Relative Something

Let me just point out that, upon reading about Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT), also called Finely Textured Beef (FTB), ( article about trying to find ‘pink-slime’-free beef ) which the United States Department of Agriculture says is safe to eat, because it has been sprayed with ammonia gas to kill germs, but which comes mostly from connective tissue, not muscle meat, low-grade trimmings from the parts of the cow most susceptible to contamination, often close to the hide, which is highly exposed to fecal matter, I am pining for the good old days when life was simpler.

I would prefer we gain the technological advances like polio vaccines and penicillin, and knowledge about the hazards of things like lead, mercury, and asbestos, but leave out messing with food production to find ways to process it into less and less recognizable “conveniences.” Much as I love a bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast, I’m thinking a simple apple might be advisable (a nod to a friend there…). What do they do to the corn, oats, wheat, and rice to turn it into the shapes that ultimately end up in my bowl?

On the grand scale of things, I could be concerned about the attention going toward the viral campaign to arrest brutal Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, or I could become focused on the fact that it is not balanced with more pressing immediate needs of helping refugees. Or, I could fritter away my time, tending to the removal of old wallpaper in my home. Challenges are relative.

On that note, you really should take a look at the wonderful reference of scale provided by htwins.net. Scale of the Universe. It’s all relative.