From the Editor

Before a nation troubled with an impending pandemic, headlines of fake meat and climate-killing “cow farts” circulated the internet. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer sat neatly on store shelves, and basketball fans were eager to fill out this year’s bracket.

It has occurred to me that we humans seem very attached to catch phrases, something short, snappy and easily repeatable. I remember when the Tyson fire happened last August, one news article called it a “black swan” and pretty soon, everyone was calling it a black swan which, personally, I think is too suave a name for something that shook up the beef industry so much. Better to call it a “black buzzard” or something equally unsavory.

Yet again, the country is worshipping the golden calf that rules our wealth: the stock market. Forgive me if I try and exit from the back pew.

My sweet grandma was notorious for slicing overly generous portions of pie, cake or really anything that was categorized as “added sugars” in the MyPlate nutritional guidelines.

In an era of 24-hour news cycles, constant digital streaming and sensory overload, we don’t use our minds very well. The brain is the most complex and underappreciated organ in the body. Perhaps we should exercise ours with a balanced set of tools – including among them a healthy dose of skepticism.

It’s that time of year when Bowflex and Jenny Craig monopolize our televisions and the parking lot to the gym looks like a corral on shipping day.