[BreeveKambmak]

Piano, on education I agree with you. There is very little motivation for someone with an advanced math/science degree (hell, with Buisness earning more than ay other math/science, it is hard to get people to GET those degrees now!), there is almost no way someone trained in those fields would work in todays schools.

The other thing that does not factor in well is the socioeconomic split. Classic upper middle class flamilies having less children, but spending extra time and $$ to make sure their kids do well, to lower income families that, on average, have more kids and are less motivated to encourage them to do well (many believe it is up to teh teachers to teach and is not the parents responsibility to do anything but hold them to it).

This split does more to damage the "average" education level of students across the nation than just about any lack of funding. When a society wants to learn, you can get a group of them in a rickety shack in the middle of a 3rd world town all scribbling with chalk on their slates learning more english than some of our own children do where it is expected that they be provided with computers and equipment for sports like Football.

Anyway.

As for food, on the Mediterranian cruise the wife and I took, we saw many touristy spots, but the best were the spots we visited just outside the beck and call. there was something more genuine about a lot of them. The Italian farm and such. Although some areas were run down and downright depressing, others were fun to explore and great to find that little shop that served stuff more for the workers of teh tourist trade than the tourists themselves.

I also agree that you can find so much here, but it is still difficult to find things of quality in any bt the regoin that caters to it. Old El Paso does NOT make a good salsa, and Ortega is NOT a good taco mix. La Choy is a HORRIBLE soy sauce and Ragu is an absolute cattle-piss of a tomato sauce. But, if you are not in an area with a large XXX population, that is what you get.




Oh, MTG, I know this is sensitive, and I agree with you 50%, but sometimes 100% "organic" is not healthier than the use of some chemicals. People have this stigmata against everything, and I agree that BGH, steroids and certain insecicides are bad for your health, but untreated "natural" fertalizer can be worse (e-coli being a biggie there) and other infestations and pathogens.

The problem is not really in the use of these substances, but in the lack of concern with the optimal SAFE levels to be used. With the push for cheap and fast (99¢ lettuce?) farmers and packagers do not care too much about putting that extra bit of preservative, so long as they have a low waste rate in their products.

That being said, I am very much against the current trend of horticulturalists in their desire to crossbreed or gene-splice better LOOKING foods. They are not looking for a better tasting tomato, they are looking for one that is bigger, redder, and stays on the shelf longer. And they are doing very well with that.

So thanks to people who don't know what to look for, and who have never really tasted anything genuinely good, the market is being driven to produce what they want. Good looking stuff.