AIDS in the black community

Back in December, I spoke with a woman at the Guilford County Health Department. She's worked in AIDS education, prevention and services for years. Many of her concerns were echoed in Leonard Pitts' column today - and the dreaded taboo strikes again, this time the taboo of homosexuality and drug use - the first a matter of image and social norms, the second of legality. No matter the reason for the taboo, though - the result is the same: incomplete data and increased complexity in identifying risk for education and treatment.

The hope on the horizon: even while Pitts largely sees apathy in the black community, Greensboro's Winter Walk for AIDS 2006 was filled with young black men and women, from high school to college and beyond - the future of AIDS research, education and treatment.

Ban would be good medicine for Greensboro

This column was originally published in the News & Record on February 4, 2007.

In a place like Greensboro, where one’s preference in barbecue is a statement of their personhood and fried chicken is a way of life, it seems unlikely that a trans fat ban similar to the one recently enacted in New York City would come to pass. But perhaps because of our penchant for these fatty Southern delights, North Carolina is among the states with the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and other obesity-related health problems.

Even as I rail against one more regulation dictating what I can eat, I can’t help but applaud New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest forward-thinking initiative, as it’s sure to have health benefits that continue to present and grow as time passes.

Though trans fats have only made headlines recently, companies like the makers of Crisco have been pumping hydrogen into oil to increase shelf-life and reduce cost for more than a century. These partially-hydrogenated oils, found in everything from restaurant fryers to baked goods to breakfast cereals, are what infuse so many foods with trans fat. Truly, other than the most vigilant of eaters, it is unlikely that any of us go a single day without consuming trans fat in one of its many forms.

Like saturated fats, trans fats have been shown to raise LDL levels – the so-called bad cholesterol. But it also goes the extra mile beyond saturated fats by lowering HDL levels – the so-called good cholesterol. Trans fats have been definitively linked to coronary heart disease and preliminarily linked to diabetes, colon cancer, infertility and more. Subsequently, no one is arguing any benefits of trans fats… at least for the consumer.

For food producers, trans fats in the form of hydrogenated oils are essential to business. While a 50 gallon container of partially-hydrogenated fat will run a restaurant roughly $15, the same amount of olive oil - which is mostly monounsaturated and therefore generally believed to be healthier - costs about $50.

As Rick Bissoondutt, owner of New York Deli and Pastry in Greensboro, said, “Obviously, what’s going to happen is increasing the price for consumers.”

In an industry in which survival requires the perfect balance of product quality, price, location and good luck, increased prices to offset increased costs could tip the scales toward untimely closing, particularly for privately-owned restaurants.

Bissoondutt bluntly said, “I can’t afford to buy a 50 gallon container of olive oil to fry our chicken and French fries.”

Those who oppose the trans fat ban, however, are more likely to cite infringements on their civil rights than the state of small business. After all, the New York smoking ban, enacted in 2003, saved non-smokers from the well-documented dangers of second-hand smoke. But trans fats hurt no one but the people who chose to consume them, meaning that Mayor Bloomberg has made it his business to protect people from themselves.

Restaurant owner Masoud Awartani argues that people need a little protecting from themselves. “It is an excellent idea to outlaw [trans fat] because people don’t know better.”

Awartani is in the catbird seat should the trans fat ban work its way south to our fair city. Zaytoon, the Mediterranean café Awartani owns with his wife, Anna, was founded on their strict ethical guidelines, utilizing whole foods, healthful fats and organic products when possible. Though far from the top-grossing restaurant in Greensboro, Zaytoon is an example of how independently-owned restaurants can be profitable without trans fat.

As a devoted foodie and former personal chef, my innumerable conversations with people about food suggest that Awartani is right in calling the trans fat ban “an educational issue”: People know the buzz words but they don’t understand the full implications of the health effects or all of the products in which these harmful fats hide.

Unfortunately, educating the masses is not as simple as wrapping city busses with a catchy slogan. Consumers are weary of conflicting nutritional information and their uncertainty – are eggs healthy this week or harmful? – makes them wary of any new finding to come down the pike. Piled on top of the apathy borne of distrust is the expense of eating healthfully. At a time when the Brookings Institution includes the three county region surrounding Greensboro in its listing of the 10 U.S. regions with the most suburban poverty, it is significant that a family can share two boxes of macaroni and cheese for just over $2 while a healthier meal, for example, a roasted chicken with broccoli and rice on the side, would easily cost four times as much.

