I’ve had just about all that I can stand of these feel good about high fructose corn syrup commercials. The most frustrating thing about them, other than the fact that the corn lobby isn’t being prosecuted for deliberatly trying to hide the problems with the product, is that they illustrate another very real problem, that of an uninformed and misinformed public. Just look at the dumb guy on the picnic blanket, totally speechless, when his girlfriend challenges him on the safety of HFCS!    Read the rest of this entry »

From the December 2008 issue of the Ester Republic.

A few Sundays back I attended one of the four or five farmers’ markets that serve the Tucson area. I was struck by the appearance of vegetable starts on many vendors’ tables, in November! I did not notice the strangeness of this right away; at first I merely browsed through the tomatoes, squash, peppers, and eggplant—all varieties that one might expect in the Southwest—and lamented not having a garden of my own to tend during this sabbatical. It was not until later, when I saw a sign advertising special pricing on pre-order lamb for Thanksgiving, that the right side of my brain turned on and alerted me to the incongruity. People grow their gardens here in winter! How fascinating, how different, how beautiful!

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From the November 2008 issue of the Ester Republic.

Walking across the border from San Luis, Sonora, Mexico into San Luis, Arizona, United States, returning from my last trip to La Cienega de Santa Clara, I noticed a sign that read “No Transport of Agricultural Products.” I tried to take a picture, but apparently no photos are allowed of the border crossing—breech of national security. That the border agent asked me nothing about myself other than whether or not I had any agricultural products on ‘my person’ apparently wasn’t a breech of national security, however. As he asked me this I thought back to the miles of agricultural fields that line both sides of the main road that runs south from San Luis to the Gulf of Santa Clara, at the top of the Sea of Cortez. Fields as full of onions and maize and lettuce as they are of hard workers, workers who leave their homes as early as 2 AM for the chance of work. I looked past the custom’s agent and through the glass wall behind him, into a waiting room full of men and women applying for work papers that would most likely be denied. Apparently ‘No Transport of Agricultural Products’ should be taken to mean agricultural workers too.

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Dear USA TODAY Editor,

Nail the coffin shut on America, free thinking has apparently become a waste of time and money. Or so you might think if you read USA Today’s cover story for November 19, 2008. Here, reporters expose a horrifying trend that college athletes overwhelmingly pursue *gasp* social science degrees. At first gloss, it doesn’t seem to be much of a story; that some athletes look for an easy academic load and cluster around so-called ‘easier’ majors fits the stereotype. But a closer look at the story reveals a wholesale condemnation of liberal arts and social sciences degrees, by the authors, by those directing the study, and those asked to comment, as a waste of effort, a waste of money, and as incapable of providing people with any valuable skill. Read the rest of this entry »