Privacy Policy Assignment: An imaginary discussion with the staff of DailyKos.
In researching privacy policies of sites that I use regularly and contribute to, I was intrigued by the brevity of the policy for dailykos.com:
Privacy Policy
Daily Kos will not give out your information to any third parties. Period.
As this was the shortest, most succinct such policy I had ever seen, I initiated a (ficticious) instant message conversation with editor(s) unknown of the site. Following are excerpts from our exchange.
It’s considered good form to provide a detailed privacy policy. What’s with the one-line statement?
It’s two sentences. We leave the verbosity and bloviating for our diaries. And besides, this site is so poorly designed that your average overeducated, underpaid progressive couldn’t find the privacy policy page without a search dog and an intern.
Why is your privacy policy approximately 1/1000th as wordy as that on Salon, or even CNN?
Please. We are bloggers, Not just bloggers, but progressive bloggers. We don’t have to conform to the rules of the MSM.
I’d hardly call Salon mainstream – it’s pretty progressive too.
Progressive? To quote one of our diaries from “Yes We Did Wednesday” (Nov 5th, 2008) Ha. Ha. And again, Ha. We are the keepers of the progressive flame. Well, us and Arianna, but that’s because she can afford to pay a lot more than we do. Plus the b*** gets voiceover gigs now. Not that we’re jealous. Not at all. Nooo way.
Okay, back to the privacy policy. How do I know you won’t sell my information to some outfit that’s looking to sell biodiesel retrofit kits for Saabs, or adorable outfits for ‘pooties and woozles?’
You’ll just have to trust us. Look, we are progressives. We don’t cop the ‘go fuck yourself’ attitude of the Bush/Cheney oligarchy. And DO NOT make fun of ‘pooties and woozles’. We know they have no place on a political site, that they’re infantile and stupid and probably degrading to animals everywhere, but too bad. They are part of DailyKos, and they are as sacred as the First Family-elect.
Okay, but can you at least tell me this: What kind of security does your site use? SSL? Triple-Layer?
We use union-built, made in America security, bub, coded by working people in ‘real’ and ‘unreal’ America. People who care about their country. People who don’t belong to any organized political party, but who instead are Democrats. People who know what it’s like to be in the minority, regardless of their skin color. People who weren’t afraid to stand up to the corporations and the Repugnicans and Vote For Change™. People who have no idea what SSL means, and who think Triple-Layer has something to do with the carrot cake at that fabulous bakery in North Beach.
Why do I get the sense you’re avoiding my questions about your privacy policy?
To quote Barack Obama: “Look.”
This is the last question we’re going to answer, because the Daily Show is about to come on.
Big long wordy privacy policies are written by and for the shit-flinging howler monkeys that run the Republican-controlled mainstream media. We TRUST our community, and we expect you to TRUST us in return. Without that trust, we have nothing. So we’re not about to screw it up.
Wow. Okay. Thanks for your time!
You're welcome. But first, please sign this loyalty oath.
HA! Just kidding!
# # # #
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Libel Assignment
Libel Assignment
In your advice to the site, provide counsel on the following concerns:
• What type of libel plaintiff is the court likely to name Simmons?
• What, then, will be the requisite standard of fault in this case?
• Will Simmons be able to prove the requisite standard fault?
• Are there other defenses the news site might consider?
In the case of Simmons v. MyFacebookSpaceNews.com, Simmons is likely to be named a private citizen, as this case does not meet the qualifications typically required for him to be considered a public figure. As a result, the standard of fault used is negligence.
As counsel to MyFacebookSpaceNews.com, I would have concerns about the professionalism of the reporter, specifically in the use of Ms.Hubier as a source. Her information was unverified by other sources, and she did not actually see the accident. However, the reporter’s lack of professional conduct in this instance is unlikely to be deemed negligent, particularly in light of the other factors involved.
Additionally, the defendant’s claim that he was falsely accused of drunk driving is without merit. A source logically presumed to be reliable – the policeman on the scene – was quoted as saying that ‘alcohol was involved.’ This does not equate to ‘guilty of drunk driving,’ and thus does not prove negligence on this point.
There appears to be no falsity in any of the statements published in the article; the central claim of ‘drunk driving’ is patently contradicted by the quote from the officer at the scene.
Injury will be likely be easy for this defendant to prove; however separating the trauma of the accident itself and its effects on his psychological state will likely be difficult. Should this trial go to jury, we can also expect animosity from the jurors towards an underage drunk driver mowing down good Samaritans.
In this instance, our reporter used generally solid techniques, and did not report any false information. Therefore, the line of defense should be constructed around the comments from the police at the scene and the corroborating evidence of the suspect's collegiate status.
In summary, this case will pose little threat to MyFacebookSpaceNews.com. I would recommend that reporters for the site be trained more extensively in best practices for reportage, and be reminded to use multiple sources and verify information prior to publication.
In your advice to the site, provide counsel on the following concerns:
• What type of libel plaintiff is the court likely to name Simmons?
• What, then, will be the requisite standard of fault in this case?
• Will Simmons be able to prove the requisite standard fault?
• Are there other defenses the news site might consider?
In the case of Simmons v. MyFacebookSpaceNews.com, Simmons is likely to be named a private citizen, as this case does not meet the qualifications typically required for him to be considered a public figure. As a result, the standard of fault used is negligence.
As counsel to MyFacebookSpaceNews.com, I would have concerns about the professionalism of the reporter, specifically in the use of Ms.Hubier as a source. Her information was unverified by other sources, and she did not actually see the accident. However, the reporter’s lack of professional conduct in this instance is unlikely to be deemed negligent, particularly in light of the other factors involved.
Additionally, the defendant’s claim that he was falsely accused of drunk driving is without merit. A source logically presumed to be reliable – the policeman on the scene – was quoted as saying that ‘alcohol was involved.’ This does not equate to ‘guilty of drunk driving,’ and thus does not prove negligence on this point.
There appears to be no falsity in any of the statements published in the article; the central claim of ‘drunk driving’ is patently contradicted by the quote from the officer at the scene.
Injury will be likely be easy for this defendant to prove; however separating the trauma of the accident itself and its effects on his psychological state will likely be difficult. Should this trial go to jury, we can also expect animosity from the jurors towards an underage drunk driver mowing down good Samaritans.
In this instance, our reporter used generally solid techniques, and did not report any false information. Therefore, the line of defense should be constructed around the comments from the police at the scene and the corroborating evidence of the suspect's collegiate status.
In summary, this case will pose little threat to MyFacebookSpaceNews.com. I would recommend that reporters for the site be trained more extensively in best practices for reportage, and be reminded to use multiple sources and verify information prior to publication.
NRECA Copyright Assignment
NRECA Copyright Infringement Assignment
The claim of copyright infringement made by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) against the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) concerning CEI’s use of footage from an NRECA documentary in a public service video is unfounded. Under the ‘Fair Use’ provisions of US copyright law, CEI’s use of the footage fails to qualify as infringement for the following reasons.
1) The nature of the new work is transformative
The original video(s) posted by NRECA on YouTube were clearly produced to promote the activities of the association in bringing electric power to disadvantaged areas in Haiti. Its audience is likely comprised of those interested in aid or economic development, in Haiti itself, or in the activities of the association. CEI’s audience, on the other hand, is US consumers who are concerned about restrictions on energy use both at home and in developing economies. It is highly unlikely that there is a significant convergence of audiences here.
Furthermore, the NCRECA piece is clearly intended to promote the association’s activities, while CEI’s purpose is clearly criticism of the (perceived) hypocrisy of those promoting restrictive energy use policies. This alteration in purpose and appeal clearly exempts the CEI video from infringement.
2) The original work is copyrighted and thus first right of publication was not infringed.
NRECA, by previously posting its video on YouTube, was first to publish the work and to gain copyright. In addition, the NRECA videos are informational works with little artistic merit and thus deserving of less protection.
3) The new work uses an insubstantial amount of the original.
The seven seconds of video used in the CEI production are an insignificant fraction of the original NRECA work, and have no impact on the essence of the original.
4) CEI’s use of the video clip is unlikely to have any impact on NRECA
No commercial impact can be contemplated from CEI’s use of NRECA video. The original video was clearly intended to serve different purposes, for different audiences, in a different context, than the new work. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that many viewers who might happen to see both productions would even realize that NRECA was the source of the footage (there is no indication as such in the footage shown in the CEI video). It is reasonable to assume that the typical viewer would see the footage as simply video reportage and make no presumptions about its origin.
This case demonstrates the need for more flexible, practical and realistic fair use provisions in copyright law. The energy expended in wrangling over this issue would likely light Al Gore’s mansion for weeks, and serves little purpose in the end. Copyright should be used to protect the basic expression of ideas in substantive form – to protect the sandcastle, and not the grains of sand that make it up. The proliferation of digital technology has unleashed a surge of creativity that is redefining, on a daily basis, what expressions are ‘new’ and hence free of restrictive copyright. In this writer’s opinion, ‘new’ content should be defined more liberally, yet more clearly, than in current case law. The result will not be the bankrupting of creative content producers, but rather a ‘digital renaissance’ of more, better content.
The claim of copyright infringement made by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) against the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) concerning CEI’s use of footage from an NRECA documentary in a public service video is unfounded. Under the ‘Fair Use’ provisions of US copyright law, CEI’s use of the footage fails to qualify as infringement for the following reasons.
1) The nature of the new work is transformative
The original video(s) posted by NRECA on YouTube were clearly produced to promote the activities of the association in bringing electric power to disadvantaged areas in Haiti. Its audience is likely comprised of those interested in aid or economic development, in Haiti itself, or in the activities of the association. CEI’s audience, on the other hand, is US consumers who are concerned about restrictions on energy use both at home and in developing economies. It is highly unlikely that there is a significant convergence of audiences here.
Furthermore, the NCRECA piece is clearly intended to promote the association’s activities, while CEI’s purpose is clearly criticism of the (perceived) hypocrisy of those promoting restrictive energy use policies. This alteration in purpose and appeal clearly exempts the CEI video from infringement.
2) The original work is copyrighted and thus first right of publication was not infringed.
NRECA, by previously posting its video on YouTube, was first to publish the work and to gain copyright. In addition, the NRECA videos are informational works with little artistic merit and thus deserving of less protection.
3) The new work uses an insubstantial amount of the original.
The seven seconds of video used in the CEI production are an insignificant fraction of the original NRECA work, and have no impact on the essence of the original.
4) CEI’s use of the video clip is unlikely to have any impact on NRECA
No commercial impact can be contemplated from CEI’s use of NRECA video. The original video was clearly intended to serve different purposes, for different audiences, in a different context, than the new work. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that many viewers who might happen to see both productions would even realize that NRECA was the source of the footage (there is no indication as such in the footage shown in the CEI video). It is reasonable to assume that the typical viewer would see the footage as simply video reportage and make no presumptions about its origin.
