King Corn...

Continuing my fascination with the global food supply chain, I watched a documentary called "King Corn."

I just love this kind of stuff...it tells a comprehensive story about something that is such a HUGE part of our daily lives (more than we even realize) and sheds a new perspective on it.

Farm subsidies, electoral politics, obesity, diabetes, civilization itself...these things are all connected DEEPLY to corn.

Frankly, for me, it's opened my eyes to nutrition and the idyllic notion of "farm grown" has come crashing down.

It's also made me aware just how much risk we are assuming in some of our eating habits.

I haven't eaten meat or chicken in over a year...and that's not going to change any time soon after seeing what I saw.

Related articles

• Two recent college graduates embark on a mission to see where America's food comes from /Watch a 20-minute clip from KING CORN on Independent Lens (theboldcorsicanflame.wordpress.com)
• High fructose corn syrup (walterliebscher.com)
• Response 10: Consequences of the Corn (envirowriters.wordpress.com)

Republicans and the No Taxes Article of Faith

Image via WikipediaI was watching the Iowa GOP debate the other night (I know, a lack of judgment...not a good use of time), but one thing that struck me was how the idea of "no new taxes" (yes, I get the reference) has become an article of faith among the GOP.

Now, don't get me wrong...I think it's ok for us to say to Congress, "hey, before you raise taxes, I'd like to see you show us that you can spend the money we give you already in a more responsible, transparent manner."

I also think that the private sector does a better job of creating jobs than gov't.

Still, I do believe that there are times when taxes can be used to drive social good.

Cigarettes are a good example, in my mind.

Want to smoke? Fine. Go for it, but we're going to tax the hell out of it.  It's ok to tax undesirable behaviors like that (obviously what is/not desirable can be debated), but taxing productivity and innovation (in the form of income) is tougher for me to handle.

Be that as it may, I didn't understand why the hard line approach by the GOP candidates vis a vis ALL taxes was necessary.

The value of sharing...

Image by erjkprunczyk via Flickr

People often ask me why I am willing to share so much information and to share some seemingly random things with you.

Well, I guess it is because that, more often than not, it is, simply put, worth it.

Here's a trivial example.

The other day, in my post where I suggested that Maryland may be the most uniquely shaped state, I mentioned a book that I wanted to read called How the States Got Their Shapes.

Well, wouldn't you know it, but one of the people coming over for lunch the next day had it, brought it over, and lent it to me?

So, while I didn't read ALL the states, I did skim a majority of the book and I'm going to say that, when you combine the shape with some of the historical information around it, that Maryland and West Virginia would be my top two nominees.

In a previous era, there's NO way that I would have been able to share that information and then have it turn into something so useful, so quickly.

Most Unique State Shape...

Image via Wikipedia

There is no question that I'm biased on this one, but was looking at a cut-out of the state of Maryland the other day and I wondered...what state has the most unique shape?

I'm ready to argue for Maryland. So many nooks and crannies, a very narrow part in the northwest, a huge cut thanks to the Chesapeake Bay.

There's a book I added to my Amazon Wish List, but haven't read yet called How the States Got Their Shapes which I will have to check out.

Which state do you think and why?

Blogging Illusion...

If you knew that I didn't write this post today, how would you feel?

Truth is, there are often days when I don't have a moment to blog, so I compensate by overblogging on some days and just scheduling them to release on a future date.

Since most of my posts aren't really time-sensitive and while I may have the thought to blog about it, I don't think you want to read all of them at once.

Plus, I like having one post per day show up. Feels like a nice rhythm, you know?

But, I've heard from at least one vociferous individual that this fact "destroys the illusion" that I've had that thought on that actual day.

So, now that I've come clean, what do you think?

Shout out to SW-thanks for letting me write this on your computer.

World Travel in 2008

So funny that Bethel sent this to me today. It's a must watch.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Last night, I was thinking "what would it have been like for me during my 3 years in Europe and Asia if the Internet had been then what it is now?"

I was concerned that "travellers" (which I differentiate from tourists) would go to a place, use their phone or a cybercafe and never really interact w/the locals.

Shows what I know. The spirit of meeting other folks is alive and well.

Well, to some extent, we have the answer. And by the way, this proves once again that you can't "make something viral." It is or it isn't because of what it offers.

Enjoy.