THE ZEST OF LIVING FOODS Parisian food critic Patricia Wells heads to California and stops by Rozanne's, America's newest hot dining spot. Roxanne's serves "living food," or food prepared with no ingredient "heated above 118 degrees, in the belief that a living-foods diet leads to a longer, more energetic life." Wells leaves enthusiastic, and tells us why here.

THOSE CRAZY HOLIDAY CRACKHEADS The Martin Agency has a zippy little holiday website up, sent to me by a friend. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to wait until December 19 to discover the average speed of a snowball.

CLINTON'S SPEECH Salon.com provides the complete text of Clinton's rousing speech to the Democratic Leadership Council -- it simultaneously shows three things: Clinton's a helluva a speaker; there are Democratic issues and the Dems failed to use them effectively in November; and the former President still knows how to fudge on some of the facts. Worth a read.

THE IRAQI PERSPECTIVE Got pointed to "Where Is Raed" by several other sites recently, and found it interesting enough to revisit. Apparently, the poster lives in Iraq and is maintaining a running commentary/weblog both on his own views, some local news and on the posts and comments of his site's guests.

IT'S STILL THE ECONOMY (STUPID) Now that the SEC's Harvey Pitt has been joined by Treasury's Paul O'Neill and the White House's Larry Lindsey in the unemployment line (which is longer today than its been since 1993, aka since Bush One vacated 1600 Penn), perhaps there is hope that a new economic team will be quickly recruited to manage the Bush administration out of a rapidly deteriorating economic situation.

LACK OF UNDERSTANDING RUNS TWO WAYS As Abdel-Monheim Said notes in Al-Ahram, there is just as much misunderstanding of America by Arabs as of Arabs by Americans, and going through his laundry list of those misunderstandings I was struck by how little self-confidence the Arab world has in itself. And how, like most people in crisis, the misunderstandings have been crafted in a spirit of self-justification. Said concludes: "In short, we have concocted an American history tailor-made to the spirit of anti-American hostility that has swept the Arab world. While America's international behaviour may justify the rancour, fabrications and distortions will not contribute to a better understanding of and way of dealing with the world's sole superpower."

THE DOWNFALL OF NEW YEAR'S Rosecrans Baldwin makes it all sound so good -- get on the right track toward the perfect New Year's resolution. Or, read his tract and continue with your New Year's Eve plans to: a) Get completely and mindlessly trashed at a large anonymous event; b) embarass yourself with a small group of close friends; or c) go to bed early and hope the world ends before you wake.

FOLLOWING THE FOOD CRISIS With 40 million people facing starvation in Africa, how is it possible to put the crisis in perspective, much less address it? The CSMonitor looks at reform, trade barriers, genetically modified foods and AIDS in this comprehensive four-part series on the issue.

IN AFRICA, YESTERDAY'S NEWS HASN'T ENDED In a briefing to the U.N. Security Council, the director of the World Food Programme said that as many as 40 million people are at risk of starvation in Africa -- a result of continued civil conflict, a debilitating rise in AIDS cases, drought and poor governance. James Morris "said there were 14.5 million people in southern Africa at risk of starvation, half of them in Zimbabwe, because of serious weather problems, complicated by HIV/AIDS. There were 11 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa,"" according to a WFP press release. Morris said the second area of concern was "the greater Horn of Africa, including the Sudan. The region had had no spring rains, and the fall rains had arrived late, resulting in a crop which was the equivalent of only 20 per cent of last year's. In the worst-case scenario, as many as 50 million people would be at risk. In addition, the WFP was feeding 2.9 million people in the Sudan, mostly refugees and IDPs. The Western Sahel had had serious drought problems and 700,000 people could be at risk. In West Africa, another million people were at risk because of civic strife, refugees and IDPs. There were, therefore, around 40 million people at risk of starvation in Africa."

SURVEY SAYS There are two stories contained in the results of the Pew Research Center's survey of 38,000 people in 44 countries; the U.S. media has almost exclusively focused on one of them -- dropping favorability ratings for the U.S. The opening graph for such stories illustrates how little we seem to have in common with the world, but the survey results actually show something very different. Turning aside from global attitudes toward the U.S., the key findings in the report show that in 2002 -- as never before -- there is a consensus on key issues: people around the world are concerned as never before about the spread of disease, about economic conditions, about the threat of nuclear war. None of which is to say we're living in a kumbaya age of agreement, but rather that there are some key areas where cooperation can benefit everyone. It's an incredibly revealing report regardless of how you focus on it.

