Randall's Blog

I have started a few blog posts in the last few months that I can't seem to finish. My frustration/anger/disgust and fear levels are rising -

It's early 2012, in the coming months we will be subjected to yet another painful presidential election and the accompanying congressional contests. I have made it clear that I don't intend to vote for Obama for a second term. The knee-jerk reaction of Democrats and liberals is to question why I want Michelle Bachmann or Mitt Romney to be president. Well, I'm sick of this ever more pointless charade every 4 years. I don't want to be lectured about the realities of our current political system - thank you but I'm well aware of this reality. I'm also aware of a much more important reality - we need real fundamental change in our society (and throughout the world) and it will never come from the corporate-sponsored Democrats or the corporate-sponsored Republicans. Everything Ralph Nader has been saying about how little difference there is between them is true - they are the problem, not the solution. I'm not going to waste time detailing all the ways Obama has betrayed the progressive voters that elected him to office, it's has been done elsewhere, all you have to do is open your eyes to the truth. I will say that Obama has been quite effective in maintaining the status quo. Everything he has done has kept the current power structure intact from the healthcare industry to Wall Street to the Banksters to the military/security/prison industrial complex. He has served the interests of the elite at the expense of the vast majority of ordinary people. Obama does not deserve our votes.

As friends and family already know, I mention the apocalypse on a regular basis. I believe that this has caused some confusion and so now I will attempt to clarify what I mean when I say "apocalypse." I'm not referring to biblical prophecy, I don't believe the men who wrote the Bible had any gift or ability to see the future. The only resemblance between what is written in the Bible and the events that are unfolding today are the result of the fact that human nature has not changed in the last 6000 years and so the same motivations and frailties that people had in the past we also have now. I'm also not referring to any Mayan prophecy. If things go bad in the year 2012 I believe this would just be a coincidence.

There are, however, a combination of events occurring which are unprecedented on a global scale. This “perfect storm” of circumstances have created a very dangerous situation for humankind. I have detailed them previously and many other writers have discussed peak oil, climate change, soil depletion etc. so I won't go into details. I don't think it's a coincidence that the global financial situation is destabilizing at this time as well because these factors are all interrelated. Here are some links that explain what's going on in greater detail and more eloquently than I would be able - please consider reading this and this and this and listening to this long but excellent interview with Chris Hedges:

The reaction to these multitude of issues we are facing is quite variable. I've talked to people in each group. The denialists believe all these issues are made up and there is unlimited oil, resources etc. for humans to grow indefinitely. This fiction is fed and maintained by right-wing conspiracy theorists and others whose financial gain depends upon maintaining the status quo. Although I certainly understand people's skepticism it's important to be judicious and careful with skepticism so as not to be misled by powerful interests. The classic example of this was how the tobacco industry maintained and fed skepticism amongst the public about the health risks of smoking. People wanted to believe that the addictive products they were consuming were not harmful and so it was in the interests of the tobacco industry to dispute, fund research and otherwise muddy the waters so that the clear dangers of smoking were obscured. My own personal guide to skepticism includes economic motives as the most important factor when determining when the truth is being obscured.

Other people, have a hard time hearing about these issues. It's not that they deny their existence, it's just that the truth is difficult to accept and contemplate. I imagine many Europeans in the 1930s had the same difficulty in accepting the ugly truth about the Nazis. Many people could see what was coming and warned others. The ones that heeded the warning and left were a lot better off than those that refused to believe it or didn't want to hear it and stayed. In our current situation there is no place to run to. Our problems are global in nature - we can't escape. We either learn how to live on this planet sustainably and peacefully or will suffer very unpleasant future.

People are out in the streets protesting, which is a good sign. The "Occupy Movement" has changed the conversation from deficits and taxes to inequality and social justice. What will the Spring bring to this movement? I hope it expands in scope and grows in numbers. The elites fear this kind of protest. It's the same rage against a system that only works for the very wealthy (the 1% or the 0.1%) that has put people all over Europe on the streets. The global banking system is trying to strangle the people of the world into debt slavery and the people are resisting. Meanwhile it looks like Obama and Netanyahu are hell bent on starting WWIII by attacking Iran as a distraction. Since none of the economic problems were actually fixed over the last few years I guess this should be expected. 2012 will be a crazy year and I'm not looking forward to it...

I just set up a website to gather information for a book I'm writing with my daughter, Rebecca, about different diets and to share information about the book project. The book title "What Should We Eat?" was chosen because this simple question has become a difficult one to answer. We are bombarded with so much conflicting information about what to eat in our society. Once you depart from the "standard American diet" there are so many different dietary choices out there - how do you choose?

The idea for this book started with a book chapter I wrote several years ago for an edited book on eating meat. The chapter title links to a PDF if you're interested. The book contains many varied viewpoints and is a worthwhile read.

What Is Our Natural Diet And Should We Really Care?
From Food for Thought: The Debate over Eating Meat
Prometheus Books 2004, Edited by Steve F. Sapontzis.

Since so many contemporary alternative diets claim to be "natural" I decided to expand the chapter to include lots of different diets and also to try to understand why people are drawn to specific ways of eating. I decided to invite my daughter, who is now a registered dietitian, to join me as a co-author.

Our website is pretty minimal at this point but we have set up a survey that we hope you will be kind enough to take. If you have tried or are currently eating an "alternative" diet (vegan, raw, paleo, macrobiotic etc.) please visit our website and check out our survey. http://www.whatshouldweeatbook.com/

I add this praying mantis for no particular reason:

Recently I digitized a bunch of home movies onto my computer. I had previously digitized almost all of my slides and negatives and old family photographs. Hard drive space is so cheap now that hours of video fit comfortably on my laptop hard drive. Some of these movies were pretty amusing. Others contain footage of my father before he died and there was plenty of footage of my children when they were younger. There were many short video updates done when I was fixing up a house I owned with my 2nd wife in Amsterdam NY. Unfortunately, that house and all the work that we did on it has joined the many thousands of abandoned and decaying homes all across the country.

