Saturday, April 17, 2010

Rain Barrels Full of City Water

My two rain barrels, being relatively translucent, allow sunlight to feed the growth of algae over time. Both barrels were coated with green algae on the inside and needed cleaning, which I accomplished this morning. Checking the 10-day forecast, we're not due for any rain in the near future, and I need chemical-free water for my plants, so I filled the barrels with Union County's best, then set my aerators to work to bubble out the chlorine and other gases in the city water so I can use it tomorrow. Would the gas have evaporated out on its own? In due course, yes. But it's way more fun to hook up the pump and create 110 gallons of roiling turbulence. All I need to go in these modern brew-pots is some . . .

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing . . .
(Macbeth)

to make the Bard proud.

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Clean barrels, clean water! I was so hot after this exercise that I felt like stripping down and sitting neck deep in one of the barrels. You have to admit it looks inviting.


Spinach coming up in the planter:

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I had a great idea today for a new outdoor container growing system that I hope to debut in a couple of weeks -- stay tuned!

Backyard Bad Boy

Looked out my back window and discovered a posse of grackles having their way with all things edible in the grass.

Looks like this guy found a nice worm, right?

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Wrong. Turned out to be a baby snake of some sort. Grackles are fearless, taking what they want. He piece-mealed the snake for a good 10 minutes, a chunk at a time:

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I went outside to see if I could get a closer shot, but the grackle flew off. There wasn't much left of his lunch:

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I'm always amazed at what is crawling through the grass in our yards that we never see, but which birds find without a problem. The balance of nature at work.

What I Want for Christmas

Someday when I'm rich and famous I'll buy a piece of furniture made by the Thos Moser furniture company—for the pure pleasure of owning a piece of art crafted from wood. In the interim, I unashamedlly submit my request for the following piece to be delivered to me next Christmas : the six-foot tall Thos Moser vertical double display case. (The price isn't even listed on their web site. I guess if you have to ask . . . .)

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I run no risk of offense in my request since I have no friends (that I know of) well-heeled enough to bestow such a gift. But it's a pleasure just to consider. I would remove the glass shelves and use it as a dust-proof instrument case: fiddles, banjos, and uke hanging on the back wall, guitars on stands in the foreground, optional down lights installed to illuminate the beauty of wood inside and out. I would pretend I am proficient enough on the instruments to invest in their protection and preservation with something as beautiful as this case.

The Restoration of Masculinity

I knew a guy years ago (yes, you, Jerry Leachman) who enjoyed telling young boys, "A man's not a man, son, without a hat!"

I'm proud to say that a weakness of several years in my own masculine force field was remedied today, not by the purchase of a hat, but a new wheelbarrow. I've been 'barrow-less for several years, my previous well-worn model having gone the way of a garage sale when I closed down my large backyard garden a few years ago in anticipation of a move that never happened. I didn't know the unsettledness in my soul since then was due to the 'barrow-shaped spot in my garage that was ultimately filled with other less masculine clutter. But no more! The 'barrow is back!

I can't wear my new wheelbarrow, but I'm hoping Leachman will allow the substitution. Besides, I'm thinking the wheelbarrow (which caused the invention of the wheel) predates the hat by a mastodon or two. How do you think our ancestors got the fur, which became hats and coats, home—except in a wheelbarrow?

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Friday, April 16, 2010

Why Am I Not Surprised?

Vegan.com today posted a couple of amazing facts: American health insurance companies own $1.9 billion worth of stock in fast-food companies. And last year it was reported that health insurance companies owned at least $4.4 billion worth of stock in tobacco companies.

So the people who theoretically care about peoples' health are part owners in two industries that contribute to peoples' ill health and death. Why are we not surprised?

Thursday, April 15, 2010

This Is How It Begins

The following quote is from a very talented financial analyst named Dan Ferris. I'm citing it without permission, so if I get yelled at I'll take it down. But I thought it so succinctly pictured the tiny drops that are beginning to fall which are going to become an economic toad-choker (a Southern colloquialism) in the years ahead in our economy:
Today, news came out that China held 1.3% fewer Treasuries in February than in January – the fourth consecutive monthly decline. I guess China is allowing Treasury bonds to mature without replacing them, rather than actively selling, but I don't know how to tell for sure. It hardly matters. When your No. 1 customer stops buying, you have a problem. Japan is the No. 2 foreign Treasury holder in the world, and it too held fewer Treasuries in February.
The following is my explanation, not Mr. Ferris', but I think he would agree:

This means the number one and two nations who keep the United States afloat financially by lending us money through the purchase of U.S. bonds (debt instruments), China and Japan, are pulling back. They're tired of buying U.S. bonds that pay practically nothing in interest. In order to open their checkbooks again, the U.S. will have to raise the interest rate it pays higher and higher. Rising interest rates mean inflation. Inflation means a devalued U.S. dollar. And that means a serious hit to the lifestyle (spending power) of every American.

