Saturday, April 8, 2006

If your head's not exploding, you're not paying attention My dear husband's friend Max, who, admittedly, is further out on the political spectrum than I am (come to think of it, he's off the spectrum, and in search of a new paradigm, but that's another topic) forwarded me this link: Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room This is from Wired magazine, folks, not, I don't know, High Times.  If my head weren't already 'sploding, I'd be holding in my hands, weeping.  I guess I have to add AT&T to the list of companies who can no longer have my cash, if this is true.  Any other thoughts on what the hell we can do to, first of all, protest meaningfully, and second of all, get this country back? 7:58:11 PM     comment [] trackback []

Women, working Fortune Small Business (that's a magazine, one that mysteriously has started appearing in my mailbox, but which is surprisingly good if you have any interest in, you know, business, especially of an entrepreneurial bent) has a wonderful profile this month of my old college friend Janet Kraus' concierge services company, Circles. There's also a great discussion of the article on Salon. Here's why you should read it. When Janet and her business partner, Kathy, were trying to get funding from a venture capitalist for their company, his first question to them--first--after they made their presentation was (and I paraphrase--read the article for the exact details) "So, Janet. I see that Kathy's married. What are you going to do when she gets pregnant?" Right. That's what really matters if women are in charge. Not how good they, their ideas, their strategies, their busines plan all are. But how they'll possibly function if they procreate. Can you hear me screaming? Outrage at this all-too-common attitude is what's missing in the hysterical discussion of the so called "opt-out revolution". Women don't leave their careers because they don't care about work. They leave because corporations, by and large, don't care about families. And while I get the childless folk who say corporations have no responsibility to accomodate parents (a selfish, narcissistic point of view, but an understandable one, I suppose) unless we plan an economic revolution to accomodate one-income families, or just stop reproducing altogether, we, and I mean we as a thinking society, need to acknowledge the needs of working parents, and figure out how to address them. This cannot be an either/or discussion. 11:47:09 AM     comment [] trackback []

You are what you eat I almost never go to Ralph's, Albertsons, Vons or any other large chain supermarket in my area.  I never particularly liked them, but when their employees went on strike a couple of years ago, I was horrified (not surprised, but  horrifed) by the corporate response and vowed never to go to one of them again. I've broken that vow on a handful of occasions, including the day before yesterday, when I needed to get a couple of ingredients to complete a salad I was making for the school play potluck at Dido's school, and the H and I were at a frame shop right next door  to Ralph's, and it meant I wouldn't  have to stop again on the way home...you get the idea. I guess I haven't been in a big supermarket in long enough to forget just how much crap they sell.  Enormous, colorful boxes of engineered food are everywhere.  They're enticing (just try taking a four year old down the cereal aisle, and tell me that marketing to kids isn't intentional and powerful) and made me vaguely nauseated.   I like real food, and am lucky enough to take the time, most of the time, to prepare it. The prepared food I used (organic frozen pizzas, frozen chicken nuggets [gross, I know--the brand I buy seems to be slightly less disgustingly fake than say, the ones at McDonalds], etc.) is all from Trader Joe's, and I read the ingredients and hope that it's not an engineered obesity bomb waiting to go off.   Most of my veggies come from TJ's if I'm lazy, and from the farmer's market if I'm not.  I can tell the difference in flavor, and I like supporting small farmers.  This interview with Michael Pollan validates some of my behavior and makes me feel like I have to still do more--and I have to read his NYT Magazine cover story about hunting wild boar for his dinner...What do you all think? How do you feed yourselves and your kids?  How do you feel about the power of the food/agriculture industry? 9:39:15 AM     comment [] trackback []