Archives for September 2011

Manifesto: A public declaration of principles and intentions. It’s probably about time I set about to differentiate and distinguish.

Version 1.0

1. You must think yourself lean and thin, and strong and healthy…to a proper regulation of hunger and satiation. There is no prescription or proscription that will necessarily work for you. You must write your own “diet and fitness book” from your own trial and error experience.

2. Thinking and principles rule. Applications must be tested and critically evaluated. One-size-fits-all plans and roadmaps are doomed to mediocrity, at best. Your best has to come from you.

3. Humans are animals. Moreover, the same sorts of physiology, biology, climatology, geology and sociology that holds sway over the life, death and prosperity of the entirety of the animal world applies just as soundly to humans.

4. Humans, unlike other animals, can consciously act against their own best interest. They can also command nature and their environment to a degree other animals can’t and don’t. Think fire breaks, dams, roads, cities, suburbs, airports, skyscrapers, division of labor and trade.

5. Human ill health, unhappiness, sexlessness, sleeplessness, stress, slavery, drudgery, suicide, and disease are adverse manifestations of the human ability to work against his own interest: his ability to produce, and his ability to command nature taken to irrational levels.

6. The ability of humans to work against themselves and their own nature so effectively is the root cause of all human-created problems. The ability to “create reality” by marvelous human minds exacerbates the downside on many levels when the creation of “reality” it taken beyond the pleasure of fantasy.

7. Disease, obesity, failed relationships, and other adverse human conditions are fundamentally a result of dishonesty.

8. Dishonesty is fundamentally a failure to properly perceive and integrate data from the senses into a reasonable and logical framework or hierarchy of values to pursue, hold, promote, or celebrate.

9. Humans are the only animals with the ability to be dishonest with respect to reality and thus, dishonesty with self and others is the fundamental root cause of all disease, inability to flourish and early, unnatural death.

10. Non-human animals exist in various environmental niches they have evolved within to exploit, within a balance. Human animals migrated out of Africa to populate the Earth from equator to arctic and antarctic circle, and sea level to 16,000 feet of elevation, and everything in-between. Thus, human animals evolved to migrate over eons of time to exploit the environment available and along the way.

11. Each human individual has encoded within his genes the ability to survive and thrive on a wide range of food sources from terrestrial, to sea, to tree, to subterranean.

12. Non human animals don’t typically become obese (unless by nature, such as in advance of hibernation) or die unnaturally. Humans become obese. Pets become obese. Zoo animals can become obese when zookeepers stray from a naturally appropriate diet.

13. Human animals should not have any difficulty eating a mix of the right natural foods suitable to them, when available, maintaining and enjoying natural health and longevity as a result. Good health is natural. It’s not something that needs to be man made, industrialized or drugged.

14. Human animals have developed complex social structures to the extent that a few dominate all the rest, to a level of welcome cheerleading and hand-clapping, such that the few can cleverly and parasitically sustain an unearned livelihood through implicit or explicit threat of force, or more elegantly: promise of reward.

15. Modern human animals developed the propensity to believe they have power through a Neolithic device known as a democratic vote. It actually gives them about equal odds in terms of effective power to buying a lottery ticket. Conversely, we know ancient humans were individually and socially powerful, because they survived on their own. We have the anthropology and we’re here. It happened. Nobody voted on it.

16. A domesticated animal can exhibit guilt and shame, but not to the extent that they can possibly sacrifice their well being over it. Human animals invented guilt and shame, and they went on to make a place for it being unbridled and unearned. They invented religion; they conjured “reality” and got everyone to buy onto it and teach it to their offspring. They laid the seeds for control.

17. The guilt and shame works hand in hand with religious fantasies that most notably involve fear. Guilt and shame, combined with irrational fear, to make a malleable human animal who will do his part to see to the livelihood of the parasites. Anciently, it was the parasites of church and now, the parasites of State. The former is voluntary and the latter, compulsory undef threat of prosecution.

18. All humans have within themselves the ability to change everything on a dime.

19. Of self-destruction, of guilt, of shame, of fear: the worst of these is fear. While fear is natural, that’s the rub. The Neolithic, above all else, has been a massive story — fundamentally — about how to use it to advantage. The Neolithic is above all, a story about how our natural tendencies have been used against us in just about every conceivable way. 

…So there’s my hour or two stab at a first cut of what I hope to refine over time. Your criticism in comments is highly encouraged.

~ Heather B. Armstrong, just about one of the most popular bloggers in the whole world at dooce.com, went Paleo. And here’s an update: More about this fad diet humans ate for millions of years.

~ What’s cool is that the “Caveman Diet Gains Popularity” in spite of all the hand wringing by stupid, ignorant dietitians, nutritionists, “experts” and the government.

The paleo diet movement is backed by some academics and fitness gurus, and has gained some praise in medical research in the United States and elsewhere even though it goes against recommendations of most mainstream nutritionists and government guidelines.

Loren Cordain, a professor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, said he believes millions in the United States and elsewhere are following the paleo diet movement, based on sales of books such as his own and Internet trends.

What, you mean to tell me that millions of people are “go[ing] against recommendations of most mainstream nutritionists and government guidelines,” on purpose, explicitly? Damn fuckin’ straight, and for good reason. It is precisely this ignoble, inglorious infestation of self-serving Big Food whores that Americans — and increasingly the rest of the world — are in this lousy mess.

But a US News survey of nutritionists ranked the paleo diet last among 20 possible options, far below the Mediterranean, vegan, or Weight Watchers diets.

It noted that the paleo diet gets 23 percent of calories from carbohydrates compared to 45 percent to 65 percent in U.S. government recommendations, and that the Stone Age regime is higher than recommended for protein and fat.

“While its focus on veggies and lean meat is admirable, experts couldn’t get past the fact that entire food groups, like dairy and grains, are excluded on paleo diets,” US News said.

Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, told AFP that the paleo diet “would not be appropriate for today’s sedentary lifestyles.””

Nestle and others also dispute some of the historical claims of paleo diet advocates. “The claim that half the calories in the Paleolithic diet came from meat is difficult to confirm,” she said.

In a research paper, Nestle said the life expectancy of Stone Age man was around 25 years, “suggesting that the Paleolithic diet, among other life conditions, must have been considerably less than ideal.”

Well that tears it. Marion Nestle is just another ignorant doofus spouting conventional “wisdom,” whom I wouldn’t trust to go fetch my mail, and you shouldn’t either. Just shut the fuck up, Nestle.

~ Eat your veggies, now: Vegetarianism produces subclinical malnutrition, hyperhomocysteinemia and atherogenesis.

CONCLUSION: The low dietary intake of protein and sulfur amino acids by a plant-eating population leads to subclinical protein malnutrition, explaining the origin of hyperhomocysteinemia and the increased vulnerability of these vegetarian subjects to cardiovascular diseases.

Quick, call the “experts.”

~ OK, well how about “health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center,” who are said to have “reviewed” this bit of stupid tripe for publication: Top Ten Foods for Health. Water, dark green vegetables, whole grains, beans and lentils, fish, berries, winter squash, soy, flaxseed, nuts and seeds, and organic yogurt.

Where’s the liver?

I submit to you that it doesn’t even take going Paleo or Primal “everyday” to not get a wealth of good out of this book, Everyday Paleo. I have included it in my series of cookbook reviews…because it’s a cookbook.

…But it’s more than that and I think, fills a very nice niche. In my last review, I remarked how that book seemed to me to represent the potential for a great first book — rather than the many books available that give you the ins, outs, whys and what fors for going Paleo/Primal as a lifestyle, from a more evolutionary or scientific basis. Im just saying this might be a good alternative for some: let the food be your guide from everyday one.

While Sarah Fragoso’s book is much cookbook, with dozens and dozens of recipes, it’s much more and I can’t help thinking that this might be the ideal first book for a women with kids to take care of. It gets practical — everyday — right away.

After a few introductory sections on where Sarah is now and how she got here and why, it dives right in to a complete list of what you should have in your pantry and your fridge. A little bit about tools of the mom trade and we’re off into the recipes, all in full color. I really have to congratulate the folks at Victory Belt Publishing, because the whole layout of this book is just fun and colorful. And you know what? I would not be surprised if your kids might just like turning the pages themselves. It’s really a fun page turner.

In terms of the recipes, this just shows once again that the folks who lament avoiding grains, sugar, processed “foods” and other untouchables — because it would “be so boring” — are just full of it. There are now around a half dozen full color paleo cookbooks on the market with dozens and dozens of recipes each, and they are as varied as are their authors. There is no limit. The surface has only been scratched.

