Homeland

If you are Irish or of Irish descent, you can celebrate your Irish culture and heritage anywhere in the world. You can make occasional trips to the 'old country' and enjoy yourself even if your Irish ancestors had to leave Ireland over a century ago or starve. If you live in Ireland, you can make a yearly shopping trip, as many Irish so do, from Dublin to New York and Boston. If you are American-Irish, you can celebrate St. Patrick's Day along with the millions who are not Irish and parade in the streets, wear green, drink Guinness and gorge on corned beef (or boiled bacon) and cabbage. If you are Irish you have a culture and a homeland: Ireland. Doesn't matter if you are Catholic or Protestant; you have a homeland. If you are of Irish descent you are welcome just about everywhere.

If you are Italian or or Italian descent, you can celebrate your traditional Italian heritage all over the world. Consume Italian food at a local restaurant. Have a parade on Columbus Day. Visit Italy and search for your relatives. You have a homeland also: Italy. Never mind that your ancestors may have fled Italy over a century ago, or that Italy was on the wrong side of the war in WWII. If you are of Italian descent you are welcome just about everywhere and everybody celebrates with you.

Almost every nationality and culture can tell this same story. Despite hardships, despite discrimination, even despite national laws to keep you in your place, you can celebrate your culture, honor your past, and practice your group traditions. And somewhere on the planet you have a 'homeland'. You might not want to actually live there but it exists. No matter how 'outside' you may sometimes feel, you know emotionally that there is a cultural home somewhere.

Until the mid-twentieth century however, the ideal of cultural identity and celebration was not true for one particular group: Jews. Until 1948, Jews worldwide were a culture without a homeland. A powerless minority, Jews were discriminated against legally in almost every nation on earth for millennia; marginalized, robbed, raped, and murdered - ghettoized in some nations, kicked out of others. Expelled from England in 1290; expelled from Spain in 1492; forced into ghettos in Italy in 1516; taxed excessively, socially restricted; the occasional murder, and barely tolerated in Muslim nations. It made no difference even if Jews tried to fully blend in and integrate into the national culture. German Jews were more German then most Germans in the early 20th century and we all know how that turned out. America was the only tolerant nation although anti-semitism continued to be a strong social force until the later part of the 20th century.

Jews have felt like outsiders in every nation on Earth and no amount of adaptation to the dominate culture made a difference. Even in America, the Jewish joke was to 'always kept a packed bag just in case you needed to flee in a hurry'.

Jews would dream like the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man in 'The Wizard of Oz': 'If we only had a home". This then was the essence of Zionism: Let us have a home so that we are no longer outsiders in an unfriendly world. The dream came true with the creation of the nation-state of Israel. Many people were surprised that it actually happened, including Palestinian Jews. They had not asked for a country, just a homeland, but even that was unacceptable to their fellow Arab Palestinians and neighboring Arab nations. So the nation-state of Israel, a secular nation, emerged out of violence in 1948 and was given little chance of actual success. But it did. American Jews were somewhat ambivalent about Israel at first. Most folks have either forgotten that. It wasn't until 1967 that American Jews gave their full support to Israel. The reason? For some it was pride in defeating Arab nations in the 1967 War against overwhelming odds, but I believe that it was really because it took 20 years for Jews worldwide to realize that they finally had a homeland: a small piece of real estate that they could culturally identify with even if the reality of Israel bore little resemblance to their everyday lives . It is significant that it was after 1967 that Jews worldwide began to immigrate to Israel, not because they had no other place to go, but because they wanted to be there.

Until the late 1960's there were only 3 reasons why Jews immigrated to Israel: One, they were very religious and were tolerated in a secular Israel. Two, they were European DPs, displaced persons with no other place to go, survivors of the holocaust, who were not welcomed back in their home countries. Three, they were among the 700,000 Arab Jews who were kicked out or fled from their homes in Arab states like Morocco, Syria, etc. By the way, I would have more respect for those who champion Palestinian Arabs if the fact of displaced Jews was treated with equal importance as displaced Arabs.

Jews have a sense of homeland in Israel; a cultural home. They may have little desire to actually live there. They may often disagree with the nation's policies. But it is still a place of culturally identification. It has nothing to do with religion. After all, how many Jewish American actually like hummus. Unfortunately, it is not that simple for Jews in the world. Just as Jews were outsiders in every nation they ever lived in, the Jewish 'homeland' of Israel is treated as an outsider in the world of nations.

Jews are still the globe's pariah. Once Jews were only unacceptable in the nation they lived in; perennial outcasts no mater how French, Spanish, Italian, or German they tried to be. Now that Jewish culture has a homeland nothing much has changed. The nation of Israel, the first Jewish homeland in 2000 years, is treated the same as Jews have always been. The nation, the culture, the people, have no right to exist except in servitude. Is there any doubt among those who understand history that if the state of Israel had been not created in the 1940's that Jewish culture would have disappeared? Where would the DPs have gone? What would the status have been of Arab Jews? An historical fact that has perplexed scholars for decades is why was the percentage of American anti-semitism higher after WWII than before it?

Why is it so difficult for the world, particularly the Arab world to allow a small homeland for Jewish culture? Sure, Israelis can be irritating, righteous, and argumentative, but we don't use other culture's stereotypical characteristics as excuses for mass annihilation. When was the last time you heard: Those Irish are all a bunch of drunks, let's drive them into the sea? Bernard Lewis, Middle Eastern scholar, was once asked what he though would satisfy the Islamic world concerning the fate of Israel. His response: other than total annihilation, move to Mars.

(see http://www.aviperry.org/uploads/1/7/2/5/172566/on_the_jewish_question.pdf)

I will soon be visiting Israel for the first time. I have little in common with Israel as a nation. I'm an American from the midwest. I may like my time there or I might not. I am not religious, I do not speak Hebrew, I do not follow dietary law. I am critical of some national policies. But it still feels like I'm going home. And that's the last word on the subject.

Poor Palestine

The plight of the poor Palestinians. Nobody in this world every gives them a break. Chased from nation to nation, massacred, raped, bombed, denied basic human rights, no country of refuge of their own. A powerless people that by necessity resorts to violence at times, but they are such a small population that there is no hope of salvation without sponsorship by the more powerful nations of the world. Most of the world however would rather that they just disappear, but that was tried for a time and it just didn't work. Left alone they thrive because they are an intelligent and industrious people. Most of the world refuses to do that though, and now that they have their own tiny corner of the world that they can call their home, not recognized as such by many nations, they still need to withstand constant attempts by a powerful neighbor to destroy them. What hold back their final destruction? Many it is because they have the atomic bomb?

Oh? Are you confused? Did you think I was writing about the Palestinian Arabs? No. I am writing about the original Palestinians. Those who called themselves Palestinians and were known as Palestinians before they became a nation named Israel and before the word 'Palestinian' was appropriated in 1967 by Yassir Arafat. Before the original Palestinians began to call themselves 'Israelis'. The Jewish men and women who when asked who they were would always answer 'Palestinian' because there was no Israel until 1948. The Jews who were members of the Palestinian Brigade during WWII, who were members of the Palestinian Assembly of Representatives, and the Jewish National Council in the Palestine Mandate.

I bring this up because I need to highlight one of the many great successes of the Arab world: To change the meanings of words and the history of the area previously known as Palestine.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Mandate_of_Palestine for an informative Wiki on the British Mandate.

Appropriating language is a common practice in the world. Right-wing reactionaries do it all the time in this country. Left-wingers seem to be less successful. Consider how 'liberal' became a dirty word, how ''anti-abortion' became 'pro-life'. Zealots know that if you change the language and alter the meaning of words, you can control the direction of the argument. Similarly, if you repeat a lie often enough, eventually many people will believe it to be true and you can re-write the historical record.

Think about it. This is NOT the last word I will have on this subject.

