Wednesday evening roundup and ramble

Kissinger on China, by way of the Wall Street Journal.

As you know, I'm a fan of The Onion and its impact, but occasionally it disappoints in the way of great concept, weak execution. I wish this piece were funnier.

Thank you, Kathleen Parker, for calling out your colleagues on their double standards.

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I found myself, this morning, in another conversation in the variety of which I complained about yesterday. It didn't annoy me, i.e., it wasn't like, "why must we talk about this?" because it wasn't personal or accusatory; it did confound me. Personal or accusatory would have been, "why on earth do you eat that way?" or something. But I'm jumping ahead again.

We were talking about chocolate, because we are going to a place of great chocolate. I was asked whether I ate chocolate. Why, yes, every day, I said. "It must be low-carb chocolate." Huh? It's just regular dark-chocolate, in the form of Trader Joe's pound-plus bars, 72 percent cacao (no, I don't eat a bar a day, but that would be hilarious; I eat about a serving, or two to three squares). My colleague was nonplussed. Yes, we've discussed how these are not technically vegan, for those counting sugar not guaranteed to be not refined over bone char. We've also discussed how I pick my battles. Anyway, I couldn't resist picking up on this low-carb bullcrap and letting my coworker know that I partake in a high-carb diet. And I love it. I just had my delicious whole-wheat pasta, doused in olive oil and seasoned with nutritional yeast. Mmmm. That's the $hit--pasta and chocolate, not to mention all the other carbs (today: oatmeal, barley, sweet potato, apple, wine, bean salad)--that keeps me in my size 00 apparel and ample muscle. Don't buy into the low-carb lies; just don't.