It seems that the ban-or-not-to-ban debate comes down to the physical health of consumers versus the economic viability of both consumers and small food businesses. While no one wants a governmental finger in their Crisco-laden pie, part of the government’s job is to protect us, be it from terrorism, drunk drivers or even our own ignorance. That said, I don’t like the ban but I tend to think it’s necessary for the ongoing health of our county.

Fortunately for those of us outside of Mayor Bloomberg’s domain, the trans fat ban will no doubt send New York restaurants and food producers scrambling for a cost effective trans fat replacement. With any luck, those replacements will be in place should Greensboro eventually enact a ban, allowing us to have our New York Deli cheesecake and eat it too.

Florida storm

I was sitting with my mother-in-law when footage of Florida came on this morning. Houses with their roofs ripped off were among the happiest of the images. Fortunately, this isn't a Katrina-sized disaster, but coming on the heels of reports that, thanks to the war in Iraq, dwindling National Guard supplies are "seriously hampering the ability of citizen soldiers to respond to natural disasters and other emergencies at home," it is a brutal reminder of how badly this president has deteriorated the safety of our nation.

Perhaps that explains the state's use of "30 low-risk jail inmates" to help in clean-up.

I'm not sure if Bush truly has complete disregard for anyone but himself and his inner sanctum of twisted rich guys, or if he's an idiot or if somewhere deep down he hates this country because his daddy loved the country more than him.

Not that they're mutually exclusive.

Doppleganger

Rob and I were eating at the best sushi joint in the 'boro, Wasabi, tonight, when a waitress asked where my mom and brother were. Apparently I eat there with them all the time, despite the fact that I can't remember a single instance of eating dinner at a restaurant with just my mom and any of my brothers.

This is easily the fourth time someone has been positive they know me. The first time was a waitress at Solaris who I later became friends with. She blew me a kiss from 20 feet away then was mortified to realize I was not the person she thought I was.

So this is my call to action - my picture is right over there ----> If you know anyone who looks exactly like me in Greensboro, please ask her to email (HeyYou@SarahBethJones.com) me - I'm dying to meet this chick!

As though Bush has room to criticize

An Associated Press piece in the N&R today said that Bush disapproves of the lavish paychecks and severance packages given to some CEOs these days. Do you think he's mostly mad that he's not getting a cut? Last time I checked, this entire war was one big, gross, disgusting payday for contractors on Bush's payroll.

Let's see... We're spending approximately $195,000,000 per day (No, I didn't forget a decimal point), civilians are buying Kevlar for family members in the military because the army is not supplying proper equipment (claiming the expense is too great) and we sure as hell aren't going to be able to properly equip 21,500 additional soldiers when currently deployed battalions have had to resort to "hillbilly armor" because the standard-issue Humvees and tanks couldn't withstand IED blasts. Gee, I wonder where the money is going?

Certainly not to veteran health care or housing...

On the upside, at least Bush is a raving, juvenile rodeo clown (no offense to any rodeo clowns who may be reading). Maybe he intends to protect our freedoms by amusing our enemies.

March on Washington pic

My attempts to imbed this picture failed, sadly, so you'll have to go to the extra effort to click though and see a great protest sign held by Sigrid, the mother of my friend/employer/colleague, Tamara. Sigrid also has a great blog that showcases her many artistic talents and uniquely witty political commentary: The Dabbler.

Virtual March on Washington

I didn't go to the peace march on Washington this past weekend despite my grandiose dreams of hopping in the car last minute and speeding up to the event. MoveOn.org, however, is offering a second, more convenient (is that terrible?) chance to get in on the anti-war action by participating in their Virtual March on Washington tomorrow.

Sign up here for a time slot to call your Senator and express your opposition to the escalation in Iraq - the goal is to have Congressional phones ringing off the hook the entire day leading up to the vote.

You can do it from your office, it'll only take a minute but make your voice heard. The only way to support our brave troops is to oppose the war!

Vote Vets

From Vote Vets, a group working to place Iraq and Afghanistan vets in elected office in the hopes that they can collectively turn this country into its best self. Just another reminder that you support the troops by opposing the war.

Advice for Guilford

I got home late tonight - Rob and I were standing in the kitchen chatting as I scanned the paper, right over the sociological study they call the letters to the editor when I saw Advice for Guilford. According to Gloria Allen of Greensboro:

Perhaps the next time the pacifist folks at Guilford College are moved to demonstrate against war and violence out on Friendly Avenue and New Garden Road, they'll consider adding an in-house demonstration.

