What the Occupiers Need

(Thanks to Robert)

Viewing Jesus Wrightly

Former Anglican bishop (now professor at St. Andrews University in Scotland) N.T. "Tom" Wright is probably the leading evangelical New Testament scholar working today. I've always liked his perspective—creative and biblical. He has a new book out about Jesus (Simply Jesus—A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters) and is interviewed by FOX News here. Unfortunately, FOX News videos rarely play on my Mac through Safari or Chrome, though on Firefox they work okay. Viewer beware.

Give a Turkey a Break

Every year, the New York Times Well blog goes vegetarian for Thanksgiving, publishing three weeks of recipes (daily) leading up to the big day. This year's recipes started yesterday with four beautiful dishes: Coconut Butternut Squash Soup, Black Rice with Corn and Cranberries, Massaged Kale Salad with Cranberries and Cashews, and Seven-Vegetable Couscous. While they call this a "vegetarian" Thanksgiving, these first-four recipes are vegan—and the forthcoming recipes can likely easily be made vegan if there are any offending ingredients.

Vegan Endurance

The Tour de France is often called the most challenging sport of endurance in the world—three weeks and 2,000+ kilometers pedaling up and down mountains while sitting on a hard, skinny seat. But last year, long-time American pro cyclist Dave Zabriskie became the first cyclist to ride the Tour as a vegan, proving that plant foods are plenty adequate for strength and endurance. In his own words:

“I started watching a few documentaries and in conjunction with that I took a food sensitivity test. I had some allergies so the first thing I did was cut meat out of my diet. Then it was dairy and the last thing was the eggs. This year I become the first pro to ride the Tour de France totally vegan. It was a change that was important to me for an environmental reason as well. There are a lot of benefits to it. Of course it was tough at times. I’d see team-mates wolfing down hamburgers but I’m over the craving part of it. Then I turned it into an animal rights issue, a cruelty issue, and I began reading up about that too. That helped to reinforce my faith in the diet. I don’t preach to my team or anyone else. It’s just a choice I made. There are some hardcore versions of veganism that say you can’t have leather products but i’m not going to start tearing the seats out of my car. But perhaps I’ll be more conscious of things I’ll buy in the future.”