2017

<a href="http://madamenoire.com/784753/fast-food-wrappers-just-as-harmful-to-health/fast-food-3/" rel="attachment wp-att-784754"><img src="http://madamenoire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/fast-food.jpg" alt="fast food wrappers just as harmful to health" width="800" height="500" class="aligncenter wp-image-784754 size-full" /></a> Admittedly I’ve been awaiting the right opportunity to get the Mac Jr., McDonald’s mini version of the classic Big Mac. It’s not that I expect it to taste any different, I’m just hype because c’mon y’all it’s a BABY Big Mac. But a recent report reveals that what my burger is wrapped in could be just as bad for my health as the smaller beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. <a href="http://www.complex.com/life/2017/02/chemical-in-fast-food-wrappers-harmful">Complex</a> reports: <p style="padding-left: 30px;">“Recent testing shows that most of these wrappers contain fluorine, which is reportedly used to ward off grease stains on the wrappers. There were 400 containers for food and drinks from restaurant chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, and more involved in the study. Researchers discovered fluorine chemical was found in about 40 percent of the samples taken. This broke down to fluorine being found in about 56 percent of the bread and dessert wrappers, 38 percent of the burger and sandwich wrappers, and 20 percent of paper containers, although that does not include paper cups.”</p> Let me just say that you won’t find me tripping off of my wrapper being pretty and grease-free when my stomach is rumbling like Mike Tyson in his prime. But before some of you get on your high and mighty natural food pedestal, it might be helpful to know that in addition to fast-food wrappers fluorine can also be found in non-stick pots and pans, carpeting and other products. So does this info mean we’re on the fast track to terminal illness? Not necessarily, but according to scientist Dr. Arlene Blum, there are no safe levels of fluorine that people should be ingesting: <blockquote>"I think the prudent thing to do is to reduce your exposure when you can. You can’t get it to zero, but you can reduce it.”</blockquote> There isn’t a day we don’t get some alarming info about the harmful happenings in the food we ingest, but I must confess the way the reward-center in my brain is set up, I am going to have to get my Mac Jr., fluorine wrapper and all. But we all could stand to take our health a little more seriously when it comes to what we put in our bodies.

The way people are reacting (and/or responding) to our current political moment is all over the map. Some are taking the ostrich head in the sand approach: If I can’t see it, it doesn’t exist. Some are happy that the end of the American experiment is closer than we ever thought possible. Some are going full-force with resisting, making sure that what is happening does not become the new default. Some are embracing the newly- burnished hate and division, their fantasies of a fourth and fifth Reich are invading our shared reality. Remember when these people used to be on the fringe? Some say this is the last gasp of a dying ideology. I’m of the mind that it is the first deep breath of a newborn. But what do I know? I’m a born pessimist.

Then there is this other contingent. Usually young, and politically nascent. They feel the enormity of the moment, but are at a loss regarding how to best address the moment, and their feelings about the times they are living in. I work with them every day, on the high school and university level.

About a week ago, I was talking to a student and we had this very brief exchange:

Student: “How do we resist? I’m so sad and lost.”

Me: Start with reading some science fiction. If you cannot imagine, you cannot resist.”

She asked me for some titles, and I gave her a few.

I’ve already written about how Gene Roddenberry is a useful frame through which to view current events. My politically progressive go to is almost always from the televised Star Trek universe. But now, I feel it is really important that we read. More so than television, your mind has to work when reading. You have to imagine the characters, their look and voice and demeanor. You have to imagine the spaces the characters occupy. You have to work to complete a picture. We could all read the same book, but come to wildly different conclusions about what it all means. And this is what makes books so absolutely amazing.

What follows is not an exhaustive list. It is my list. I see you The Hunger Games fans. Admittedly it is both male and white male heavy. These are some of the books that impacted me the most. I will not be providing you with an in-depth review because I truly want you to read these. Please add any additions (and why you think they should be added) in the comments section.

Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents (collectively known as the “Earthseed” series) are a given. We are less than a month into this new political regime and The U.S. is looking more and more like Octavia E. Butler was engaged in prophecy, not fiction creation. Ecological damage. The rise of a political demagogue who wants to erode the separation of church and state and establish a political system that is like the mutant child of a pseudo-theocracy and an autocracy. The primary villain also uses the slogan, “Make American Great Again.” The wonderful thing for me is that Butler shows us a way to resist. And like all resistance, there is a cost. Nothing Pollyanna-ish about it. Surviving and thriving in the face of terror hurts.

Steven Barnes’ Aubry Knight series. While there are few authors who craft action sequences as amazing as Barnes, there is so much more to this series. Ultimately (to me) this story is about how we respond to and recover from internal and external demons. It is also about moving from being a spectator in events, to being an informed and determined participant. It is also about how a functioning and loving family, blood or chosen, can be all the protection we need.

Along Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred, The Madagascar Manifesto gave me nightmares. What happens when childhood friends have to break up due to ideology and ethnicity? What if these same friends grow up to be the enemy of the other? One becomes a Nazi commander of a Special Forces group with weaponized German shepherds. The other, a reluctant mystic. Jewish mysticism, Nazism, and the sheer horrors of the Holocaust (and the mindset of the people who support it) are like a punch to the gut. You cannot resist an enemy unless you know how they think and operate.

The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat. Because sometimes you have to be unapologetically badass. You have to know that you’re a badass and you have to make your own rules. You just might have to find the cheat codes of society, find the back door, and get yours when the powers that be are dead set against you having any piece of their pie.

The only graphic novel mention is G. Willow Wilson’s Air. If you read Air, you’ll better understand this. If you understand it, you will see its value and be able to use it to engage in resistance in the info-sphere.

Daniel José Older’s Bone Street Rumba trilogy. Sometimes you have to take the fight them. And in taking the fight to them, you have to be merciless. This is another series where the idea of non-traditional families as a source of both strength and resistance elevate the tale above mere action and spectacle. I will be reviewing the final book, “Battle Hill Bolero” in the coming days.

The power of a legend is extraordinary. Using story to affect the behaviors of others is a time worn tactic. Few things I have read have illustrated this better than Steven Perry’s The Man Who Never Missed. One man versus an empire, and the empire is terrified of this lone clandestine warrior. I will also add the prequel to this story, The 97^th Step as it shows just why high-tech things like data-mapping and the ancient practice of marital arts (Sumito, the art trained in the book, is an analogue of Pencak Silat) are a near-perfect compliment.

There are more, but this list gives a well-rounded view of the differing forms resistance can take.

Be safe.

Be kind to yourself.

Be kind to others.

#LiteratureOfResistance

#NarrativeWarfare

Whether you swear loyalty to the Starks, or you serve the Lannisters of Casterly Rock, or even if you’ve been secretly hoping that a Targaryen will retake the Iron Throne, there is one thing that can unite all of the Seven Kingdoms: Ommegang Brewery’s Game of Thrones beer, and the release of their latest brew is a call all of their bannermen will want to answer. One that won’t even require us to break a sacred vow to our favorite houses.

Today Ommegang and HBO announced the eighth addition to their line of Game of Thrones brews, the 9.0% ABV Bend the Knee Golden Ale, which they say has an “extreme drinkability” despite it’s “relatively high alcohol content.” Brewed with “pils malt and flaked oats,” along with three types of hops, they say it has a “subtle noble and floral hop contribution” along with the “the delicate flavors of honey.”

While Bend the Knee will be released on draft in select locations, it will come in three matte black, collectible 750ml bottles, which will be adorned with either the sigil of House Stark, House Lannister, or House Targaryen. The beer is exactly the same in all three, so you can simply choose which house you want to align with: the carpetbaggers that burn people with dragons, the greedy and ruthless monsters of the westerlands, or the noble, proud, and morally upstanding Northmen. (Guess which one I’m going to buy!)

