The rich get richer, the poor get hungrier

A nicely written, short-ish article titled "Understanding the Global Rice Crisis" from BusinessWeek.com pretty much delivers what it promises. The author doesn't try to display diverse opinions, which is a shame, but at the very least this one helped me put some facts into place.

General themes:

Rice prices are going up because people are growing less rice. Why? Because people prefer to grow corn and meat. Why? Because corn provides biofuel (ethanol) and meat is what rich people eat.

Another reason is that merchants and even whole countries are hoarding rice, for fear that there won't be enough, which causes an artificial shortage.

The result? Poor people can't afford the basic food they're used to relying on.

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In the comments section, as usual, some interesting comments. This time not so informative about the content, as about the readers. The very first commentator worries that beer prices will go up, since beer is produced of rice.

Shoes bad, feet good

What an interesting article.

 

Money quote:

 

"Try this test: Take off your shoe, and put it on a tabletop. Chances are the toe tip on your shoes will bend slightly upward, so that it doesn't touch the table's surface. This is known as "toe spring," and it's a design feature built into nearly every shoe. Of course, your bare toes don't curl upward; in fact, they're built to grip the earth and help you balance. The purpose of toe spring, then, is to create a subtle rocker effect that allows your foot to roll into the next step. This is necessary because the shoe, by its nature, won't allow your foot to work in the way it wants to. Normally your foot would roll very flexibly through each step, from the heel through the outside of your foot, then through the arch, before your toes give you a powerful propulsive push forward into the next step. But shoes aren't designed to be very flexible. Sure, you can take a typical shoe in your hands and bend it in the middle, but that bend doesn't fall where your foot wants to bend; in fact, if you bent your foot in that same place, your foot would snap in half. So to compensate for this lack of flexibility, shoes are built with toe springs to help rock you forward. You only need this help, of course, because you're wearing shoes."

 

...and, as usual, I love reading the comments that people post. Here's one that sums up the support pretty well (the opposing ones are too easy to imagine, so I won't bother posting):

 

"I, too, have been primarily barefoot for the last 11 years.

It started with pain in my knees and back; I saw doctor after doctor with no help. Finally, an Indian doctor suggested the problem was that shoes made my hips pivot - this in turn changed my gait and caused increased stress on my back and knees. His suggestion worked.

At the time I lived in the central USA, and that is certainly not the friendliest of places to go barefoot. I now live on the West coast; they are a lot less concerned with such things out here.

My trips abroad - yes, barefoot there, too - revealed to me that this is a primarily a problem only in the States. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Belize, Japan - no one cared or they were outright supportive. Only in the USA have I had actual confrontations - a very small number of them bordering on physical hostility. Needless to say, I try to avoid such things as much as possible. Luckily this does not happen often - two such encounters in 11 years is hardly a trend.

What's more bothersome is the fact that wearing shoes causes me actual pain, but this is not enough to prevent someone from throwing you out just because they don't like how you are dressed. It's sad how closed-minded some people in the States can be.

On the upside a large number of people have been very supportive and welcoming when you mention the health benefits and the fact that there are no - zero - laws forbidding bare feet in establishments (restaurants included). The vast majority of people simply believe the urban legend that there is a law and act accordingly. Polite, respectful education on that matter is the key.

As mentioned in the article, for more information go to www.barefooters.org. Free your feet - your feet, knees and back will thank you."

 

 

Rogers and Rogers and me

I hope to make a contribution in two areas: (1) Supportive interactions, and (2) Self-control. Specifically, I want to help kids learn how to do those two things from a young age, because I think it can make a big difference.

For a while, I've been having a hard time figuring out how the two relate. I got some help from Rachel, who explained to me that it's all about help - people helping each other, and people helping themselves. That made sense to me. And now, a good friend (thanks, Chuck!) showed me the video footage of Mr. Rogers (not to be confused with Dr. Rogers, but apparently in the same camp) explaining to a hardened senator why his show should get funding.

I teared up twice during this short clip. Even the senator admits to "getting goose bumps." And Mr. Rogers just says those beautiful, simple words, that touch your heart and unlock it. So Beautiful.