This case demonstrates the need for more flexible, practical and realistic fair use provisions in copyright law. The energy expended in wrangling over this issue would likely light Al Gore’s mansion for weeks, and serves little purpose in the end. Copyright should be used to protect the basic expression of ideas in substantive form – to protect the sandcastle, and not the grains of sand that make it up. The proliferation of digital technology has unleashed a surge of creativity that is redefining, on a daily basis, what expressions are ‘new’ and hence free of restrictive copyright. In this writer’s opinion, ‘new’ content should be defined more liberally, yet more clearly, than in current case law. The result will not be the bankrupting of creative content producers, but rather a ‘digital renaissance’ of more, better content.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
FAQ Page Assignment
NOTE: Fixed upper-case Maverick, added title, fixed a spacing error.
Assignment:
Create an interactive FAQ help page for some entity (publication, company or organization), preferably one with which you have some formal connection. Suggested is the entity you selected for the assignments for Chapter Five. This frequently asked question section should anticipate common problems and questions users might have about that publication, organization or company.
The objective is to think for our audience(s) and anticipate their questions and needs. It is, therefore, the process that is most important, not the product. This means that you do not have to worry too much about design or layout or aesthetics.
The page should have:
• Clear, comprehensible instructions
• Clear organization
• Thorough consideration/anticipation of user questions
• Informative, helpful answers to FAQ questions
• Design that promotes, rather than impedes, page usability
Note:
I chose weirduniverse.net, a site with which I have no real connection except for being a member and occasional contributor. It is a site that has no current FAQ page, which I feel helped make the exercise more challenging. Weirduniverse, as one might expect, has an irreverent tone, which I attempted to reflect in this FAQ page. It's also a simple site, so I did not see a need for a great deal of technical support questions. Hence, these focus more on submissions, usage, philosophy and personality of the site. All in all, this FAQ page will contribute the overall brand of www.weirduniverse.net.
FAQs: Our attempt to answer your questions about how the Weird Universe works
There’s a lot of weird stuff here, but how do I know if it’s true?
Thanks for the compliment! We work hard to verify that every post on Weird Universe is not only weird, but accurate. Most of our content is stuff that we’ve found ourselves, either in our own collections of weird stuff, or online. We give links and attribution, and if we’re wrong, we’re not too proud to admit it, so let us know.
Our “News of the Weird” items are gathered and vetted by Chuck Sheperd, who’s been doing this for over twenty years. Or approximately as long as that take-out container of moo shu pork has been at the back of our office refrigerator. Chuck cheerfully admits that he depends on reporters for his stories, so they may not always be factually correct, but it’s not his fault.
One final note: our man Alex Boese runs a site dedicated to uncovering hoaxes, so we have a darned-good truthiness filter right here.
Can I submit weird stuff?
Of course you can. But if it’s really good, we’ll try to take credit. (Okay, not really.) Just use this form and we’ll take it from there.
Send us as much information as you have – where you found the item, when it was posted or published, anything you know about the source, and we’ll check it out. If we end up using it, you’ll get credit. If not, we won’t blame you.
Who’s weirder, Weird Al Yankovic or Frank Zappa?
Wow. Tough question. We are of course huge admirers of both, but it is incumbent upon us to point out that calling oneself weird (or a maverick) does not weird (or maverick-y) make.
Can I use stuff from your site?
We’d rather you didn’t. C’mon, how hard is it to link? But if you must, please respect that we do this for a living, and there are laws about such things. Please provide proper attribution if you use anything from our site on your own personal page. If you’re a commercial entity (and yes, non-profits count too), contact our syndicator, United Features.
I noticed there are members on this site. What does becoming a member do for me?
Besides making you infinitely more attractive to members of the opposite sex, improving your IQ by at least 30 points, and virtually guaranteeing financial success, the only thing membership allows you to do is post comments and submit ideas. As if that weren’t enough, you’ll also find a bunch of information on our unique community. It’s not exactly Facebook, but it’s a start.
My work computer blocks all the cool sites, including this one. What can I do to stop spending my work hours wondering what’s in WeirdUniverse world?
You’re in luck. (Pathetic, perhaps, but in luck). We’ve just added an RSS feed so as long as you’re online, and you can get a feed on your blog or homepage, you’ll be just as instantly and constantly weird as the rest of us.
What’s with the sidebar with the WORDS in different SIZES?
That’s called a tag cloud, and it’s one of the newest, neatest things here on the intertubes. If you see a word that appeals, click on it, and you’ll find all the posts that are tagged with that word. Pretty cool, huh?
Are the people in ‘Your Daily Jury Duty’ feature always as guilty as they look?
Yes.
Really?
No. All we report is what they are charged with. The rest is up to the legal system. And we know it’s foolproof.
How do you decide what’s weird enough to post on the site?
We use a complex formula first espoused by Potter "I know it when I see it" Stewart.
Beyond that, we draw on our status as old dudes who’ve seen, done, read, dated, mated, inhaled, injected or otherwise experienced just about everything weird this world has to offer. So yes, we do ‘know it when we see it.’ Trust us.
Assignment:
Create an interactive FAQ help page for some entity (publication, company or organization), preferably one with which you have some formal connection. Suggested is the entity you selected for the assignments for Chapter Five. This frequently asked question section should anticipate common problems and questions users might have about that publication, organization or company.
The objective is to think for our audience(s) and anticipate their questions and needs. It is, therefore, the process that is most important, not the product. This means that you do not have to worry too much about design or layout or aesthetics.
The page should have:
• Clear, comprehensible instructions
• Clear organization
• Thorough consideration/anticipation of user questions
• Informative, helpful answers to FAQ questions
• Design that promotes, rather than impedes, page usability
Note:
I chose weirduniverse.net, a site with which I have no real connection except for being a member and occasional contributor. It is a site that has no current FAQ page, which I feel helped make the exercise more challenging. Weirduniverse, as one might expect, has an irreverent tone, which I attempted to reflect in this FAQ page. It's also a simple site, so I did not see a need for a great deal of technical support questions. Hence, these focus more on submissions, usage, philosophy and personality of the site. All in all, this FAQ page will contribute the overall brand of www.weirduniverse.net.
FAQs: Our attempt to answer your questions about how the Weird Universe works
There’s a lot of weird stuff here, but how do I know if it’s true?
Thanks for the compliment! We work hard to verify that every post on Weird Universe is not only weird, but accurate. Most of our content is stuff that we’ve found ourselves, either in our own collections of weird stuff, or online. We give links and attribution, and if we’re wrong, we’re not too proud to admit it, so let us know.
Our “News of the Weird” items are gathered and vetted by Chuck Sheperd, who’s been doing this for over twenty years. Or approximately as long as that take-out container of moo shu pork has been at the back of our office refrigerator. Chuck cheerfully admits that he depends on reporters for his stories, so they may not always be factually correct, but it’s not his fault.
One final note: our man Alex Boese runs a site dedicated to uncovering hoaxes, so we have a darned-good truthiness filter right here.
Can I submit weird stuff?
Of course you can. But if it’s really good, we’ll try to take credit. (Okay, not really.) Just use this form and we’ll take it from there.
Send us as much information as you have – where you found the item, when it was posted or published, anything you know about the source, and we’ll check it out. If we end up using it, you’ll get credit. If not, we won’t blame you.
Who’s weirder, Weird Al Yankovic or Frank Zappa?
Wow. Tough question. We are of course huge admirers of both, but it is incumbent upon us to point out that calling oneself weird (or a maverick) does not weird (or maverick-y) make.
Can I use stuff from your site?
We’d rather you didn’t. C’mon, how hard is it to link? But if you must, please respect that we do this for a living, and there are laws about such things. Please provide proper attribution if you use anything from our site on your own personal page. If you’re a commercial entity (and yes, non-profits count too), contact our syndicator, United Features.
I noticed there are members on this site. What does becoming a member do for me?
Besides making you infinitely more attractive to members of the opposite sex, improving your IQ by at least 30 points, and virtually guaranteeing financial success, the only thing membership allows you to do is post comments and submit ideas. As if that weren’t enough, you’ll also find a bunch of information on our unique community. It’s not exactly Facebook, but it’s a start.
My work computer blocks all the cool sites, including this one. What can I do to stop spending my work hours wondering what’s in WeirdUniverse world?
You’re in luck. (Pathetic, perhaps, but in luck). We’ve just added an RSS feed so as long as you’re online, and you can get a feed on your blog or homepage, you’ll be just as instantly and constantly weird as the rest of us.
What’s with the sidebar with the WORDS in different SIZES?
That’s called a tag cloud, and it’s one of the newest, neatest things here on the intertubes. If you see a word that appeals, click on it, and you’ll find all the posts that are tagged with that word. Pretty cool, huh?
Are the people in ‘Your Daily Jury Duty’ feature always as guilty as they look?
Yes.
Really?
No. All we report is what they are charged with. The rest is up to the legal system. And we know it’s foolproof.
How do you decide what’s weird enough to post on the site?
We use a complex formula first espoused by Potter "I know it when I see it" Stewart.
Beyond that, we draw on our status as old dudes who’ve seen, done, read, dated, mated, inhaled, injected or otherwise experienced just about everything weird this world has to offer. So yes, we do ‘know it when we see it.’ Trust us.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Multiple Source Assignment
NOTE: I've made some revisions to the copy (minor fix to clarify who was speaking in one graf, caught a typo). I've added extensive links, and gave my best shot at building a slide show (with stock images) but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get &%^$#@! Blogger to display it. I am using WordPress from now on. :)
Military families find ways to cope with deployment
Getting by with a little help from their friends
Gail Dawes, 40, of Wake Forest, NC has just become a single mother again. Not through death or divorce, but through deployment. Her husband, Chris, 44, has been called up and his National Guard unit will train for a few months prior to heading overseas in early 2009.
Not far away, in Youngsville, NC, Patti Elliott, 43, will soon be saying goodbye to her son, Lucas, 19. An Army reservist, he will deploy early in 2009 to serve a year overseas.
In Durham, NC, Captain Mark Ford, 38, is back from his tour of duty in Iraq and has settled back into a normal routine with his wife Amy, who faced deployment largely alone.
What these families have gone through – the soldier going off to war – is a story nearly as old as civilization itself. What is new are the unique challenges that come with a military faced with two wars, a shortage of manpower (especially officers) and that is now forced to draw on its reserve forces for the first time in decades. Add to that the lengthy conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and many soldiers are finding themselves deployed two or more times in just a few years. To better cope, soldiers and their families are developing support groups and other ways to share the burden of deployment.