…And how many of you like eggs? Perhaps for a first, Sarah has an entire section on egg based-recipes. Sunny Deviled Eggs? I’m trying that soon. And in the main dish section, I must try the lasagna that uses zucchini in place of pasta. I’ve used eggplant a-la moussaka-esque lasagna, but it looks like the prep time & effort is a lot better here. There are just so many (how many kinds of meatballs do you like?), and there is a distinct “your kids will like this” tone and theme. I suspect Sarah tried most or all of these dishes on her kids, so that leaves open the door for a criticism: was this book co-authored by your kids, Sarah? Fess up.

And OK, is this crazy or what: a whole workout section in a cookbook? It’s perfectly logical to me, and best of all, Sarah provides tons and tons of photos in sequence, showing exactly how each exercise is done; and not just for you. There’s also a section on how to exercise your kids, and even how your and your significant other can work out together.

So really, it truly is the sort of book that could serve as anyone’s entry into this whole crazy life. But I think that if you’re still in the rat race, have kids that might be resistant to the changes, or a spouse, then this may just be that one book that helps you unlike any other.

It worked for Sarah. Wanna see?

Sarah Fragoso

Uh, think her family oriented cookbook and workout guide might be worth having in your collection? I do.

(5) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume foods of their choice - Judge Patrick J. Fiedler, Circuit Court, Branch 8, State of Wisconsin

I’ve seen a bunch of hand wringing and outrage over this since it popped up, but why? Here’s the actual judgment. As near as I can tell, he’s spot on and just telling the truth about the matter. The five page decision also included these other unequivocal pronouncements:

(1) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;

(2) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;

(3) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer;

(4) no, the Zinniker Plaintiffs’ private contract does not fall outside the scope of the State’s police power;

…

(6) no, the DATCP did not act in an ultra vires manner because it had jurisdiction to regulate the Zinniker Plaintiffs’ conduct.

Seems simple and clear enough to me. We long, long ago — probably not long after the ink had dried on the Declaration of Independence – got over the silly idea that there is any such thing as “unalienable rights;” and of course, the US Constitution, by including a “Bill of Rights,” forever set in stone the principle that the State is the grantor and the final arbiter of any notion of “rights.”

“Rights” are what the various levels of government say they are, nothing more. Not anymore. And even if the judge were deemed to be wrong and later overturned, that would only be on his interpretation of existing laws.

Judge Fielder is just being honest with y’all. I suggest you move along, citizen. There’s nothing to see here.

My dad was told by a devout fundamentalist, a Born-Again Baptist, a brother, that he’s a member of a cult: The Paleo Cult.

…I’m busy, with another cookbook review — guess which one — and also editing a video interview with Ricky, from across the pond, and who talks funny. But he lost 90 pounds. No idea how many stones. So this is passion, getting in the way, which are always my favorite posts.

Lothar Nikoley to the left, at 73. Click to open the hi-res version

Dad & mom came over Saturday.

Since they couldn’t be here for Beatrice’s 52nd (she’s the one attached to my arm; or another appendage, as usual), they came a week later to take her out shopping for a few changes of clothes and a dinner. We went to Palacio (rhymes with paleo) in Los Gatos. I’m the zombie. Have fear. I eat liver.

Having weighed about 40 or so pounds more, I think my dad looks awesomely fuckin’ good for 73. Jesus. Huh? I hadn’t seen him for about a month and when I did last Saturday, I was very pleased. My younger brothers should take a clue, some inspiration, and a dash of shame.

But here’s what’s funny. His baptie fundie brothers — not all — but two in particular who know who they are (and I’m not talking about the fundamentalist preacher — he’s always cool to me) constantly give their older and far wiser brother shit. None are formally educated; neither is my dad. But they have all done very well for themselves in spite of that, and for what I’m saying, here, that’s important. My dad, for instance, with not even an HS diploma, bids construction on some of the biggest projects in the world. There’s no construction project he can’t take blueprints and architectural/engineering specifications of, and deconstruct them all to a spreadsheet of hundreds or thousands of of cost line items that can be easily priced out for any contractor.

