Moving is like Pesach

Working to clean out the freezer full of leftovers before August. Lunch was Lamb stew from January. Mmmm...

Excellent Infographic

Rachel Maddow has come up with the best infographic I've seen in weeks, "The Post-Bill Clinton Modern American Political Sex-Scandal Consequence-O-Meter."

She places various politicians' indiscretions clearly along the two axes that matter, in terms of newsworthiness and actual relevance: More to Less Creepy, and More to Less Prosecutable.

1. It has clear, easily understandable axes.



2. The measurements are relevant. "Creepy" explains why the scandal has emotional appeal, "Prosecutable" applies an objective moral/ethical standard to the actions which have actual legal consequences.



3. The layout allows for easy comparison of various incidents/personalities that have widely differing details.

Enjoy:

No Power to the People

Oxfam, that wonderful organization which tries to ensure that nobody goes hungry, has a new campaign they've labeled "Grow." The point is to turn from food waste and practices that impede small farmers to full food use and stable environmental, legal, and economic climates for community farms.

They have a section on their website called "What Can I Do?"

1. You can watch a video, and forward it to friends who also have no power!


2. You can sign a petition to people who don't give a shit about you or your opinions because you don't have enough economic power to make them do anything!


3. And, coming soon, you can blog about it. I kid you not.

Just like every other social justice and human rights issue today, there is nothing that the citizens of supposedly the most powerful nation on earth can do about any of this, because we are no longer a functioning democracy, if indeed we ever were.

The problem in global hunger is that the interests of ordinary people (having enough food) are not aligned with those of their governments, big business, or the international monetary-rape coalitions that their governments are beholden to.

So long as we continue to disagree on whether fundamental human needs such as food and health care are "privileges" rather than rights, we will remain powerless.