There is a certain amount of honesty expected from the people who cultivate our food. We expect them to give us what they say they are giving. No one expects their pork chops to taste like lamb, or their pork rinds to have comparable nutrition to green beans. This same courtesy is presumably extended through to other members of the food production community.
There are a few exceptions to this, namely when Monsanto is called into play. This company seems hell bent on the destruction of all competition. They seem to want nothing more than complete control of the market. Unfortunately for them they seem to be blissfully unaware of the laws of economics. A monopoly will do them no good, they can never maximize profits and they will never be able top legally set one up.
All the legalities and poor economic practices aside, big GMO companies will need to recognize that there is a potential genetic catastrophe looming on the horizon. Even if this catastrophe is only perceived in the minds of the consumers, it will wreak havoc on their pocket books.
In recent years the demand for 'Organic' food stuffs has gone up, people are becoming more mindful of what they put in their bodies. It follows that eventually the demand for 'pure' foods will increase to the level that big businesses will find the added expenses of organic farming to be worth the opportunity cost.
Side bar: The trouble with the generic GMO label is that it doesn't discern how modified the food is. Should I be worried about the corn, beans, spinach, arugula, peas, hops, cucumbers, zucchini tomatoes and squash that I planted from seeds this year (well, the hops are from a rhizome, but that is a different story)? Most of the seed sachets were labeled 'Organic', but to what degree? Will my tomatoes excrete pesticides, and will they leech these chemicals into my soil so that I need to worry about any future gardens? How exactly were my cherry tomatoes created? Were they truly hybridized, or were their genes spliced with mild mannered Dexter Douglas, nerd computer ace? These are things that should not worry me as I plan out my yearly harvest. I shouldn't have to worry something that is otherwise nutritious harming my family. If, on the other hand, the crops were modified to be more hardy, more compact, less draining on the soil (I'm looking at you corn...) then I believe the GMO debate would be less of an issue, ASSuming the modifications did not present a threat to my genome.
Monsanto's bullying of farmers and corporations who want to provide truly wholesome food to their customers is telling of the quality of the company. I will try my hardest to boycott them on that principle alone. Might does not make right, no matter who you are. If you are going to push around the little guy just so you can swim through your money bin then prepare to feel my disquietude.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Ass Hatery
This week has been an exceptional week for news programs across the board. Each time I logged onto a news site I saw reports of the Boston Marathon bombing. The information in the reports were generally the same with some varying accounts, but all in all rather solid reporting. The televised news however left much to be desired.
First off, let me preface this by saying it can't be easy to sit up there and discuss a story all day and night and ensure everyone is getting all the information. I understand the need to circle back every now and again to the pertinent facts and discuss points made earlier.
What I don't understand is why these news organizations feel the need to expound on conjecture. I heard one 'expert' state that it was this boy's Muslim faith that may have motivated this attack. Really dude? How are you to know that? And just because he is Muslim doesn't make him inherently dangerous.
The one saving grace in this whole ordeal came from the police and FBI who refused to comment on anything but the minor points of the investigation and manhunt. This, in my opinion, mitigated any loss of life and property that may have occurred had the authorities been transparent with the news media. Reporters notoriously care about the story, and if the suspect got away and went on to something more gruesome that would be another story to them. I am not saying they don't care about the loss of life or about people in general, but I am saying that their narrow minded focus on getting every detail out is a hindrance at best,at worst it is obstruction.
The same thing happened when That madman shot up the elementary school, and again when that other freak-show shot up the batman movie. The media plastered their faces all over the place, distant cousins neighbors dog-walkers cardiologists are interviewed, conjecture is thrown around... there is no end to the hype placed around these individuals. There are assuredly more than one reason these individuals inflict this type of evil on their fellow man, but I would wager that the news outlets putting them front and center does not help the next generation of potential ass hats. What this country needs is a national hero, someone who can eclipse all these perversions of humanity.
When did our news media become a circus? When did we start caring about shock and awe and sensationalism more than noteworthy news. I think it was when we stopped focusing on the good within humanity and started focusing on the bad. It is a cycle that must be broken. We see these nincompoops paraded in front of us on the news and we don't see the lighter, happier side of humanity.
Don't get me started on celebrity news and that whole soup sandwich.
First off, let me preface this by saying it can't be easy to sit up there and discuss a story all day and night and ensure everyone is getting all the information. I understand the need to circle back every now and again to the pertinent facts and discuss points made earlier.
What I don't understand is why these news organizations feel the need to expound on conjecture. I heard one 'expert' state that it was this boy's Muslim faith that may have motivated this attack. Really dude? How are you to know that? And just because he is Muslim doesn't make him inherently dangerous.