The other two have done well too, “among the heathens.”

~~~

Years, many years ago, when I saw the horrific and life killing ways of the born-again fundamental baptists, in which cult I was raised from ten on, I talked with my mom over many years, and eventually, she saw and more eventually, they dumped it into the shithole where it belongs. That’s my family. From me to her, to dad and family, and far less successfully, extended family.

That’s because they have zero fortitude discernible to me.

Others didn’t do it that way. The two brothers, specifically? They did it in the worst possibly way. Rather than recognize they believed in a sewer that needed pumping, rooting, and perhaps even a whole waste disposal redesign, changed their lives to be more ou courant, while at the same time, holding on to their “godly” admonishments. Unbounded hypocrisy. Laughing stock. Rather than being the rather poor, economy car-driving fundies of my 70s youth, who didn’t even have a car, they’re now Cadillac fundies with stern guidance for anyone who’ll listen. Few do, but they have a Baptist Preacher to live up to who, as I said, is always cool. I don’t begrudge anyone their beliefs and in this particular case, the man is sincere enough that I only ever love to see him. He’s no poseur. His brothers, half in, are.

Pathetic. My uncles, whom I grew up loving — still loving, but not respecting, anymore — simply aren’t honest, in my view of things. Bible thumping is just, well, uneducated and ignorant. I can’t even spin it for the sake of family.

A couple of moths back, my dad, at the house of his brother: discussion escalated to where my dad was told he’s a…member of a cult. Drum roll, and que the IRONIC. …You know, his 40 pound weight loss, enhanced energy, better sleep, better looks, fat loos to increased leanness and likely a few other improvements you can name.

Well, if it is a cult….no, it’s just not. Never discount the propensity of morons to spout moron, especially if they they hide moron in their own closet.

Part of what motivated my to review Paleo Comfort Foods earlier today in my last blog post is that I was cooking. I had something on the stove and I was waiting for it to get ready for further touch and attention.

Chicken Soup.

Now, I’m pretty sure that even if you go through every post in Food Porn, you’ll never come upon something so mundane as chicken soup. Or is it? Is is possibly possible that chicken soup is a metaphor for everything from curing ills to quintessential human well being, for a reason?

Yes, but only if you get it right. Tonight, I’m virtually teaming up with Julie & Charles Mayfield, authors of the aforementioned cookbook, to show you how to get it right. When you get it right, it’s that moment where right before serving, you spoon up some broth from the pot, without a scintilla of veggie or meat matter and if, if your knees don’t immediately collapse — combined with wondering, even for the slightest micro of a second that perhaps there may just really be a God — then you have not done it right.

Right off the bat, you must either start from scratch and make your broth and chicken all in one, which takes a while, or you use your own saved chicken broth, or you use a quality product from a good market. I like Trader Joe’s Organic Free Range Chicken Stock because I don’t make a lot of homemade and it’s very tasty and not salty, which is a deal breaker for any stock.

For many years I have had a particular way to make chicken soup, which is that now and then, we’ll go to the good markets like Whole Foods or Lunardi’s in our area, and get a rotisserie chicken. We’ll eat the breast and the legs with a salad. The rest of that carcass, bone and all, goes into the pot on boil, along with the aforementioned stock (no water; you want richness).

Cool It Down

Because it’s pre cooked and you’re using stock, you don’t need to boil for hours. I bring it to a boil and then simmer covered for an hour or so. But then you need to go to work to strip meat from bone, so here’s a good trick. Stop your sink, put the whole pot in, and fill it with cold water. After five minutes, drain and repeat and within a few minutes more, you’re working. If you have a good steam pot, that works well to separate and drain.

Chicken Mess

So up to now, I have made a very simple chicken soup: onion and a secret ingredient I’ll get to later. But owing to the book, I did a few additional things and came out with an overall improvement. That’s the theme, here.

I like simple, rich broth-chicken soup. Fuck thickening with wheat flour or starch. You don’t need rice, and you should not be feeding your poor kids noodles. Chicken Noodle? How about good, orgasmic chicken soup?

How about that? Where did fucking noodles come from, anyway? Do chickens like noodles? Is that it? What, is it? I dunno. But just forget about it.

So now we get to the paper thin part. As I said, I like light brothy soups with chicken and another thing or two. Up to now, I have always sliced yellow or white onion paper thin. I like to use an 8″ sharp Japanese utility knife for this. Then, I get green onion and I use the part from about 1/2″ from the root to 2″ up and slice paper thin. Owing to the cookbook, I did a few other things. First, I added some garlic, but because it was already in the pot, I just used a bit of powder. Celery. That will go so good with the onion. Again, paper thin slices.

