Got culture?

First Cultured Hamburger, 2013   (The Meat Revolution, Mark Post)

Raising cows for meat seems rather uncouth, whereas producing meat from stem cells seems quite cultured.

And it literally is.  The Israeli firm MeaTech managed to produce a 3.67-ounce steak via “tissue samples taken from a living cow.”  The procedure utilized stem cells that later matured into “real fat and muscle cells.”

The result was a marbled steak that greatly resembled the “farm-raised” prototype.  Lab-created meat not only makes for a kinder world, but also for a cleaner one.  Livestock herds produce a whole lot of methane, which can warm the atmosphere to a far greater extent than carbon dioxide.  Slaughterhouse  practices also produce a good deal of “greenhouse gas emissions.”

Resources

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10290369/Worlds-largest-lab-grown-steak-weighing-nearly-four-ounces-3D-printed.html

Copyright December 8, 2021 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved

Class Acts

McLean in 2021   (Photo by Lisa O'Connor for AFF USA) 

Sometimes a simple “Thank you” is all it takes.  But Taylor Swift went way beyond that.  She not only displayed gratitude, but also humility regarding the shoulders she's been standing upon.

Don McLean’s “American Pie” has been nourishing Swift for decades.  When Swift’s 10-plus-minutes song “All Too Well” recently topped “American Pie” as the longest number-one song “on the Billboard Hot 100 chart," the songstress was admirably gracious.

She sent McLean flowers with a note that read, “Your music has been so important to me.”  McLean's  response was equally affirming.  He said that if he had to lose this long-running number-one slot to someone, he sure is “glad that it was another great singer/songwriter such as Taylor.” 

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/taylor-swift-sends-flowers-to-don-mclean-after-song-breaks-record-held-by-american-pie/ar-AARsKC2?ocid=uxbndlbing

Posthumous Doctorate

Petty in 2016   (Photo by Davidwbaker) 

The “Ph” in PhD generally stands for Philosophy.  But for some, it could also denote “posthumous.”

Tom Petty was a beloved musician for decades while alive.  So it makes a (breathing) body wonder why the University of Florida waited four years after Petty’s death to award him an honorary PhD in music. 

Perhaps it’s just easier to eulogize the dead than to support the living.

Resources

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/late-musician-tom-petty-receives-posthumous-phd-music-81548362

Copyright December 5, 2021 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved

Cull and Kill

1870s Pile of Bison Skulls   (Public Domain) 

We tend to have many euphemisms for death, especially when death is deliberate.

We abort humans and we cull bovines.  The bison population in Yellowstone will soon be reduced (as they say) by hunters and slaughterhouses. 

Montana ranchers have concerns that if these herds are left unchecked, they will spread brucellosis to livestock.  Never mind that there’s been no evidence of this to date.

Resources

https://www.cnyhomepage.com/news/national-news/deal-reached-to-reduce-yellowstones-bison-herd-by-600-900/

Copyright December 4, 2021 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved

Less is More

Homeless Veteran in NYC   (Photo by JMSuarez) 

Florida has taken a huge step forward in allowing tiny-home construction.  The City of Pensacola has embraced this change wholeheartedly.

AMR recently completed a “model tiny home.”  It sits on a La Rue Street lot that is owned by the “housing nonprofit.”  More such houses are in the works for Pensacola and the surrounding county.

Although small in comparison to many American homes, this 380-square-foot house contains numerous amenities, including “a full bathroom.”   A 120-square-foot porch adds even more living space to the mix.

Affordable tiny dwellings can go a long way toward making homelessness a thing of the past.

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/first-tiny-home-pensacola-constructed-120138134.html

Copyright December 3, 2021 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved

Something Old, Something New

 

Aluminum Free   (Photo by LoneKauriRoad)

 

If you want to enliven this holiday season with something new, consider switching from Old Spice to a product with far less potential toxicity.

The body-spray version of this popular antiperspirant has been found to contain “nearly nine times the FDA limit” of benzene, a chemical with known carcinogenic effects.  This is especially alarming since such sprays are “often used daily” by adolescents as well as adults.

When switching, choose carefully.  Detectable levels of benzene were also discovered within many other deodorant brands, such as Right Guard and Sure.

Resources

https://www.iheart.com/content/2021-12-01-cancer-causing-chemical-found-in-dozens-of-brands-of-deodorants/?mid=755879&rid=98364581&sc=email&pname=newsletter&cid=NATIONAL&keyid=National%20iHeart%20Daily%20NewsTalk&campid=headline3_readmore

Keeping It Real

 

Cooper in 2018   (Photo by GabboT)

There’s celebrity life, and then there’s real life.  Sometimes they intersect, but more often they don’t.

Case in point:  Bradley Cooper was approached by a knife-wielding stranger in the New York City subway system.  Why didn’t this astute observer of human nature note the potential danger?  Cooper sort of did, but then assumed (uh oh) that this was simply a fan wanting an autograph. 

So that’s how it is when you’re famous.  Everyone seems like a fan until the knife becomes apparent. Then it’s time to rock and roll, even without an adoring crowd.

Cooper did just that.  He “jumped over the turnstile” and managed to “snap a few photos” of his would-be assailant.  After sharing these pics with New York’s finest, Cooper explained, “My guard was down.”

Resources

https://uproxx.com/movies/bradley-cooper-knifepoint-robbery-mugged-nyc-new-york-subway/

Copyright December 1, 2021 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved