sandwich with coleslaw and serve.
Toss out your iron supplement- you don't need it now.

Reset

Control-Alt-Delete

Sometimes known in computing circles as the three finger salute (not to be confused with its single digit cousin)it represents a gesture of reset or reboot. In the past I was blogging professionally. From here forward this blog is strictly for my own amusement, if you- the reader- also enjoy any part of it then so much the better.

Enjoy