WHY WE LOVE OUR SCHOOL MARMS Sometimes I get real jittery thinking about the sincerely average schoolteachers roaming the hallways, teaching my young relations.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS In the land of snow this morning, my mind turns to reindeer and tapioca pudding, and I'm not quite sure why.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Put no money down... Follow the link to the right to "Cultural Digestion," which is my new book and music review weblog. As books and CDs wander off of the nightstand and iPod, I'll pony up with brief reviews at Cultural Digestion. I hope you enjoy them.

IRONY OF IRONIES I just finished reading a Strobe Talbott tome that outlined a decade of tumultuous American-Soviet arm-wrestling, and enjoyed his insights and perspectives. No difference here, where Talbott seems to enjoy noting the ironies created by the Bush administration's efforts in 2001 and early 2002 to ignore the opinions of the rest of the world. Irony one: Bush's push to force the U.N. to pass a meaningful resolution against Iraq restored legitimacy to the international organization. Irony two: Bush is all but locked into working through a U.N. process to resolve the Iraq issue. Irony three: Bush might wind up more like Bill Clinton than he'd imagine in his worst nightmares. Talbott points to the international conflicts of the Clinton years: "...the United Nations and other global or regional bodies provided the cover of international participation in the military operation and in the nation-building that followed -- the invasion of Haiti in 1994, which expelled a military junta and restored a democratically elected president; the use of air strikes against the Serbs in Bosnia in 1995, which forced them to the negotiating table; and the bombing of Serbia in 1999, which ended ethnic cleansing and established a NATO-enforced, UN-supervised protectorate in Kosovo. The present Bush administration, for all its initial determination to repudiate everything Clintonian, is poised to deal with Saddam in a similar fashion, whether dealing with him means merely disarming him or (the unmistakable preference) removing him. Back in the early months of the administration, it was often said that what distinguished the new president's approach to the world from his predecessor's (and for that matter from his father's) was that those earlier occupants of the White House operated on the slogan: together if possible, alone if necessary, while with George W. Bush it was the other way around. Iraq may play out as a disproof of that and as a reminder that there remains a high degree of continuity in U.S. foreign policy, stretching from Bush to Clinton to Bush. If so, that will come as a relief to much of the rest of the world."

A SMALL WIN FOR DUE PROCESS A federal judge has ruled that a federal court can decide whether Jose Padilla was properly detained as an enemy combatant last May, opening the way for Padilla, a U.S. citizen, to meet with his lawyers for the first time.

DAMN GENOME I'd been patiently waiting for the day, say in 2003, when my doctor could tinker with my genes and give me feathers. Now I'll have to buy a boa. In the new issue of the journal Nature, researchers have reported that "junk" DNA isn't junk after alll, but rather a set of instructions for our genomes: Dear Genome - R goes to bed at 8. Don't let T watch television after 8. N needs to take her cough medicine after dinner. The Post reports the following stunning outcome of this discovery: "It's the scientific equivalent, perhaps, of a consumer buying a trim new gadget and opening the box to find a 300-page instruction manual."

FINGER THIS PUPPET, YOU SICKO Cough, erm... That was a bit extreme, especially when what I'm touting is not sick or even overtly sexual. It's the groovy puppet creations of Baltimore artists Alisa McRonald and Keith Knittel, founders of Dynamo Manufacturing Co. "McRonald and Knittel have populated an enchanting, childlike world of animations, paintings, and stuffed toys whose characters' organic blobbiness resemble, by turns, sock puppets, jellyfish, and gerbils. But their world isn't childish--the characters, who sometimes reflect their creator's anxieties and quirks, are also ambiguously odd. They're adult toys, but not in that way. They're adult in a neurotic, weird way." See for yourself.

BRAINS FOR HIRE That's what a questioner called Mark Halperin, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, in this online Q&A about Iraq and weapons inspections. But Halperin doesn't exhaust us with big words here, rather he succinctly explains why he believes there is a distinct and sizeable chance that there will be no war with Iraq.

NYU DEBATES IRAQ A summary of a recent debate at NYU featuring Todd Gitlin and four other analysts leaves the reporters squirming a bit uncomfortably as the five thoughtful debators wind up closer to the Bush camp than the peace camp.

THE KISSINGER CONUNDRUM Media critic Howard Kurtz takes a look at the appointment of Henry Kissinger to the September 11 investigative commission and succinctly explains why some people are virtually apoplectic over the whole thing.

DIFFERENT PATHS The Agonist takes a look at Afghanistan and begins to answer the question of what could have been done differently.