From paperwork to machine gunner
Mark Ford entered the military via the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) while in college in 1990. He figured the chances of being deployed to a shooting war were slim, a hunch that seemed to be borne out by the ‘peace dividend’ that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union. As a result of staffing drawdowns, many officers were placed on Individual Ready Reserve, which meant they were exempt from the usual requirement to train one weekend a month and two weeks every year.
Ford was eventually called to active reserve status in 1998 and became an administrator supporting basic training of troops at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. “We were training support troops there, so even after 9/11, we didn’t think there was a big likelihood of being deployed,” he says.
Not long afterwards, Ford’s unit was designated as a donor unit, meaning that it would supply soldiers – usually just one at a time – to others that needed replacements due to attrition or reorganization. “It was about the worst way to be deployed because you’re going to war with a unit you didn’t train with, so you don’t know anyone, and often the units are either newly-formed or have had management problems,” Ford says.
While serving as the unit’s personnel officer, where he was tasked with telling other soldiers they were being deployed, Ford got the call himself to go to Iraq. The unit had 45 days of training at Fort Hood (Texas), then went to Kuwait and eventually Iraq. Ford’s team was stationed on an Iraqi military base where they trained Iraqi Army troops in combat techniques. The mission included going on patrols to fight insurgent forces. “It was stressful. I went from doing paperwork to a machine gunner up in the turret when we went out on convoys,” he says. “One minute, you’re inside the wire (on base), where you can call home and go online. Then all of a sudden you’re getting called to run a convoy down a road where they’ve told you there are IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and where you know you’ll be in a firefight.”
Ford’s team was fortunate; they came under mortar fire and were shot at a few times, but suffered no casualties during his deployment.
Wife faces medical challenge
Back home, Ford’s wife Amy was facing her own challenges. “Because I was in a reserve unit that draws personnel from all over the country, there really was no support for the families – it’s just too hard to do. So Amy was kind of on her own, except for her own network of friends,” Ford says.
When Amy was diagnosed with a serious heart arrhythmia, that isolation was thrown into sharper relief. “Fortunately, I just happened to be home on leave when she had surgery, and was able to extend my leave to be here for her,” he says. That surgery was unsuccessful, but Amy was eventually able to recover.
“My impression is that the regular Army, and the National Guard units, have better support networks for their families, largely because they’re geographically concentrated,” Ford says. “We tried to develop some support in my unit, but we were never able to get anywhere.”
Deployment leads to involvement
Experience with her husband’s first deployment led Gail Dawes to get involved to help avoid situations like the one Amy Ford found herself in.
Her voice trails off and her eyes glance downward as she recalls her husband’s first deployment, in 2002. “We weren’t married yet, but we were in a very serious relationship. Even when we did talk, there are so many things the soldier can’t tell you, but you can hear the stress in their voice, and you just want to know what’s going on in their world.”
“It’s not like your soldier is just going off on a business trip,” Dawes says. “They are putting themselves in harm’s way every day, no matter where they’re stationed. Your life – as the family at home -- becomes very stressful. It becomes waiting for phone calls, letters, sitting and waiting for word, not wanting to miss anything.”
Dawes has become actively involved in the Family Readiness Group for her husband’s unit (the 30th Armored Brigade). “Our group exists to support each other, to help relay news, to have someone to call in the middle of the night when something’s wrong in their house,” says Dawes. “It’s much different for reservists than regular military. Reserve soldiers are working regular jobs, home every night, then all of a sudden, they’re deployed. The support networks haven’t been there, and the families often don’t know what to expect.”
The FRG provides everything from the mundane – such as phone trees to share information rapidly – to the creative and entertaining. For the last three years, the group has held a craft fair to raise money for families for whom deployment means financial hardship. They also work with the unit to coordinate Kids on Guard, a series of day or weekend camps where soldiers’ children drill, camp, rappel, and do physical training under the guidance of Guard members. “Activities like this are really good for helping the kids understand what Mom or Dad does when they’re training or on deployment,” Dawes says.
The biggest challenge Dawes’ group faces is involvement. “Our families are spread all over the state, and it’s tough to get everyone together. We have a hard time getting people to participate in our training sessions, which makes us concerned that some of the families might not know what resources are available to them,” she says. “But, with the unit being deployed now, we expect that there will be a lot more involvement.”
From tears to Google to Blue Star Mothers
Patti Elliott is one military family member who isn’t waiting for her soldier to deploy before she gets involved. “When the recruiter came to pick Lucas up to go to basic training two years ago, I stood in the yard and cried. And then I went back in the house and Googled “military mom support group,” Elliott says. “Two weeks later I was at my first meeting and I’ve been involved ever since.”
The group Elliott found in that search, Blue Star Mothers, traces its roots to World War II, and is named for the blue stars hung in the window of soldiers’ homes. Bound by the belief, as Elliott says, ‘that no one understands what a mother is going through like another mother,” the group engages military mothers in a wide range of activities.
“One of our main things is just try to keep busy,” Elliott says. “We do things like put together care packages for troops. We typically don’t send them to our own children, but instead find out from them what soldiers in their unit don’t have the support from home. Those are the ones we try to get the packages to.”
The group also visits wounded veterans at nearby VA and base hospitals. “So often, those kids – and we call them all our kids whether they’re 19 or 49, they’re still someone’s kid – just need someone who will listen. And it helps us mothers to have someone to be a mother hen to,” Elliott says.
How the groups help
While Elliott’s son has yet to deploy, she’s already seen the benefits that being involved in Blue Star Mothers has brought her. “I’ve learned a lot about perspective. Like when Lucas was in Missouri doing basic training, and I was worried about that. Then I met mothers whose children were in Iraq, and others whose child never came home,” she says.
Even though her son hasn’t been deployed yet, there’s no doubt in Elliott’s mind that Blue Star Mothers will help her cope. “There’s nothing like having another mother who knows what you’re going through to help you with it,” she says.
Having survived one deployment, Dawes is now finding reward in sharing those lessons with others. “One of the commanders in Chris’ unit has a mantra: If not me, who? That sums up a lot of what being involved in FRG means to me. I get frustrated sometimes, and want to throw in the towel. But then I think, if I don’t help these families, who will?,” she says.
Long, complex engagements, all-volunteer armed forces, and increasing dependence on Guard and Reserve units have created challenges for both the military establishment and the families affected. But in the finest military tradition, families have adapted and found ways to blunt the pain of deployment. In the end, it all boils down to a very simple philosophy, according to Dawes: “We just have to be there for each other.”
# # #
Intended audience:
This is a feature article for a local (central NC), general interest publication such as The News & Observer or The Independent.
Questions I asked the sources:
-General background on military involvement
-Biographical information (age, general ‘life story’)
-Patti Elliott: how her son came to enlist at 17, what her reaction was, how she got involved with Blue Star Mothers, what the organization does – examples.
-Gail Dawes: her husband’s first deployment – what was it like? How did it affect your children? What does the FRG do? Why is it important? What are the challenges? How has your opinion about our continued involvement in Iraq changed over the years?
-Mark Ford: what were the challenges of being deployed? What was it like for your wife? What was lacking from the military in terms of support? How could that be addressed?
Other sources considered:
This story originally was intended to be more political – I wanted to draw out what veterans and their families were thinking about the conflict in Iraq. This was inspired by hearing Jon Kuniholm, a former Marine, speak at a Democratic rally a few weeks ago. I was not able to arrange an interview with Kuniholm, and I found that the sources I did talk to were largely apolitical. They view the role of the soldier as being to serve whenever and wherever needed, regardless of policy.
And as I got deeper into the interviews, the angle of the support systems being built (mostly by the families themselves) seemed very compelling, and in fact more so than the original proposed angle. As the conflict(s) have dragged on, interest seems to have waned and I felt it would be worthwhile to give the families who are still making huge sacrifices their due.
Facts I checked:
- Verified National Guard unit
- Verified Blue Star Mothers history, founding date
- Verified Individual Ready Reserve details
- Checked spelling of names
- Verified 30FRG Craft Fair details
How to webify the story:
-Slide show using photos provided by the soldiers and families, in a timeline format (e.g., Lucas Elliott was 12 when he decided to join the military – show his 6th grade picture)
-Links to National Guard, FRG, Craft Fair, Blue Star Mothers websites
-Photos of the interview subjects – b/w, stark portraits I think would work best to show the emotions on the mothers’ faces. Would also consider a ‘gap’ family photo – w/the family posed with a gap where the soldier would be.
-Interactive table showing average length of deployment and comparing the percentage of reserve forces that are being used in these wars vs. prior conflicts.
-Sidebar on NC military involvement – remind the reader just how many soldiers, in regular, reserve and Guard units – are based here.
-Extended quotes from the sources. I had many quotes that were powerful insights into the military (esp from Mark Ford) that simply didn’t fit this story, but would be interesting to many readers.
-Feedback mechanism – not only to allow readers to comment on the story, but to link the families who simply aren’t aware of the available resources to the people who can help them.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wikipedia edit
I barely feel qualified to act as an adult most days, let alone edit a Wikipedia entry, but I took a shot at it. After 20+ years in the business, if there's one 'technical' thing I know pretty well it's herbicides, so I tweaked the herbicide page and added an entry on pendimethalin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbicide#Major_herbicides_in_use_today
Saturday, October 25, 2008
A bridge too far: live-blogging the Democratic rally and chili cook-off
It's now been several days since my live-blogging exercise at the Wake County Democratic Rally and Chili Cook-Off, and while I'm no General Bernard Montgomery (or even Cornelius Ryan), the analogy of a 'bridge too far' comes to mind.
Detachment is a given
Much like traditional reporting, it's difficult to become part of the moment when live-blogging it. Not only was I occupied with listening, and taking notes, I was also either typing in a post or thinking about the next one. Even for a natural multi-tasker like me, the 'processing power' required to do all this was such that I never felt engrossed in the rally itself.
The only exception to this was Jon Kuniholm's talk, where the power of his words and delivery overwhelmed all other distractions and compelled me to focus almost solely on him.
I wouldn't consider this detachment a problem or a disadvantage, but it did make me experience the event very differently than if I were not blogging. At the time, I felt I had missed a lot of content, but after reflection I see that I actually absorbed more than I would have as a mere spectator.
Accuracy can suffer
I learned very quickly that true live-blogging has its perils, especially when it comes to the cold, hard facts of the story. This event was fairly unstructured. The only speakers announced in advance were Jon Kuniholm and Jerry Meek, and there were no backgrounders (or even a program) provided. Thus, I found it challenging to catch people's names and titles, especially since there were so many speakers (12 in all) in less than two hours.
