Okay, I'll be completely honest. I honestly have a very difficult time finding any redeeming value to industrial agriculture. Every time I find something, there is always something that more than counteracts it. For instance, I suppose that it is a good thing that layer chickens in a northern Iowa egg factory aren't freezing to death in their climate controlled environment. I would think they hardly find it comfortable, however, as they live in tiny cages each with six other hens so crowded they can't even stretch their legs or extend their wings, cages stacked 8 feet high in rows 800 yards long, over a million birds per house. And live that way for their entire short lives. And I guess the same can be said for the controlled environment of a hog farrowing house. Until I think of the fact that a sow is so tightly penned that she can't turn around, and must live that way for her entire productive life. Oh, wait. There is the low cost of food. Until I think of how artificial that low cost is, as costs to the environment are externalized and left for future generations to clean up, with groundwater adulterated and fisheries destroyed all around the country. Not to mention it is built on crops subsidized with my tax dollars and grown almost entirely on oil, from fertilizer to pesticides to packaging to transport, every chicken or steak or pork chop figuratively coated in oil. And what about those crops themselves? Oil is a finite resource, and emerging economies like China and India are increasingly competing for their share of it. What happens when we have a long term shortage or demand outpaces supply? What happens to that cheap food then? It is a completely unsustainable system. Compare that to organic and sustainable agriculture (and I'm sorry but that is in fact what we are debating here). It has been the claim for a long time that it can't feed the world, when that is absolutely untrue. Fat cats just can't get rich off of it, that's all. Think of all the renewable inputs you use in a natural form of agriculture. Rather than depleting and killing the topsoil the way chemical agriculture does, the soil is nurtured and built upt, and left better than when you started. Small and medium size organic can feed the world, and there are multiple studies that prove it. In the long term, it is the only thing that can.

Well, I'm currently watching two shows - Castle and Game of Thrones. Castle's a light series, but Game of Thrones is very intriguing so far. It feels like a mix of ROME and LotR, with more political backstabbing than either one. The politicking between the characters and different houses is definitely a staying factor for me. The level of detail that went into the opening sequence is amazing. The actors' names have their characters' house sigils next to them. On the map, each house's stronghold cities have the house symbols on buildings. Also, the wooden bar carvings throughout the opening sequence tell Westeros' history. Once again, I spoiled some of the future events by while reading wiki articles in an attempt to keep the multitude of characters straight in my head. TBH, now I am more curious to see the events play out. I'm also looking forward to the upcoming novel ;)

Book club and authors - first we pick a place we'd like to go, then we do some research on a local author. We look for someone who lives there, uses that location as the setting for a book, and is not a bestselling author. Bestselling authors are not terribly interested in meeting a group of middle aged women from California, though I do think the group met someone fairly well known before I joined, which was about 8 years ago. This group has been established for quite a number of years. Anyway, when we find a likely prospect we write to them and ask them if we can take them out to lunch to talk about their book. Sometimes they say yes, and those are the ones whose books we buy, read, and then go to visit. We have had wonderful discussions with a number of authors, none of whom are famous. There are some accomplished writers out there producing well-crafted books that do not become well known. Anyway, it ends up being a mutually enjoyable experience, and along the way we explore a city we might otherwise never have seen. It is fun!

I admit watching good TV is one of my favorite hobbies, and I look forward to checking out these recommendations. I second Episodes with Matt Lablanc. I also loved Enlightened on HBO with Laura Dern, quirky character and heartwarming. I also enjoyed Jimmy Carter Rock n Roll President on Netflix (I'm a Georgian) and the documentary Crip Camp, a great story about birth of disability rights movement.