What I want to know is, who hurt darling Gloria so badly that she felt the need to use her once monthly opportunity to state her opinions to the readers of the News & Record to send in such a venomous and utterly pointless letter? Why must she rub salt in the wound of this terrible event?

There, there, Gloria - I'm sure someone loves you!

In the end, words will triumph

This column was originally published in the News & Record on January 24, 2007.

Ideas are bullet proof.

- V for Vendetta

This past summer, I found myself in a conversation with a friend of a friend about the true power of the pen versus the sword. I, of course, stood firmly on the side of a pen victory in an epic winner-takes-all battle, while the friend stood firmly in opposition, no doubt with images of a heavy, sharpened blade a la the Knights of the Roundtable.

I will side with the pen any day if only for the beauty and simplicity of its power. At the root of human existence are dueling needs: to be unique and to be understood, and in that way find community. Words, by allowing us to share our individual perception of the world with one another, fill those two needs at once - through differing perceptions, we see our individuality and, through agreement, we find our community. Of course, that’s not the only reason words are powerful.

While I admit that it is hard to beat the intimidation factor of a well-handled weapon, a quick look at the state of the world is enough to see that the pen is the undefeated champ and there’s not a sword, IED or biological weapon strong enough to knock it off its throne. Truly, the power disparity between the pen and the sword has never been as great or as apparent as in the modern world. Spin your globe to the Middle East for a prime example of the limitations of firepower.

Now open your Web browser and search for blogs. You get millions of hits, right? Each of those URLs represents people with opinions, people willing to broadcast their version of the world. They are concerned with their families or their search for romance; they are sharing stories about work, vacations and hobbies; they are offering their expertise on baking, tricking out cars and investing. They are keeping an eye on the government, the schools, the eco-companies and the industrial giants. Each and every one of them are working to impact their sliver of the world using the seemingly limitless power of instant communication and citizen journalism.

Case in point: Greensboro 101. Run by Roch Smith, Jr., Greensboro 101 is a blog aggregator featuring the sites of bloggers within, from or writing about Greensboro.

While Greensboro 101 certainly has its share of mainstream headline commentators and enthusiasts for any variety of hobby and art, it has also, on occasion, used the power of the Web to remind our local politicians that, though the citizens of Greensboro may be the Little Brothers to the governmental Big Brother, we are watching and we are willing to use the powerful and far-reaching tool of communication to share what we see. Notably, a few months ago, Greensboro 101 earned its citizen journalism chops by being the outlet through which an anonymous blogger posted the leaked RMA report on David Wray and the Greensboro Police Department.

Of all the enduring lessons that were celebrated during last week’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the one that is rarely spoken yet always present is that, indeed, ideas, most often expressed in words, are bulletproof. James Earl Ray was able to take Dr. King’s life but there’s not enough ammunition under the sun to puncture his ideas which continue to impact America almost 40 years later.

The sword may win the battle, but pens will always take the war.

GreenDimes

One of my many e-newsletter subscriptions recently turned me on to an interesting fledgling company called GreenDimes. Their mission is pretty simple: to positively impact the environment by eliminating junk mail. It makes sense: junk mail wastes paper - which of course uses trees and water by the tanker-full to produce - and the fossil fuels used to transport it. For a dime a day, GreenDimes does all the leg work to unsubscribing your household from the many, many mailing lists that our names get tagged onto when we donate to charity or order something through the mail or however our names get on any given list. Because names are constantly sold and resold, it's the kind of hounding most of us don't have the time or patience for.

Because GreenDimes is as much an environmental initiative as it is a business, membership also includes a tree planted for each month of membership - consider it a few rainbow sprinkles topping off the sundae.

I have to admit that when I signed up a little over a month ago, I was skeptical but decided my $36 was worth the test. As they warn, it takes time to get through to all the snail-mail spammers, some of whom print labels as far as a year in advance. Despite that, we've already seen a drop in our junk-mail intake. I suppose it's possible that I will someday wish that Visa would send me yet another credit card application or that I could only get my hands on the latest Pyramid Catalogue but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

Snow bird

We hung some feeders this week in hopes that Rob would get a shot just like this:

Marketing in a media savvy world

There are two things that I love about this video:

1. Breakdancing is just rad. I don't begin to know how they make their bodies move the way they do... I can barely walk with any sort of grace.
2. It's the new wave of marketing. Pretty early in the clip, it becomes pretty obvious that it's an ad for the music player they're using but it's still pretty subtle - okay, right up until they flash the URL on the screen but still... the new wave of marketing is the YouTube model - homemade videos (or sometimes professional video made to look homemade) with truly entertaining content - not the BS in the Superbowl commercials that we're supposed to find entertaining - in which the ad seems almost secondary. Today's consumer market doesn't want to be hit over the head - we're going to look at the online reviews of the product anyway...
   

Love letter to (my) Bush

Someone's got a crush on Bush - sadly, it's not a crush on her own bush or any other lucky woman's but, alas, on the president. In her letter to the editor today, Greensboro resident Elizabeth Jones blames dishonest polling (an issue, to be sure) on Bush's dramatically dismal popularity ratings, saying that we the people should, "Appreciate a good man when you have one."

Amen, sister. I appreciate my sweet husband and his hard work and devotion, and I appreciate Dr. King and the sacrifices he made to move America toward it's greatest potential. I appreciate my father and grandfathers, my brother-in-law and younger brothers. Hell, I appreciate Ben & Jerry for the wonderful products they produce.

But can I appreciate a man who believes that the lives of soldiers and Iraqis are a fair trade for a great deal on oil for his buddies? A man who continually spits on the Constitution, even as he pretends to defend it? A man who claims to spread Democracy even as he turns America into a fascist state?

Only if he's sitting at a courtroom table, defending against charges of war crimes.

Monday laugh

Dr. King

A friend and I recently had an extended debate about the way we (as in people in general) treat uber-icons. Specifically, we were looking at society's tendency to sweep the fallible, i.e. human, aspects of an icon under the rug in favor of focusing on their contributions. For example, when all the Little Johnnys and Little Suzies out there spent last week learning about Martin Luther King, Jr., they were learning about peaceful protest and change through a partnership of people of different colors and socioeconomic backgrounds. But did they learn that Dr. King was a womanizer?

My friend would argue that students should learn that Dr. King was not without sin; otherwise they might come to believe that the good Dr. King did came from some superhuman source of strength or will. She argues that knowing his less savory side would show people that they are capable of big things despite their indiscretions.

I agree that knowing the whole person is useful... to an extent... the outer boundary perhaps being when knowing indiscretions detracts from acknowledging all the good. But Dr. King, to me, is an easy example. While I have no doubt that my husband and I would break up in a heartbeat should one of us cheat, womanizing and sexual indiscretions in icons - that is, people I am not directly involved with - is a forgivable sin to me, especially in a person whose goods were so very good. When it comes to Dr. King, I'm not sure that students should learn about his fallacies along with his amazing accomplishments - I would rather students have time, years of time, to reflect on his contributions to society rather than his failings in marriage.

But other examples prove more troubling. Mother Theresa would turn away people desperate for help if they wouldn't profess acceptance of Jesus. Thomas Jefferson kept slaves. James Brown apparently abused his wife.

My friend and I never resolved our debate... I'm sure to keep thinking about it even as I spend today reflecting on the life of a man who motivated many to be their best selves in the hopes of making America its best self.

The Tremors Rockabilly

Daniel McMillan graced the pages of Go Triad with a four star review of Invasion of the Saucermen, the latest release from Greensboro's favorite sons of the Man in Black, The Tremors.

If you haven't heard them, they sound like Buddy Holly on speed, early Roy Orbison (way before Pretty Woman) with a switchblade, Carmen Miranda with extra bananas... okay, maybe not Carmen Miranda... but you get my meaning.

Full disclosure: Slim Perkins, whose girth is matched only by the upright bass he slaps around on stage, is a long-time friend of mine. We met at Somewhere Else Tavern, back in its Freeman Mill location, where we quickly progressed from introductions to a drunken upper-body flash when his officially became the first pair of pierced nipples I had seen.

That's right, you pervs - he was flashing, not me. Anyway, ours has been a charmed friendship ever since... or as charming as anything gets when Slim and I get together and let loose our sailor vocabularies.

Get yourself a CD, get to a show and get rockabilly-fied.

Abuse is everyone's problem

This column was originally published in the News & Record on December 27, 2006.

I was really looking forward to writing a holiday-themed piece this year. I was going to say something quippy about the so-called War on Christmas and then offer some sort of John Lennon-esque plea for giving peace a chance - lay down your candy cane spears and sharpened throwing gelt and come together - something like that.

But I can't because Rebecca Ann Wilson was murdered by her ex-husband, Del Ray Wilson, Jr. - after moving out due to abuse, after receiving a protective order and after Del Ray was charged with violating that order four times.

According to the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 59 North Carolina men, women and children were victims of domestic violence homicides between January 1 and December 8, 2006. They were strangled, beaten, shot and stabbed by people they presumably trusted and most likely loved.

Rebecca Ann was shot through the windshield of her car as she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex. Hopefully she never saw it coming.

Once the children have been placed with responsible adults and Del Ray has been sentenced to however much time the state sees fit, one question remains: did law enforcement fail Rebecca Ann?

I blamed law enforcement for years after I was attacked by my ex-boyfriend. I faulted them for not looking me in my blackened eye when I refused to press charges and I faulted them for never entering my house the morning he broke in to kill me.

But the truth is that police are in a horrible catch 22 when it comes to domestic abuse. By its very nature, domestic abuse happens, or at least begins, in relationships in which there is love, even if the relationship wouldn’t be considered loving. It was out of love and loyalty, and a false belief that my then-boyfriend would be grateful and therefore not violent, that kept me from pressing charges that day. And mine was a moderate case of abuse: mostly psychological and emotional, only occasionally physical and lasting less than a year. In more dramatic cases, abusees, led by their own misguided sense of love and loyalty, have been known to turn on the very police who have come to help them.

Protective orders are also catch 22s in their own right.

It makes sense that in order to prohibit people from going to a location, those prohibited must know where they can’t go. Alternately, it makes sense that people fleeing violent relationships would be secretive about the location of their new home and/or place of business, leaving abusees to chose between anonymity and police protection.

Rebecca Ann chose police protection. When Del Ray violated the protective order, he was arrested, twice. Both times he posted bail through a bail bondsman and returned to Rebecca Ann until that horrible final visit.

The added tragedy of Rebecca Ann’s murder is not that law enforcement was negligent – they weren’t. It was that the system has not yet developed enough to keep her, and those like her, safe.

There are no simple answers in domestic abuse. Most preventative measures address kids in the hopes that teaching them respect for themselves and one another will someday make abuse a disease of a bygone generation.

Until that time, we have to keep the dialogue going, keep searching for answers. We have to take abuse personally.

I never met Rebecca Ann - I don't know what her interests were or if she put sweet notes in her kids' lunch bags. But I take her murder personally - not just because I came so close to her fate, but because though leaving abusive relationships is the responsibility of individuals, ending abuse altogether is up to the whole community.

Congress in session

The 110th Congress has kicked off its session by banning lawmakers from flying on corporate jets and accepting gifts and meals from lobbyists. Of course there's plenty of time for the Dems to screw this one up, too, but I see this is as a very promising start toward a government we can again be proud to call our own.

Swearing to Allah

Where to start on Representative Keith Ellison? I don't know anything about the guy except that he's from Minnesota and he's planning to swear into office on Thomas Jefferson's Koran - of course, that alone tells me one more thing about him - that he's clever. Of course, Thomas Jefferson was enough of a comedian to leave us with enough writing to keep bored people debating forever on what his religious and civil rights beliefs were - as my bro-in-law says, you can find a Jefferson quote to suit absolutely any opinion.

Never the less, Rep. Virgil Goode has his panties in a twist over the whole thing (he of the now infamous warning that America must damper immigration to avoid a second Muslim in Congress) adding comic relief to what really just makes sense.

You Greensborians likely remember that not so long ago, there was a big stir about people wanting to swear on the Koran in our local courts. At its most elementary, the placement of one's hand probably doesn't matter - the Jim Bakkers of the world remind us that swearing on a bible or swearing up and down that one's life is led by the bible, doesn't really make a person more likely to be a good, honest, upstanding person. But just in case placing one's hand on a sacred scripture does make a person more likely to adhere to positive values, then I want those people to swear on whatever is most meaningful - bring in a picture of their moms to swear on if that makes them more likely to be the best person they can.

Ellison certainly has chutzpah, and hopefully a very thick-skin, to be the first Muslim in Congress - I hope that his voting record eventually mirrors the backbone his campaign and inauguration have shown.