My work-around for this was to fact-check after the event and correct a few mistakes. I also at one point enlisted my son to jot down notes. Having an assistant when live-blogging would be a major advantage for anyone trying to cover an unstructured event.
Even a chili cook-off is not above politics
The chili cook-off unfolded far differently than I expected. In other events of this nature, I've simply plopped the slow cooker on the table, put up a sign, and left. At this event, however, the cooks were expected to stand by their product, dispensing it to judges and attendees, and answering questions. As a result, the chili entries were not anonymous. When the winning entries were announced, every one of them was from a candidate (or support group), even though such entries made up less than half of the total. Coincidence or conspiracy? Just sayin'. If only I had Sean Hannity on my speed-dial!
The multi-media element
My years in public relations and advertising have actually provided good training for live-blogging in one regard: photography (especially at events like this) is very familiar territory. While I was pressed for time due to the cook-off demands, I did find the opportunity to grab a few shots of the venue, the chili, and my 'blogging outpost' (a table near an outlet). I didn't have the necessary cable to download my pictures live, but with a little better planning next time, that would not be an obstacle. I was reminded just how difficult it is for one person to keep track of all the elements -- the computer, wireless card, camera, SD cards, notebook -- AND operate all of them. Another place where an assistant would be very useful.
The bottom line
Live-blogging is fun, in a mascohistic sort of way. In the future, I think I would not be so concerned about truly 'being live,' but I wanted the experience, and it was a good one. I felt 'deadline gut' (that tight ball of editor/boss/client-inspired bile and muscle contraction that is the best short-term motivator known to man) every couple of minutes, which is undoubtedly why I was exhausted after just a couple hours. The fact that I got up at 5 a.m. to make chili probably contributed as well. I will definitely live-blog again, but I won't try to live-blog and compete in a culinary competition at the same time. That's taking multi-tasking just a little too far.
Detachment is a given
Much like traditional reporting, it's difficult to become part of the moment when live-blogging it. Not only was I occupied with listening, and taking notes, I was also either typing in a post or thinking about the next one. Even for a natural multi-tasker like me, the 'processing power' required to do all this was such that I never felt engrossed in the rally itself.
The only exception to this was Jon Kuniholm's talk, where the power of his words and delivery overwhelmed all other distractions and compelled me to focus almost solely on him.
I wouldn't consider this detachment a problem or a disadvantage, but it did make me experience the event very differently than if I were not blogging. At the time, I felt I had missed a lot of content, but after reflection I see that I actually absorbed more than I would have as a mere spectator.
Accuracy can suffer
I learned very quickly that true live-blogging has its perils, especially when it comes to the cold, hard facts of the story. This event was fairly unstructured. The only speakers announced in advance were Jon Kuniholm and Jerry Meek, and there were no backgrounders (or even a program) provided. Thus, I found it challenging to catch people's names and titles, especially since there were so many speakers (12 in all) in less than two hours.
My work-around for this was to fact-check after the event and correct a few mistakes. I also at one point enlisted my son to jot down notes. Having an assistant when live-blogging would be a major advantage for anyone trying to cover an unstructured event.
Even a chili cook-off is not above politics
The chili cook-off unfolded far differently than I expected. In other events of this nature, I've simply plopped the slow cooker on the table, put up a sign, and left. At this event, however, the cooks were expected to stand by their product, dispensing it to judges and attendees, and answering questions. As a result, the chili entries were not anonymous. When the winning entries were announced, every one of them was from a candidate (or support group), even though such entries made up less than half of the total. Coincidence or conspiracy? Just sayin'. If only I had Sean Hannity on my speed-dial!
The multi-media element
My years in public relations and advertising have actually provided good training for live-blogging in one regard: photography (especially at events like this) is very familiar territory. While I was pressed for time due to the cook-off demands, I did find the opportunity to grab a few shots of the venue, the chili, and my 'blogging outpost' (a table near an outlet). I didn't have the necessary cable to download my pictures live, but with a little better planning next time, that would not be an obstacle. I was reminded just how difficult it is for one person to keep track of all the elements -- the computer, wireless card, camera, SD cards, notebook -- AND operate all of them. Another place where an assistant would be very useful.
The bottom line
Live-blogging is fun, in a mascohistic sort of way. In the future, I think I would not be so concerned about truly 'being live,' but I wanted the experience, and it was a good one. I felt 'deadline gut' (that tight ball of editor/boss/client-inspired bile and muscle contraction that is the best short-term motivator known to man) every couple of minutes, which is undoubtedly why I was exhausted after just a couple hours. The fact that I got up at 5 a.m. to make chili probably contributed as well. I will definitely live-blog again, but I won't try to live-blog and compete in a culinary competition at the same time. That's taking multi-tasking just a little too far.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Live Blogging from Wake Co. Democratic Rally & Chili Cook-Off
12:35
'Flip the ballot over.' There it is again -- they are really working hard for the nonpartisan candidates.
The event is wrapping up now, and it's been an interesting time. I've found it very challenging to listen and write at the same time, and to make the myriad on-the-fly edits and decisions. This has been made doubly tough by my entry in the chili cook-off, which was a distraction, albeit a fun one.
'Flip the ballot over.' There it is again -- they are really working hard for the nonpartisan candidates.
The event is wrapping up now, and it's been an interesting time. I've found it very challenging to listen and write at the same time, and to make the myriad on-the-fly edits and decisions. This has been made doubly tough by my entry in the chili cook-off, which was a distraction, albeit a fun one.
Live Blogging from Wake Co. Democratic Rally & Chili Cook-Off
12:30
Interesting to see the energy level here -- it's obvious that Democrats are feeling good about this year's election.
This event -- while casual -- is obviously well-organized and disciplined. The somewhat complicated ballot has been mentioned by every candidate. There are actually three parts to the ballot: the presidential election, the partisan offices, and the nonpartisan offices, primarily judges, are listed on the reverse of the ballot. With so many races on the ballot this year, and so many new voters, it will be interesting to see if there are issues with voter confusion this year.
Interesting to see the energy level here -- it's obvious that Democrats are feeling good about this year's election.
This event -- while casual -- is obviously well-organized and disciplined. The somewhat complicated ballot has been mentioned by every candidate. There are actually three parts to the ballot: the presidential election, the partisan offices, and the nonpartisan offices, primarily judges, are listed on the reverse of the ballot. With so many races on the ballot this year, and so many new voters, it will be interesting to see if there are issues with voter confusion this year.
Live Blogging from Wake Co. Democratic Rally & Chili Cook-Off
12:23
Harold Webb, county commissioner, has just pointed out that Wake County now has over 550,000 registered voters! This sounds really high to me, and a little stunning -- when I moved here in 1989, the entire population of the county was around 400,000. And I'm definitely voting early. With that many registered voters, and the high interest in the election this year, the lines will be nuts on the 4th.
Harold Webb, county commissioner, has just pointed out that Wake County now has over 550,000 registered voters! This sounds really high to me, and a little stunning -- when I moved here in 1989, the entire population of the county was around 400,000. And I'm definitely voting early. With that many registered voters, and the high interest in the election this year, the lines will be nuts on the 4th.
12:15
The 'medium' category winner, from the Soil & Water Conservation District, deserved its placing. It's a classic chili, well-seasoned. Nothing creative about the recipe, but certainly well-executed.
In the 'spicy' category I entered, 'Satan's Breath,' from the Wake County Democratic Men's Club, took the prize. It's a nicely-done chili, heavy on the tomato, but well-balanced. Again, a more conventional recipe, executed well.
I sampled three or four others, which ranged from good to edible.
We're on to the lesser-known candidates now, including one for the Soil and Water Conservation Commissioner who apparently is hoping to leverage his chili win into an Election Day victory.
The 'medium' category winner, from the Soil & Water Conservation District, deserved its placing. It's a classic chili, well-seasoned. Nothing creative about the recipe, but certainly well-executed.
In the 'spicy' category I entered, 'Satan's Breath,' from the Wake County Democratic Men's Club, took the prize. It's a nicely-done chili, heavy on the tomato, but well-balanced. Again, a more conventional recipe, executed well.
I sampled three or four others, which ranged from good to edible.
We're on to the lesser-known candidates now, including one for the Soil and Water Conservation Commissioner who apparently is hoping to leverage his chili win into an Election Day victory.
Live Blogging from Wake Co. Democratic Rally & Chili Cook-Off
12:06
Darn.
Didn't win. But getting a lot of compliments.
Time to go taste the winners, and see if I agree.
Darn.
Didn't win. But getting a lot of compliments.
Time to go taste the winners, and see if I agree.
Live Blogging from Wake Co. Democratic Rally & Chili Cook-Off
11:55
Kuniholm still speaking. Not only are his words powerful, but there's an added aura of credibility from his prosthetic hand. Even though he's no longer in the Marines, he still has the 'high and tight' haircut, the trim physique, and the military bearing of a soldier. It's especially poignant at the moment, as he hammers the voting record of McCain, Dole and Burr. (According to Disabled Veterans of America, McCain has voted with veterans 20% of the time, Dole and Burr 60%, and Obama 80%).
"I urge you to pick a leader who will make better choices about these things. Marines don't get to pick our leaders...except for one: our Commander in Chief. If you want to thank me for my service, help me elect Barack Obama on November 4th."
With that, Kuniholm is done and the full-frontal assault on thc chili has begun. Cook-off winners will be announced soon.
Kuniholm still speaking. Not only are his words powerful, but there's an added aura of credibility from his prosthetic hand. Even though he's no longer in the Marines, he still has the 'high and tight' haircut, the trim physique, and the military bearing of a soldier. It's especially poignant at the moment, as he hammers the voting record of McCain, Dole and Burr. (According to Disabled Veterans of America, McCain has voted with veterans 20% of the time, Dole and Burr 60%, and Obama 80%).
"I urge you to pick a leader who will make better choices about these things. Marines don't get to pick our leaders...except for one: our Commander in Chief. If you want to thank me for my service, help me elect Barack Obama on November 4th."
With that, Kuniholm is done and the full-frontal assault on thc chili has begun. Cook-off winners will be announced soon.
Live Blogging from Wake Co. Democratic Rally & Chili Cook-Off
11:45
Whew. Big rush on the chili while judges were tasting and the first of the now-large crowd came through.
Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic party, spoke first and gave a rousing talk in support of the entire Democratic ballot.
Following him, and speaking now, is Jon Kuniholm, former Marine captain who lost most of his right arm in Iraq. He's a powerful speaker, and was featured at the Democratic national convention. Line of the day: 'dying for a decision doesn't make it a good one.'
Now he's on an anecdote about patrolling an area the size of Wake, Orange and Durham counties with a force of 650 Marines. "This is just silly because the resources we needed weren't given us."
"Maybe we shouldn't have tried to do something we didn't have the will or the resources to get it done," he adds.
