Is due to borrowing. Tomatoes are not native to Italy. Cinnamon mostly comes from Sri Lanka, but your oatmeal is poorer without it. As has already been noted, some of the things grown in California-- "locally"-- shouldn't be, as it diverts the state's scarce water resources. Proximity does not equal responsibility, nor does it always equal good food.

We have to be more responsible with our food-- that, I'm in totally agreement with. But that may not always mean the local organically-produced stuff at the farmer's market. Me, I'll take my homegrown winter squash with equally local maple syrup, and a generous helping of that lovely Sri Lankan cinnamon.

(And this doesn't even begin to address my other objection to Waters; that her preferred choices are, indeed, luxuries of the well-off or the lucky. Google 'food deserts' to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.)

Creating a simple, clear, consistent message is not 'mudslinging.' It's not 'pandering to the lowest common denominator.' It's good, effective communication.

We on the left need to create good language and effective narratives. Calling SCHIP a "Healthy Kids" isn't pandering or mudslinging: it's accuracy. It's the damn goal of the bill. If we have a good narrative, we show everyone what we're talking about, and we win.

Which is what we need to do if we want to get anything done at all.

Are the earrings real gold, or tacky stuff from Claire's? Are you wearing your shirt tucked in or out? Does your mom actually know how to wash clothes well, or does everything gently slide toward a uniform (pardon the pun) shade of grey?

I do wonder sometimes if uniforms would help in some circumstances-- the perception of young black men is an interesting point, and schools where fashion is clearly out of control another.

And then I wonder about the adults: Yes, girl's school uniforms became fetishized because they were connected with young girls, but why doesn't anyone try to change the uniform? Who thinks short skirts are appropriate all-weather clothing in the 21st century anyway? And who the hell buys their tiny daughters sweat pants with "Juicy" written across the ass?

I do hope telling off gay pastors won't be Obama's "Sister Souljah" moment. What a nasty spot this campaign is in.

I can't help but think this is a great opportunity to put his leadership skills to the test though-- now I'm wondering if he'll rise to the challenge or just sink.

Paul, I see your point from a larger perspective, but part of sending a message-- any message-- is to make sure your recipient hears it. Otherwise you're not communicating at all.

My understanding is that a lot of the black community tries to pretend black homosexuality doesn't exist, and that the gay rights movement is (among other things) just a bunch of white people once again telling blacks (among others) what they should do and think. This won't help that one bit.

As disappointing as "Bionic Woman" has been, what an unexpected delight it was to flip channels the other night and find myself watching "Pushing Daisies," which is truly a romp.

...but I too will be delighted if they never, ever sing another They Might Be Giants song.

But I'd rather put my six-year-old in the back seat of my Prius, thanks. (I've heard nothing but good about Smart Cars, but I can't fit my daughter in them at all!)

I drove a Geo Metro for years; it was a great car (the first one died in an accident, the second fell to old age). The car I traded the Prius for was a Hyundai Accent with a ton of miles on it. The Prius is incredibly quiet-- a huge bonus with a hearing-impaired daughter-- and big enough to put two (not small, and legally mandated) booster seats in so she can ride with a friend. And the Prius still has better fuel economy.

And a hybrid minivan is a bit of a racket. But wouldn't we rather have the people who insist they 'need' minivans driving more fuel-efficient ones? The kind of people who drive Ford Aerostars are probably not going to wake up one morning and decide they'd really be better off with a Smart Car. Incremental change can be frustrating, but it's better than no change at all.

Those Tonka Truck ads had girls happily playing in the dirt along with the boys. I hate it when we slide backward. Ugh.

What person in their right mind pierces their child's labia? What on earth would make them think it was acceptable or in any way effective? My guess is that charming boyfriend had some kind of fetish, or he and the mother shared one. I hope that girl gets help.

It seems like a lot of the good stuff being made in movies is about music made twenty or thirty years ago. I won't complain, though!

Batman, in fact, seems like a borderline personality with a scary past and a rage problem

...sounds like he's well-cast then. This one sounds worth checking out too. I love Beyond the Multiplex, though I don't always comment, for drawing attention to the 'smaller' films out there.

Maybe his base was coming under mortar attack at the time of the writing, but that's no excuse for poor spelling.

One would think that if your base is coming under mortar attack, you'd have better things to do than send half-cocked emails to bloggers. And if you don't have better things to do, then yes, you should be spelling correctly.

I found it pretty insulting.

I think not letting Hillary get away with this as a campaign tactic in the primary makes her a stronger candidate if she makes it to the general; and Obama gets props for being classy and serious-- treating her seriously and looking like he takes the issues seriously as well.