God save the leakers!

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Republicans are exercised at the moment about leaks emanating from the White House and other government departments.  For them this is a much bigger issue than Russian interference during the election, or whether it’s acceptable to prevent  moslems  from countries, which so far have no connection with terrorist activity, from entering the United States.

What can we, as Epicureans, say about government leaks?  Well, if you are happy with the chaotic and unpredictable conduct of the government so far, and  you are content to accept the string of misrepresentations and straightforward lies that emerge from the President and his Praetorian guard on a daily basis, then we can conclude that  that you are quite happy to accept the situation in return for status, a fat salary, a bit of power and a reduction in your tax.  Governing  justly and fairly for all the people, ethics and morals are presumably of little interest to you.

But  it seems there are some office holders and functionaries who still have a measure of moral backbone and an ethical outlook, and who love their country.   These people, small in number no doubt, are uncomfortable with the policies, the tone and the blunders that they see being committed and the campaign promises blatantly broken on the behalf of the super-rich.  These are the patriots.  They have a conscience. They are the heroes and heroines of the modern United States, uncovering the things Trump wants covered and revealing the unethical, cruel and devious plans of the Administration to the taxpayers, who pay the salaries of the office holders and who deserve to know what is happening and what damage the rest of us can look forward to.

God bless the Leakers!

 

 

Ripping out the smoke detectors even as the house begins to burn

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“We seem intent on blinding ourselves, ripping out the smoke detectors even as the house begins to burn”.  (Bill McKibben, founder of climate change campaign 350.org, in Wired magazine, February 2017)

And this is from Tom Engelhardt, who produces Tomgram:
“The the most unforgivable of crime of all , is about to be wrought by an unparallelled crew of climate change deniers and so-called climate skeptics.  They, and largely only they, have taken crucial positions in every department or agency of government in any way connected with fossil fuels or the environment.  Among his first acts was to green-light two much-disputed pipelines, one slated to bring the carbon-dirtiest of oil products, Canadian tar sands, from Alberta to the Gulf Coast; the other to enable the frackers of the Bakken shale oil fields of North Dakota.  In his yearning  to return to a 1950s America, President Trump has promised a new age of fossil-fuel exploitation.  He’s evidently ready to leave the Paris climate agreement in the trash heap of history and toss aside support for the development of alternative energy systems as well.  The White House website was scrubbed of all reference to climate change.  Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will each undoubtedly be erased by Trump’s climate deniers, and this at a moment when we learned that, in 2016, the planet’s temperature had broken all heat records for an unprecedented third year in a row.  From 2013 to 2016, according to NASA, the planet warmed by well over a half-degree Fahrenheit, “the largest temperature increase over a three-year period in the NASA record”.  There can be no question that we look forward to a world of ever more extreme weather events.
The new Trump budget includes, among other damaging items, a 24% budget cut that  would virtually eliminate Great Lakes restoration, reducing the funding from $300 million to $10 million. Among the 38 core programs being cut are lead cleanup, methane emission reduction and brownfields restoration plus a steep cut to NOAA’s climate research, including eliminating funding for “external research, coastal management, estuary reserves and coastal resilience,” programs essential to coping with rising sea levels in a period of global climate change. The cuts to NOAA threaten climate research as well as the weather forecasting that detects storm patterns, droughts, massive rain storms, all exacerbated by climate change.  Heat and more heat, is what the future holds for our children and grandchildren.
Barring stunning advances in alternative energy technologies or other surprises, this again is too obvious to doubt.  So those, including our new president and his administration who are focused on suppressing both scientific knowledge about climate change and any attempt to mitigate the phenomenon, will be committing the most basic of crimes against humanity. (part of a posting on Tomgram,  Feb 6, 2017, Copyright 2017 Tom Engelhardt).
No further comment needed from me.

The joys of drinking wine

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Just a quick non-political post this week, I’ll be back with my usual in-depth analysis of a geopolitical issue next Monday. That’s because I’m about to attend a Roman-style symposium. I will be dressed in a toga, eat food that hasn’t been in fashion since the death of Christ, and of course, enjoy a fine selection of mostly Italian wines.