Rudes of the Road III

I never thought I'd need to rant again about drivers. But I never thought that driving would become more hazardous then it already was. It has. Thanks to cell phones and the bad habits of drivers, driving has become a combat sport. Let's not mince words here: The problem is not cell phones, it is bad drivers who risk both their lives and ours every day on the road because they are too self absorbed to pay attention to the task of driving an automobile.

The facts are undeniable. Human behavior is at fault in combining cell phone use and driving. People who use a cell phone while driving, and particularly those who text while driving, put everyone on the road at risk. Although data is limited and difficult to obtain, the available data and most current research on cell phone use proves beyond a doubt that cell phone use while driving is dangerous.

Each year, 21% of all teen fatal car crashes are the result of cell phone usage. This fatality percentage is rising. Talking on cell phones also causes 25% of all adult auto accidents.

One third of all teen drivers text on cell phones while driving. One fifth of all adult drivers also do it. A 2007 insurance survey revealed that 73% of all drivers use cell phones while driving, And although 84% of all drivers are aware of the dangers of cell phone use while driving, they continue to do so. Recent university research has proven that reaction time is significantly slower, alertness is hampered, vision is impaired, and, despite popular myth, there is no such thing as multi-tasking in human beings. Computers, yes; humans, no..

We see the effects everyday. Humans behind the wheel slowing down traffic, driving through stop signs, weaving out of lane; causing a countless number of almost accidents and too many real ones. In Pennsylvania, from 2003 through 2006, 50 auto deaths were directly linked to cell phone use. During that same time period, the state also reported 5715 cell phone related car accidents.

There have been only 2 beneficiaries of this lack of common driver sense: Lawyers involved in auto personal injury and death and insurance companies that can raise rates. There is perversely one other benefit. Grisly as it may seem, bad drivers have made some drivers, who may never use a cell phone behind the wheel, more vigilant and defensive.

I have spoken often about bad driving. Sometimes out loud while driving to the amusement of any passengers. See that woman eating a sandwich with one hand and a cigarette in the other? Look at that man reading a notepad while behind the wheel. All dangerous but also astonishingly stupid. I once saw a woman painting her toe nails while driving. Use your imagination to figure out how that was done. However there is nothing funny about recent increase in deaths and accidents caused by cell phone users. It is criminal behavior and should be treated as such by our legal system. 50 nations currently ban cell phone use while driving and a few have added prison sentences for violations. In the US, 6 states out of 50 have cell phone bans and one state is considering adding a mandatory 15 year sentence to any auto death caused by a cell phone user.

Cell phones and texting while driving are symptoms of a larger problem. There are too many poor drivers in the USA. The reason why the US has so many bad drivers is the relative ease that a person can obtain and retain a state driving license. Most drivers learn to drive by driving the family car and taking a High School Driver's Ed course. High School Driver's Ed is woefully inadequate and usually assumes that someone has already taught the prospective driver how to control a vehicle. Since Driver's Ed is part of a high school curriculum, student's often treat the course like any other dumb school requirement and work as little as possible for driving certification. It as an easy way to get a state driver's license with little sweat, little work, and not much real learning beyond the basics of handling an automobile. After you get your permit, unless you mess up with too many tickets and those pesky accidents, you get to keep your driving license forever. Some states offer restricted licensing, but most of these are based on age, not skill.

My driving training of many years ago was not much better. High schools in my day did not have Driver's Ed but commercial Driving Schools were in abundance. For a fee, you were taught the basics, sort of, and you were prepared to take the state driving test, sort of. If you were lucky, you passed the state driving test on the first try. If not you retook it until you passed. State driving tests, at least in my state of birth, were hard. The driving test was precise and there was no room for error. Any little mistake meant a failure. My children could not have passed my birth state's driving test with the minimal training they received in high school. Modern state driving tests are easy in comparison.

The most interesting driving test I had ever taken was to obtain a driving license in Puerto Rico. Here is the driving test: Study a sheet of sample driving questions, take a written test which, surprise surprise, were the same as the sample questions, and then take the driving test. Start the car, drive down the street, pull up to the curb, park, turn the motor off. I passed the test. Got my license. After taking the test, I understood the underlying cause of the nature of Puerto Rican driving skills. I assume that driver training and licensing in Puerto Rico has improved since my days behind the wheel in P.R.

I was a typical American driver until I was required to take a driving course while in the military in order to be authorized to drive military vehicles . The defense driving skills I learned in that class influenced my driving skills forever. Even then I wondered why all citizens were not required to take such a course. I later discovered that there were places that it was, just not in the USA.

I have traveled extensively around the world. I had been told horror stories about how awful driving was in other countries. The stories were only partially correct. Driving in some countries is frightening and difficult, but the drivers in some were not. They were good, well trained, and paid attention to their driving. Only superficially, through American eyes, did drivers in countries like Ireland, England, or Italy appear reckless. International auto fatality data for 2004 ranks the USA 40th out of 52 for per capita death rate per nation. We are not the worst, Portugal holds that honor, but statistically 11 states of the USA have worse death rates than Portugal. Other nations are not without their traffic problems but many of them have something we do not: a stricter driver licensing procedure. Unlike in the USA, where a license is considered a 'right', Some foreign nations consider it a 'privilege' that must be earned. Recently, particularly in the EU, there has been pressure to ease the requirements for licensure to attain consistency between European nations. Germany is known for the most rigorous procedures.

Let's take New Zealand as an example. New Zealand has a graduated driver licensing system. Each stage requires a test, medical exams, and driver education. New Zealand drivers start out with a learner's license like the USA except you cannot drive alone. After 6 months, a driver applies for a 'restricted' license which is similar to the US learners permit ( no driving at night, no passengers, automatic transmission cars only). After 18 months if you are under 25 years old, you can apply for a 'full' license. The total cost for entire process, not including driving classes is $282 NZ dollars. There is also a 'no tolerance' policy for alcohol if you are under 20 years old. New Zealand is not without it's driver problems. It is 27th out of 52 on the per capita death rate index and the nation is currently debating raising the minimum driving age from 15 to 17. NZ also does not ban all cell phones yet but the issue is currently being debated and, as of November 2009, cell phone use by transport drivers will be banned. Now compare NZ to the USA and consider that this example is one of a nation that does not have tough driving regulations.

The solution should be obvious. Not only does the US need a ban on cell phone use while driving but tougher driver licensing. Humans cause auto accidents and more needs to be done to reduce driver risk. A 1977 study concluded that human error was the cause of 57% of all auto accidents and was a contributing factor in over 90% of them. Only 2.4% was due to mechanical failure and only 4.7% were due to environmental factors. 90% of all drivers believe that they are good drivers. Yet 90% of all accidents and deaths are due to driver error. How can this be?

The sad truth is that people have bought into the myth that driving is easy. It is not. It is a complex task that takes intense concentration and the key to becoming a good driver is a high standard of driver instruction, monitoring, and learning how to be both a good driver and a safe driver. And this must include legal enforcement of minimizing distractions such as cell phones usage.

I would like to think that this will be my last word on this subject but I fear it will not.

Privacy Online and the Last Word

Well, I am back after a long multi-year absence. I was really never into this blogger posting thing, nor the current obsession with Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, and all the other social media stuff. I am basically a person who likes to keep to myself, let others take the credit, and keep out of the public eye. I'm the one who stands in the rear of public group photos and never sits in the front row. Although there have been many times in my past that this was not possible, and, as my children can attest, I can be as loud and overbearing as anybody, I do not actively seek attention. It has always bothered me that something I might written in an e-mail, a blog, or something I did on the job could appear on the internet and stay on it forever. The issue is privacy. I value mine.