Alright, so here’s the secret ingredient that just gives the whole thing a character that will make you question your atheism: lemon. Yes, lemon, but again, paper thin. And here’s the deal: the whole lemon, rind and all. Yep, just take your whole lemon, lop off the first bit, and begin slicing it so thin you can see through it.

Paper Thin Chicken Soup

Part Deux

Because everything is sliced so thin, it’s only a light simmer for a short time and yes, you eat the lemon rind along with everything else.

You can’t help yourself.

Oh, for the last touch from Julie and Charles, I added parsley. This, I chose to chop and add fresh.

The point is, there are a bunch of ways to do any recipe, or use theirs to enhance your own. You’re talking about real food that’s not overly processed, and so your options are limitless. This is a cookbook, but also a reference.

I did already do a review of sorts, but in video form. If you haven’t but would like to see what I had to say, it begins at about 2:30 into this silly little 6 minute video I did in advance of the Labor Day weekend.

I have four cookbooks to review and I had intended to do them all in one post but have decided otherwise (this is the true virtue of procrastination, where you refine your ideas while putting off doing them). In the end I figured it would be better for the authors themselves to have posts exclusive to their work, that can stand individually over time.

I love this book, actually. In fact, I love it so much that a short and to the point review is probably called for. The reason is as basic and simple as the book is itself.

One of the appealing aspects of paleo or Primal in the first place is its simplicity, so this cookbook holds firmly to this attractive theme. Paleo, at base, is about less processing, not more; less complexity, not more; more comfort, not less; closer to food in its natural state, not father away.

Don’t get me wrong. I occasionally love to do complex dishes, like something from an old French cookbook and to immerse myself in the task for an entire Saturday, from sunrise and getting out of bed, making my list of ingredients, shopping, staging, sipping on a scotch as I dig in, and then keeping a sane kitchen the whole way (my mother taught me to clean the kitchen as I go), until time to serve guests at 8pm.

And this cookbook does not disappoint in that regard. there are a decent number of more complex dishes you can enjoy preparing for hours, to the eventual enjoyment of friends and family. And yet, the preponderance of the cookbook focusses on relatively simple dishes that only look complex, so my only “criticism,” really, is that the full color photos to showcase every single dish might scare people off. But dive right in. Yes, you really can make simply prepared food look that good.

I adore the “Comfort Foods” theme. Who doesn’t love sausage? Meatloaf? Fried Chicken? Gravy? Meatballs? Deviled Eggs? Wings? Burgers? Salsa? Guac? There are many others. And most notably for me, there is an extensive section on various sauces & dips, things that are simple and easy to prepare but really launch your preparation to the next level. Not only do many of the dishes sport a short list of ingredients (as few as two), many also have a very short list of steps to prepare (as few as two).

You will impress your friends and when you tell them it’s all about a fat loss and health plan, you’ll have their interest a lot sooner than telling them you’re on a new “diet.”

Another thing to note is that there is a clear Southern theme throughout. I know this because I grew up eating fried Okra, too. If you like Southern flair but want to know how to do it in a way that gives, rather than saps your energy, this book is for you.

I could go on, but I want to put an idea out there. The paleo Conventional Wisdom (PCW) says that you Google, find a blog, buy a book on paleo, become just slightly less knowledgeable than a PhD anthropologist about the roots and basis of your new experiment: eat eggs, bland veggies, grilled meat, eggs, bland veggies, grilled meat; wash, rinse, repeat…until such time as you go whoa, and then you buy a cookbook and begin getting a bit more sophisticated with your cooking lifestyle.

I have a modest proposal, and this applies most particularly to the few hundreds of you every day who just stumbled or Googled in here on some search and you’re intrigued.

What if you just got a cookbook first, and gave it a try? What if you let the food guide everything else?

I would be happy for those of you who have the cookbook and have tried a recipe or two, or three, or a dozen, let us know what you think in comments.

Paleo Magazine (click image to enlarge)

When I first heard that some crazy people were going to start a print magazine about Paleo I just, well, I just… Let’s put it that way.

Aren’t we in the Internet age, with content increasingly going to digital form and things in print increasingly the way of the dinosaur? That’s what I assumed, anyway. But then at the Ancestral Health Symposium last month, the publishers approached me and handed me a nice glossy edition of the magazine, asking if I might have a look.

