As readers of this blog know, I tend to follow politics fairly closely. I have done so for as long as I can remember. In Sri Lanka, politics was our national pastime and you could always strike up a good political discussion almost anywhere, and it was easy to become a political junkie. As I …
Monthly Archive: August 2008
Aug 28 2008
The politics of food-6: Corn and obesity
(This series of posts looks in detail at some of the fascinating aspects of food production identified by Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). All page numbers refer to that book, unless otherwise noted. Other related posts can be found here.) The abundance of corn has made the economics of food shift …
Aug 27 2008
The politics of food-5: Tracking the corn in our food
(This series of posts looks in detail at some of the fascinating aspects of food production identified by Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). All page numbers refer to that book, unless otherwise noted. Other related posts can be found here.) One of the surprising things I learned is that it is …
Aug 26 2008
The politics of food-4: The dominance of corn
(This series of posts looks in detail at some of the fascinating aspects of food production identified by Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). All page numbers refer to that book, unless otherwise noted. Other related posts can be found here.) One of the things that I had not fully appreciated was …
Aug 25 2008
Why Darwin scares people
(The text of a talk given at CWRU’s Share the Vision program on Friday, August 22, 2008 at 1:00 pm in Severance Hall. This annual program is to welcome all incoming first year students. My comments centered on this year’s common reading book selection The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen.) Welcome to Case Western …
Aug 22 2008
The politics of food-3: Organic illusions
(This series of posts looks in detail at some of the fascinating aspects of food production identified by Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). All page numbers refer to that book, unless otherwise noted. Other related posts can be found here.) One thing the book did was rob me of much of …
Aug 21 2008
The politics of food-2: The benefits of sustainable farming
(This series of posts looks in detail at some of the fascinating aspects of food production identified by Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). All page numbers refer to that book, unless otherwise noted. Other related posts can be found here.) The previous post examined the four kinds of food production systems …
Aug 20 2008
The politics of food-1: The four food production systems
(This series of posts looks in detail at some of the fascinating aspects of food production identified by Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2006). All page numbers refer to that book, unless otherwise noted. Other related posts can be found here.) The series of posts on the ethics of food was triggered …
Aug 19 2008
The South Ossetia/Kosovo parallel
The more accurate parallel for what is happening in South Ossetia is not Iraq but Kosovo. But mention of Kosovo is largely absent from the current discussions because the parallel between what happened there and what is happening in South Ossetia undercuts the basis for the west’s anger at Russia. So Kosovo must be made …
Aug 18 2008
The conflict in South Ossetia
The coverage of the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the region known as South Ossetia reveals once again the reflexive adoption by the US media of the perspective of the US government and its pro-war supporters in its reporting of the events. Having completely abandoned any semblance of allegiance to principles of international law …
About the Author
Recent Comments