Every year or so I google myself to see what turns up. Over the past few years I have sighed with relief that much of what I had done that was accessible on the internet is no longer searchable because my former employer, which contained much of my writings, articles, and newsletters, locked their servers away from public view. But not everything. This blog for example. I was surprised that after 5 years it was still available. 'The Last Word on Everything' was one of 3 blogs I wrote over 5 year ago. After I re-discovered it and re-read it, I thought that I might as well transfer it to this server and try to re-start it.

I also found myself referenced by another blogger critical of a negative review I gave a book that he apparently liked. The funny thing was that he referenced my real name even though I did not write the article under my real name. In fact I had written it along with other internet entries and a fake website for a class I was teaching on internet credibility and how to tell the authoritative source from the lame ones. Even though I had deleted all entries after the class ended, my book review was still there years after I wrote it under a pseudonym specifically for this class. I also discovered that it was very easy to find out what my actual real name was on this website despite my use of the fake moniker.

Further searches revealed that I could find all sorts of neat stuff about myself. And If I really wanted to dig out the dirt, I only needed to pay $29.95 here and $39.95 there and I could do a deep cover search that would make the FBI proud. Fortunately I did not have to pay for the information I found but I was still surprised at the quantity of information available. My property tax bills, the property I owned, my credit ratings, who owned my used car before I did, my family history, some e-mails, membership lists, and so on. After I took advantage of a free credit report, I hit the info jackpot. So much for privacy. For a person who valued his invisibility, it was disturbing to learn just how visible I really was. Of course there is a plus side to all this. My visibility on the internet meant that everyone else was as visible as well, and since I am very skilled in research and computer use, it was a part of my professional life to find information for colleagues, I decided to do some snooping on my own.

I had only one rule for my venture into online nosiness - Do not pay a fee for anything, free public and business records only.

Needless to say, I was amazed how much information I could quickly find on the web, and by extending my search to other off-web sources based on what I learned, I was surprised about how much more additional information I could gather. Here are only a few examples:

1. The value and construction details of the homes of all my neighbors.

2. The nearest sex offender and felon to my house.

3. The address, phone number, job history and current photo of a friend I lost track of.

4. My ex-wife's e-mail address, phone #, and residence (photo included).

5. My Facebook page, Classmates page and my Amazon wish list.

6. Letters I wrote to periodicals, some more than 5 years old.

7. An article written by my youngest daughter while in high school with a photograph of her.

and lastly,

8. Although I expected to find a lot on the web about my journalist oldest daughter, I did not think that I would find a decade old copy of her resume being used as a sample of superior resume writing (since removed after being discovered)

Many years ago, comics used to joke that you could use the web and no one would know that you were a dog. That has obviously changed. Not only would they know you were a dog, but everyone would also know your breed and if you were neutered. There is no real privacy in our information overloaded world. If you exist, if you work, if you use credit cards, if you send e-mails, if you subscribe to newspapers and magazines, if you buy groceries, you can be found. My admiration for those who manage to keep a low profile has increased after I discovered how easy it is to get basic personal information. It was once was difficult to do so. In the pre-web era, researchers has to use foot power, the telephone, and the mails to find information. In those days, I would often use false identities to make product inquiries, using coded names so that I tell who was selling mail and subscriber lists. The results were often amusing. Under one pseudonym, I received free magazine subscriptions for years. And under another, well, I still get biannual coupons for free panties from Victoria Secrets.

But now in the era of social webbing, people give up personal information willingly to corporations. I am amazed at what people reveal about themselves on sites such as Flicker, Facebook, Myspace, etc. It is a information junkie's gold mine. It actually must make choosing people to target for scamming very difficult for unscrupulous people. There is so many folks to choose from, how do you limit your targets? Yet, we have become so accustom to social webbing, how can we make use of its many acknowledged benefits and still maintain personal privacy of factual information? Even I have a Facebook, Flickr and my Space account (I draw the line at Twittering).

It was the realization that much has changed in my 5 year absence, that sealed my decision to restart this blog. I have wanted to write my viewpoint on a multitude of subjects over the past half decade: The increasingly hazard of doing nothing about global warming, the rise and fall of the reactionary right in America, the blessing of finally having a U.S. President who has a brain, the best places to eat for foodies. And so forth. I have not made any blog entries for years because I valued the privacy of my thoughts and views and felt uncomfortable about making my thoughts available to everyone throughout eternity. However I have come to realize that in this internet obsessed world, there is no privacy anymore. Anyone can make a comment, even dogs, and it quickly can become international news. How else do you explain how idiots like Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore, cable news channels, blogger commentary, and tweeter's 140 character abbreviated phrases can become nationally newsworthy. What does it say about us that the most reliable source of information today is the Daily Show and the Colbert Report ( I am a fan of both by the way). In the absence of moderation and real journalism over the past decades, the power of the far-right and the far-left to spread dumb ideas around the world has gone unabated and unchallenged by actual factual reporting and thoughtful analysis. So why not, I thought, join the discussion. It cannot get any worse.

This blog actually is not for the few readers who might find it anyway. Personal blogs such as this one are a method of sorting out one's own thoughts, and any response given by online readers merely helps we writers adjust our thinking . We used to call this 'journaling' , except that journals were either private or shared with an instructor, not put out to the whole world to see. It is how we learned to write in the olden days - before the internet. And as I have said previously in 'The Last Word', I hope by writing about a subject, I can get t out of my head and be done with it.

In this post internet world, folks need to be vigilant with their thoughts because what they reveal might someday come back to bite them in the ass. Some blogs I have read are truly painful to read. They reveal too much about the writer. Material that rightly should be in a private diary accessible only to the writer are open to the whole world. I wonder if the meaning and value of personal privacy is beyond the comprehension of some individuals. Why so little concern by the public of the easy availability f personal information? Are the teen writers of blogs aware that the intimate details of their lives are available for anyone to read? Why the lack of supervision by parents of their children on the internet? Why are so many into social webbing and ignorant about the dangers of privacy violations? Why has gossip replaced 'fact' in journalism? Has this nation turned into a society of narcissists who have this need to state "Hey look at me, here I am'?

The issue of privacy is not merely about the threat of the violation of the right to privacy, nor the misuse of personal data. It is also the question of why so many people have the need to share their daily lives with everyone. The lack of privacy and the invasion of personal space is a fact of life on the internet whether we like it or not. Social webbing does have intrinsic value, and professional bloggers perform a great service by adding to reasoned discussions on topics of current interest, but why do so many people feel the need add to this nation's information overload with useless bits of personal data? Do they not realize that they are also adding to the data that can be collected on their likes, dislikes, behaviors, financial status, and so on? Oh, well. I might as well re-join the online parade. Perhaps some good can come of it, and anyway, I'm too old to care about revealing too much information.

I am very concerned that so much of myself and my family can be made available with a simple internet search by anyone. I am a person who tries to keep a low profile yet there is a lot of information out there about me that can be retrieved. There are millions of people who don't seem to mind and actively invite inspection.

In these ramblings about internet privacy, I have actually barely touched on the subject of privacy. I have not even mentioned the continuing fight between businesses and individuals to protect online anonymity. Recently, for example, bills were introduced in Canada that would dramatically change the Internet in that nation. It would require Internet service providers to install new surveillance capabilities and force them to disclose subscriber information such as name, address, and e-mail addresses without a court order, and grant police new powers to obtain Internet transmission data. Scared yet?

I am thankful that in this age of no privacy, that my real identity is not revealed worldwide by this blog. Or is It? As I re-read my blog entries, I realized that a skilled researcher (and what is a researcher if not a PI), can discover my true identity easily. Now that's scary. And that is the last word on the subject, For now.

For more information about internet privacy visit:

http://www.netatty.com/privacy/privacy.html

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm

http://www.pcworld.com/article/159743/facebooks_privacy_flap_what_really_went_down_and_whats_next.html

http://www.aclu.org/privacy/internet/index.html

http://www.scambusters.org/identitytheft/collegestudentsguide.html

NOTE: I will be posting some of the older blog entries here. Please excuse any dated information, misspellings and grammatical awkwardness. I've been able to recover some of my old blogs. Others apparently are lost forever.

