Rethos.com - jillettinger's News Feed

Dear America: Are You Really Going To Eat That?

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:17:33 -0400

While much of the globe is constantly faced with scarcity, disease and starvation, the Western world insists on self-inflicted suffering via those American Dreams we’ve got our chubby fingers so tightly wrapped around. As strange as it may be to comprehend, many Americans are literally starving themselves through gluttonous over-indulgence. Author John Robbins (Diet for a New America, The Food Revolution) has noted that there are equal numbers of people in the world (roughly 1.2 billion of each group) suffering from diseases related to povert...

Cleaning Up Soap: Why The Bronner Family Is Washing Out A Few Mouths

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:21:13 -0400

What we eat, drink and breathe is certainly important, but so is what we absorb through our skin. The skin is an organ – our largest in fact. Our internal control centers are all wrapped up inside this giant organ, yet we seem to forget (or ignore) this truth. Perhaps it’s because our personalities and identities appear to be forged through our skin’s shapes and colors. We deem it as a reflection of our deeper “organ-less” self, when it is simply just one part of the whole.

Contrary to red carpet commentary and style magazine recommendation...

The Sinner's Dilemma

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:25:21 -0400

Christian ideology is as American as store-bought apple pie and rising oil prices. Whether or not one calls themselves a Christian, our culture has adopted beliefs and behaviors espoused by this doily-trimmed dogma. Media and marketing outposts deliver suggestive invitations guiding Americans into “guilty pleasures” and abashed self-serving rituals. We collectively covet the seven “deadly” sins we’re supposed to be avoiding. Whether (1) gluttonously consuming foods we know are decadently destructive, or having one-too-many drinks after work whi...

Back to the Bottle

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:10:00 -0400

24 American cities (as investigated by the AP) revealed municipal drinking water tested positive for a number of medications, from antibiotics to heart medication. While the levels detected appear far below those of what is considered to be medical dosage, no one really knows the effects of long-term exposure, or how these random-residual cocktails interact in humans or wildlife.

Or, maybe the answer has been right in front of us all along.

We try hard in America. We may...

The Wasted Years

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:24:14 -0500

“Our enormously productive economy…demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption…we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” – Victor LeBeau, Retail Analyst Post WW II

Circling the web like a good Mom rounding up kids for school, the Story of Stuff's viral message is affectionate...

Is Unhealthy the New Healthy?

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:24:58 -0500

By Jill Ettinger

In the current issue of Conde Nast’s Portfolio, Joe Keohane takes a look at the gluttony pushers at CKE restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardees. The two fast food chains are ruthlessly appealing to their male-dominated audience with indulgent sandwiches, like the “Monster Thickburger.” At a time when McDonald’s is at least pretending to slim down, by adding salads and seemingly healt...