Wednesday evening roundup

Brooks on the flotilla debacle.

Attention, proud-of-yourself hippies who cook your pets' food: that's actually worse for the environment.

Apparently, there's something to be said for one of Mom's arguing tactics, i.e. invoking the obviously irrelevant.

Really? Someone has nothing better to do than analyze HIMYM? I love that show as much as anyone, but full-page essays? Really?

Okay, I've saved for last something that is making my head explode. I am so. f*ing. sick. of the unsubstantiated argument that poor people can't cook, not to mention the argument that cooking from scratch takes that much longer than combining pre-packaged ingredients. Mr. Yglesias's post especially infuriates me because it's full of unsubstantiated BS that doesn't even make sense, and it boggles my mind that someone can just make stuff up and sound authoritative about it. I give him credit for attacking the myth that fresh food costs more, but what about this horse manure:

It’s not that healthier ingredients are absent or too expensive — even lower-priced supermarkets have plenty of fresh produce available — it’s that preparing those meals requires more time and energy than is available to most lower-income people. Cooking takes time, and after a long day of hard work in low-wage employment, parents want to relax, and the incredible ease of fast and processed food is a powerful lure.

I know plenty of people who want to relax after a long day of hard work in decent-wage employment, myself included. I know people who make a lot more than I do for whom the ease of fast and processed food is a powerful lure.

For a more intelligent commentary on income and food choice, see Tom Philpott's commentary on Michael Pollan's essay.