Another memorable line: "We don't need another 'Mission Accomplished' banner hung on something that doesn't deserve it."
Whew. Big rush on the chili while judges were tasting and the first of the now-large crowd came through.
Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic party, spoke first and gave a rousing talk in support of the entire Democratic ballot.
Following him, and speaking now, is Jon Kuniholm, former Marine captain who lost most of his right arm in Iraq. He's a powerful speaker, and was featured at the Democratic national convention. Line of the day: 'dying for a decision doesn't make it a good one.'
Now he's on an anecdote about patrolling an area the size of Wake, Orange and Durham counties with a force of 650 Marines. "This is just silly because the resources we needed weren't given us."
"Maybe we shouldn't have tried to do something we didn't have the will or the resources to get it done," he adds.
Another memorable line: "We don't need another 'Mission Accomplished' banner hung on something that doesn't deserve it."
Live Blogging from Wake Co. Democratic Rally & Chili Cook-Off
REVISED: to provide better set-up.
10:58 am
We have arrived at the Elks Lodge for the Wake Co. Democratic Party rally and chili cook-off. This event seemed a good candidate for live blogging, as it combines food and politics. Since I'm a single Dad for the day, the latter is especially important, as my politics-obsessed 17 year-old is down with anything Democratic, and his siblings like anything that involves food and getting out of the house. As for me, I'm still smarting a little from not winning the chili cook-off at my wife's office, and I'm out for redemption. So I've been up since 6:00 am working on my 'Chipotle Chorizo Chili for Change', hoping its hot, slightly sweet and smoky flavor profile will resonate better with Democrats than the Fortune 500 equipment manufacturing drones who dissed me last week.
The venue at the corner of Millbrook and Lead Mine in north Raleigh is one I've passed for years, but never entered. It's a low-slung, rambling brick building on an attractive, wooded rise. The ballroom is pretty much what one might imagine an Elks Lodge to be like -- a glittering disco ball suspended above the dance floor, 'Smokeeter' (R) brand smoke filters on each wall, emblazoned with a sign reading "Please leave Smokeeters ON all night after bingo." The bar is open (what else would one expect from the Elks?) but thankfully there's no one smoking inside.
A crowd is gathering while a band sets up. Most of the attendees are on the far side of middle-aged, and nearly all Caucasian (not surprising for this part of town). As always at such events, it's a very friendly and outgoing bunch.
Finally, another word about the chili: it's a concoction I've been tweaking for years. Some of the eclectic contents include beer, coffee, maple syrup (or molasses), balsamic vinegar, chipotles in adobo, coffee, chorizo, smoked sausage, and Italian sausage.
Time to get a drink; more to come.
10:58 am
We have arrived at the Elks Lodge for the Wake Co. Democratic Party rally and chili cook-off. This event seemed a good candidate for live blogging, as it combines food and politics. Since I'm a single Dad for the day, the latter is especially important, as my politics-obsessed 17 year-old is down with anything Democratic, and his siblings like anything that involves food and getting out of the house. As for me, I'm still smarting a little from not winning the chili cook-off at my wife's office, and I'm out for redemption. So I've been up since 6:00 am working on my 'Chipotle Chorizo Chili for Change', hoping its hot, slightly sweet and smoky flavor profile will resonate better with Democrats than the Fortune 500 equipment manufacturing drones who dissed me last week.
The venue at the corner of Millbrook and Lead Mine in north Raleigh is one I've passed for years, but never entered. It's a low-slung, rambling brick building on an attractive, wooded rise. The ballroom is pretty much what one might imagine an Elks Lodge to be like -- a glittering disco ball suspended above the dance floor, 'Smokeeter' (R) brand smoke filters on each wall, emblazoned with a sign reading "Please leave Smokeeters ON all night after bingo." The bar is open (what else would one expect from the Elks?) but thankfully there's no one smoking inside.
A crowd is gathering while a band sets up. Most of the attendees are on the far side of middle-aged, and nearly all Caucasian (not surprising for this part of town). As always at such events, it's a very friendly and outgoing bunch.
Finally, another word about the chili: it's a concoction I've been tweaking for years. Some of the eclectic contents include beer, coffee, maple syrup (or molasses), balsamic vinegar, chipotles in adobo, coffee, chorizo, smoked sausage, and Italian sausage.
Time to get a drink; more to come.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Pragmatic Foodie
An online community for cooking and eating enthusiasts, with a realistic bent.
NOTE: Revised to fix typos, minor grammatical and formatting edits.
We love to cook, we love to eat, but we don’t live to do these things. Our lives are full and complex, and like everything else, we have to balance our cooking/eating priorities.
There’s no excuse for not eating well, often.
Eating well does not have to be expensive. Nor does it require huge investments in time or massive knowledge of the culinary arts. If you can read, you can cook. This community will guide, teach and encourage novices.
Economics matter.
That’s why Pragmatic Foodie contributors make every effort to provide actual costs of their ingredients, as well as pointers on making food dollars go farther. Since this is a noncommercial community, we aren’t afraid to name names and give actual prices. Transparency like this can only help all of us.
This is a community of sharing and teaching.
Everyone is invited to submit ideas, articles and recipes. Their publication and prominence will depend on votes and recommendations of others in the community. As in every democracy, this is likely to be a messy, sometimes unfair process. Thus, we recommend that nothing be taken too seriously or too personally. We ask that everyone use civility, respect and restraint at all times.
Weeknight Special
Home for recipes, techniques and ideas that are fast, economical and flexible.
The inspiration
Wolfgang Puck chicken stock on sale for $2.00 per quart. This is outstanding stock, and a great price.
The ingredients
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
3 large leeks, white part only, halved lengthwise, rinsed thoroughly and cut into half-inch pieces
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thin
1 stalk celery, sliced thin
1 tablespoon sherry
2 quarts Wolfgang Puck or homemade chicken stock
2 tablespoons steel-cut (Irish) oatmeal
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 chicken breast halves, cooked, or 1-1/2 cups leftover, cooked chicken, diced
1 cup cream, half and half, or milk
salt and pepper
In stockpot or large saucepan, sauté leeks, carrots and celery in oil for five minutes over medium high heat, until soft. Add sherry, allow to evaporate. Add two quarts stock, bay leaf, and thyme to pot. Stir in oatmeal. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes, until oatmeal is tender, but not soft.
Add chicken and cream, heat through. Season with salt, pepper and additional thyme or sherry, to taste. Serve with crusty bread and a medium-bodied red wine.
Improvisations and substitutions
• For steel-cut oats: a half-cup quick-cooking pearled barley or small pasta.
• For leeks: a medium onion, diced.
• For chicken: for a meatless version, bump up the oats to three tablespoons.
• Cook three strips of bacon until crisp, then saute the vegetables in the bacon fat. Crumble the cooked bacon in just before serving.
PF ratings
(1-3 stars, with 3 highest)
*** Cost $10-12 total, or $2 per serving
*** Speed 35 minutes total
*** NDA Every day can be ‘Take a Thermos® to Work Day’
*** Kid Appeal Great way to introduce the fabulous leek.
Cost: Estimated, based on local prices.
Speed: Preparation time by segment and total required.
NDA: Next Day Appeal – will it make good leftovers?
Kid Appeal: Will the typical kid like it?
PF Essay
Eclectic writings on anything and everything food-related.
In praise of the 20-dollar pressure cooker
Pity the pressure cooker. It’s gotten a reputation similar to the one developing around John McCain – old, low-tech, and prone to explosive behavior if not handled just right.
But unlike the Arizona senator, pressure cookers are winning more converts every day. I’m one of them.
Pressure cookers were part of some of my earliest memories. The gentle rhythm of the ticking regulator emanating from the kitchen in my parent’s house meant that something good – usually beef and noodles – was on the way. At my grandma’s house, just a few hundred feet away, it meant that she was cooking liver for her poodle, Andre. Since the aroma of cooking liver was not high on my list (nor was Andre, who was a snarling, petulant little beast), hearing the pressure cooker there usually cut my visit down to little more than “thanks for the cookie, Grandma, but I gotta run and uhh, do some homework.”
Despite my feminine forebears’ devotion to the pressure cooker, I did not own one until just a few months ago. The modern models I had seen were simply too pricey for something I figured would sit on the shelf 362 days a year. Then, a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond revealed a $20 model. Cavalierly ignoring the rule of thumb that suggests anything that cheap which also happens to be explosive should be considered ‘fireworks,’ I bit.
While I wouldn’t call what has ensued a love affair, the pressure cooker and I are definitely ‘in like,' because I can now make family favorites faster. To wit:
• Swiss steak: 40 minutes (120 minutes in the oven)
• Brown rice: 22 minutes (50 minutes conventional)
• Artichoke: 15 minutes (45 minutes conventional)
These stovetop miracles are due to the pressure the cooker builds up by containing steam. The resulting pressure actually increases the boiling point of water to about 250 degrees, which means that moisture in the food cooks more before it boils away. Obviously, a pressure cooker must have water in order to work, but the food need not be immersed in water.
Which brings me back to the artichoke, and a simple technique for perfect ‘chokes every time. With artichokes going for as little as $2.50 each on sale locally, this is a fast, low-cost appetizer or even light dinner.
PF Technique: Pressure Cooker Artichoke
• 1 large or 2 medium artichokes
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Steamer basket
1. Place steamer basket in pressure cooker and add water to level of steamer bottom. Add lemon juice.
2. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
3. Put artichoke on rack, and close pressure cooker according to instructions.
4. Set timer for 15 minutes.
5. When regulator starts to rock (check instructions) turn heat to medium.
6. Pour a glass of wine and drink it now; it won’t taste right after you’ve eaten artichokes.
7. Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a small bowl.
8. In a small bowl, mix two tablespoons of mayonnaise with about a teaspoon of dry sherry.
9. When timer goes off, shut off heat under cooker and cool off according to instructions.
10. Plate up the artichoke(s) and enjoy: dip into butter or mayo, scrape, repeat.
An online community for cooking and eating enthusiasts, with a realistic bent.
NOTE: Revised to fix typos, minor grammatical and formatting edits.
Our manifesto
Food is an important part of life, but it’s not all there is to life. We love to cook, we love to eat, but we don’t live to do these things. Our lives are full and complex, and like everything else, we have to balance our cooking/eating priorities.
There’s no excuse for not eating well, often.
Eating well does not have to be expensive. Nor does it require huge investments in time or massive knowledge of the culinary arts. If you can read, you can cook. This community will guide, teach and encourage novices.
Economics matter.
That’s why Pragmatic Foodie contributors make every effort to provide actual costs of their ingredients, as well as pointers on making food dollars go farther. Since this is a noncommercial community, we aren’t afraid to name names and give actual prices. Transparency like this can only help all of us.