On Blogs and the Last Word

[Originally posted on January 15, 2005]

I have some thoughts about my Blog and its purpose. First, I want to prove that a person can write a lot about anything and on any subject - even Subway restaurants. I remember a writing exercise I had to do in a Creative Writing class in college. The instructor made a list of topic suggestions he solicited during a brainstorming session assignment. He did not tell us why. He said it was an exercise in brainstorming ideas. At the next class meeting, to our surprise, he handed out a printed numbered list of the topics and assigned to each of us a numbered topic. He told us that in the space of the next 40 minutes he wanted us to write a coherent piece of writing on the assigned topic. A tough assignment. Somehow I managed to write a page on a topic I no longer remember. The point of the exercise was to show us what the pressure was like to be a journalist who had to write on demand. The secondary purpose was to show us if we wanting to be writers one must be able to write about anything at a drop of a hat. It mattered little if you knew nothing about the topic - a writers skills was in the writing, not the subject matter. Subject can always be researched, he said. Our job was to make it coherent and readable.

Secondly, as I reads what passes as Blogs on the Internet, I notice that only a few are both readable and factual. Many Blogs I have seen are stream-of-consciousness drivel written by young minds searching for meaning in their lives or
essays written with a hidden agenda (or often not so hidden) to sway a readers opinion on a specific subject. Often these latter Blogs are filled with facts that are chosen to 'prove' the writers point of view or facts that are outright falsehoods and/or distortions. I feel uneasy about Blogsters that post personal thoughts and feelings on the Net. I am uncomfortable with the idea that one's personal thoughts can be accessed by anyone in the world. I am also concerned that much misinformation and disinformation is passed from one disaffected person to another via these Blogs. It is bad enough that fake and distorted events are passed from person to person with e-mail. The thought that Blog distortions can effect national events, as has happened over the past couple of years, is more disturbing. The problem is that many Blogs are not fact-checked. As a person trained in research, I am concerned that almost all blogs are not supported by the standard rules of research: Is the writer authoritative? Are the facts supported by evidence? Is the source definitive? Is the source reliable? For this reason, I try to incorporate facts in my Blog. For example, if you want to confirm the facts about my post on Subway, go to www.subway.com and you will see where I confirmed most of my factual statements.

Last, the reason why I choose to call this Blog my 'Last Word' was not due to some sort of arrogant attitude that I knew the answers to everything. It is more personal than that. I am writing these blogs to rid myself of thinking about the topic. Thoughts about topic such as Subways and Bagels permeate my percolating mind and sit there like stale coffee grounds until I get them out. Once out I rarely think about the idea again. My hope for my Blog is that once I get out my thoughts on a subject, it will delete itself from my head and I would not think about it too much after that. And THAT is why I hope it is the 'last word'. Not that it is truly the last word but that, for me, once I write it down, it will disappear and I won't think about it anymore.

And that's the last word on the last word.

The Chinese Invade America - Buffet Style

[Originally posted February 5, 2005]

Another Chinese Buffet opened nearby recently bringing the official count of Asian-style buffets in this area of approximately 180,000 people into double digits. Quite a change from many years ago when there was one, yes, let's count them, one chinese restaurant of mediocre quality called 'The Dragon'. The number of Chinese restaurants increased slowly over the years to three, Yen Ching's and Pei's, and that was that for a very long time. Ever so slowly a few more Chinese restaurants were opened by immigrant families. Some where good and survived. Some were awful and quickly closed. Southasian style restaurants followed; a couple of Thai places, a couple of Vietnamese places. The lack of Asian food was a great hardship to me over the years, almost as great a hardship of not having access to a single delicatessen nor bagel shop. But all that has changed since the Chinese Buffet came to town. Chinese Buffets appear to have taken over. There's almost one on every corner. Ands the results are not always good.

Traditional Chinese restaurants have had a harder time surviving since the invasion of Chinese buffets. Yen Ching's closed and became a take-out place, The surviving restaurants saw the writing on the wall and began their own buffet style menus. The buffet is popular with consumers of mass quantities of food. You can see these people arrive by the dozens, looking for a food bargain, heaping mass quantities of food on their plates; plate after plate after plate. Not to say that some buffet items are not good. Most buffets supplement their buffet tables with fresh food grills and sushi, both of which are very good. You can also get freshly grilled meats and decent non-Asian foods at these places. Many of the non-Asian choices, though odd and out of place in what supposedly is an oriental restaurant, are fresh. But for the most part, the buffet's Asian choices offer a plethora of soggy, lukewarm, spiceless run of the mill generic Chinese food, poorly prepared and of questionable quality and health.

Sauces are essential to Chinese cooking. I have never seen a buffet offer any thing other than soy sauce. No mustard, sweet 'n sour, dipping sauces, fish sauce, hot sauce, ginger, carrot, nothing. The lack of sauces at Chinese buffets is a major disappointment and does not allow the visitor to doctor up mediocre dishes.

It is no secret that Chinese buffets are frequently cited by health departments for not maintaining standards of service. Search your local records and you will often find a good fair share of Chinese buffet health code violations that range from lack of cleanliness to improperly maintained food temperatures. Ever wonder why your stomach protests after eating at a Chinese buffet? It's not the mass quantities of food you consume. It might instead be bacteria or excessive improperly stored fats used in the cooking process.

I grew up with Chinese restaurants. A shop across the street from my family's business was a Chinese restaurant where as a kid I learned to like Asian style cooking and how to make some of the dishes. Over the years, I learned how to make many oriental dishes and it has become a staple cuisine in our house. So I examine the quality of Chinese buffet items a bit more than others might. In general, I am disappointed over the quality of Chinese dishes on the steam tables.

Here are some suggestions from a longtime oriental cook if you frequent Chinese buffets:

1. Avoid the steam tables except for rice and noodle dishes. Although not the best these dishes are usually OK because they are SUPPOSED to be bland.
2. Avoid the fried meat dishes. If you want to know why do a simple test. Take apart one of the fried meat bits and try to discover for yourself what the meat is - or even if there is any meat.
3. Use the grill. Know exactly what spices to have the chef add to your food choices. He usually does not know.
4. Eat the sushi and California rolls. It is often very good if fresh. Good sushi however seems only to be available on Sundays.
5. Forget the Asian foods and have the chef grill you a steak. Avoid the steam table steaks. The food on the steam tables are almost always keep at too low a temperature. You take a chance on stomach protests.
6. Examine the meats in the non-fried meat dishes and ask yourself: Is that really chicken? Is that really pork? The chicken is from a wholesaler who uses some unknown process to make the 'chicken' tasteless and rubbery. The pork is often all fat.
7. Find out what foods are made by the restaurant and try them. Some items are such as pot stickersand salads. Most however are bought from a wholesaler who specializes in tasteless fatty salty food.
8. Go to a real Asian restaurant and have a good meal. Notice the difference. Your stomach will thank you.

Keep in mind that my opinions are based only on buffets I have visited in this state. Iowa has never been known for the high quality of its enthic foods. It is probably true that buffets elsewhere are quite good. I certainly hope so.

Postscript:

The latest craze is now Japanese restaurants. 2 new locations have already opened with a third on the way. Unfortunately, these versions of Japanese restaurants all seem to be teppanyaki outlets.

There is still not a single delicatessen anywhere in this area. The closest authentic deli is over 150 miles away and it is still merely a pale imitation of the real thing.

'The Dragon' Chinese restaurant closed and re-opened under the same name as a gay bar and night club. Get it?

