Author Archives: John Wallenfeldt

Milk dud: Schools rule out chocolate

Personally, I agree with this concept. Yes, I let Gabriel drink chocolate milk, but he does it according to whether or not his mom and I let him.

If he got to choose, he would drink it all the time. So a little policing of his diet is not only a good thing, but also something I would expect of any school system I would send him to.

What really pissed me off though was the idiot parent at the end of the segment who apparently does ZERO positive food modeling with her kid. News flash: kids watch what YOU eat and follow accordingly. Which is why I’m so glad Gabriel chows on veggies and eats a pretty balanced diet all on his own.

For more on LA’s plan and some future food in the crosshairs, check out this story.

Weekly Address: Celebrating Father’s Day

What most of his detractors forget when they are calling the President some kind of Muslim, Kenyan, socialist destroyer of America is that he’s got kids.

He’s a father, and apparently a good one. And a much better man than those who yell epithets and cheer for someone to kill him solely because of the color of his skin.

Happy Father’s Day Mr. President and to all you other fathers trying to raise your kids to be good people.

Zero Degrees of Separation – Cooks Illustrated

Christopher Kimball is not only a food genius, he’s also keen on remembering the important things we insist on removing from modern life. Here he is lamenting that most of us know nothing of the sights, smells, and tastes of food on the vine and in the field.

Granted, I may not have as much nostalgia as he does for the smell of pig poop, but, yes, it is important to know how hard – and how beautiful – it is to get your food from the source. It might make folks appreciate and re-evaluate the difference between good food and the usual crap that is often served to us indifferently.

Punchline in Story of Bipedalism: Our Ancestors Stood Up to Fight | Humans, Evolution & Bipedalism | LiveScience

Apparently, humans only walk upright because it made us better fighters. Seems counter-intuitive given the knuckle-dragging bullies out there today.

Then again, given our proclivity to violence, it makes perfect sense. I mean, we wouldn’t have gotten to the moon without trying really, really hard to kill ourselves in new ways during World War II.

Is The End Nigh? We’ll Know Soon Enough

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

– Matthew 24:36

There are a certain brand of religious nut jobs expecting – hell, HOPING – the world ends on May 21st.

NPR covers them here.

They seem to be based or at least heavily centered around San Francisco so here is part of the local coverage there.

We also have many, many, many billboards around here. Some in town and a lot in Minneapolis, at least on the highways. Here’s the local take on it, admittedly awhile back. I think most folks are trying to ignore it and hope it just goes away in a week or so.

Personally? I think these folks are nut jobs. If they didn’t wrap up their crazy in a Bible, someone would have locked them up already.

I also worry about their kids and families. The NPR story shone a brief light onto what has got to be a hellish situation. What do you do if you spouse tries to sell all of your belongings to go convert tourists on a Florida beach? (Incidentally, if *I* were recruiting for the end of the world, I wouldn’t be hitting up South Beach. I’d be at a LOT more cooler places. If I’ve got to spend eternity with you, you’d better be interesting.)

Mostly though, this whole thing smacks of failure and egoism. Look, every generation thinks it is the last one. But that doesn’t make it sane. Nor is it something to aspire to. I don’t want to hear about the end of the world. I want to make it better in my time. I want to hope someone will be around to cherish it after me. If the Almighty wants to hang it all up tomorrow, that is – literally – his business, not mine.

I want to live. I give a damn if the polar bears are gone in a few years. Or that there is no snow on Kilimanjaro. God, as they say, helps those who help themselves and drilling for oil on every coast of North America just so every family can have a SUV sounds completely ridiculous, short sighted, and just plain mean. If not somewhat evil to be cheering it on.

Seriously, pretend this is a test for an afterlife if you believe in one. I think the random atheist has a better chance at everlasting life than those wishing for the world to end during their lifespan.

Either way, there is more of this to come. Apparently a village in France is suffering from unwelcome End Times tourism.