This is a community of sharing and teaching.
Everyone is invited to submit ideas, articles and recipes. Their publication and prominence will depend on votes and recommendations of others in the community. As in every democracy, this is likely to be a messy, sometimes unfair process. Thus, we recommend that nothing be taken too seriously or too personally. We ask that everyone use civility, respect and restraint at all times.
Weeknight Special
Home for recipes, techniques and ideas that are fast, economical and flexible.
Chicken and leek soup with steel-cut oatmeal
The inspiration
Wolfgang Puck chicken stock on sale for $2.00 per quart. This is outstanding stock, and a great price.
The ingredients
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
3 large leeks, white part only, halved lengthwise, rinsed thoroughly and cut into half-inch pieces
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thin
1 stalk celery, sliced thin
1 tablespoon sherry
2 quarts Wolfgang Puck or homemade chicken stock
2 tablespoons steel-cut (Irish) oatmeal
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 chicken breast halves, cooked, or 1-1/2 cups leftover, cooked chicken, diced
1 cup cream, half and half, or milk
salt and pepper
In stockpot or large saucepan, sauté leeks, carrots and celery in oil for five minutes over medium high heat, until soft. Add sherry, allow to evaporate. Add two quarts stock, bay leaf, and thyme to pot. Stir in oatmeal. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 minutes, until oatmeal is tender, but not soft.
Add chicken and cream, heat through. Season with salt, pepper and additional thyme or sherry, to taste. Serve with crusty bread and a medium-bodied red wine.
Improvisations and substitutions
• For steel-cut oats: a half-cup quick-cooking pearled barley or small pasta.
• For leeks: a medium onion, diced.
• For chicken: for a meatless version, bump up the oats to three tablespoons.
• Cook three strips of bacon until crisp, then saute the vegetables in the bacon fat. Crumble the cooked bacon in just before serving.
PF ratings
(1-3 stars, with 3 highest)
*** Cost $10-12 total, or $2 per serving
*** Speed 35 minutes total
*** NDA Every day can be ‘Take a Thermos® to Work Day’
*** Kid Appeal Great way to introduce the fabulous leek.
Cost: Estimated, based on local prices.
Speed: Preparation time by segment and total required.
NDA: Next Day Appeal – will it make good leftovers?
Kid Appeal: Will the typical kid like it?
PF Essay
Eclectic writings on anything and everything food-related.
In praise of the 20-dollar pressure cooker
Pity the pressure cooker. It’s gotten a reputation similar to the one developing around John McCain – old, low-tech, and prone to explosive behavior if not handled just right.
But unlike the Arizona senator, pressure cookers are winning more converts every day. I’m one of them.
Pressure cookers were part of some of my earliest memories. The gentle rhythm of the ticking regulator emanating from the kitchen in my parent’s house meant that something good – usually beef and noodles – was on the way. At my grandma’s house, just a few hundred feet away, it meant that she was cooking liver for her poodle, Andre. Since the aroma of cooking liver was not high on my list (nor was Andre, who was a snarling, petulant little beast), hearing the pressure cooker there usually cut my visit down to little more than “thanks for the cookie, Grandma, but I gotta run and uhh, do some homework.”
Despite my feminine forebears’ devotion to the pressure cooker, I did not own one until just a few months ago. The modern models I had seen were simply too pricey for something I figured would sit on the shelf 362 days a year. Then, a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond revealed a $20 model. Cavalierly ignoring the rule of thumb that suggests anything that cheap which also happens to be explosive should be considered ‘fireworks,’ I bit.
While I wouldn’t call what has ensued a love affair, the pressure cooker and I are definitely ‘in like,' because I can now make family favorites faster. To wit:
• Swiss steak: 40 minutes (120 minutes in the oven)
• Brown rice: 22 minutes (50 minutes conventional)
• Artichoke: 15 minutes (45 minutes conventional)
These stovetop miracles are due to the pressure the cooker builds up by containing steam. The resulting pressure actually increases the boiling point of water to about 250 degrees, which means that moisture in the food cooks more before it boils away. Obviously, a pressure cooker must have water in order to work, but the food need not be immersed in water.
Which brings me back to the artichoke, and a simple technique for perfect ‘chokes every time. With artichokes going for as little as $2.50 each on sale locally, this is a fast, low-cost appetizer or even light dinner.
PF Technique: Pressure Cooker Artichoke
• 1 large or 2 medium artichokes
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Steamer basket
1. Place steamer basket in pressure cooker and add water to level of steamer bottom. Add lemon juice.
2. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
3. Put artichoke on rack, and close pressure cooker according to instructions.
4. Set timer for 15 minutes.
5. When regulator starts to rock (check instructions) turn heat to medium.
6. Pour a glass of wine and drink it now; it won’t taste right after you’ve eaten artichokes.
7. Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a small bowl.
8. In a small bowl, mix two tablespoons of mayonnaise with about a teaspoon of dry sherry.
9. When timer goes off, shut off heat under cooker and cool off according to instructions.
10. Plate up the artichoke(s) and enjoy: dip into butter or mayo, scrape, repeat.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Web Online Content Assignment
09/28/08
The Pragmatic Foodie
REVISED: Added point of differentiation (USP), information on competition
I will create content for The Pragmatic Foodie, a new website that is designed for people who are passionate about food and cooking, but who must balance their passion with constraints on time, money and other resources.
The goals of this site are:
1) To provide information, direction and support on cooking and eating well in the context of limited time and budget
2) To enable and encourage creation of a community of like-minded ‘pragmatic foodies,’ thus expanding the scope and reach of the site
3) To provide a platform for writing on food-related issues from a unique point of view from other ‘foodie’ sites, perhaps best summarized as ‘fun, passionate, but not obsessive.’ Or, ‘a real food site for people with real lives.’
4) To give back to the community through fund-raising efforts that are consistent with the tone and voice of the site
My role in this assignment is create initial content for launch of the site, including:
- The Pragmatic Foodie Manifesto: a statement of the goals and philosophy of the site
- “Weekday Special”: A blog featuring recipes and techniques for weekday cooking, with an emphasis on quality, convenience and and cost
- “A Grass-Fed Odyssey:” A feature article on grass-fed beef and the author’s struggle to come to terms with its shortcomings. NOTE: Replaced this with pressure cooker piece, which seemed more pragmatic and in keeping with the site's mission.
The site will conform to AP style, and will be hosted by In Poor Taste, Inc., a non-profit corporation dedicated to fund-raising for childhood food education through its sponsorship of events such as the Fat Ass 5K road race.
This site's point of differentiation is its emphasis on good food, economically prepared in terms of both time and complexity and cost. Most other cooking blogs (Serious Eats, Chowhound) pay little or no mind to the resources required to prepare the recipes, while others focus on convenience at the expense of quality. TPF will find a middle ground by helping its community learn to prepare truly good food that fits the time and budget constraints faced by most interactors.
09/28/08
The Pragmatic Foodie
REVISED: Added point of differentiation (USP), information on competition
I will create content for The Pragmatic Foodie, a new website that is designed for people who are passionate about food and cooking, but who must balance their passion with constraints on time, money and other resources.
The goals of this site are:
1) To provide information, direction and support on cooking and eating well in the context of limited time and budget
2) To enable and encourage creation of a community of like-minded ‘pragmatic foodies,’ thus expanding the scope and reach of the site
3) To provide a platform for writing on food-related issues from a unique point of view from other ‘foodie’ sites, perhaps best summarized as ‘fun, passionate, but not obsessive.’ Or, ‘a real food site for people with real lives.’
4) To give back to the community through fund-raising efforts that are consistent with the tone and voice of the site
My role in this assignment is create initial content for launch of the site, including:
- The Pragmatic Foodie Manifesto: a statement of the goals and philosophy of the site
- “Weekday Special”: A blog featuring recipes and techniques for weekday cooking, with an emphasis on quality, convenience and and cost
- “A Grass-Fed Odyssey:” A feature article on grass-fed beef and the author’s struggle to come to terms with its shortcomings. NOTE: Replaced this with pressure cooker piece, which seemed more pragmatic and in keeping with the site's mission.
The site will conform to AP style, and will be hosted by In Poor Taste, Inc., a non-profit corporation dedicated to fund-raising for childhood food education through its sponsorship of events such as the Fat Ass 5K road race.
This site's point of differentiation is its emphasis on good food, economically prepared in terms of both time and complexity and cost. Most other cooking blogs (Serious Eats, Chowhound) pay little or no mind to the resources required to prepare the recipes, while others focus on convenience at the expense of quality. TPF will find a middle ground by helping its community learn to prepare truly good food that fits the time and budget constraints faced by most interactors.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Chapter 4 Assignments: 09/21/08
Headline revision exercise
Original headline 1:
Drug Label, Maimed Patient and Crucial Test for Justices
Issues:
Unclear, awkward construction, no verb
Revised headline:
Amputee Challenge to Drug Company Focus of Court Case
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/19scotus.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Original headline 2:
SEC Spurs `Mother of All Squeezes' With Short Ban: Chart of Day
Issues:
Unclear, clichéd
Revised headline:
SEC Ban on Short-Selling Pressures Traders
Source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=auIOzkxys10U&refer=exclusive
Original headline 3:
John McCain Hopes You're Stupid
Issues:
Over the top (even for dailykos.com) tone, lacks context
Revised headline:
McCain Counts on Voter Confusion Over Stem Cell Issue
Source:
DarkSyde
http://www.dailykos.com/
Headline writing exercise
China Bans Import of U.S. Chicken, Pork
Retaliation Suspected in Chinese Ban on U.S. Pork, Chicken
China Strikes Back, Bans U.S. Meat Imports
Writing sample head rewrite
A Vacation Surprise: Green Energy Grows in Indiana
Article rewrite with list exercise
Original article
Weight-Loss Surgery Requires Discipline
By JANE E. BRODY
Proper Maintenance
Her method? Discipline and determination.
“None of this is rocket science,” she said. “I keep a food diary every day and hand it in to a nutritionist I see once a month. I don’t go crazy weighing and measuring everything, but I eat child-size portions — a 6-year-old child, not a 10-year-old. I eat slowly and chew my food thoroughly.
“I eat pretty much a whole variety of foods and drink wine occasionally. But I don’t eat high-sugar foods like ice cream and candy except once in a while, and I can’t tolerate fried foods at all. I carry cereal bars and small baggies of cashews for snacks. When I eat out, I take home most of the meal and repackage it into proper portion sizes.”
And she exercises. “They do tell you to walk a lot, at least 15 minutes three times a week, which is not adequate exercise for anyone,” she said. “I swim laps five days a week, lift weights a couple of times a week and walk a tremendous amount. I don’t own a car.”
