A nation of lawlessness

It's a simple as this. Representatives of our country should not be committing crimes. Representatives of our country should not be committing torture.

Barack Obama did the right thing by releasing the "torture memos" yesterday. Glenn Greenwald has a cogent argument as to why Obama deserves credit.

One could, and IMHO, should argue that the torturers need to be prosecuted (we cannot abide by an "I was just following orders" defense).

But one should not argue, as former CIA director Hayden has, that the crimes ought to be left in the shadows.

You're after getting the honey, then...

The flowers are blooming and Spring is around the corner in New England.

Unfortunately, those of us who care about cultivating anything in our gardens, must worry about the continued loss of honeybees.

The latest reports from climes where Spring has sprung are not heartening.

And so, once again from the late, great scientist, Joe Strummer...

A sustained note on the 'tit fer

This joke has legs. If you don't believe me, listen to the interview with Chas Justus (producer) about the Christine Balfa solo triangle album that was played on All Things Considered last night.

As explained here before, the album in question is a joke. Now it's a joke being sustained and abetted, hilariously I might add, by journalists who are hip enough to disguise the fact that they are pulling one over on you. Now add NPR's Melissa Block to the list of pranksters.

On the Valcour site, you can hear the winners of the Triangle remix contest which are as creative as they are mysterious.

Then there is this, published on April 1 in Louisiana's Independent Weekly.

Teabag a friend tomorrow

Most of you have heard about the Tea Parties scheduled for tomorrow which have been organized by conservative groups to protest the alleged tax increases by Barack Obama.

Not only is the "grass roots" movement a charade, as Paul Krugman explained this weekend, the use of the term "teabagging" by the group's organizers turns out to be a very funny miscalculation.

According to the web's UrbanDictionary the definition of "teabag" is: Dipping your testicles into the open mouth of another person. Kind of like dipping a tea bag in and out of a cup of water.

Ooops.

Locally, the biggest teabagging advocate is WTIC-AM radio host Jim Vicevich. Open wide Jim.

Better living through chemicals

Forget about the slow food movement. America's got its own slow minds movement - people who are so bent on their on prosperity that they can't accept a good thing on its own merits.

At the urgings of White House chef Sam Kass, Michelle Obama has tilled some of the White House lawn and planted, of all things, an organic vegetable garden. Reason to celebrate, one would think.

But the good folks who make pesticides (as represented by the MidAmerica Crop Life Association) are not so celebratory. The thought of an organic garden at the White House makes them "shudder."

They've written a letter to Michelle Obama, asking her to spread the poison:

March 26, 2009

Mrs. Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mrs. Obama,

We are writing regarding the garden recently added to the White House grounds to ensure a fresh supply of fruits and vegetables to your family, guests and staff. Congratulations on recognizing the importance of agriculture in America! The U.S. has the safest and most abundant food supply in the world thanks to the 3 million people who farm or ranch in the United States.

The CropLife Ambassador Network, a program of the Mid America CropLife Association, consists of over 160 ambassadors who work and many of whom grew up in agriculture. Their mission is to provide scientifically based, accurate information to the public regarding the safety and value of American agricultural food production. Many people, especially children, don't realize the extent to which their daily lives depend on America's agricultural industry. For instance, children are unaware the jeans they put on in the morning, the three meals eaten daily, the baseball with which they play and even the biofuels that power the school bus are available because of America's farmers and ranchers.

Agriculture is the largest industry in America generating 20% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Individuals, family partnerships or family corporations operate almost 99% of U.S. farms. Over 22 million people are employed in farm-related jobs, including production agriculture, farm inputs, processing and marketing and sales. Through research and changes in production practices, today's food producers are providing Americans with the widest variety of foods ever.

Starting in the early 1900's, technology advances have allowed farmers to continually produce more food on less land while using less human labor. Over time, Americans were able to leave the time-consuming demands of farming to pursue new interests and develop new abilities. Today, an average farmer produces enough food to feed 144 Americans who are living longer lives than many of their ancestors. Technology in agriculture has allowed for the development of much of what we know and use in our lives today. If Americans were still required to farm to support their family's basic food and fiber needs, would the U.S. have been leaders in the advancement of science, communication, education, medicine, transportation and the arts?

We live in a very different world than that of our grandparents. Americans are juggling jobs with the needs of children and aging parents. The time needed to tend a garden is not there for the majority of our citizens, certainly not a garden of sufficient productivity to supply much of a family's year-round food needs.

Much of the food considered not wholesome or tasty is the result of how it is stored or prepared rather than how it is grown. Fresh foods grown conventionally are wholesome and flavorful yet more economical. Local and conventional farming is not mutually exclusive. However, a Midwest mother whose child loves strawberries, a good source of Vitamin C, appreciates the ability to offer California strawberries in March a few months before the official Mid-west season.

Farmers and ranchers are the first environmentalists, maintaining and improving the soil and natural resources to pass onto future generations. Technology allows for farmers to meet the increasing demand for food and fiber in a sustainable manner.