The Un-Bagel

[Originally posted on January 3, 2005]

I love bagels.
As a kid I savored the smell of yeasty bagel dough at the local bagel bakery and the soft but chewy taste of a fresh right-out-of-the-oven perfect circle of bageliciousness. The local bakery was a small store front, as all bagel bakeries were, with bins of fresh bagels just waiting inside the front door. The choices were limited; plain, sesame, onion, poppyseed, and garlic. Plain was always the bagel of choice and the most plentiful. And they were cheap. Ten cents each or 3 for a quarter. Then the bagel market went national. A firm began to market some sort of erstaz frozen bagel that bore as much resemblance to a real bagel as ice milk to ice cream. They survives and led the way to bagel store franchises and bread stores that added bagels to their product line.
Some bagel franchise stores weren't bad. They weren't real bagels but they came close and if you lived out in the hinderland (anywhere outside of New York, Florida, or California) they at least were a decent subsititute for the real thing. Usually smaller and not as tastey, these franchise bagels were OK between the infrequent trips to real bagel territory or overnight mail order form H&H in New York. But then the bread store franchises saw the potential of an untapped market and decided to bring the bagel to the masses. And began to change the bagel....
The first changes were flavors of bagels that seemed to appeal to the new bagel market. Some were interesting; I really like Asiago bagels. Some were so-so variations of existing speciality bagels such as pumpernickel and egg. Then came oddities such as sun-dried tomato, jalapeno, cranberry, blueberry, pumpkin. And then sweet dessert bagels that is almost sacrilegious to the very essense of bagelness such as chocolate and cinnamon. The worst was yet to come. Chains such as Panera's changed the baking method of making bagels. They made them more like rolls than bagels, good they are but they are not bagels. Bagels at places like Panera's are not the low calorie/ low carb treats that a plain bagel should be. Of course the prices also went up accordingly.
These psuedo-bagels really aren't bad. They just aren't real bagels. As the popularity of bagels grew with the mass market, the nature of the bagel, both in chain stores and in supermarkets became imitations of the real thing. And, to state this for the first time in this posting, un-Jewish.
Let's face it, no matter what the real origin of the bagel (the facts are in dispute), the bagel is a Jewish bread. As the marketing of the bagel became more intense, the further away from its Jewish roots the commercial bagel became. Many people I know do not know that the Bagel is a Jewish thing and that the bagels they consume in restaurants is not really a bagel but a corporate recreation with all ethnicity pulled out.
The last connection between the real world of bagels and the Macbagel that is so popular right now was made obvious to me the last time I was in Panera's. Every since Panera's began making erstaz bagels, they have also sold an erstaz cream cheese. Not the real thing but still good. If you have had a real cream cheese with bagel treat you might pass this pale imitative expensive stuff up. Panera's also sold a cream cheese and lox variation. I was always careful to ask for cream cheese and SMOKED SALMON because the help never seemed to know what lox was. A bagel with lox and cream cheese is the ultimate Jewish treat. Add a slice of tomato, onion, or cucumber and you have a real classic. And please, none of these flavored bagels. The flavor is in the lox, cream cheese and anything else you add on to it.
I looked in vain for the lox and cream cheese on Panera's menu last time I was there. It was gone. It has been removed from the corporate menu as well. In my opinion, Panera's has removed the last trace of the bagel's Jewish roots. As far as Panera's is concerned, a bagel is just another bread. In most chain bagel joints you can at least pretend you are eating Jewish food if only because the name of the business sounds Jewish. But not in Panera's.
Panera's is now off my bagel buy list. In my hometown, amid the plentitude of fake bagels, there is still a chain bagel that close to the real thing; Breuggers, and they will have to satisfy my bagel fix from now on.

Riding the Subway Food Rails

[Originally posted on January 7, 2005]

I will continue today with more about food. My last word is on the Subway fast food chain. You know the place, hundreds of sub sandwich fast food joints all over the nation and endorsed by permanent formerly fat spokesperson Jared. I always took subs for granted since I grew up in NYC where sandwiches on Italian bread was no big thing. I never liked the sloppy meatball subs but I really liked the humoungous deli subs. First of all, the meats and cheeses used were the real thing and not the K-Mart versions of meats and cheeses that most sub outlets use today. Submarine sandwiches were originally made by Italian food markets where the word 'cheddar' let alone the cheese was unknown. The cheeses used in subs were flavorful and aromatic with strange sounding names that were vaguely Italian. Most cheeses that were used were also imported from the old country and made with a specialness that American mass cheese producers can only dream of duplicating. . The meats were also unique. No fake bologna nor mystery meat or ham so badly processed that you could only tell it was ham by the name on the label that usually said something like 'a ham product'. And the only 'turkey' you would ever see in these shops were the daily lunch visits from the neighborhood blue collar workers often named 'Sal' or 'Vince' or 'Tony'. And the bread ... Oh let me tell you about the bread. This was the real thing. Not the air bread that passes for bread that is sold in most groceries but the kind of bread you could smell as you walked into the store. The kind of bread that you knew did not come from an aroma machine piped into the store with fan aided air ducts. The bread was tasty, crunchy and fresh. The damn things had real crusts like bread was supposed to have. Crust that would break off and fall in your lap. Crust that was the reason that you were told stories about bread crumbs as a kid because in those days, bread really HAD crumbs. These breads were not the mass produced soft rolls that subs are made of today. 'Big Mikes' is the only local sub chain that comes close to being a real sub because of it's decent crusty-like bread but it is still a far cry from a real freshly baked Italian or French bread sub.

Does anyone even remember why they were called subs? It's the bread, stupid; elongated oversized 12"+ rolls shaped like a submarine (or as it was sometimes called, a 'torpedo' sandwich). A sandwich so big you could never eat even half of it and if you could you would be some kind of 'hero' which is why some variations of the sandwich were called just that, 'Heroes'.

I often stood by watching with fascination as my uncle would edit his lunch sub that he bought daily from the local Italian butcher. Without his alterations he could not consume the monsterous sandwich. He would deconstruct the sub carefully and then scoop out all of the white interior breading. He'd toss this out in the waste-can and say 'If I wanted this soft crap, I'd buy a loaf of Wonder Bread." He would then re-construct the sandwich, often offering me half, and then proceed to consume the sub. Crunch, crunch. The sound of real teeth on real bread.

The Subway franchise sandwich wasn't a real sub. More of a homogenized non-ethnic non-multicultural version of the traditional Italian gut buster. At the very least, a Subway sandwich is better than most other fast food stomach gas producers such as McDonald's, Hardee's, Judy's (remember that one?), A&W, Wendy's, etc. The subway franchise also created the space for other sub franchise and independent businesses to grow which was a blessing for those of us who did not want a fatburger, oily salted fried potatoes, and a sugar enriched soda. And I particularly really liked the name of the restaurant: 'Subway'. Although I now prefer Blimpie's subs, the name Blimpie does nothing for me. It reminds me more of the character in the Popeye cartoons; J Wellington Wimpy. "I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today". Of course Blimpie can't be Wimpy because Wimpy has his own chain of hamburger joints in the UK.

There are over 22500 subway franchises in almost 80 countries. It all started in the mid-60's in Connecticut with a few submarine sandwich shops. I loved the original decor. Subway line wallpaper covered the eatery. It reminded me that as a kid I would draw my own subway maps in school instead of paying attention to the teacher. I loved subway maps. I liked the relationship of a sandwich shop called a 'sub'-way and decorating it with New York City subway maps. Early subs had names such as the BMT. Subway's own history states, 'Going along with the subway transportation theme, it is named for the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit system; later it is referred to as "Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest" in an ad campaign.' I liked the idea of a little bit of NYC scattered throughout the world in Subway franchises. I had always hoped that the franchise would introduce an IRT or IND, or a METRO or BART. No such luck.