Revised version:
Proper Maintenance
Her method? Discipline and determination.
“None of this is rocket science,” she said. Following are some of her key tools to stay on track.
Keep a food diary.
“I keep a food diary every day and hand it in to a nutritionist I see once a month.
Eat child-size portions.
“I don’t go crazy weighing and measuring everything, but I eat child-size portions — a 6-year-old child, not a 10-year-old,” she said.
Eat slowly.
“I eat slowly and chew my food thoroughly,” Sloan said.
Eat a wide variety of healthy foods.
Nearly everything, including an occasional glass of wine, is on Sloan’s menu – except fried foods. She also goes easy on ice cream, candy and other high-sugar foods.
Carry snacks, and ‘repackage’ restaurant meals.
For snacking, Sloan carries small packs of cashews and cereal bars. And to avoid overeating at restaurants, she takes home most of the meal and repackages it into smaller portion sizes.
Exercise, exercise, exercise.
Sloan noted that post-surgery, ‘they do tell you to walk a lot, at least 15 minutes three times a week, which is not adequate exercise for anyone,” she said. “I swim laps five days a week, lift weights a couple of times a week and walk a tremendous amount. I don’t own a car.”
Original headline 1:
Drug Label, Maimed Patient and Crucial Test for Justices
Issues:
Unclear, awkward construction, no verb
Revised headline:
Amputee Challenge to Drug Company Focus of Court Case
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/19scotus.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Original headline 2:
SEC Spurs `Mother of All Squeezes' With Short Ban: Chart of Day
Issues:
Unclear, clichéd
Revised headline:
SEC Ban on Short-Selling Pressures Traders
Source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=auIOzkxys10U&refer=exclusive
Original headline 3:
John McCain Hopes You're Stupid
Issues:
Over the top (even for dailykos.com) tone, lacks context
Revised headline:
McCain Counts on Voter Confusion Over Stem Cell Issue
Source:
DarkSyde
http://www.dailykos.com/
Headline writing exercise
China Bans Import of U.S. Chicken, Pork
Retaliation Suspected in Chinese Ban on U.S. Pork, Chicken
China Strikes Back, Bans U.S. Meat Imports
Writing sample head rewrite
A Vacation Surprise: Green Energy Grows in Indiana
Article rewrite with list exercise
Original article
Weight-Loss Surgery Requires Discipline
By JANE E. BRODY
Proper Maintenance
Her method? Discipline and determination.
“None of this is rocket science,” she said. “I keep a food diary every day and hand it in to a nutritionist I see once a month. I don’t go crazy weighing and measuring everything, but I eat child-size portions — a 6-year-old child, not a 10-year-old. I eat slowly and chew my food thoroughly.
“I eat pretty much a whole variety of foods and drink wine occasionally. But I don’t eat high-sugar foods like ice cream and candy except once in a while, and I can’t tolerate fried foods at all. I carry cereal bars and small baggies of cashews for snacks. When I eat out, I take home most of the meal and repackage it into proper portion sizes.”
And she exercises. “They do tell you to walk a lot, at least 15 minutes three times a week, which is not adequate exercise for anyone,” she said. “I swim laps five days a week, lift weights a couple of times a week and walk a tremendous amount. I don’t own a car.”
Revised version:
Proper Maintenance
Her method? Discipline and determination.
“None of this is rocket science,” she said. Following are some of her key tools to stay on track.
Keep a food diary.
“I keep a food diary every day and hand it in to a nutritionist I see once a month.
Eat child-size portions.
“I don’t go crazy weighing and measuring everything, but I eat child-size portions — a 6-year-old child, not a 10-year-old,” she said.
Eat slowly.
“I eat slowly and chew my food thoroughly,” Sloan said.
Eat a wide variety of healthy foods.
Nearly everything, including an occasional glass of wine, is on Sloan’s menu – except fried foods. She also goes easy on ice cream, candy and other high-sugar foods.
Carry snacks, and ‘repackage’ restaurant meals.
For snacking, Sloan carries small packs of cashews and cereal bars. And to avoid overeating at restaurants, she takes home most of the meal and repackages it into smaller portion sizes.
Exercise, exercise, exercise.
Sloan noted that post-surgery, ‘they do tell you to walk a lot, at least 15 minutes three times a week, which is not adequate exercise for anyone,” she said. “I swim laps five days a week, lift weights a couple of times a week and walk a tremendous amount. I don’t own a car.”
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Southern culture on the web:
An evaluation of the Oxford American website
‘Southern culture.’ Now there’s a loaded phrase. It instantly brings to mind everything from Faulkner to Falwell, from King to The King to the KKK. In other words, say the words and stand back. Heck, put just about any noun after ‘Southern’ and you’ll get a response like a high school kid gets by pithing a frog on the dissection table. It may not be pretty, but it it’s guaranteed to be visceral.
REVISED: Deleted excess metaphors
For this adopted son of the South, the Oxford American (OA) magazine and its website, www.oxfordamericanmag.com, bring to life one of the most salient and seminal aspects of Southern culture: writing.
Entering its 10th year, the Oxford American endeavors to provide its readers with the best writers whose voice is distinctly Southern. For these reasons alone it is a publication worthy of plaudits, but its commitment to promoting literacy and literature across the South makes it even more admirable.
While the magazine (a four-color glossy, laden with regional photography and art) is worthy of the organization’s goals and its presumably highly literate readership, the OA website falls woefully short. Today’s OA site is a time capsule from 1999, an era when many magazines’ idea of a website was simply online posting of content.
The upside is that the content of this site is stellar. For anyone passionate, interested, or just slightly curious about Southern writing, it is a mother lode of content. And since even this online world content still counts more than anything else, OA could quite easily rework its site to join the ranks of the best literary magazine sites.
Page layout and design solid
At first glance, OA appears to have a solid, consistent design. The traditional three-column format, with navigation links to the left, is vanilla but effective. Links to functions such as ‘subscribe’ and ‘donate’ are clean and clear. Advertising is limited to the right-hand column, and is generally unobtrusive. As a non-profit that has teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in the past, OA almost certainly lacks deep pockets, but is to be commended for not over-commercializing the site.
Type size and color a problem
The key issues with site design reside in the center column. Type of the genus Muscari minisculus (tiny gray mouse) crowds the column like Pentecostals at a Palin rally, and renders the copy nearly as unpalatable.
Violations of good design are especially egregious on the home page, where each issue is previewed in massive paragraphs nearly devoid of subheads, links or any other graphic relief. They loom gray and somber like digital monuments to bureaucracy gone bad.
Scrolling down reveals less monotony, but no more clarity. Articles for the current issue are linked with a graphic (usually quite striking and well-executed), headline and a short graph of body copy. Unfortunately, clicking on these elements links not to the article, as the user would expect, but to the ‘purchase current issue’ page.
Navigation: beware dead ends
Clicking to an unexpected and unwelcome page is just the start of OA’s navigational shortcomings. The essay-length articles that make up the bulk of each issue’s content are neither directly accessible from the home page nor from each other (though there are typically only four or five articles per issue). Instead, the user has to click back to the ‘current issue’ page to move from one article to the next. Further, there is no printer-friendly function (a real drawback, given the length of most articles).
Article view. To quote Scott Turow, reading this is like stirring concrete with your eyelashes.
Site organization: in a word, adequate
A small site like OAmag.com shouldn’t face organizational challenges, and this one doesn’t. Its flat structure (no section goes deeper than five pages) and clean navigational aids help in this regard.
Writing quality, tone and voice are strengths
This is an area where OA shines. Writers from the famous (John Grisham) to the somewhat-obscure-but-talented (Ellen Ann Fentress) to the lesser-known-but-promising (David Ramsey, a former OA editorial assistant turned schoolteacher) have all been published here. Every issue seems to contain a mix of writers who, no matter what the subject is, capture and distill a discrete essence of the South that’s as evocative of ‘place’ as the smell of a favorite grandmother’s home.
The site’s editors, as in the print counterpart, maintain a consistent tone and a unique voice. There’s no mistaking their agenda: to promote a more literate, better-educated region. But unlike some other sites, that agenda never comes across as shrill or overtly politicized. Instead, the editors ‘let the writing do the talking’ by selecting writers and topics whose unique viewpoints and styles stand strong individually, but meld beautifully into a coherent whole.
The consistent tone of the site is aided, too, by the practice of having each quarterly release focus on a single issue, such as the place of sports in Southern culture, or hurricane Katrina, three years on. (One downside of the quarterly nature of the site content is that online, a quarter might as well be a quarter-century).
Three steps to a better site
1. Revamp copy design.
Incorporating subheads and shorter paragraphs will make the articles more readable without unduly affecting literary content. A larger type size and even more important, black type, will improve reader comfort.
2. Improve navigation and linking tools.
Adding more intuitive linking from the home page to the issue content will improve access and readership. A pdf option for longer articles to allow them to be saved locally would likely be popular with users who prefer to do long-form reading offline, and links to tagging/sharing tools such as digg and reddit will help enhance the site’s visibility.
3. Make the site more a community, less of an undergraduate lecture.
OA.com has the advantage of truly unique, thoughtful and thought-provoking content with a regional accent. But as the site now exists, the content delivery is almost entirely one-way. As a result, there’s little sense of community on the site.
The passion and interest of OA readers could be harnessed through creation of an online community. Other online publications, most notably www.Slate.com, have been successful in creating vibrant gathering places where like-minded individuals share and rate blogs, post comments on articles, and engage in informal give-and-take with site editors. OA could easily accomplish this, albeit on a smaller scale.
An evaluation of the Oxford American website
‘Southern culture.’ Now there’s a loaded phrase. It instantly brings to mind everything from Faulkner to Falwell, from King to The King to the KKK. In other words, say the words and stand back. Heck, put just about any noun after ‘Southern’ and you’ll get a response like a high school kid gets by pithing a frog on the dissection table. It may not be pretty, but it it’s guaranteed to be visceral.
REVISED: Deleted excess metaphors
For this adopted son of the South, the Oxford American (OA) magazine and its website, www.oxfordamericanmag.com, bring to life one of the most salient and seminal aspects of Southern culture: writing.
Entering its 10th year, the Oxford American endeavors to provide its readers with the best writers whose voice is distinctly Southern. For these reasons alone it is a publication worthy of plaudits, but its commitment to promoting literacy and literature across the South makes it even more admirable.
While the magazine (a four-color glossy, laden with regional photography and art) is worthy of the organization’s goals and its presumably highly literate readership, the OA website falls woefully short. Today’s OA site is a time capsule from 1999, an era when many magazines’ idea of a website was simply online posting of content.
