Fiat Lux

My favorite chocolate is actually good for you:

Investigators from the University of L’Aquila in Italy found that after eating only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate every day for 15 days, 15 healthy people had lower blood pressures and were more sensitive to insulin, an important factor in metabolizing sugar.

UPDATE: If I’d known Kevin Drum was going to link to this post, I’d have put some more thought into it and maybe even a few actual insights. So it goes. Welcome, all you visitors from Political Animal!

It’s virtually impossible to avoid the whole Schiavo mess right now. I’m with Brad Plumer:

Ugh, very much not interested in reading about the Schiavo case right now. It’s “important”, I know, and it’s the big news of the moment, but

I’ve been trying to come to grips with my apathy lately. I found “trueblue illinois” over at dKos who said some things I really wish I had said, related to the cognitive dissonance it is to be an American these days. Here it is:

I’ve heard modern conservatism described as a “philosophy” of “Got mine. Get yours.” It seems to be a mindset of radical self-interest. What is strange to me is how many people have jumped on that bandwagon. Or is that just how the election results were portrayed?

When Americans look into the mirror, they like to see the NYC firefighters of 9/11; the liberators of post WW II Europe; a generous people who open their wallets and hearts to people in need. I know that most of us are that, deep down.

But under the GOP, our image is increasingly that of an unapologetic Scrooge. There’s a cravenness, a selfishness, an aggressiveness that just does not jibe with the way most people in this nation see themselves. Of all the people I know personally, of any political stripe, not one person would fit that definition. And yet that is what we as a nation are projecting.

It seems like it will take some huge shock, some giant international snub, for people to wake up and realize that the image in the mirror does not reflect who they are. One would have thought that 9/11 would have served that purpose. It could have. But Bush & Co. played on our fears and encouraged the worst aspects of our natures to come out. They’ve leveraged that to radically change the nature of our laws and our society into something most of us with any perspective would not recognize as “American.”

At some point, the cognitive dissonance will have to kick in. When the scales fall from our eyes, we as a nation are in for the sort of anguished soul-searching that gripped Germany after WW II.

I have, in fact, met a few American who really are as aggressively selfish as the commenter describes above. And I’m sure many of the BushCo folks are that way as well. But overall she’s got a point.

I worry what it will take for the rest of the country to wake up. How bad does it have to get?

In a way, I think I have kicked into my own selfishness mode. There are so many outrages going on in our country that I could literally spend all day every day doing nothing but trying to stay on top of all the bad things that are going on, much less trying to react to all of them. I can’t do it. I can’t be that person, constantly outraged, constantly active in the struggle. There’s just so much to fight against I can’t even decide where to start anymore.

And yes, I know, this is one of the ways “they” can win. We don’t all have to be thrown into jail or leave the country. We just need to give up and stop caring.

15, or even 10 years ago, I might have done things differently. But I’m older, and sadder, and just plain tired. If America is screwed, at least I can have time with the people (and pets) most important to me as we all go down the tubes together. It’s less aggressively selfish, but still a selfish decision I’ve made. So maybe trueblue illinois is more right than she knows.

I was tempted to start out this post with a string of curse words aimed at Justice Antonin Scalia this morning. I really don’t want this blog finding its way into any nanny filters, so I’ll skip the profanity and go to the causes thereof:

Justice Antonin Scalia criticized the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down the juvenile death penalty, calling it the latest example of politics on the court

and

In a 35-minute speech Monday, Scalia said unelected judges have no place deciding issues such as abortion and the death penalty. The court’s 5-4 ruling March 1 to outlaw the juvenile death penalty based on “evolving notions of decency” was simply a mask for the personal policy preferences of the five-member majority, he said.

Why is it that people are perfectly willing to point to other people’s personal feelings when they disagree with them, yet remain oblivious to the fact that they too are motivated by feelings? Obviously this is a subject the esteemed Justice feels strongly about, so much so that he’s gone to the trouble of making a speech about it. I think it is fair to assume he actually has feelings on the subject. Why is it OK for him to be motivated by his feelings but not other people?

And what exactly is wrong with using an “evolving standard of decency” as part of the decision-making process, anyway? As much as Scalia would like to pretend that this is still the 1700s, times have changed since the Constitution was written. It was an evolving standard of decency which removed the odious practice of counting blacks as 3/5ths of a person, for example. It was an evolving standard of dececy which gave women the right to vote. True, it was also an evolving standard of decency which kicked off Prohibition, but that mistake was pretty quickly rectified.

In short, I think Scalia is full of crap.