The Subway restaurant changed drastically over the past 4 years. The subway map decor were removed; the BMT was retired. Now instead of associating the subway restaurants with NYC, we associate sub sandwiches with Jared; Subway's former fat person shill. I wish I knew what his salary was. I'd keep the weight off too if I made annually what I think he is paid.

I still like Subway's subs though It is a decent alternative to the other fast food restaurants and one that is a lot better for kids than the junk served in hamburger joints. But they are not submarine sandwiches and do not let anyone try to convince you that they are. Pay a visit to a real sub shop in NYC if you are not convinced. I wish that Subway had keep the NYC Subway motif though. Everytime I went to a Subway restaurant, I would remember my childhood in NYC. I miss that. And when I go to Blimpies' and al lI think of is gasoline and the Goodyear blimp. And that's my last word on the subject.

In Search of Real French Fries

[Originally posted on January 27, 2005]

I was eating a lunch at Applebee's. I was good that day and ordered onion soup and a salad with the usual glass of water. As I ate I watched the family across the aisle. A rather corpulent couple with 2 young children under the age of five. First came the appetizer special along with glasses of pop for all. Hum, I thought, not what I would order. An overpriced meal but who am I tell people what to economically order for a quick bite of lunch. Then the rest of the meal came. Each adult had a humongeous plate of food set in front of them. The kids received kid's meals of chicken strips and fries. And last were the desserts. Quite a lot of food, I though. Quite an expensive lunch as well. I also pitied the kids as well who were being conditioned to think that fried this n' fried that was what lunch, and probably dinner, was all about. I silently criticized the parents for setting there kids up for future health problems by feeding them fats and salt instead of fruits and veggies. I wondered if thee adult pair even knew what a vegetable was. I mused over the restaurant's choice of serving a basket of fried foods to kids as a substitute for good nutrition and remembered that most restaurants offer a less than healthy meal as their choice for children.

As I pondered the poor dietary choices these adults were making, I wondered if I was ready for a posting on the dangerous diets of Americans. No, I was not. Instead I savored the odor of the fried food stuffs as it made its invisible way across the aisle to my nostrils. How enticing it all was! We humans simply love the odor of fried food. We crave it. We want the high calories that these foods represent. Our primitive ancient biological imperative for survival demands it. No wonder it is so hard to overcome the basic biological drive to consume fats and oils. The buried scavenger pre-human in us believes it is a matter of survival, an instinctual craving in our reptilian brain from a time when the animal in us did not know when the next nourishment was going to come to us. But then I took a closer look at the fries and I felt saddened.

How can a person crave these pitiful things that Applebee's called 'French Fries'. What ever happened to real French Fries? The fried potato that actually tasted like potato. The fried potatoes I remembered eating as a special treat as a child in delis? The French Fries that were an ADDED menu item and not part of a meal? The fries that were not massed produced by potato processing plants which took out all the flavor and added fats and salts? Not the frozen stuff we now commonly see at McDonald's and all other food franchises. Where are the real French Fries???

The last time I had a real French Fry was in Winnipeg, Canada. I can only assume that they are still available somewhere in the USA, but if you really want to know what a French Fry is supposed to be like, you will have to go to Europe where the fried potato is still the number one snack food, and done right. Traveling in places like the Netherlands, France, or Belgium, you cannot help but be aware of the scent of street vendors selling fried potatoes that you buy in paper cones (just like they used to serve at Nathan's in NYC) and topped with mayo (the real stuff, homemade, not the corporate mayo out of a jar, and certainly not the awful and inappropriately named 'Miracle Whip') or some other special sauce, such as 'sate sauce', a pea-nutty concoction that you can get in the Netherlands. In Belgium, you can visit fry shops called 'frietkots', little kiosks that sell a perfectly delicious fresh fried potato with your choice of toppings. I understand that real French Fries can still be had in San Francisco and New York at some European specialty restaurants, however for the rest of us, at least those of us who are old enough to remember, real French Fries are only a memory. As is the case with many other great American foods that were once available before the corporatization of the American diet, French Fries has been replaced by the pale tasteless imitation of today. To make matters worse, the American diet has deemed that what was once a sometime treat is now be a major food group, causing enormous havoc on the health of American children.

Hey, the French Fry isn't even French. I was amused when the Congressional dining room, and one of our local patriotic greasy spoons, decided to rename 'French' Fries as 'American' Fries in protest to France's reluctance to support the war with iraq. The level of intelligence of Congression cafeteria goers most be on the same level as the patrons of the Stadium Lounge. The fried potato is actually from BELGIUM. Only in the USA are they called 'French Fries'. In England, they are 'chips'. In France they are 'pomme frites'. In Holland and Belgium they are 'patat'.

If you really want a treat and don't mind the intake of fats and salt on rare occasion, then you must eat REAL French Fries. Take a pass on the fries at restaurants. Order a fruit, salad or veggie instead. At the very least, never order a kid's meal that are all fried foods Do it for your children. They may whine and complain but here is a tip: Ignore it. You're bigger than they are and they will thank you when they are adults.

HOMEMADE FRENCH FRIES

1 lb. Beef fat -- cut in small pieces
Vegetable oil
1 lb. Idaho potatoes
Salt

Render liquid fat from the beef fat by cooking it in a heavy saucepan over low heat, about 40 minutes or more. Discard pieces of fat which are left over. Add an equal part of vegetable oil to beef fat in pan.

Cut unpeeled potatoes into long strips about 1/4- 3/8-inch wide. Soak in a large bowl of ice water for about 45 minutes. Arrange on paper towels and carefully pat dry.

Heat oil mixture to 365 degrees. Add potatoes in batches so pan isn't crowded. Fry until they begin to look partially cooked, about 5 minutes.

Remove and let oil return to 365 degrees. Return partially cooked fries and continue cooking until they are crisp and golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt (or seasoning salt) and serve immediately.

Attack of the Mutant Bananas

[Originally posted February 13, 2005]

When I lived in Puerto Rico, I often ate fresh fruits including fresh bananas and pineapple. The bananas grew right outside my front door on my banana trees. I also had mangos and papaya. Coconuts were free for the taking on thee beaches. Pineapples were available across the road at the grower's food stand right next to his pineapple field. If I wanted I could just have gone into the fields and taken some pineapple. The grower was OK with that. However, he would say, you need to be careful of the centipedes (12 inch long little beasties) because they are poisonous.

Until I ate these locally grown fruits, I had no idea that fresh fruits, bananas and pineapple could taste so good. The fruits I ate in the continental US were nothing like these. These pineapples were always sweet and juicy. I had to cut them up in a bowl to capture the cup of sweet pineapple juice that would always drip out. The bananas tasted, well, like bananas. Not the chalky bland versions I was used to in the US. but sweet banana. Oh, and the pineapples were usually 10-20 pounds each. I never knew they grew that big.

Local produce like this, I was told, never left the island. The stuff that was shipped north was produce that was harvested early, before they ripened and got too big for the canning factories. And if the produce was harvested at the time when they were at their best, they could not be shipped fast enough to reach markets. They would rot in the holds of shipping containers.

After traveling around the Caribbean and other parts of world, I later discovered that fruits obtained locally were very different from the fruits available in markets. Spanish and Israeli oranges were totally unlike their Californian and Floridian counterparts; sweet, juicy and expensive. Locally bought Florida citrus picked at their prime was unlike the ones shipped north that were picked while still green.

When I was kid, fresh fruit was a seasonal treat. The availability of fresh produce depended on how far the produce could be shipped without spoiling and whether the produce was locally grown. Fresh oranges were only available at certain times of the year. Most oranges grown, at least 90%, were destined for the most transportable and storage mode of juice. Even today, most oranges are intended for juice products. Bananas were rarely available because they spoiled during shipping and could not be canned. Pineapples were only available in cans. New York City residents were limited in what produce was available. It was almost always locally grown. Does anyone remember why New Jersey was called the 'Garden State'? Is is because pre-suburban New Jersey was filled with produce farms that supplied fresh produce to the entire Northeast. Upstate New York was, and still is, a prime source of apples, grapes, and other tree fruits for the region. All that changed with two historic events; the development in the U.S. of long-range transportation techniques and the development of hybrid and genetically engineered foods.

