Safety. It's about Context, not people.

As explained, so well, here:

...making such blanket warnings about an entire group of human beings is just dumb if you actually care about the safety of your kids. It puts the race/gender/age category before all other obvious contexts: neighborhood, street, school, college, inner city, distant suburb, daytime, night, crowded places, dark streets, and the actual observed behaviorof the young black man. 

In a brave and clear-headed piece in The Dish: It's Not Racist... 

Barilla

It's been a few weeks so we are probably off of our Barilla boycott.

But it still bothers me.

A comment made by the company head and everybody is in an uproar. Well done. You know one thing. It's not a nice thing, but you never cared throughout the years that Barilla gave us only commercials with women serving the tables, men being served. And having said that, it one of the less offensive commercials on Italian television. So I repeat: there are many things to know, of you which you know one.

Despite all this I disagree with a boycott. Because of all I don't know.

So the CEO is narrow minded?

What about the rest of his management team. What about their secretaries, accountants and office personnel. What about their factory workers and distributors and the agricultural personnel or partners? What if every single one of them disagrees with the CEO?

You boycott Barilla and switch instead to De Cecco, another excellent pasta.

Their CEO isn't narrow-minded.

What about the rest of his management team. What about their secretaries, accountants and office personnel. What about their factory workers and distributors and the agricultural personnel or partners? What if every single one of them disagrees with the CEO? What if they are all homophobic and sexist?

What you don't know can harm your cause.

Football

Of the American variety.

Nobody had told me this was so much fun!

Actually many people had told me that. But you don't know until you know.

First I have to congratulate Americans, once again, for how they do sports. Sports here are a chance for fun. Amazing concept, isn't it? I love football (futbol, soccer) with all my heart and it crushes me every time I hear about soccer-related violence or offenses. It is such a contrast to the atmosphere at games here, where there is a whole playground happening outside a stadium or arena, and a circus taking place inside.

It can become a bit of a sensory overload if you're not used to it, but overall I like what they do. The camaraderie of in-stadium cheering is a great thing.

And I enjoyed the football too! I confess that I tend to find American sports (basketball, baseball, American football) rather slow, but with this game my attention was captured.

So: very little commentary and just a rather self-indulgent post to appreciate my day of Falcons victory. Rise Up!

BBC News Podcast reviews Eat GreenPoint

A bit of morning comedy does a body good.

The BBC reviewed the Brooklyn restaurant Eat, where punters are asked to dine in silence.

The owner explained that they encourage diners not to speak at all during their stay in the restaurant (90-minute set meal time). The interviewer asked about mobile phones and the owner replied that goodness no, he asks customer to please switch them off. Why the silent meals, is it to commune more deeply with the food?

The owner replies: "It can be whatever you want, I don't want to be dictatorial about it"

Props to the BBC guy for returning with: "Apart from asking them to shut up."

The owner also mentioned that every silent meal so far has ended in applause.

"Perhaps," replied the BBC, "out of relief that it was over".

Great interview. And stupid dining concept. IMHO. People: food IS sustenance and it IS communal. We eat because otherwise we die, and therefore if we must do it we may as well have fun doing it. And use it to our advantage: the meal is a time to come together and do nothing other than share. We share food, and we share stories. The whole point of food - beyond survival - is conversation. Even in Brooklyn.

Update:
The WSJ review brings up that whole dictatorial thing again:
Punishment for talking was having one’s plate–filled with handmade whole wheat pasta or  scallops and calamari, among other dishes–removed and placed on a bench outside, where loudmouths could finish their meals.

What Freedom Is

"we too can walk into an iced cream shop and choose what flavor we want just like we could in America, and this is not freedom....Yes, many of us can go to school, can work, can earn and spend our own money. But what we study or work at, and how and why and when and where and with whom and wearing what–all of this is controlled. "

And also

I can smile because I had a good day at work without being forced to explain why I am so happy.
I can cry at my empty, robotic life without being forced to explain why I am unhappy.
I can have facial expressions. Facial expressions.
I can have facial expressions.
I can have facial expressions.

Read the whole post here.

I would add that despite the title, this piece is not about religion. This piece is about freedom pure and simple.

Late night adventures

Around 21.30 G and I decided we needed lemons. So we went to the grocery store and bought three lemons. And I'm pretty sure the lady at the register laughed at us for making this a two-man job.

Is Italy running Healthcare.gov?

I'm pretty sure it is. Possibly with some input from France and foot soldiers from Greece.

The 24 hour hotline is closed on weekends. There is no message to tell you this by the way, the line just cuts off.

The website is still not working. (And no: this is nothing like Apple. Apple is one choice of many.)

Most recently the message has been that if your application has gone through (whether or not you actually submitted it) you can not call and ask for an update or see if anything is missing. In the particular case of which I speak this is especially important since an application was not actually submitted, though the phone operator said it is currently under way. In any case you must wait to see if somebody from the exchanges phones you. By Dec. 15th. After which, you have two weeks to get your act together.

Ah at one point I did arrive far enough on the website to compare premiums. Only. The screen only showed the prices but there was no way to view what was included. It's surprise health insurance.