campaign stop

Last friday, on their way out of Minnesota, McCain and Palin made a campaign stop in Cedarburg, about three miles from my home. Cedarburg is a charming little town, and of course they talked up its small-townness. Palin remarked that she was mayor of a small town. *rolls eyes*

I think Cedarburg was the perfect stop for a couple of GOP candidates. Cedarburg is a tourist town, and they take great pains to preserve what they think it should look like. It may or may not have substance, but the facade is unmistakable.

And it's right in the middle of the richest county in the state. Ozaukee County is the 25th richest county in the US.

Christian Couple Staying Together For Sake Of God

September 9, 2008

SANDUSKY, OH — Despite intense unhappiness and an ever-widening emotional rift between them, devout Christian couple Linda and Benjamin Dollinger told reporters Monday that they have decided to stay married for the sake of their only true lord, God. "We're afraid that if we get a divorce, He'll never forgive us," said Benjamin, 37, who admitted that he and Linda had recently started arguing in their car with the radio on so that God wouldn't hear them. "We try not to let on how bad things actually are, but I think that, at least on some level, He knows something is wrong." Linda said that she and Benjamin plan to stay committed to their loveless marriage "just until [they] die."

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/christian_couple_staying

your consumer dollars at work

Only the power of the sugar lobby in Washington can explain the fact that the official U.S. recommendation for the maximum permissible level of free sugars in the diet is an eye-popping 25 percent of daily calories. To give you some idea of just how permissive that is, the World Health Organization recommends that no more than 10 percent of daily calories come from added sugars, a benchmark that the U.S. sugar lobby has worked furiously to dismantle. In 2004 it enlisted the Bush State Department in a campaign to get the recommendation changed and has threated to lobby Congress to cut WHO funding unless the organization recants. Perhaps we should be grateful that the saturated fat interests have as yet organized to such lobby.

from In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

Those of us who buy processed foods, are supporting this crusade.