The Complexity of Obesity

In reading Children, eating disorders, and fat: striking a balance in the classroom by Kevin Beck, I felt inspired to make a comment on a growing body of scientific, pop, and blog discussion about the obesity issue and the end goal of this discussion. I hesitate to call obesity an epidemic because no consensus of [...]

Dignity in death

We have quite a lively debate in the western world surrounding the right to die. And, the right to choose one’s own death. Many cultures allow, or insist, an elderly person to take action in this regard. One striking example is the Aymara. A documentary on a valued elder, Alejo Mamani, depicts his struggle with [...]

Justice and Civil Court/Chicken and Egg

The inspiration for this column comes from the recent probation of six teenagers guilty of drunkenly trashing a house in Haddonfield, NJ while the owners were away. The full story behind the $18,000 worth of damages is just as disturbing as the verdict. Not only are teenagers seeking extreme and dangerous levels of intoxication, they [...]

Innocence and Ignorance

Ignorance of the law is no defense against crime. So, why do people today constantly assert innocence by claiming ignorance (and, usually self-righteously)? I didn’t know. If hear it one more time, I might scream. Most often the reason the person “didn’t know” is because he/she didn’t bother to find out (read direction, information, research [...]

Live on TV

Fast-forwarding through commercials to watch a show isn’t new. We used to do that with VCRs. But with devices like Tivo, you don’t have to wait til the program is over to watch the show. Just give the show a bit of lead time and you can start watching commercial-free. I haven’t watched television much [...]

Evolutionary Process and Normalcy

This is perhaps more of a heuristic extension of natural process to culture and draws together a disparate group of ideas about human tendency (both as products of environment and natural selection and as cultural products and producers). That caveat stated, I wanted to think about modernity and conformity but place it within a [...]

Do you enjoy your life?

I overheard a man asking this question of the woman next to him on a commuter train a year ago. The boldness of the asking contrasted with the gentle and sincere tone in which it was delivered. He managed to convey, to me at least, that he cared about the response he might receive.
The question [...]

(Re)Productive Years

The 70’s seemed to bring change for women. Choices. Marriage followed by reproduction was penultimate rather than ultimate. Many still reproduced (without partners, with female partners…) but more than every before, women produced (art, leadership, inventions, and so on). Even more revolutionary, women were choosing not to reproduce. For a brief time, there was a [...]

Conflict

So much of life is filled with conflict: traffic, workplace encounters, listservs, jobs/promotions/advancement, governments, religions… I find it increasingly having a visceral affect on me.
Newness is greeted with hostility and suspicion. Mistakes are openings for destruction, rather than constructive critiques. The worse possible interpretation is taken from an ambiguous statement which then leads to offense. [...]

Casual Eating

While sitting in my old neighborhood in a local coffee shop, I saw a little boy sit down on the sofa near me and wolf down a huge slice of chocolate cake as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He also downed a milky coffee drink in the same gulpy manner. Granted the kid had [...]