Ommegang says the beer will be released around Memorial Day weekend, just in time for summer (which will help pass the wait until the later-than-normal season premiere), with a suggested retail price of $10.99 per bottle.

So even though an army of the dead is marching on the Wall while all of Westeros heads towards a massive battle between its Great Houses, at least we’ll have a new beer to enjoy while everything goes to seven hells.

What Game of Thrones beer from Ommegang has been your favorite so far? Which house bottle will you buy? Pour into our comments below and fill them up with your thoughts.

Images: Ommegang/HBO

Speaking of Next Season…

Ever since November and the election’s terrible, world-shaking results, I have felt a need to hear safe voices. At first, immediately, I needed to hear big, safe voices: government, activists, celebrities, public figures. Anyone who loomed large, who could offer comfort, courage, and direction moving forward for everyone reeling in this crisis. Then, I realized that I needed to hear safe voices around me too. My parents, my siblings, my friends, my friends-of-friends Facebook posts. Then: strangers next to me in a march, or commenting while signing a petition. Recently, another voice that has brought me comfort has been Mallory Ortberg on Slate’s Dear Prudence podcast.

Ortberg is one of the founders of The Toast (RIP) and an overall great, great human. She’s the newest, Prudence to write the column (the fourth in total), and as of June 2016, she also now hosts the new Dear Prudence podcast, where she has guests come help her answer questions. Like a large part of the internet, I fell in love with Ortberg’s writing at The Toast, and so I followed her to her Dear Prudence column. As this new year started, I gave the podcast a shot, and ohmygod, I love it so much.

Because I am a human, I care a lot about knowing the “right way” to be in the world and with the people around me. I try to understand day-to-day interactions, bigger problems, and how to navigate and recover from them. I find myself more and more lost in these problems as I grow older, and this election cycle in particular has made me question: are human decency or kindness, still a thing? What does it look like? How do I continue to participate in it?

I feel like Mallory Ortberg has some of these answers. Ortberg’s Prudence advice is clear-headed, and she has an excellent take-no-shit sense of boundaries, which is especially comforting in a somewhat boundary-less country right now. She gives her listeners permission to expect kindness and empathy from the people in their lives. She empowers them to seek therapy, to walk away, to move on. Her advice, given thoughtfully and often worded beautifully, affirms: yes, you are allowed to and should expect kindness and empathy from the people around you. Yes, you are allowed to feel hurt, and you are allowed to walk away from someone hurting you. Yes, you are allowed to speak up for your needs in your daily life. You are allowed to be angry.

Ortberg is liberal, feminist, up to date on gender issues, understands addiction, abuse, etc., and readily admits what she does not know. In her latest episode, she opened by addressing the fact that advice is not a one-size-fits-all situation. She allows for error and for her not always being right, constantly asking her audience to write or call in if they have ideas. I trust her self awareness and her critique and analysis of herself and those she’s advising.

Also, Ortberg is of course hilarious, and delves into issues that we did not know we badly needed to discuss. For example, she recently dove into the long-awaited etiquette guide of what to do if you become stranded on a deserted island with another person and you have a romantic partner at home. How long do you wait to be rescued before you start your island romance? Ortberg says all bets are off almost immediately: wait 48 hours, and if you’re not rescued, you’re allowed to start developing relationships with whoever you’re stuck on the island with. Who else is going to tackle these issues? I for one, feel relieved that I’ll know what to do in this situation. Thank you, Dear Prudence.

Really, I’m just saying I think you need to go listen to this podcast, right now. I think I can safely promise you’ll get something out of it: comfort, validation, laughter too. It can be helpful, I think, when problems and fear loom as large as they do right now, to hear someone tackle a smaller, human-to-human problem and help uncover an answer that you feel in your gut is right. Also, it’s very soothing to listen to someone talk very knowledgeably about bisexual erasure. You’re the best, Prudence.

(image via Flickr/Ian Linkletter)

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