Now drinking wine is an excellent pastime for a variety of reasons. Its a wonderful drink to go with a meal; its a firm belief of mine that every wine has a meal that perfectly complements it. Wine is the right balance of alcoholic strength. Spirits are too strong to be enjoyed on their own, they must be diluted with a mixer. Beer, ale and cider on the other hand, fill the stomach with too much gas, meaning that drinking a decent quantity can become quite difficult. Its also a firm belief of mine that wine-drinking has a certain elegance and sophistication to it- from the design of the wine bottles and glasses, to the sheer variety of flavours that make being a wine connoisseur a uniquely useful talent. Moreover, I find that wine is appropriate for almost any occasion. Its served at weddings, funerals, family celebrations, getting a job, losing a job,  Christmas- even every Sunday should you take the words of Jesus literally.

Now if you don’t like the taste of wine, my only response is pity. I don’t have anything against you, I simply believe that you’re missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures. But since this is the Epicurus blog, I must stress that you should enjoy your wine responsibly and in moderation. There’s nothing elegant or sophisticated about insobriety- as a student, I know that better than most!

Cheers! Have a lovely week, I’ll be back soon.

Epicureans against political hypocrisy

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Thought for a Sunday. The following was originally published in the New York Times. A commentary on political hypocrisy:

And Jesus Said Unto Paul of Ryan …

What would Jesus tell House Speaker Paul Ryan about looking after the sick and the needy?

A woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came up behind Jesus and touched his clothes in hope of a cure. Jesus turned to her and said: “Fear not. Because of your faith, you are now healed.”

Then spoke Pious Paul of Ryan: “But teacher, is that wise? When you cure her, she learns dependency. Then the poor won’t take care of themselves, knowing that you’ll always bail them out! You must teach them personal responsibility!”

They were interrupted by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and shouted, “Jesus, have pity on us.”

“NO!” shouted Pious Paul. “Jesus! You don’t have time. We have a cocktail party fund-raiser in the temple. And don’t worry about them — they’ve already got health care access.”

Jesus turned to Pious Paul, puzzled.

“Why, they can pray for a cure,” Pious Paul explained. “I call that universal health care access.”

Jesus turned to the 10 lepers. “Rise and go,” he told them. “Your faith has made you well.” Then he turned back to Pious Paul, saying, “Let me tell you the story of the good Samaritan.

“A man was attacked by robbers who stripped him of clothes, beat him and left him half dead. A minister passed down this same road, and when he saw the injured man, he crossed to the other side and hurried on. So did a rich man who claimed to serve God. But then a despised Samaritan came by and took pity on the injured man. He bandaged his wounds and put the man on his own donkey and paid an innkeeper to nurse him to health. So which of these three should we follow?”

“Those who had mercy on him,” Pious Paul said promptly.

Jesus nodded. “So go ——”

“I mean the first two,” Pious Paul interjected. “For the Samaritan’s work is unsustainable and sends the wrong message. It teaches travelers to take dangerous roads, knowing that others will rescue them from self-destructive behaviors. This Samaritan also seems to think it right to redistribute money from those who are successful and give it to losers. That’s socialism! Meanwhile, if the rich man keeps his money, he can invest it and create jobs. So it’s an act of mercy for the rich man to hurry on and ignore the robbery victim.”

“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven,” Jesus mused to himself. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven.”

“Let me teach you about love, Jesus — tough love!” Pious Paul explained. “You need a sustainable pro-business model. And you need to give people freedom, Jesus, the freedom to suffer misery and poverty.”

“The Lord God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor,” Jesus replied, emphasizing the last two words. Then he turned to a paralyzed beggar at his feet.  “Stand up!” Jesus told the man. “Pick up your mat and go home.” As the man danced about joyfully, Pious Paul rolled his eyes dismissively.

“Look, Jesus, you have rare talent, and it should be rewarded,” Pious Paul said. “I have a partner, The Donald, who would like to work with you: He’d set up a lovely hospital, and the rich would come and pay for you to heal them. You’d get a percentage, and it’d be a real money-spinner. Overhead would be minimal because every morning you could multiply some loaves and fishes. You could strike it rich!”

n “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God,” Jesus said. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received comfort.”

