Cultured Meat

Here is an article I wrote for Helium about cultured meat.  Check it out, give me props. 

Ferraro Fiasco

To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of my retirement have been greatly exaggerated.  Also, rumors that anyone has bothered to spread rumors of my retirement have been greatly exaggerated.  

This is old news, but I have to comment on the fracas surrounding Geraldine Ferraro and the comment she made this past winter: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.  And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position.  He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.  And the country is caught up in the concept."  I don't care to comment on the veracity of her statement, mostly because I just don't have the energy for it.  I have become worn out on the finer points of rhetoric, and I only can make so many cogent(and in this case I am applying the term rather liberally) arguments anymore. Most of the time, I simply find myself wanting to call people names and stick my tongue out at them.  

Anyway, what I want to say is that Ferraro's comments were not racist.  She was stating her opinion about the way race and gender sway the voting populace and the political decisions of this country.  To say that one doubts a man of Obama's accomplishments could have catapulted to the top of the political heap this quickly without benefit of "affirmative action" for his skin color is not prejudicial against people of color.  Nor is it beyond the pale to suggest that sexism is more pervasive that racism (a casual observance of what passed as acceptable political commentary during this primary race might easily lead one toward that conclusion).  You may not agree with her interpretation of the situation, but it is not racist to say that the color of a person's skin matters to large portions of the US population.  It is not racist to say the certain powerful politicos in the Democratic party deliberately moved Obama into the party spotlight because they are aware of this.  

All right, I can't think of a good conclusion.  So let me just end with this: skidush!

China Won't Be Cheap for Much Longer

This news is great, if you care about fair labor and low environmental impact.  Less good if all you care about is cheap t-shirts and electronics.  But if that is all you care about, why are you at this blog?