And because the U.S. has no cash with which to pay off those bonds to our lenders when they come due, we'll borrow and print even more money, going further into debt and increasing the devaluation of the dollar.

The saddest reflection on the quote above is that most Americans would not know what it portends for the future—for China and Japan to begin buying fewer bonds from America. But we are about to find out.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Better ≠ Best

Vegan.com linked to an April 15 Washington Post article about New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman. The author of the Post article recounts Bittman's decision to "go vegan before 6:00 p.m.", then eat anything he wanted thereafter.

Huh?

This kind of thinking amazes me when it comes from people like Bittman who is one of the most informed people about food in America. He has written good cookbooks and good books on food in general (e.g., Food Matters) and written positively about the need to incorporate more plants in one's diet. But like the other classic example of an unwillingness to commit to what he knows is best, Michael Pollan ("Eat food, mostly plants, not too much"), Bittman settles for better instead of best. And this in spite of his doctor telling him, "I think you should become a vegan." (Three cheers for that doctor, whoever s/he is.)

Pollan and Bittman know more about food and health than 99.9% of the people in America, but still insist on holding out a few hours or meals during the week in which the unhealthiest foods on the planet—animal products—play a part on their plates. Doing better (vegan for most of the day) is fine for a neophyte who is trying to "cut back" or gradually move towards a healthier diet. But people like Pollan and Bittman are high priests, not acolytes, who should be setting a higher standard. This is the equivalent of Pope Benedict announcing he's only going to sin "a little."

"Better" as the enemy of "best" has been fully exposed by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn in his book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. In his controversial chapter on oils, in which he says that extra virgin olive oil is not a heart-healthy oil, he explains why better is not the same as best. EVOO is healthier, not healthy. And the difference is important.

EVOO gained heart-healthy status in studies on the "Mediterranean diet" in which people in the Mediterranean countries were found to have a lower than average incidence of heart disease. Because of their inclusion of lots of EVOO in their diets, suddenly this oil gained "heart healthy" status. But the problem is that EVOO only lowered heart disease—it didn't eliminate it. Yes, it probably contributed to the lowering of heart disease compared to other oils, but that only meant it was "better," not "best." Esselstyn demonstrates how the Brachial Artery Tourniquet Test—a test that measures the elasticity of arteries based on the presence of nitric oxide in the artery—shows extreme impairment in the presence of any processed oil (oil separated from its whole food carrier)—even extra virgin olive oil.

So, EVOO is better than lard or corn oil or canola. But it illustrates the fallacy in thinking that because something is better it is also the best.

There is a danger in my arguing this way, since Pollan and Bittman may be simply trying to encourage people to "do better," thinking that raising the bar to the "best" nutritional level—a 100% plant-based diet—might be too much for most people; if people are faced with "all or nothing," they might choose nothing and make no efforts to eat for the better.

Maybe so. But I would like to see people like them use their bully pulpits to encourage people, on the basis of science and reason, to strive for what's best and not settle for less. This is a battle even vegans fight, of course: vegan processed foods vs. whole foods? Alcohol or not? Raw vs. cooked? etc. But those decisions are sub-chapters on the overall theme of what's best: a 100% plant-based diet.

Addendum: This post wasn't about oil -- it was just an illustration. But if you want an excellent summary of what plant-based docs say about oils in the diet, read this post by a medical librarian who collated their findings. I was pleased to see that Dr. Dean Ornish uses the same "better vs. best" argument as I used above.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Great Con

MSNBC is not known for publishing meaningful analysis, but this seems helpful when it comes to understanding what's happened to our money:

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Meet Bruiser

Daughter Anna and her friend, Tyler, came over for late lunch this afternoon so I could meet Anna's new Yorkie puppy, Bruiser. That's right—Bruiser. He's friendly and cute, definitely a keeper.

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I fixed mixed veggie pasta that turned out pretty well:

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Tyler has a yellow lab that has proven to be a patient big brother and mentor to Bruiser in the ways of the dog world, though Tanner didn't make the trip over this afternoon:

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Late-breaking photo from hooligan Dave in Philly. Philadelphia's major league soccer team (Philadelphia Union) played its opening home game last night and won, defeating Washington D.C. United 3-2. Dave and some friends have season tickets in the supporters section of the stadium where you are REQUIRED TO STAND AND CHANT FOR THE ENTIRE GAME. The lad is half Irish, I'm convinced: (David on the left.)

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