The Soccer Mom Vote

Tearless Onions—That’s Just Not Natural

Recently, scientists announced that they have developed a tearless onion. Dr. Colin Eady of New Zealand is the primary researcher. He collaborated with scientists in Japan to create this new veggie that apparently looks and smells and tastes like an onion, but doesn’t act like one. The New Zealand Herald reported this onion won’t make you cry when you chop it because it has “up to 500 times less of the irritant that induces tears.”

When you chop a regular onion, you set off a chain of chemical reactions, including the release of an enzyme which is an irritant for human eyes, and basically, makes us cry. These scientists have used something they call gene silencing. They leave alone the genes we consider “good,” in this instance, those responsible for a certain taste or a certain smell and they silence the “bad” genes, in this instance, the ones responsible for making us cry.

Wow. That’s something, and it certainly seems like a great idea in the world of science, but I am not convinced that it’s the best thing inside the kitchen.

A significant percentage of my childhood memories are set in and around the kitchen. I planted onions with my grandmother and picked them with my grandfather. I washed the dirt off them and put them in a basket on the kitchen table. Later, I loaded the extras into paper bags and carried them down the street to give away to my aunt or my great uncle or a neighbor. There was no shortage of onions.

I sliced onions for brisket at Christmas. I finely chopped onions for salsa at family reunions. I diced them to cook with green beans and new potatoes. I cut them into big chunks for beef stew. I placed clean round circle-slices on plates with cucumbers and tomatoes for lunch in the summertime.

When I first saw my mother without hair, post-breast cancer and still recovering, she was in my grandmother’s kitchen chopping onions. Once, I spoke to my grandfather about the Rwandan Genocides. I was just waking up to the world’s cruelty and realizing what political powerlessness felt like. With the melodrama apropos of a twenty-two year old, I asked my grandfather, “What are we going to do now?” And he said, “Chop the onions like your grandmother told us to.”

Maybe that last statement is more responsible than anything else for my latent onion-love. Of course, some people don’t like onions. You might be one who, for the sake of your tastes buds or a delicate stomach, is forced to make a habit of holding the onions. But the vast majority of the world consumes onions like gangbusters. It is a staple in many countries and doctors say that onions can cure what ails you. “Evidence suggests that onions may be effective against the common cold, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other diseases.“

Regardless of how you order your burger, the onion has been around for eons. Ok, maybe not eons. But there is reason to believe it dates back to 5000 BC. And now a few guys with Ph.D.s say they’ve made one better? Really? I just find it hard to believe. Perhaps I should be embarrassed by my lack of scientific complexity; perhaps I’m just being old-fashioned. But I am overwhelmed by a very strong sense of Don’t Mess with Mother Nature.

To me, it seems to be a whole lot for not much. I wonder how many years of research went into this new fandangled scallion: the money, the time, the testing. It’s all a bit off-putting to me. It might be a little different if the new improved onion was simply a by-product of important research being done toward some other, more noble end. But it seems that this is an end in itself, and I just don’t get it. Dr Eady said:

"What we're hoping is that we'll essentially have a lot of the nice, sweet aromas associated with onions without that associated bitter, pungent, lachrymatory factor... We have a burgeoning population to feed, and with climate change and other challenges, available resources are being reduced… They are such a versatile and nutritious vegetable, that if we can manage to get more people cooking and eating fresh onions, then that has got to be a positive outcome.”

All true. But I must say, I hardly think those truly suffering from a lack of food to eat are hesitating to choose onions because they are a pain in the ass to chop.

Is it so inconvenient to shed a tear or two? Isn’t that part of the inherent nature of an onion? Isn’t that part of life? You take the good with the bad, outside and inside the kitchen.

Obama's chickens coming home to roost

I have read emails about Baraq Obama’s Pastor for months. I knew he went to the church of the afrocentric diety. (not really, I know it was a Church of Christ with Rev. Wright in Chicago). I really thought the whole email campaign was an attempt to stir folks up about this pro-black black man running for president. I still think it is, and I don’t know if I believe the hype. When I say hype, I mean that these radical afrocentrists are more bark than bite.  they have no real power, and they do not affect change.

But what I do believe is that Obama is an extremely liberal man, and it is that reason that he is dangerous. He is reinterpreting the Bible for liberal causes. He is positioning himself as a savior of the country, and that is dangerous. His religious beliefs have been a focus from the beginning. First all the hoopla was, ‘is he or isn’t he Muslim?’ When it was established that he was no longer Muslim, that became a non-issue. Now that his Christianity is tied to this extreme Afrocentrism, that’s a problem.

Will he continue to consult these radical advisers once elected? Given the fact that he refuses to disavow them even under fire, yes, it is most likely that he will continue to consult Wright and Sharpton and Shabaz (of the New Black Panthers) after the election. And what will that mean to our country? I know the whole fear mongering of white guilt that would say that their chickens will finally come home to roost is being stirred up. 