The one saving grace in this whole ordeal came from the police and FBI who refused to comment on anything but the minor points of the investigation and manhunt. This, in my opinion, mitigated any loss of life and property that may have occurred had the authorities been transparent with the news media. Reporters notoriously care about the story, and if the suspect got away and went on to something more gruesome that would be another story to them. I am not saying they don't care about the loss of life or about people in general, but I am saying that their narrow minded focus on getting every detail out is a hindrance at best,at worst it is obstruction.
The same thing happened when That madman shot up the elementary school, and again when that other freak-show shot up the batman movie. The media plastered their faces all over the place, distant cousins neighbors dog-walkers cardiologists are interviewed, conjecture is thrown around... there is no end to the hype placed around these individuals. There are assuredly more than one reason these individuals inflict this type of evil on their fellow man, but I would wager that the news outlets putting them front and center does not help the next generation of potential ass hats. What this country needs is a national hero, someone who can eclipse all these perversions of humanity.
When did our news media become a circus? When did we start caring about shock and awe and sensationalism more than noteworthy news. I think it was when we stopped focusing on the good within humanity and started focusing on the bad. It is a cycle that must be broken. We see these nincompoops paraded in front of us on the news and we don't see the lighter, happier side of humanity.
Don't get me started on celebrity news and that whole soup sandwich.
Necessity Engineering
I am a big fan of taking something that may be past its prime and revitalizing it with a little elbow grease. There are times that i fix whatever it is and there are times when I change its purpose all together. The trouble I see is that I am one of very few people who actually do this.
It is convenient in our society to throw something out rather than fix it, after all, stuff is relatively cheap so why bother putting the time in to fix a broken whatever-it-is? This attitude is fine and dandy for the affluent like myself, but what of the less fortunate? What about the people who barely scrape by? They don't have the luxury of wasting anything.
Growing up in a lower middle class home taught me many things the most pertinent is waste not, want not. I learned from an early age that with a little imagination, some work, some base knowledge and patience there is no limit to what can be re-purposed. These days the term most thrown around Pintrest is 'Up-Cycled,' but whatever you call it doesn't matter.
It was, however, refreshing to learn that RPI's chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World had done a little up-cycling of their own. While Mr. Warmann's discussion petered off into nonsense, he did have a few attention grabbing points. Well, really just one... RPI's ESW has up-cycled several shipping containers into buildings of sorts for communities in Haiti. I'm not sure who pointed it out or if I read it on line, but these shipping container structures can be used as mobile orphanages, medical centers, houses, pizzerias, and anything else requiring a rigid frame to house some facility.
While this isn't necessarily turning old tires into crocodile lawn ornaments, it is infinitely better than letting these containers rust some where.
It is convenient in our society to throw something out rather than fix it, after all, stuff is relatively cheap so why bother putting the time in to fix a broken whatever-it-is? This attitude is fine and dandy for the affluent like myself, but what of the less fortunate? What about the people who barely scrape by? They don't have the luxury of wasting anything.
Growing up in a lower middle class home taught me many things the most pertinent is waste not, want not. I learned from an early age that with a little imagination, some work, some base knowledge and patience there is no limit to what can be re-purposed. These days the term most thrown around Pintrest is 'Up-Cycled,' but whatever you call it doesn't matter.
It was, however, refreshing to learn that RPI's chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World had done a little up-cycling of their own. While Mr. Warmann's discussion petered off into nonsense, he did have a few attention grabbing points. Well, really just one... RPI's ESW has up-cycled several shipping containers into buildings of sorts for communities in Haiti. I'm not sure who pointed it out or if I read it on line, but these shipping container structures can be used as mobile orphanages, medical centers, houses, pizzerias, and anything else requiring a rigid frame to house some facility.
While this isn't necessarily turning old tires into crocodile lawn ornaments, it is infinitely better than letting these containers rust some where.
I couldn't help but think of the Terre Cafe as I walked to my car today. Mainly because there is a little pond behind Sage that would be perfect for some Koi, Talapia or even some hardy goldfish, and with a little imagination, some pipes, a pump or two, and some worms a nice little aquaponics system could be built to feed the green house. A small solar array could provide power to the pumps and a natural convection solar heater could increase the heat inside the green house.
All it takes is imagination, some work and the Bear Necessities and nothing is impossible.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward.
At times it may not seem as though we are as free as we can be, yet by comparison we are some of the most free people in the world. We have no fear of our government seizing control of our lives, we have no fear of a government spewing lies with no alternative source of information, we have no fear of our government at all. The Constitution has protected us for centuries, and has never failed us. We have suffered through knee jerk laws and asinine regulations designed to keep us safe, but through it all we fought to maintain our freedoms. Even a small faction of freedom lovers can overcome insurmountable forces, as is seen in the American Revolution. From this world changing revolution the seeds of freedom were planted in all areas of our lives.
Our freedom of expression goes deeper than just the press and news outlets. We are granted full rights to actively offend* people, if that is what we want to do. The protection of every point of view is what differentiates the United States from other countries with state run, and censored, news. In these countries it is hard for an outsider to discern truth from fabrication, and as such we are kept guessing at that country's motivations.
