' The High Cost of Racial Hype '

As we find ourselves in the final days of the political season, one in which a particular candidate has been fixed on Black this and Black that - seeing American life mostly in terms of race or class as did Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky, here's a couple of excerpts by the great Thomas Sowell on the wasted energy expended for navel-gazing over things like "identity": [...] on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, was a picture of a black teenager whose mother was fixing his bow tie as he was getting dressed in a tuxedo, in preparation for a cotillion. I never had the problem of wearing a tuxedo to a cotillion, so it was hard for me to empathize with their angst. When I was that kid's age, I had real problems that taught me real lessons to remember when times got better, not navel-gazing problems that can distract you from reality for a lifetime. Apparently there are middle-class blacks who spend a lot of time and energy worrying about losing their roots and losing touch with their black brothers back in the 'hood. In one sense, it is good that there are people who think about others less fortunate than themselves. That's fine but, like most good things, it can be carried to the point where it is both ridiculous and counterproductive for all concerned. In a world where an absolute majority of black children are born and raised in fatherless homes, where most black kids never finish high school and where the murder rate among blacks is several times the national average, surely there must be more urgent priorities than preserving a lifestyle and an identity. [...] Blind tribalism means letting the lowest common denominator determine the norms and the fate of the whole group. There was a time when most blacks, like most of the Irish or the Jews, understood this common sense. But that was before the romanticizing of identity took over ... [...] The unanswered question is why an approach with a proven track record, not only in American society but in various other countries around the world, has been superseded by a philosophy of tribal identity over-riding issues of behavior and performance. Part of the problem is the "multicultural" ideology that says all cultures are equally valid. It is hard even to know what that means, much less take it seriously as a guide to living in the real world. Will time and energy spent on rap music and wearing low-riding baggy pants like guys in prison -- as badges of identity -- provide as good a future for young people as learning math, computer skills, and the English language? Romantic self-indulgence and self-deception are things that some people can afford when they reach the point where they can afford identity angst. But millions of other people will remain mired in poverty if they believe such notions.Do take the time to read all of Sowell's "The High Cost of Racial Hype." For me, Sowell's take home message is his unanswered question, "Why an approach with a proven track record, not only in American society but in various other countries around the world, has been superseded by a philosophy of tribal identity over-riding issues of behavior and performance?". A commenter at Townhall.com offered that it's the same attitude that insists that Capitalism is inferior to Socialism and Communism in spite of the self evident reality. In the frame of today's political world, it seems that today's Democratic Party remains in existence by feeding a philosophy of tribal identity over-riding issues of behavior and performance insisting that Capitalism is inferior to Socialism and Communism in spite of the self evident reality to the contrary.

Pork Scratchings, A Version Of

What do you do with leftover pig skin? I recently decided to make my own lardo, salt-cured fatback, using a large piece of pig that my friend Bonnie got for me. Misremembering the details of lardo, I asked for a piece of fat with the skin on. Bad idea. You want only the fat for lardo, and so I spent hours cutting the creamy white fat away from the pink, leathery skin: I understand now why they used to make footballs from this stuff. With the fat tucked away under weights in the refrigerator, I turned my attention to the square foot or so of skin I had left. By chance, I had been flipping through Fergus Henderson’s Beyond Nose to Tail. (Also by chance, shuna had been, too.) If you have not yet discovered Henderson, run to the nearest independent bookstore to fix this gap. It’s not just that he writes recipes for offal, the “off cuts” of an animal: He writes those recipes in a warm, humorous, thoughtful voice that is as charming as it is knowledgeable. Of the snails you need for a nettle and snail soup, he writes, “24 fresh English snails, picked by your fair hands (you will need to put them in a bucket and let them poo all their poo out for a few days before cooking …); or there is Tony the Snail Man, who breeds snails.” One of the first recipes in Beyond Nose to Tail is “Pork Scratchings, A Version Of,” which Henderson describes as “A most steadying nibble.” I describe it as pig skin confit. Pluck stray hairs from the skin; salt it; let it sit for five days; soak overnight in cold water; cook, covered, in duck fat for 2½ hours; and store in duck fat until you need it. No one considers me shy about serving odd food to guests, but even I might hesitate before serving pig skin confit on toast to most diners. Fortunately, David Lebovitz was in town, and a few food bloggers gathered in San Francisco to pay homage to the master of chocolate and ice cream. Most food bloggers will put anything edible into their mouths. And sure enough, the guests reached out without hesitation for my crostini, which held reheated, crisped, and chopped pig skin — a gummy, gluey texture — along with an apple-onion marmalade. I watched tentatively as the bloggers’ teeth sank in: I was prepared for disaster. Instead, I heard mmmms and saw eyes rolling back. The pig skin confit was a hit. I still had some left a week later when I decided to make a variant of the classic French salad of frisée, lardons, and poached egg. Instead of lardons, I reheated the pig skin and chopped it into bits. Instead of frisée, I used Little Gems lettuce tossed in a bacon grease/red wine vinegar vinaigrette. The pig skin bits ranged in texture from teeth-shattering crunchy to teeth-gluing chewy. But they were still delicious. My one regret was that the chunks, even when chopped, glommed together: I wanted them to spread through the salad more.