The upside is that the content of this site is stellar. For anyone passionate, interested, or just slightly curious about Southern writing, it is a mother lode of content. And since even this online world content still counts more than anything else, OA could quite easily rework its site to join the ranks of the best literary magazine sites.
Page layout and design solid
At first glance, OA appears to have a solid, consistent design. The traditional three-column format, with navigation links to the left, is vanilla but effective. Links to functions such as ‘subscribe’ and ‘donate’ are clean and clear. Advertising is limited to the right-hand column, and is generally unobtrusive. As a non-profit that has teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in the past, OA almost certainly lacks deep pockets, but is to be commended for not over-commercializing the site.
Type size and color a problem
The key issues with site design reside in the center column. Type of the genus Muscari minisculus (tiny gray mouse) crowds the column like Pentecostals at a Palin rally, and renders the copy nearly as unpalatable.
Violations of good design are especially egregious on the home page, where each issue is previewed in massive paragraphs nearly devoid of subheads, links or any other graphic relief. They loom gray and somber like digital monuments to bureaucracy gone bad.
Scrolling down reveals less monotony, but no more clarity. Articles for the current issue are linked with a graphic (usually quite striking and well-executed), headline and a short graph of body copy. Unfortunately, clicking on these elements links not to the article, as the user would expect, but to the ‘purchase current issue’ page.
Home page
Navigation: beware dead ends
Clicking to an unexpected and unwelcome page is just the start of OA’s navigational shortcomings. The essay-length articles that make up the bulk of each issue’s content are neither directly accessible from the home page nor from each other (though there are typically only four or five articles per issue). Instead, the user has to click back to the ‘current issue’ page to move from one article to the next. Further, there is no printer-friendly function (a real drawback, given the length of most articles).
Article view. To quote Scott Turow, reading this is like stirring concrete with your eyelashes.
Site organization: in a word, adequate
A small site like OAmag.com shouldn’t face organizational challenges, and this one doesn’t. Its flat structure (no section goes deeper than five pages) and clean navigational aids help in this regard.
Writing quality, tone and voice are strengths
This is an area where OA shines. Writers from the famous (John Grisham) to the somewhat-obscure-but-talented (Ellen Ann Fentress) to the lesser-known-but-promising (David Ramsey, a former OA editorial assistant turned schoolteacher) have all been published here. Every issue seems to contain a mix of writers who, no matter what the subject is, capture and distill a discrete essence of the South that’s as evocative of ‘place’ as the smell of a favorite grandmother’s home.
The site’s editors, as in the print counterpart, maintain a consistent tone and a unique voice. There’s no mistaking their agenda: to promote a more literate, better-educated region. But unlike some other sites, that agenda never comes across as shrill or overtly politicized. Instead, the editors ‘let the writing do the talking’ by selecting writers and topics whose unique viewpoints and styles stand strong individually, but meld beautifully into a coherent whole.
The consistent tone of the site is aided, too, by the practice of having each quarterly release focus on a single issue, such as the place of sports in Southern culture, or hurricane Katrina, three years on. (One downside of the quarterly nature of the site content is that online, a quarter might as well be a quarter-century).
Three steps to a better site
1. Revamp copy design.
Incorporating subheads and shorter paragraphs will make the articles more readable without unduly affecting literary content. A larger type size and even more important, black type, will improve reader comfort.
2. Improve navigation and linking tools.
Adding more intuitive linking from the home page to the issue content will improve access and readership. A pdf option for longer articles to allow them to be saved locally would likely be popular with users who prefer to do long-form reading offline, and links to tagging/sharing tools such as digg and reddit will help enhance the site’s visibility.
3. Make the site more a community, less of an undergraduate lecture.
OA.com has the advantage of truly unique, thoughtful and thought-provoking content with a regional accent. But as the site now exists, the content delivery is almost entirely one-way. As a result, there’s little sense of community on the site.
The passion and interest of OA readers could be harnessed through creation of an online community. Other online publications, most notably www.Slate.com, have been successful in creating vibrant gathering places where like-minded individuals share and rate blogs, post comments on articles, and engage in informal give-and-take with site editors. OA could easily accomplish this, albeit on a smaller scale.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
A Vacation Surprise: Green Energy Grows in Indiana
A Vacation Surprise: Green Energy Grows in Indiana
REVISED: Fixed links, revised figures based on new information, added more links on ethanol and wind energy.
Tell nearly anyone that you are going to vacation on a farm in Indiana, and you’re likely to get a look. It’s roughly equal parts surprise and compassion with a dollop of snarky incredulity. It’s the same look one might imagine a child giving a confirmed enemy upon hearing of his diagnosis with something uncomfortable and a little unsavory, like scabies or mange.
The Indiana of popular imagination -- a holster-shaped sliver of corn fields, steel mills and basketball courts jammed in the middle of the Rust Belt -- is more a target of mockery than a tourism hot spot, but the pull of family is strong, so that’s where we went. What we found was a place for a delightful family getaway – affordable, friendly, lots to do. Perhaps just as surprisingly, it’s also home to a burgeoning movement to green energy sources that are being developed on much the same foundation as its agri-industrial past.
My family’s home place -– 500 acres of black, deep soil that the last glaciers scraped almost level some 12,000 years ago -- is planted entirely to corn.
Here, the land is almost perfectly suited for growing the native American grain. The deep soil, plentiful rainfall, and hot summers allow corn to serve as a massive solar collector, converting sunlight, water and nutrients into the most versatile plant product known. Corn also has the advantage of making and storing more energy than any other crop, on a per-acre basis.
Our operator (or tenant, in the local parlance, though he does not live on any of the many farms he rents) placed a huge bet this spring by planting corn on nearly all of his 4,000 acres. Each acre (about the size of a football field) will produce about 200 bushels of corn, a volume that would fill the average bedroom about thigh-deep.
He gambled that prices would remain relatively high this year (they have), and that he would be able to plant in a timely manner (he did, just barely, and only because of his new, state-of-the art equipment). He ‘doubled down’ on the presumption that he will be able harvest early enough (sometime in September) to deliver the corn on our farm to a nearby Cargill grain terminal. That terminal’s massive cylindrical bins, though five miles away, are visible from the farm and juxtapose, in an industrially elegant sense, with the smaller, sleeker tanks of the new plant next door, where much of the corn ends up as ethanol.
Ethanol. It’s a word perhaps as politically charged in 2008 as ‘Abu Ghraib’ was in 2004, reflecting and refracting one’s views, reducing them to cable news sound bites. One pundit’s ‘clean, green, renewable American fuel source’ is another’s ‘government-subsidized, net-negative energy boondoggle.’ Legislation first passed in the Clinton administration as a way to reduce air pollution by substituting ethanol for 10 percent of petroleum derivatives in areas prone to smog has been supplanted by a more ambitious Bush administration push for ethanol. As a result, production capacity has exploded in the last few years.
Walking the narrow lane that connects our two farm tracts is, in mid-summer, akin to walking a gantlet of nuns, resplendent in identical green tunics topped with chartreuse wimples. As we pass, the breeze gently rustles the stalks like a bit of gossip whispered mouth-to-ear.
Here, it’s easy to forget the controversy over ethanol. The facts certainly seem to support ethanol. Last year, our tenant produced 215 bushels per acre on this farm. Each of those bushels made about 2.8 gallons of ethanol, 15 pounds or so of distillers’ grain (DDG) – the protein and vitamin-rich byproduct that remains after alcohol is distilled from the starch -- and over a pound of corn oil. That means some 300,000 gallons of ethanol, over 700 tons of distillers’ grain, and 12,500 gallons of corn oil were grown here. Because Dan, our tenant, is one of the smartest, most innovative farmer/businessmen anywhere, he grew all this corn using less than 6 gallons of fuel per acre (or about 3,000 gallons total). Double that figure to account, generously, for the fuel used in producing his inputs – seed, fertilizer, a dab of herbicide – and the farm net energy gain is still a whopping 294,000 gallons – plus the considerable value of 100 tons of high-quality animal feed from the DDG by-product.
“Ah,” says the skeptic, “what about the energy required to produce the ethanol?” Fair question, and one whose answer, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, still leaves ethanol in the energy-positive column. In fact, ethanol is energy positive to the tune of 1.67 to 1. (For every BTU consumed in producing it, it returns 1.67). Further improvements in energy efficiency are coming every day. In fact, one study shows that ethanol production requires only one gallon of petroleum to produce 13 gallons of ethanol -- or two to three times more as previously estimated.
Ethanol plants used 21% less energy in 2006 than in 2001, while getting more ethanol from every bushel of grain. In many cases, they co-generate electricity from by-products. Water use is down. And, improvements in CO2 capture, DDG distribution, and other processes make ethanol a much better alternative than its detractors would have one believe.
However, scratch the surface of local farmers, and you’ll often find a ‘short-timer,’ a realist who knows that corn-based ethanol is a short-term, partial solution. “There is no one replacement for petroleum,” they’ll say. “No silver bullet.” What they will claim for ethanol is its usefulness as a bridge to whatever energy sources are ‘next': those that are also clean, renewable, accessible -- but more scalable than ethanol.
On our home farm, it’s hard to miss one of those sources: the wind. It never seems to stop. The glaciated terrain, with its gentle ridges that rise maybe 10 feet in elevation above the surrounding prairie, and the mid-continent clash of warm, humid southern air masses with their chillier northern cousins, makes for one breezy place. Add to the natural features the presence of big-time industrial infrastructure created by proximity to major manufacturing centers, and it’s no wonder that wind energy is a hot topic.
Just one county north, one of the largest wind farms in the country has sprung up like puffball mushrooms after a spring rain. These wind turbine structures, while puffball-white, are infinitely more permanent. Rising 230 feet from the fields, the towers and their three-bladed fans are alternately comforting, in their slowly revolving rhythm, and disturbing, in their alien-like presence. It’s like seeing a Star Wars storm trooper offering a plate of your grandmother’s home-baked cookies.
While there is some opposition to the potential placement of wind turbines on farms in our area, so far it seems muted. For every person who objects to the intrusion on the otherwise pastoral landscape, and mutters about noise (they make a low whooshing sound) or hazards to bats and birds, there seem to be three or four whose attitude is, ‘bring ‘em on.’
And, while the financial upside can be attractive (perhaps $28,000 per year, on a farm the size of ours), people I spoke to on our recent trip never even mentioned the money they could make. To them, already fortunate to live in a desirable vacation area like Indiana’s farm country, perhaps the reward of helping make the world a greener place is payment enough.
Audience:
Students and instructor, UNC JOMC 711
Abstract:
Indiana farms are at the forefront in the move to green energy sources, including ethanol and wind power.
Keywords:
Ethanol, Indiana, wind energy, green energy, wind turbine, corn, vacation, tourism
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