• Farmers use reduced tillage practices on more than 72 million acres to prevent erosion.
• Farmers maintain over 1.3 million acres of grass waterways, allowing water to flow naturally from crops without eroding soil.
• Contour farming keeps soil from washing away. About 26 million acres in the U.S. are managed this way.
• Agricultural land provides habitat for 75% of the nation's wildlife.
• Precision farming boosts crop yields and reduces waste by using satellite maps and computers to match seed, fertilizer and crop protection applications to local soil conditions.
• Sophisticated Global Positioning Systems can be specifically designed for spraying pesticides. A weed detector equipped with infrared light identifies specific plants by the different rates of light they reflect and then sends a signal to a pump to spray a preset amount of herbicide onto the weed.
• Biogenetics allows a particular trait to be implanted directly into the seed to protect the seed against certain pests.
• Farmers are utilizing 4-wheel drive tractors with up to 300 horsepower requiring fewer passes across fields-saving energy and time.
• Huge combines are speeding the time it takes to harvest crops.
• With modern methods, 1 acre of land in the U.S. can produce 42,000 lbs. of strawberries, 110,000 heads of lettuce, 25,400 lbs. of potatoes, 8,900 lbs. of sweet corn, or 640 lbs of cotton lint.

As you go about planning and planting the White House garden, we respectfully encourage you to recognize the role conventional agriculture plays in the U.S in feeding the ever-increasing population, contributing to the U.S. economy and providing a safe and economical food supply. America's farmers understand crop protection technologies are supported by sound scientific research and innovation.

The CropLife Ambassador Network offers educational programs for elementary school educators at http://ambassador.maca.org covering the science behind crop protection products and their contribution to sustainable agriculture. You may find our programs America's Abundance, Farmers Stewards of the Land and War of the Weeds of particular interest. We thank you for recognizing the importance and value of America's current agricultural technologies in feeding our country and contributing to the U.S economy.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Bonnie McCarvel, Executive Director
Janet Braun, Program Coordinator
Mid America CropLife Association
11327 Gravois Rd., #201
St. Louis, MO 63126

You can help by sending the opposite message to Michelle Obama.

Give Creepy Joe™ an inch

Barack Obama is learning, perhaps sooner than he expected, that Connecticut Senator Creepy Joe™ Lieberman is not a man to be trusted.

Obama showed his own good graces when the graceless Lieberman slandered him from Iowa to Minneapolis, and President Obama still stood up for the little stinker.

Now it seems Obama, and his secretary of defense are considering ditching the missle defense program, and Lieberman is worried for Israel.

My Easter duty

Military industrial complexion

Connecticut's got the war jones bad.

Senator Dodd and Representative John Larson, especially John Larson, were quick to speak out against war, until if began to affect their districts. Dodd obviously needs a shot in the arm (or a kick in the ass), so you know his pitch for the F-22 is an attempt to repair the damage for some bad banking choices.

Let the Secretary of Defense decide we need a few less war planes, and Pratt and Whitney, Dodd and Larson start squawking.

What's a few dead bodies when there are jobs at stake.

Progressive leaders might think of ways to bend the technology for something good, instead of continuing down the path of war machines.

"With all the will in the world,
Diving for dear life
When we should be diving for pearls."

Two evenings at the Strip Club

(Strip Club owner Tim Niver, and bartender Dan.)

Anyone who's been on the road understands that after a long day of work, it's comforting to find some flavorful food, a cold drink and restaurant staff who don't act like their doing you a favor by serving you.

I usually peruse the local alternative newspapers (the wealth of restaurant on the web is often overwhelming, and nothing more than clever marketing), for reviews. The review of The Strip Club (they specialize in locally-raised, grass fed beef strip steak from humane purveyors) rang all the right notes; the restaurant in in a historic building that once housed a grocery and butcher shop near our St. Paul hotel in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood; they reveled in their meat dishes; they were noted for their traditional cocktails, and local beers.

We arrived without a reservation on Tuesday at around seven, and though the restaurant seemed to be in a funky neighborhood far from the main city thoroughfares, the restaurant and bar were packed.

We were greeted by one of the owners, Tim Niver, who was bustling between maitre de duties, to delivering drinks and diners to tables, to chatting up diners. He told us we might find a space at the bar in twenty minutes, or a table in thirty, but we were welcome to stand in the small place, have a cocktail, and see. He wasn't guaranteeing a thing, but he was sincerely and extremely friendly, always saying, "You're okay," as he dodged around us with an armful of plates on its way to a table.

We finally found a single seat at the bar, and met Dan, the bartender, who bragged about being the first bartender in the Twin Cities to make his own bitters for the traditional and signature cocktails he took pride in serving (boxcars, old fashioneds, manhattans). I had a local maibock and ordered the daily fois gras special which was tasty and exquisite, as was the maibock.

Another seat opened at the bar and we ordered. I had the "Blue Movie" a Northern Lights bleu cheese strip steak with scallions, and generously-buttered carrots. The staff was friendly, made us feel at home, and Dan and one of the other owners, Aaron Johnson, kept up a friendly banter about food, books and the Twin Cities.

We decided to make reservations for the next night.

Wednesday the place was not nearly as packed, but the staff was as friendly, the food as amazing, and my signature Manhattan was flavorful and unique. I ordered a filet special with a house spice blend crust which was amazing, and while my co-worker Crystal, suffered an upended water glass from the upper level ("First time that has happened since we opened," Niver apologized), the experience made us feel completely at home as "regulars."

The restaurant bought Crystal's dessert, a gluten-free chocolate torte, and the diner who spilled the water offered to buy her meal (she suggested he make a donation to CARE), and we left vowing to return on our next St. Paul shoot.

Are you happy now?

Apparently Nouriel Roubini is not. The NYU economics professor warns that the recent Wall Street rally is simply a mid-recession rally. He's expecting the market to test the bottom yet again. And he agrees with Jon Stewart about Jim Cramer.