I doubt it would come to much. That stuff never comes to much. What is much more likely is that Obama will wriggle out of the controversy, receive the popular vote, only to lose it to Hilary’s super delegates. THEN it will get interesting.

I'm sorry too.

Where have all the good guys gone?

By now you've heard that New York Governor Elliot Spitzer issued an apology yesterday for behavior that "does not meet my or any standards of right and wrong."

I suppose we should be used to this. Getting caught in a sex scandal is becoming a rite of passage for the self-righteous. Somehow though, we believed that this guy was different. He presented himself as a crusader of sorts, pursuing Truth, Justice and the American Way. You know the drill. His manner, and of course his name, so invited comparisons with Elliot Ness that you could almost see the fedora.

It's not so much the sex, as it is the alleged hiding of money, disguising of transactions, and engaging in something he was prosecuting others for. It was the fact that this was so calculated. The irony is punishing. I'm not just disappointed, I feel like someone has died.

Having lived in both New Jersey and the Boston area, I'm no stranger to political corruption. I sort of accepted it as a way of life. Big Business would continue to have too much influence over our government and would continue to ride roughshod over its employees, its shareholders and in the case of the defense industry, a balanced budget. Writers like me would continue to point this out, try to effect some small change here and there, but that this was the way the world worked. Period.

Elliot Spitzer made me believe that it didn't have to be that way; that someone was really watching out for the little guy in a way that didn't involve protectionism, or socialism, or anything more drastic than enforcing existing laws. This was apparently too much for Big Business. It speaks volumes that a cheer went up on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the news of Spitzer's troubles.

But while Spitzer was making enemies, I was entertaining hopes that he might run for President someday; that there was still a good guy who could be a leader on the national stage. That there was someone to believe in.

I've been watching and participating in politics for a long time now, and I'm used to supporting and voting for flawed, multi-dimensional, candidates. I should have known that these expectations were too much to place on one man's shoulders. Yet, I hoped, until of course, it turned out to be too good to be true.

Just as Elliot Spitzer's public career has more than likely come to an end, so has my belief in good guys going into politics.

And that makes me very sorry.

I want a strong First Spouse, thank you very much.

She was shy and not particularly attractive, but she was smart and socially aware. She married a man who was destined to be a leader, and as he worked his way through various positions in government, her interest in, and support for, various social issues grew.

When she first discovered her husband's infidelities, their relationship evolved into more of a political partnership, and when he became President, as First Lady she used his office and her own considerable influence to push for change.

Her work and her efforts were met with both high praise and considerable criticism and ridicule, but she soldiered on, serving as a model for women pushing the boundaries and taking on new roles. When her husband was no longer President, her own political career continued. She continued to work in the public sphere until her death in 1962.

Eleanor Roosevelt remains my hero. When I was a child, hers was one of the few biographies of women available to third grade girls doing reports on influential public figures. Reading about her shaped my view of what women should be doing with their lives, even if they are also mothers. It's the old "to whom much is given, much is required" philosophy. If your husband is in a position of power (or you are), you had better be taking the opportunity to make the world a better place.

It's been 75 years (to the day) since Eleanor became First Lady, but I'm not sure that we are yet comfortable with having an active woman with her own opinions and agenda in that role. I think the dislike of Hillary Clinton began with her role as a First Lady with ideas and influence. Even in this day and age, is America afraid of that?

I want a strong first spouse, thank you very much. The simpering "I leave all the decisions to George" ways of Laura Bush make my blood run cold. Yet, I wonder if that isn't the model that appeals to most Americans. Think about it. Hillary has been attacked since her first days on the national scene. So was Theresa Heinz (-Kerry); Elizabeth Edwards has her decision to campaign questioned again and again; and now people are starting to go after Michelle Obama. And isn't it interesting that it's the Democratic spouses who seem the most likely to step out of their husbands' shadows and into the harsh glare of the lights.

On the Republican side we have a disturbing parade of helpmeets and trophy wives. Cindy McCain, Ann Romney, Jeri Thompson, and  wait, has anyone actually seen Mike Huckabee's wife outside of that Christmas ad? What's her name? The only exception to this was possibly Judi Giuliani, and well, we all know how that went.

Ladies, at least take a page out of Nancy Reagan's book. If your husband should win, you will have an office. Use it.

My mother used to say that the more you stick your neck out, the more people are going to want to chop off your head. It was her way of warning me to develop a thicker skin; that strong women make quicker enemies. I'm not sure it's just a resentment of strong women, really. Madeline Albright didn't have to put up with this garbage. Condoleeza Rice has had a few personal attacks leveled at her, but they were pretty short-lived. As a nation we seem to be okay with women in these positions, but First Lady remains this pedestal position, reserved for redecorating the White House, dressing well, and greeting visiting dignitaries.  It seems like such a waste of resources.

For a while there, I was hoping that our First Spouse this time around would be male, that he would have some ambassadorial role and that maybe we could put an end to this "First Ladies should be seen and not heard" prejudice once and for all. But if that doesn't happen and the Obamas go to the White House, I hope that Michelle is polishing her armor. She may just need it.