Take North Korea for example, it is difficult (not impossible) to wade through the bull to determine what is actually taking place. Even in our beautiful American freedom we still find in necessary to wade through fabrications and nonsense to get to the deeper issues in news.
During each and every Presidential election I have witnessed there is some type of mud slinging that aims to discredit an opponent or to sway public opinion. There is little we can do to combat this deformation campaigning but with the advent of the websites like Snopes we are better able to determine fact from fancy. The most recent Presidential election found me alternating between fact checking and laughing at Smiling Joe Biden. It is situations where we are forced to look outside the passive, and often invasive, news organizations that we grow as a country.
By entering the discussion of facts and opinions we become more rounded, more informed, and more capable of making decisions based on the greater good. These opportunities to discuss life, politics, religion and all other hot topic issues are necessary to our growth as a culture. We, as a nation, cannot afford to bowl alone, we need to open more channels to express our opinions and ideals. This is something that is most efficiently done in a country like ours, where speech is not limited, speech is not censored, and there is a facet for every view point imaginable.
*I was going to put a link to the Westboro Baptist Church, but I didn't want them to get ANY traffic from my Blog. Just know that they actively preach hate, which is in direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are no more Christians than I am an Iguana. They give the rest of us Christians a bad name.
Our freedom of expression goes deeper than just the press and news outlets. We are granted full rights to actively offend* people, if that is what we want to do. The protection of every point of view is what differentiates the United States from other countries with state run, and censored, news. In these countries it is hard for an outsider to discern truth from fabrication, and as such we are kept guessing at that country's motivations.
Take North Korea for example, it is difficult (not impossible) to wade through the bull to determine what is actually taking place. Even in our beautiful American freedom we still find in necessary to wade through fabrications and nonsense to get to the deeper issues in news.
During each and every Presidential election I have witnessed there is some type of mud slinging that aims to discredit an opponent or to sway public opinion. There is little we can do to combat this deformation campaigning but with the advent of the websites like Snopes we are better able to determine fact from fancy. The most recent Presidential election found me alternating between fact checking and laughing at Smiling Joe Biden. It is situations where we are forced to look outside the passive, and often invasive, news organizations that we grow as a country.
By entering the discussion of facts and opinions we become more rounded, more informed, and more capable of making decisions based on the greater good. These opportunities to discuss life, politics, religion and all other hot topic issues are necessary to our growth as a culture. We, as a nation, cannot afford to bowl alone, we need to open more channels to express our opinions and ideals. This is something that is most efficiently done in a country like ours, where speech is not limited, speech is not censored, and there is a facet for every view point imaginable.
*I was going to put a link to the Westboro Baptist Church, but I didn't want them to get ANY traffic from my Blog. Just know that they actively preach hate, which is in direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are no more Christians than I am an Iguana. They give the rest of us Christians a bad name.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
The Philosopher's Walk
A leader is only as good as his followers, or so the saying goes. In truth, a leader's strength is not derived from any external source but from a place deep within.
A traditionally great leader is driven from within to become the leader we read about in history books, yet the same can be said of the villains we are taught to fear. An internal mechanism is triggered by an external event or situation. We are each capable of either great good or great evil, the differentiation lies in how we prepare ourselves to meet our destiny.
The main difference between the two types of great leaders lies in the motivation behind their leadership. If a leader's choice to lead stems from a desire for fame or wealth, there is a good chance that they will go down as a villain in our history texts, but if a leader chooses to lead because of a deep desire to see a change or to improve a condition, then that leader will be remembered as such.
It is impossible to know the depths of any one person's soul from an outside perspective, but it is completely possible to know your own soul better than everyone other than God himself. The truth of the matter is that we all search ourselves continuously, we are introspective and we scour ourselves for an answer that lies within. Unfortunately this takes more work than most people are willing to undertake. I have heard it said that, between our modern lives and our hustle and bustle, there is little or no time to accomplish this introspection. The truth is that any and all spare moments can be utilized as an introspective opportunity unfortunately these moments are rarely harnessed.
Such a time can be, and I would wager has been, used by any leader to search himself or herself and discover their purpose. If they are driven by lust, greed, anger, hatred or entitlement they will find themselves personifying those traits and bringing those who are like minded under their banner. If they are motivated by a greater good, a desire to better the world they will bring all walks of life under their banner. Even the greedy want a better life for their children, even the angry want a world where their children can walk safely down the road, even the deceitful want to be told the truth. This is why a leader who's motivation is inherently good has far more power than a leader who seeks his own glory.
Just like in fairy tales, good always wins over evil, but it takes a long time to notice the good in things because the evil is so much easier to see. A bad situation today may prepare you for an even worse obstacle in the future. When you look back at that first hurdle you will see it was not as bad as it seemed and it may have actually been for the best.
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