I do not want to dwell on transportation at this time other than to remark that some fruits have their ripening retarded by cold gas storage and other similar techniques to allow long distance shipping over longer periods of time without spoilage. Fruits are picked before they fully develop, before they sweeten. Some fruits are artificially ripened at the terminus but this technique does not add flavor or sweetness. Modern fruits look good, ship well, but do not necessarily taste good. Tomatoes for example are sprayed with the chemical ethylene to artificially ripen them. Many people complain about the taste of these tomatoes.

Fruits have also been subject to a long-term hybridization process. Some hybrids have been developed to make a better fruit. Many however, have been developed to make a more transportable fruit. In fruit circles this is sometimes known as the 'Heirloom vs Hybrid' debate.

Traditionally and historically, fruits and vegetables have been breed for improvement from generation to generation by farmers by techniques such as selecting and planting only seeds from strong and productive plants or grafting. This is 'heirloom' farming and takes decades, centuries, millennia to accomplish. Practically all modern food plants and animals have been breed this way over thousands of years (Read Jared Diamond's book 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' for more information). In the 19th century, professional plant breeders began to make deliberate crosses between varieties of fruits and veggies. This is known as 'hybridization'. Hybridization changed food production in the world and, for the most part, quelled the fear that human population was outstripping the ability of food producers to provide enough food to sustain it.

Hybridization has a few interesting qualities. First, it has shortened the time needed to produce a new breed of food to decades. It took thousands of years for humans to successful produce the modern corn plant and wheat plant. Hybridization produced new breeds in a matter of decades.

Second, hybridization is not always successful and the results may not be apparent for a long time. One of the first 20th century successes was a hybrid tomato which tasted good but made a lousy sauce. In the 19th century, a mutant apple was discovered, presumedly from a lightning struck tree, and was grafted onto other trees. The red delicious apple was born. Further hybridization keep the nice appearance of this variety at the expense of taste. I don't buy red delicious apples any more.

Lastly, and most importantly, modern hybrids are startling uniform. Breed for appearance, pest resistance, and herbicide tolerance, modern fruits are genetically similar. Heirloom fruits are varied and diverse. The problem here is that genetic uniformity means that a species can be wiped out quickly by a new plant disease. Hybrids also require human assistance to reproduce. Most do not reproduce by pollination but must be planted with manufactured seed stock. If you think this is a minor risk, think again. The potato famine in 1845 Ireland was bad because the potato was not genetically diverse and had no disease resistance.

You also may be unaware that the banana is an endangered species. Fully 50% of each year's banana crop is discarded due to disease. The modern banana's resistance to disease has been breed out over the many generations of hybridizations over centuries of experimentation. Banana plantations have been devastated by black sigatoka and Panama disease, two types of fungus infestations that are devastating banana plantations in several regions around the world. Modern bananas have been breed for size and shipping. The bananas I had around my house in Puerto Rico are not the same breed you routinely find in American supermarkets. My bananas were small, 1/3 to 1/2 the size of store banana. My bananas were heirloom bananas, not hybrids. Unless a fix is found, the banana, as you know it is the supermarket is doomed. Not surprisingly, a fix is in the works. This fix is a result of the next generation of foodstuff manipulation known as 'genetic modification' - GM or GMO for short, or sometimes GA (genetically altered).

Most Americans are unaware how much genetically altered foods have entered the food supply. As we enter the 21st century, Americans are, for the first time, consuming foods that were not developed naturally. Genetically modified foods have invisibly made their way into the marketplace with most people totally unaware of it. Like hybrids, GM produce is breed for appearance, shipping, disease resistance, and pesticide tolerance. Unlike hybrids however, a GM product can reach the market in a matter of only a few years. The majority of foodstuffs that Americans eat in restaurants or buy in supermarkets have some genetically altered ingredients. These GM foods and super hybrids have reached the marketplace in record time without any significant long-term studies on the possible effect they may have on health, on environment, or, more importantly, on future food production. No one really knows if these products are safe. Labeling is not required on any products or produce to help the consumer tell if the item is natural, a hybrid or genetically modified. You may be aware that fresh produce has a sticker on it with what is known as a PLU code; a four digit number that identifies the product for cashiers. You might not be aware that the code also tells you if the product is organic or GM. Some PLU's have 5 digits. If the first digit is a '9', the product is organically grown. If it has an '8', it is a genetically modified product.

Since 1992, the FDA has declared that engineered produce is no different from regular food. As a result, the biofoods industry has transformed American agriculture with no regulation, oversight or public awareness. This is bad science and bad policy.

Most people are unaware that almost 25% of U.S. farmlands now grow GM foodstuffs. This includes 55% of all soybeans, 35% of all corn. 30% of all dairy cows are injected with a genetically altered growth hormone (BGH). Over half of all processed foods, including margarine, bread and most animal products are genetically altered or made using genetically altered foods. Most GM foods are those that use corn, soy, dairy products. Many of these GM products, corn and soy, are produced here in Cedar Rapids.

GM altered produce include potatoes, papaya, tomatoes, and squash, most corn and soy products such as corn syrup, popcorn, breads, cereals, margarine, tofu, ice cream, soymilk, peanut butter, candies, and so on. The list gets larger monthly.

Bananas have not yet been GM'ed. New disease resistant hybrids are currently being tested in Hondoras; test varieties FHIA 17 and FHIA 23, which seem to be better able to resist the fungus that is killing off banana plantations. However, bananas, as well as apples, grapes, strawberries, pineapples, and melons are all currently under GM development

I am not one to criticize genetically altered foods claiming that their consumption will turn us all into mutants. However I do believe there is a danger. To put it simply, I do not trust the government. GM foods need to be carefully regulated and tested and more research needs to be done before more products are released into the marketplace. There is already plenty of antidotal evidence that suggests further study is prudent.

Firstly, the development of hybrid food products took centuries and sometimes problems were found. It is irresponsible to allow super fast development of GM food without using the test of time to evaluate its effects on health.

Secondly, it would be unwise to limit the genetic makeup of food products. Biology teaches us that survival is a product of genetic diversity is nothing else. Limiting a products diversity may be suicidal.

I personally would rather eat an heirloom blemished fruit that tastes good rather than a perfect looking so-so version that is indistinguishable from the plastic fruits you buy at K-Mart. Hybridization has changed the nature of food grown in this country. GM will change it even more. If you are not concerned about GM then think about this - animals in the wild and domesticated animals give a pass to feeding on GM altered plants. Perhaps we should find out why.

Rudes of the Road

[Originally posted April 27, 2005]

Experts say that it takes about 2 years for a new driver to learn how to REALLY control a vehicle and start to become a decent defense driver. That is why insurance costs of teens are higher than the average person. Teens are more likely to have those minor accidents that cause costly repairs as they learn the true mechanism of controlling a vehicle in motion. My kids as early drivers would give me this look as if to say with a sarcastic sneer 'Oh, really?' when I would try to explain that good driving meant you had to internalize the physics of motion, to become one with your automobile in a zen sort of way, in order to drive well. I am sure that they later realized what I meant as they became good drivers.

Driving well does not mean that you never make mistakes. It just means that you know enough to reduce the risks of damage to both yourself and your vehicle. I know of no one that has never had a minor accident. Accidents happen whether due to road conditions, faulty equipment in the car, momentary inattentiveness, a little too much to drink, not enough rest, slightly slower response time, unfamiliarity with the road, poor road maintenance, lack of signage or upkeep, or, of course, the other driver.