I did, and while I like the convenience of the digital age and in particular, having as many magazines or books as you want right at your fingertips via iPad or a similar device, there’s really something about flipping pages, the glossy look and feel, the ability to have the latest and even back issues sitting on your bureau or coffee table and of course, the ease at which you can pass them off to friends and family when you’re done with them. Or, you can leave an issue in your doctor or dentist’s office on one of those very rare visits.

Another advantage is that these will be showing up on newsstands in various places, so people will be introduced to paleo via a completely new route.

Call me sold. I’ve subscribed myself and I’d encourage you to do so if you don’t win yours for free. Yes, I’ve arranged with the publishers to give away a free one-year subscription and I’ll do so by random drawing from the list of commenters.

Here are the rulz:

1. Enter as many times as you like. Each comment is a separate entry.
2. To enter once, just post a comment that says “enter me,” or something like that. Saying, “and please let me win” is entirely optional.
3. To enter as many times as you like, open up a topic of your choosing on anything related to Paleo/Primal and make it interesting enough that a discussion gets going and you and others end up posting multiple comments. Alternatively, participate in a discussion topic or more that others have initiated. The more you contribute, the greater your chance to win, and you may learn and teach in the whole process.
4. Be fair and mature about it. That means, enter once and be done with it or, make your multiple comments substantive.
5. I reserve the right to delete comments (entries) that I subjectively deem as not in keeping with rule #4.

I will close comments in about 48 hours, which is around noon, PDT, Monday, September 26.

Update: Comments are now closed, with a total of 182 entries. I will announce the winner soon. …Here we go:

Results

The 62nd comment by date and time was this one, by Myer. Thanks everyone for participating and I hope some or a lot of you go ahead and subscribe anyway.

I had a beef with Andrew Badenoch way back when over esoteric issues surrounding freedom, i.e……………anarchism.

I really didn’t explore the issue with him enough before I got pissed off and basically ignored him. And then months later, the Ancestral Health Symposium happened, I met him in person, and consequently felt embarrassed that I hadn’t taken the time to get to the gist of our disagreement before that. While we were very cordial to one-another, I feel and felt as though I lost an opportunity to do us both a little better.

I took steps to rectify my shortness with him immediately after AHS and that continues because Andrew is sort of a kindred spirit — to me — in my enthusiasm for motivating the paleo community to at least consider and discuss issues beyond fat loss and bodily health. We have a complex mind; and complex social systems…none of which are being regularly addressed by anyone but, in my humble opinion, myself, Andrew, and a small few others, typically focussed around evolutionary psychology, such as Emily. While I applaud being healthier and happier in any context and I applaud those — many my friends — who are helping to drive that forward, I just — forgive me — want to be on the cutting or bleeding edge of The Whole Monte, always. When hundreds of bloggers and book writers dive into the space I have been part of for so long, it’s my nature to further be part of driving it to the next level. And I still have a further level to two in mind.

I posted my latest: Are You More Moral, More Benevolent and More Competent Than Any Politician? Then Act Like It. And Andrew has posted something that while having intersecting ideas and principles, really touches deeper into paleo on the one hand, and politics vis-a-vis primitive social organization on the other. And he does all the references shit, too: Foundations for a Hunter-Gatherer Philosophy II: The Libertarianism Question. 

You can read those posts if you haven’t, and I encourage you to do so. Homework assignment, but only if you’re willing to take on mind and society, now that you’ve cured, or are well on your way to curing body. If not, I will be the first to say that this can wait and there will be more opportunities. Have more to look forward to. Don’t worry about it and you have important things you’re working on. Stay tuned. You’ll know when you’re ready for more.

I wanted, just for a bit, to really shake you up with something. This should come as a big surprise.

Killing and murder happens.

Always has, and always will. You can take any number of positions on all of that and it will still happen. There will always be very bad people, and psychopaths. People will still kill people and your choice is to live in bedtime story fantasy about it for comfort’s sake, or confront the reality of it. Here’s an off the cuff stream of consciousness sampling, referencing modern times:

• The Duel. Perhaps the most “gentlemanly” form of killing, where both participants are willing, with witnesses, and all is clean and tidy. Such a form of resolving differences over honor — or even more petty — strike me as conditioned by social dynamics far removed from the human animal sphere. It’s merely a way to defend an already baked in the cake dynamic, though at least it was manno a manno. In the Middle East, honor killings are…well, you know what those God loving savages do to girls and women. So there’s that.
• “Coon Hunt.” I don’t know how to draw any valid distinctions between that and those God loving savages. That’s likely because there’s likely none to draw.
• Wildwest Gunfight. I’m too un-stoked in boring American-West mythology — and don’t know whom to trust — to comment on it, without spending countless hours in the library. I dunno, do you? I never have cared if they all killed one-another. Wait. I have sometimes wished they had, if nothing else, but to relieve us from the prospect of boring and pointless movies. OK, Big John Wayne was pretty cool. And a few others I guess.
• The Random Murderer. Small potatoes, but shit happens and there are no guarantees. You would do well to choose your friends, acquaintances, lovers and friends circumspectly. Still no guarantees, because when seconds count, the cops are only minutes away. Have a gun, or two, or six; I do. Don’t you?
• Gang Murders. Why do you think there are gangs there? Because there are people there to dominate. Unless they have you in handcuffs to your kitchen table, get out, with your 10 welfare babies in tow. Otherwise, in 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 years in succession, you’ll have blood on your hands. 
• Media Motivated Execution. It’s sensational and all in vogue, now, but I find it difficult to care much about the proponents or opponents alike, because I find it difficult to distinguish their true hearts from their overpowering minds; which minds might — merely — like to make things easier on their hearts from here out — or after another > 10 executions for the proponents, and < 10 for the opponents…and which it is? Personally, for me, the notion that it might be wise to end the life of a predator for everyone’s sake gets totally tarnished and indistinguishable from lynch mobs in today’s unserious flash and sparkle sensationalism, over serious substance, and even with real lives in balance — but it’s sure entertaining; there’s that. And there’s momentum. That too. I think we’re fallible, so there’s no such thing as an “objective” death sentence short of a conviction beyond any possible doubt.
• Soldiers, Sailors, Marines & Airmen. So noble. So many get to kill by remote control, now, or at least kill the most by means of various lethal technologies. I have never decided if I was really fooled or not. In the logic of geopolitics, it seemed sensible to do my part at the time. When The Wall came down, I soon submitted my resignation. I didn’t like the trend I saw towards creating new enemies to replace the old ones.
• The Government. I had to save the best for last; the winner! Now, I know this is very unpopular. The government is so popular, it’s the most ingenious marketing plan ever. Let’s see, you control everything through force and coercion, erect laws to fine and imprison, spice it up with with prosecution of the unpopular (one assumes real bad guys will always be dealt with anyway) and then, you execute people here and there to hand clapping. Don’t worry. Let God sort it out. Winner.

God Bless America.

There will always be killing and murder. Those who propose solutions that involve eradication are deluded, or worse, scamming you. Have you paid them anything or donated?

I have a modest proposal and it’s already in the title: if you want someone dead, then just kill them yourself.

You see, it’s very difficult for me to assume that many people don’t want one whole fuck of a lot of people dead. Isn’t that part of the reason why so many agitate, then stand in line at a voting booth, to vote death by proxy, “support the troops,” and all thayt? Do they go home and wash their hands?

If you want someone dead — and I’m certainly not saying there’s not valid reasons for that — then kill them yourself.

Just kill them yourself.

Imagine a world where that was the creed, and you had to live with, or got to enjoy, the real consequences of your deed. Might you be a little careful?

I saw people today in the latest go-round over an execution being impotent as always; pathetic, some admonishing that it’s better for 100, 1,000, 10,000 guilty men to go free than for one to be executed unjustly.

That’s a sucker’s hope. People will always be killed. Some unjustly. It happens. It will happen. But how much more likely is it when real culpability for error is nowhere to be found?

So just do it yourself when you think it’s warranted, and face the consequences if you’re deemed wrong.

Of course, there is an alternative, which would be simply to stop killing people because they think and act differently from you, or are in the way, or whatever. But yea, that would never work.

Update: I neglected to mention that the title phrase is not original to me but was something a long time anarchist friend, Greg Swann wrote years ago, in 2005 (final paragraph). Visit his current blog, SplendorQuest.