DULY NOTED ABC News' The Note goes weekly during the sleepy season in politics, and this week provides some keen glimpses into a handful of intriguing activities (intriguing to those 372 people in the nation obsessed with politics) -- What is Bush going to push for in his State of the Union address? Why does Clinton remain the Gold Standard for all Democratic candidates? What's the read on John Kerry for President? And much more.

MY DECEMBER HAPPY LINK Hoopla (aka Leslie Harpold) is a genie genius -- my verdict and Heather Champ's (whose link at harrumph!) sent me here to begin with. Enjoy this e-Advent Calendar -- start with December 1 to see why I was enthralled from the get-go. The Internet really is a good thing.

WHY AUSTRIA IS NO LONGER A WORLD POWER The idea behind the Krampus was good, but as with all good things the Austrians wanted to binge drink and chase small children with whips for weeks, not just days. And that's why the Krampus has devolved -- "from a spirit meant to shock children into good behavior into an excuse for wild inebriation, and in much the same way that Santa Claus had been co-opted by crass commercialism."

KEEP ON ROCKING It's a real treat to see a local band progress to the point that they open a show and make the touring band look trite and predictable. Richmond's Dark Little Stairs would unfairly be described as walking in on a threesome with Morphine, Nick Cave and Wil Oldham, while the simple truth is that they are a tight band of solid songwriters. Which is entirely different from New York's French Kicks, who are simply a tight band. In fact, the French Kicks made me sleepy enough that we left before Denali came on; I just get drowsy when the new old rock is playing. I'd link you to something more specific about Dark Little Stairs, but they're under the Internet radar. They've got an album on its way, so stick around.

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE Of course, knowing which hype you're not believing is always the challenge; Chuck D. never told you that. The hype over Iraq this week sees the Bush administration continuing to beat the drums of war with no factual basis; the U.N. touting Iraqi cooperation; and the Iraqi government writing angry letters. It's also a week where the American and British patrols of the no-fly zones continue to be stepped up and aggressive, the Iraqi Navy fired on Kuwaiti vessels, and more nations quietly sign on to a conditional war. Remember where things stood a month ago? Well, except for the two new divisions of American troops playing war games ten miles from the Iraqi border, they're still in the same place. The hype is that the administration is doing all the right things to prevent conflict.

THE TRAGEDY OF CLINTON The tragedy of Clinton in my world is that he's right. He's right, and yet there is a litany of reasons why I have a difficult time supporting him (none of which have to do with Whitewater or Monica Lewinsky). Despite his many flaws, I'd argue that he was the most intelligently engaged President we've had in this country since Nixon (Boy, there's an awkward comparison.) -- reading Strobe Talbot's account of his passionate engagement of a faltering Russia throughout the 90s or Benjamin's look at his personal interest in engaging terrorism after the embassy attacks in Africa makes that clear. In his speech yesterday before the Democratic leadership Council, he reinforces for me that there are clear-headed reasons to diverge from the Bush administration that have more to do with brains than with emotional discomfort. Too bad the Democrats haven't manage to find a new standard bearer for these arguments.

I HATE RETRACTIONS From Reuters via The Washington Post: "A former senior aide to President Bush apologized yesterday after being quoted as saying a band of 'Mayberry Machiavellis' is running a White House in which politics trumps policy." Read all about the interview, and the hoopla it has created, here at Esquire.

TOTAL POINDEXTER AWARENESS SFWeekly's Matt Smith's response to the government's proposed Total Information Awareness program is to call on all lively citizens to begin gathering public information on the program's director, Admiral (ret.) John Poindexter. Like his phone number. And address. Like the fact that his house has aluminum siding. Call him. Ask him questions.

THE 1984 BRIEFING Curious about Total Information Awareness and the Homeland Security Act? The Electronic Privacy Information Center recently held a briefing on their privacy implications, and present some good overview graphics and charts, as well as budgets.

WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON Todd Gitlin is one of the clearest thinking people in the business of liberal ideas today, or yesterday. A founder of a key student protest committee during Vietnam and current professor at NYU, Gitlin always has a solid read on history and society. Which is why I am pleased with his commentary on Iraq and the role of the anti-war movement. Gitlin starts strong: "It’s the burden and sometimes also the glory of a serious life that in good conscience you don’t want to win the hard arguments too easily. Political decency consists not just in taking the right position, but in being willing to face contrary positions: face them at their strong points, not win arguments cheaply – but face the bad music; face the suffering that goes on if you do the right thing, also face the suffering that goes on if you don’t do the right thing. And make a judgment, which might well be in fear and trembling, about which is the better way." That said, he continues, what is really going on in regards to Iraq and the move toward war? He cites former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who said the Bush team has "lost their minds," by which he didn't mean that (Gitlin says) "war was a bad idea, but that their manner of defending war was slipshod and senseless." Gitlin flips the coin: Is the peace movement any less slipshod and senseless? Not to mention as dogmatic and close-minded as some of the pro-war crowd. Gitlin again: "But at some of the mass rallies, the strongest arguments against an Iraq war, which are pragmatic, are barely in evidence. People of good will, religious, secular, whatever, are drowned out by various flavors of old left nostalgia. Much of the anti-war initiative was taken by left-wing groupuscules who cannot find it in their hearts to find fault with Saddam Hussein; who consider the no-fly zones that afford some protection to Kurds and Shiites illegitimate; who, for that matter, think the military action in Afghanistan illegitimate, and whose essential views amount to: US out of everywhere, on principle. These old left remnants cherish their own version of bulldozer politics." If you read anything on my site, read Gitlin's article, because whether you are in favor of attacking Iraq, against it or still on the fence, Gitlin's point should resonate -- because his point is at the crux of some much larger social and political issues facing us today, issues that go well beyond Iraq. His point is that in a quasi-democratic society, it is essential that people simultaneously take an informed position on important issues and listen to contrary positions. To "face them at their strong points, not win arguments cheaply."

X MARKS THE SPOT For the sake of whimsy -- and a hearty dash of curiosity -- I've dropped a new splash of code to the right. Click and add yourself to my guestmap already.

WHY KISSINGER'S AN EYE-BROW RAISER Curious about why some people would object to the appointment of Henry Kissinger to the investigative inquiry into the September 11 attacks? Christopher Hitchens provides quite the laundry list.

NOT ON A PLANE, BUT ON A TRAIN As James Fallows rightly notes, surface-to-air missile attacks will loom large in the coming years, and will likely have a significant impact on air travel. It doesn't solve the trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific issues, but Amtrak now has another reason to start pushing the government for better tracks, better cars and less lip service.

BRING OUT THE ROCK Denali brings their soothingly racuous sounds back home tomorrow night in a show with Dark Little Stairs, which means it will be an evening tinged with My Bloody Valentine, Portishead, Nick Cave and a heavy touch of originality. And if that's not enough, the next night brings together the 5th Miserable Space Cowboys event in 10 years; this year, the ensemble presents another Clash of the Titans event.

MISSING THE SHOULDER PADS How could I have forgotten the fashion nightmare that swirled around me in the 1980s -- the hair, the shoulder padded jackets, the like-colored tights and skirts (primary colors!)? Seeing "Heathers" at a midnight movie over the weekend brought it all back with a rush and a push, as Morrisey would say.

AN IRAQ UPDATE The Center for Defense Intelligence offers up a smart, brief interview with Rear Admiral Stephen Baker on weapons inspections, the shape of a war with Iraq and the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Baker responds with clear, articulate answers. It's sort of a rare thing these days.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF BOOK TOUR Sheila Heti waltzed through the area recently, and my friend Sarah joined her "Trampoline Hall Lecture" in lovely Durham, North Carolina. Sheila is on a McSweeney's book tour, and decided she'd rather hear other people talk about interesting things than sit in Barnes & Noble signing her new book.

BOTSWANA'S BATTLE First, put the AIDS crisis in Botswana into perspective: "The reality is that the nation spends its weekends at funerals. More than one-third of Botswana's adults are HIV-positive. Life expectancy has plunged from over 65 to under 40. More than 65,000 children have lost their parents to AIDS, and that number is projected to double or triple by 2010. If the United States had Botswana's rate of AIDS deaths, it would lose 15,000 citizens per day." Now factor in that Botswana is doing more than any country in Africa to stem the tide of AIDS -- more research, more money, more free drugs, more education. And still the virus is spreading much faster than it is being treated. There are hundreds of true successes and tragic failures in the individual battles being waged against the ravages of HIV/AIDS in this tiny African nation. They mirror less successful efforts throughout the continent, and point to the seriousness of this burgeoning crisis.

KISSINGER'S CHANCE Like more than a few people, I smirked and rolled my eyes when Henry Kissinger was named to chair the new commission that will investigate the September 11 attacks. I didn't smirk because I think Kissinger is an idiot, or because I think he will single-handedly derail this past-due investigation. I smirk because whatever honest qualities Kissinger brings to the table (and I believe there are a few), his background and reputation simultaneously reassure one set of people even as they will lead others to question him, the commission and their final report. Kissinger and his co-chair George Mitchell have a chance to clear the air over the next 18 months, and to provide the world with a clear picture of the events that led to and followed the September 11 attacks; how that picture will be interpreted by the world remains to be seen.