The Social Side of Social Media

Recognize a few of the maniacs in this picture? At one table, within an outdated old steak house in Metrowest Boston, you’ve got (clockwise from top-right):
Steve Garfield (@stevegarfield)
John Wall (@themshow)
David Meerman Scott (@dmscott)
Todd Defren (@TDefren)
Scott Monty (@ScottMonty)
C.C. Chapman (@cc_chapman)
Christopher S. Penn (@cspenn)
Photo taken by Dmitri Gunn.
That’s a whole lotta Social Media brainpower at one table, right? Wanna know what we talked about? I’ll give you one hint: we barely talked shop at all. Sure, Social Media-related topics crept into the conversations: we’re all passionate marketers; it happens. But we mostly cracked jokes, talked about our kids, vacations, cars, the economy, etc.
It was FUN. Don’t forget about fun. Fun is important.

Denver/Boulder: Shows this week | 5.4.2009 - 5.10.2009

[Dinner With Cannibals] Monday, May 4 Orange Tulip Conspiracy @ Hi-Dive Sevendust @ Gothic Theatre We Shot The Moon @ Marquis Theater Tuesday, May 5 The Faint @ Ogden Theater Kreator @ Bluebird Theater Paper Route @ Marquis Theater Ponytail @ Hi-Dive Skeletonbreath @ Larimer Lounge Wednesday, May 6 Babona @ Larimer Lounge Black Label Society @ Ogden Theater Seventh Void @ Marquis Theater Soulive @ Fox Theatre Thao Nguyen And The Get Down Stay Down @ Hi-Dive Thursday, May 7 BoomSnake @ Hi-Dive The Dead @ Pepsi Center Delby L @ Larimer Lounge Filthy Children @ Bluebird Theater The Motet: A Tribute To Herbie Hancock @ Fox Theatre The Skyline Surrender @ Marquis Theater Friday, May 8 Bob Log III @ Bluebird Theater Cr0oKkid @ Gothic Theatre Dance Gavin Dance @ Marquis Theater Dinner With Cannibals @ Larimer Lounge Elvis Perkins In Dearland @ Hi-Dive Grouch & Eligh @ Fox Theatre The Pilot Light @ Walnut Room Pretty Lights @ Ogden Theater Saturday, May 9 Gene Ween @ Walnut Room Grouch & Eligh @ Bluebird Theater Jackopierce @ Soiled Dove Napalm Death @ Marquis Theater Opeth @ Fox Theatre Red Stinger @ Gothic Theatre Spring Creek @ Boulder Theater The Whore Moans @ Larimer Lounge Youth Group @ Hi-Dive Sunday, May 10 Ben Lee @ Marquis Theater Cowboy Mouth @ Bluebird Theater Fleetwood Mac @ Pepsi Center Living With Lions @ Larimer Lounge Margot & The Nuclear So And Sos @ Hi-Dive Schedule appears courtesy of Mystik Spiral.

Make Room For Spongebob

The latest Small Bites survey asked visitors if they supported the use of popular cartoon characters to advertise fruit and vegetable products like "baby carrots" and frozen spinach to children.Sixty-three percent of respondents supported that form of advertising, eight percent did not, and the remaining twenty-seven percent did not have a strong opinion either way.I strongly favor that sort of advertising.Many nutrition advocates do not, claiming it confuses children to see Spongebob on baby carrots as well as a box of sugary fruit snacks.My main concern with that argument is that it attempts to view the world through the eyes of a child who has the marketing awareness of an adult.Six-year-olds are not aware of nutrition. They don't understand the difference in nutrients between a fruit snack and a real fruit. Seeing their favorite cartoon character on different products doesn't confuse them -- it simply draws their eyes and attention to them!In my opinion, too many nutrition advocates make the crucial mistake of forgetting that they, too, can implement the same tactics used by food companies. Getting children interested in eating healthier food by simply branding it with cartoon characters is certainly far from utopian, but it's a significant step forward we need to pursue.

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