It's not that I wish I still lived there or regret my decision to move to Boston in the late 90s. It's just that I'm saddened that the work I did was essentially wasted. I spent quite a bit of time on a property in Patchogue NY in a house and a barn that my great-grandfather built. The property was a summer home for him and his family starting in the 1920s. He used an odd construction method, pouring concrete between 2x4s to create walls of wood and concrete. That property eventually made its way to my mother's aunt and then to my mother. She sold it in 2000 and eventually the old buildings were torn down and new houses were built on the property. As far as I can tell, nothing remains of what my great-grandfather built. I'm beginning to wonder if anything I create in my lifetime will remain for future generations.

My mother and her grandmother in front of the Patchogue barn September 1928 - 83 years ago:

To my knowledge my own father never built anything, never created anything - yet he had a lasting impact on people. In his barbershop he had a captive audience and would extol the virtues of healthy eating, exercise etc. to anyone who stopped in. My mother went through a phase where she painted and I still have her watercolors and oil paintings. She also kept many journals but another question is will anyone read them? I have written a book chapter, a masters thesis and a dissertation. I can see that people download the dissertation from time to time. I can't tell if anyone actually reads it. I do have some scientific papers in academic journals and I can tell if they are cited. Some are pretty well cited but will they mean anything in 100 years? I doubt it.

I know I'm only 50 but I'm starting to wonder what (if anything) I will leave behind of lasting value. I've started working on a book project with Rebecca. I hope it turns out to be something valuable enough that future generations will read it but I guess we have little control over things like that. Hopefully, I still have lots of time to write and create.

Moving along, Debbie and I have been doing more short trips this summer. We did some hiking, made a trip to Boston, Hew Hampshire & Maine (cut short by Irene), and to Cooperstown NY. I went to Florida for Lowell & Turtle's engagement party (which was a lot of fun) and to Cleveland to finish work on a project for Dave & Kathie.

Debbie & I tabled at LarkFest for AVN. We have the Albany vegetarian food festival coming up next Saturday 10/1 and the Boston vegetarian food festival at the end of October. We are still waiting for results from Debbie's bar exam. We are both volunteering - hours are good, pay not so much.

I can't say that our garden was a great producer this year but we have gotten a steady stream of veggies to eat.

In Cooperstown:

Just some updates. Check out my photography blog which has also just been updated.

CONGRATULATIONS to Amanda and Neil! They had a wonderful wedding at the deCordova Museum in Lincoln MA. It was nice to see many of my old Harvard friends.

Also belated congratulations to Laura and Laura and to Marcy and Levent.

I just harvested garlic! Wow - that is an operation that involves some powerful odors! I planted a lot of garlic last fall and this is the result:

Not a bad haul!

I am still learning... This year I learned that garlic can be safely planted in the beds outside the pool/garden but the corn was mostly eaten by some critter. I also seem to have gotten a LOT of cilantro growing in my garden beds. Lots more than I really want and need. Funny how some things don't grow that well but others will sprout up and grow year after year. I have a lot of volunteer tomato plants as well. And dandelions, lots of them. I don't pull them any more just put them in salads. They grow a lot better than the lettuce I planted...

There is a new vegan cafe in Delmar! It's called the Loving Cafe:

It's at 318 Delaware Ave. Delmar NY 12054 518-439-1727 It's part of Loving Hut USA. They are starting out with breakfast and lunch options - check 'em out.

Debbie & I are excited to have more vegan options in the area!

Cheers!

I read the news and wonder at the insane things I see. The bizarre charade of the debt "negotiations" in DC, the slow-motion train wreck that is the EU-Greece "bailout", the creeping police state in the US. Meanwhile, there never was a recovery because Obama took advice from Larry Summers and others who were largely responsible for setting the stage for the meltdown. Unemployment is getting worse - I love the feigned shock and surprise that politicians muster when talking about the jobless rate. They sold American workers out by passing NAFTA and the WTO and just can't understand why throwing large sums of money at banksters doesn't lower the unemployment rate. I also love the latest from the Republicans - don't raise taxes on the "job creators" - what a crock. There is plenty of money out there in the hands of the top 1% but they aren't concerned about creating jobs. All they are interested in is getting the best return for "their" money. Inside information about what stock to buy or what bonds to short will always get a better return than an actual investment that might create jobs.

Some links to the insanity:

Why Is U.S. Pumping AK-47's and Military Rifles Into The Hands Of Mexican Drug Cartels?

Chicago State's Attorney Lets Bad Cops Slide, Prosecutes Citizens Who Record Them

US universities in Africa 'land grab' - Institutions including Harvard and Vanderbilt reportedly use hedge funds to buy land in deals that may force farmers out

America’s Energy Ethos: Do, Regardless of Harm

In a pure coincidence, Gaddafi impeded U.S. oil interests before the war

This Hero Didn't Stand a Chance

Being Anti-War Is Not a Crime -- But That's Not Stopping the FBI From Raiding Activists' Homes

If Ayn Rand and the Free Market Fetishists Were Right, We'd be Living in a Golden Age -- Does This Look Like a Golden Age to You?

Matt Stoller: Who Wants Keep the War on Drugs Going AND Put You in Debtor’s Prison?

Food tyrants threaten Michigan woman with jail time for planting vegetable garden

Cheers!