“Oh, come on, Jesus,” Pious Paul protested. “Don’t go socialist on me again. Please don’t encourage class warfare. The best way to help the needy is to give public money to the rich. That then inspires the poor to work harder, galvanizes the sick to become healthy, forces the lepers to solve their own problems rather than kick back and depend on others. That’s why any realistic health plan has to focus on providing less coverage for the poor, and big tax benefits for the rich. When millions of people lose health care, that’s when a country is great again!”

 “From everyone who has been given much,” Jesus told him, “much will be required.”

“Well, sure, this hospital would have a foundation to do some charity work. Maybe commissioning portraits of The Donald to hang in the entrance. But let’s drop this bleeding heart nonsense about health care as a human right, and see it as a financial opportunity to reward investors. In this partnership, 62 percent of the benefits would go to the top 0.6 percent — perfect for a health care plan.”

Jesus turned to Pious Paul on his left and said: “Be gone! For I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; and I was sick, and you did not help me.”

“But, Lord,” protested Pious Paul of Ryan, “when did I see you hungry or thirsty or sick and refuse to help you? I drop your name everywhere. And I’m pro-life!”

“Truly, I say to you,” Jesus responded, “as you did not help the homeless, the sick — as you did not help the least of these, you did not help me.”

Organic food – what we know so far (The last posting of four about food)

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Modern, high-intensity farming is charged with causing food to lose some of its goodness.  Could organic food offer an alternative?

This is a controversial question. Antioxidant levels are higher in organically grown plants, according to a meta-analysis of existing studies published last year. However, in 2012 researchers at Stanford University in California found no strong evidence that organic foods are more nutritious.

“In general, for minerals, the differences [between organic and inorganic] are pretty small,” says biochemist Donald Davis. One reason for the nutrient declines seen in some of today’s vegetables is down to breeding – making broccoli heads larger, for example – and organic growers tend to plant the same varieties as non-organic growers, he says.

Another complication is that it is difficult to make a direct comparison of organic and non-organic crops. “You have to take enough samples to grow on a very controlled patch, and expose them to exactly the same treatment,” says Paul Finglas of the UK’s Institute of Food Research in Norwich. “There may well be some evidence that some organic foods are different – such as in vitamin C – but it’s not going to make a big nutritional impact.”

Things look better for organic milk. Recent UK and US studies found that organic milk from cows reared outdoors had higher amounts of antioxidants and omega-3s. The difference is down to diet. “Cattle on organic farms are provided much more access to pasture and fed a much higher proportion of forage-based feeds,” says Charles Benbrook, who showed in 2013 that organic milk produced in the US contains a healthier ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids than non-organic milk. “Grass and legume forages are the building blocks for omega-3 fatty acids, while corn – which plays an important role on conventional farms – is the basis for omega-6.”

One area of concern is the low intake of omega-3s. These essential fatty acids, particularly long-chain omega-3s found in oily fish and shellfish, are vital for growth and development. The average intake among adults in the US and UK falls far short of the recommended amount, largely due to the fact that many people eat little or no seafood. “Omega-3 is probably one nutrient that [Western] people have a deficiency in – at least, they’re not at the optimum level,” says Eric Decker, a food scientist at the University of Massachusetts.  Meanwhile, people are consuming more omega-6 acids, found in vegetable oils. These are important too, but in excess amounts they can trigger the body’s inflammatory response.

What’s worrying some is that changes in farming methods are making some foods lower in omega-3s and higher in omega-6s. This has been shown most clearly in fish. Half of all fish consumed globally now come from aquaculture, and farmed fish have a different nutritional profile to wild-caught varieties. Wild salmon, for example, is an excellent source of omega-3s, because it feeds on smaller fish that have eaten omega-3 rich algae. But farmed fish are increasingly fed vegetable oil, boosting their omega-6 levels.

Last year, a study of salmon sold in the UK found that farmed salmon had twice the amount of fat as wild salmon, a lower proportion of omega-3s and significantly more omega-6 fatty acids – although the authors stress that farmed salmon is still a good source of omega-3s. Similar trends have been seen in organic and non-organic milk and beef , though these contain far less omega-3 than fish.

Fortification is one way to tackle this problem – hence the array of omega-3 enriched products, such as juice and yogurt, now on the market.  (adapted from an original article by Chloe Lambert in the New Scientist).