I have seen a lot of poor drivers in the past. Funny incredulous stories about what drivers have been seen doing fill up e-mails and make good diner conversation. I have seen drivers read while driving, a book propped up on the steering wheel. I have seen drivers applying make-up and doing nails while driving. I have seen drivers driving with one foot stuck out the driver's side window. You get the picture. And I haven't even touched on the cell phone issue.

I also know that when I see someone driving badly, it could be worse. I lived in Puerto Rico for two years where poor driving skills is an honored art form. I've also driven in Mexico where 'stop' in not in the driving vocabulary. And have witnessed driving in many European countries such as in France where lanes are arbitrary. Driving in Iowa is also fairly sedate compared to big city America. It is only when I drive into an urban environment that my New York raised driving self emerges and I become a more aggressive, high alert style person, zipping in and out of traffic like I'm in the Indy 500. Recently however, I have noticed a change in local driver habits. I have observed more drivers who drive with an aggressive, get out of my way, I am the only important vehicle on the road attitude. Tailgating is on the increase. So is cutting off other vehicles by weaving in and out of traffic. Some drivers seem to think that the 'right turn on red light allowed' law means that cross-traffic must give way to their coasting through the intersection right-turns. Jumping lights is on the increase as is beating the light changes at intersections. In over 40 years as a driver, I have witness directly in front of me 3 intersection collisions, all were over the past 2 years. And don't get me on the lack of courtesy shown other drivers by drivers talking on their cell phones while at the wheel.

It is not that some drivers don't know the rules of the road. It seems that they purposely ignore them as if the rules do not apply to them. So to all of these people who are accidents waiting to happen, I suggest this web site: 'How to Drive Like a Moron' at http://www.doggiesnot.com/.

Rudes of the Road Update

[Originally posted August 14, 2005]

I did not think I would have to make another entry on the behavior of drivers. However, recent developments have made it impossible not to add some more comments.

Allstate recently declared that my hometown, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has the safest drivers in America (http://www.allstate.com/media/newsheadlines/pr_2005/PageRender.asp?page=pr_2005_06_07_wheel.htm). As stated in the report:

'The first-of-its kind ranking of U.S. cities with populations 100,000-plus, revealed that the average driver in the central Iowa city will experience an auto collision every 15 years, compared to the national likelihood of a crash every 10 years – making them 33.28 percent less likely to have an accident than the national average.'

Although slightly incredulous, I accepted this report as published in the local paper even though my personal observations belayed the claim. Everyone I talked to over the next 2 days were equally incredulous. I was not the only one who has noticed an increase in bad driving over the past 2 years. And several newspaper letters also took exception to the claim. On the third day after the release of the report, as I was thinking that the data must be true because Allstate says it is, I got a frantic call from my wife: she has just been broadsided by a vehicle crossing an intersection after the light changed from yellow to red.

Intersection jumping is a common occurrence around here. Rarely a week goes by without a newspaper accident piece that clearly states that the cause was a vehicle that did not stop for a red light. Attempting to beat traffic light changes, running through red lights, rolling indiscriminately through a right turn on red (legal in this state), and even making left turn on red, are all not an infrequent occurrence. I usually see this behavior during prime driving times: morning rush, evening rush, and lunchtime rush, but I have also observed, far more times than I would like, vehicles that break the traffic rules because the driver concluded that the rules only apply under certain situations. For example, ever notice the driver who stops at a red light, decides that there is no other traffic, and proceeds to cross the intersection? I have observed this much too often.

Another alarming hazard that seems to be on the increase is the driver who believes that the turn lane starts several hundred feet or several blocks before the intended intersection. Never mind that the the lane is clearly marked with yellow lines, or worse, there is no road but merely a dirt shoulder. Of course this means that driver who follow the rules and waits and signals to enter the turn lane where it is marked is at risk.

I know that that many states have no-fault insurance and it is common for drivers to blame the road, the weather or the vehicle for accidents, but my observations indicate that most vehicle accidents are due to driver error. So as I thought about the Allstate report, I wondered what I saw that the insurance company did not. I came to these conclusions:

1. Our town's data looks good only when you compare it to other cities whose data is horrendous. I recently drive to a large metropolitan area. Even though I grew up and learned to drive in New York City, I felt that I was driving though Baghdad as I went into hyper-driver mode in order to avoid colliding with aggressive, lane-hopping, tailgating, swerving, traffic rule breaking drivers. Among the driving I observed was; driving purposely the wrong way on a one-way street, making a U-turn while ignoring trafffic coming from the other direction, and driving your vehicle across 3 lanes of slow traffic. And that was just within a ten minute period.

2. Our town's accident rate looks good simply because there are less people and cars here, not because the drivers are that much better. Statistically our drivers experience a statistically lower chance of causing collisions because of the lower people/car density ration, not because they are better drivers. It is not that Cedar Rapidians are safer drivers but that their bad driving habits are less likely to result in a collision.

3. If you study the report carefully, you actually might reach a somewhat different conclusion than Allstate: The lower accident rate might have nothing to do with driver abilities but the expertise of the city traffic engineering department in creating fairly safe and well marked streets.You will also notice that the accident rate increases in proportion to population density.

4. The report only evaluated 'reported' accidents. This community is one of those in which it is common for people to settle their own claims privately and not report it at all.

5. The report collected data for 2002 and 2003. I don't think that 2004/2005 data will reach the same conclusions.

And I hope that this really is the last word I will have of the subject.

The American Hot Dog

[Originally posted on August 25, 2005]

The hot dog is one of those delights that has successfully resisted the attempt by corporate food to homogenize into dullness. Despite the overwhelming presence of those awful supermarket imitations produced under brand names such as Oscar Meyer, Ballpark, Farmland, etc, the essential good American 'frank' has endured. You can still get yummilious dogs just about anywhere; even in supermarkets. Our local markets not only carry local made versions which are far better than the corporate stuff but they also stock the better brands such as Hebrew National and Best's. Hey, even Hillshire Farms dogs are pretty darn good.

The plentiful supply of delicious dogs are so common that I have a difficult time understanding why parents buy the cheap fat & sodium laden crappy versions for their children to eat. Sure the better brand names are more expensive, but don't you think that the health of your children are worth it? If they only knew how they manufactured these so-called hot dogs, these folks never buy one again. I have know folks who have worked in meat processing plants where hot dogs were made. They won't touch the stuff. Does it tell you something that people who work in these plants never eat the stuff?

The hot dog has a long and glorious history. Sausage making goes as far back as the 9th century B.C. Sausages known as 'weiners', frankfurters', and 'dashshunds' have been around for centuries. It is a mystery who served up the first American hot dog but a likely claim rests with Charles Feltman, a German butcher, who, in 1867, opened up a hot dog stand in Coney island in Brooklyn, New York. He may have also added the bread bun to the hot dog. I'd like to believe that this was the first true hot dog simply because the best hot dog of my youth was from Nathan's in Coney Island. Hot dogs were sold at every deli in New York and were often called 'franks' but the Nathan's dogs were special. These all beef hot dogs used only the best beef. They were grilled and Nathan's offered free condiments with the hot dog. We usually piled on the saurkraut on these dogs after slobbering on mustard. At baseball games, vender's would hawk hot dogs as 'red hots'.

Hot dogs are good food as long as you are careful to buy only the best. All beef hot dogs are, in my opinion, the best, but dogs often are made with beef and pork combinations that are quite good. Of course, the pork dogs are not kosher. And let's not even think about turkey, chicken, or vegan hot dogs ... please. Avoid any dog that has soy or cereal filler or anything else added that is unpronounceable. Also avoid the high fat content sausages. If the dog has less than 4 grams of protein, avoid it. It is these 'filler' dogs that have given hot dogs a bad reputation and may give you stomach pains.

And that is my last word on my favorite link.