Did you notice an interesting coincidence, yesterday, of ethnic food shortage articles appearing in both the NY and LA Times?
The NY Times reported a spike in lentil prices in the Indian markets in Jackson Heights (Queens), due to a poor crop in India.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/nyregion/29lentil.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Meanwhile, the LA Times reported a shortage of Oaxacan food staples in Southern California, due to political unrest in that southern Mexico region... stuff like spicy mole paste (mmm!), tlayudas (crunchy tortillas), and fried grasshoppers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oaxaca29sep29,1,4743893.story?coll=la-headlines-california
(Fried grasshoppers?! Hmmmm... I wonder how they taste?)
So with these food imports problems facing the coasts (or rather, the largest cities on each coast), what about the largest city in the Midwest?
It turns out they've got a self-made shortage, that went into affect last month. The Chicago city council had voted to ban foie gras, the livers of force-fed geese and ducks.
And now, some politicians want to repeal the ban.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/73328,CST-NWS-foiegras27.article
All I can say is that a food fight is always messy.
Poor Geo. Allen. It's all catching up with him. That's all I'll say at this point about his predicament. It's too easy to add any sober or snide comments to the avalanche of criticism that's come his way the past couple weeks.
Not sure what to think about his opponent, Jim Webb... but I don't live in Virginia, anymore, so I don't have to worry about researching the candidates' positions...
Well, I will say this... it's rather a coincidence how the L.A. college cross-town rivalry between UCLA and USC is manifest in this senatorial race.
Consider that back in the early 70s, Allen spent a year at UCLA before transferring to UVA. Back in the 60s, Webb spent a year at 'SC before transferring to the Naval Academy.
So it's UCLA vs. USC all over again -- sort of. Hopefully, all the revelations about who said or did what several decades ago will all reach a saturation point, and the media and public will revert to learning about the candidates positions on contemporary issues.
But, who knows where this will all head? We're in uncharted territory, 'cause it's the era of Web 2.0 and the parameters of public discourse have shifted...
The campaign of Senator George Allen (R-VA) gets curiouser and curiouser.
[Note: if I had graphics editing capability I'd insert, right here, a series of head shots of Sen. Allen morphing into the famous children's book character, Curious George.]
What other "skeletons" in the closet does he have?
(I suspect his aptitude for the French language might be a candidate, although it's hard to tell if that would have any political implications.)
In the meantime, it seems that what he needs to pull ahead of his opponent is a new political action committee that would reflect the multicultural transformation of his campaign:
JEWISH MACACAS FOR ALLEN
[Note: insert a picture of Curious George wearing a yarmulke, here... This would not seem so offbase as one might expect, since Curious George was created by a refugee German Jewish couple!]
(Such a PAC could benefit from witty publicity by that Jewish redneck raconteur, Kinky Friedman. Unfortunately, the Kinkmeister is currently pre-occupied with barnstorming the state of Texas in his run for governor.)
I was perusing the catalog for the fall term's courses for Baltimore County community college. I noticed a course in the Senior Institute section titled, "Japanese American Experience and Identity."
'Hmm', I thought to myself, 'rather curious.' Not the kind of thing one expects to see in Maryland. I read thru the blurb and saw that the lecturer is Gene Oishi, who I've met before. I think he was a former press secretary for a Maryland governor (Hughes?). Here's some of the blurb:
"View the cultural stream that originated in ancient China, traveled through Japan, and ultimately flowed to the American cultural maelstrom. Discuss origins, creation myths, ancient Chinese history and philosophies, European and American imperialism, wars, and Japan's rapid modernization."
[Apparently, an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach.]
"Gene Oishi is a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun... Gene has taught at Johns Hopkins and earned an MS at UCLA in Journalism and an MA from Johns Hopkins in Fiction Writing. He has written extensively on Japanese American experiences over the years... His book dealing with the Japanese American experience, In Search of Hiroshi, was published... in 1988. He is currently lecturing on the Japanese American Experience and on Imperialism at the Johns Hopkins University's Evergreen Society and the Renaissance Institute at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. "
[Inotherwords, courses for retired folks... Hmm, does he get a decent enrollment? I've no idea how many retirees would take such courses.]