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EVERY WEEK, WE bring you a round-up of the best longreads of the past seven days in Sitdown Sunday.
For the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you an evening longread to enjoy. With the news cycle dominated by the coronavirus situation, we know it can be hard to take your mind off what’s happening.
So we want to bring you an interesting read every weekday evening to help transport you somewhere else.
We’ll be keeping an eye on new longreads and digging back into the archives for some classics.
While we’re all spending a lot more time indoors, some of us are turning to bread baking as a way of distracting ourselves (or showing our family love). Meet the people obsessed with bread baking.
(The Guardian, approx 20 mins reading time)
But in the past couple of decades, new movements have begun to challenge the prevailing food culture. In the early 2000s, activist and journalist Michael Pollan wrote about how what we eat had lost its link with the land and the farmer. Leading the revolt against processed food, in 2010, Pollan came up with the line that became a catchphrase: “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food.” Dan Barber, a chef on a mission to bring back the links between sustainable farming and taste and nutrition, delivered a Ted Talk in 2008 in which he described modern industrial agriculture as “an insult to the basic laws of nature”. He and others have popularised the farm-to-table movement that is changing people’s eating habits, encouraging farmers to grow varieties for deliciousness over yield, efficiency of transport and shelf life.
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They really don’t understand do they
He should be removed from his position, and put in prison for incitement to murder. Distancing themselves is simply not good enough.
Probably because they actually agree with him but don’t want to admit it publicly.
Exactly Sean, a govt minister in one of the worlds most populous countries puts a contract to kill on somebody’s head and he’s not even removed from his post?!?
Unbelievable. So the minister says its OK to murder. Come on Paskistan. Arrest him!
They locked up Afridi the man who helped the US capture Bin Laden. Most Pakistanis love the minister’s comments and so do the other politicans who are “distancing” themselves for politican reasons/US Aid. If the film-maker lived in Pakistan he would have been executed by Pakistani Blashpemy Laws.
The Americans Give $1.6billion annually to Egypt, not sure how much they give to Pakistan but they did cut their aid by a few hundred million dollars after the imprisonment of the doctor, it was the Americans way of protesting at his arrest and imprisonment. It was also obvious to all that certain elements in Pakistani intelligence were aiding Al Qaeda and Bin Laden and hiding him under their noses.
You have to wonder at the hypocrisy, this Egyptian Copt living in America makes a poor quality film about Muslims which tells of their violent nature.
Muslims around the world then protest about the film – violently, killing many people and causing enormous damage, saying that their’s is a religon of peace and tolerance. This is topped off by a government minister in Pakistan calling for his “brothers” in the Taliban and Al Qaeda to help and kill the maker of the film, he’d put up a reward of $100,000 for the “noble deed”. Not one of the other Pakistani ministers objected to this, they just looked on solemnly.
What did we learn from this? The White House, Obama and other politicians will be quick to condem anything that criticises Islam, but anything that takes the mick out of Christianity and not a word from them. Just look at what that auld wan did to that fresco of Christ in Spain, and she wants paying now. Not a word.
Then we learn that Pakistani government ministers are bestest buddies with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and none of their own government even raises an eyebrow. Who knew?
Pakistan has regularly been not far off from a failed state. Yet the US had no problem funding and allowing the Pakistanis to develop their nuclear weapons programme. The US also turned a blind eye when Pakistan sold their nuclear expertise to North Korea for profit.
Why is the US concerned re Iranian nuclear programme? Nothing to do with oil or thwarting Chinese influence in region.
Have you a source to the assertion that the USA funded the Pakistani nuclear program? I’m under the impression that it was the Saudis who bankrolled it and the US were as surprised as everyone else when Pakistan officially became a nuclear power.
Barry, the US were far from surprised. They knew what Pakistan was up at every step of their nuclear programme. Look up the book ‘Deception – Pakistan, The United States and the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy’ by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott Clark. A really researched, detailed fantastic read on this whole issue. The US has a lot to answer for.
I’ll have a look at that, thanks.
Pakistan will waffle on about religious and regional sensibilities blah blah blah. They will do nothing because they are an Islamic theocracy .
This some what gives an explanation to how Osama bin laden could hide in Pakistan for years.
And why the Americans never told the Pakistani officials what their Bin Laden plans were.
American arrogance, most people thought. It looks like the Americans know a lot more than what most anti yank and conspiracists think. I’m not saying they were right or wrong “to go in” as they did, who am I to make that call, but Bin Laden had declared war on that country and the Americans really do not have any friends in that part of the world. It looks like they are on their own. It could be scarier if the republicans were in power.
It looks like, to me, they did the only thing they could.
When you see things like this, our government aren’t all bad…
They’re still not great though…
Surely the only way to distance themselves is by removing him from office? I wonder how Obama will feel if the film-maker is killed. As president he should be protecting his citizens right to free speech not denouncing it.
This maniac can’t run the Railways in Pakistan and the rail sustem is closer to extintion by the day that passes under his leadership. He is offering $100000 ( out of the American doled money ) to the would-be assasin . It is a sad story of Pakistan today.
Reminds me of that wise old proverb, goes something like “Hey Pakistan* Does your granny have a fan** ?? Does it Sm……… ?”
Personally I taught the guy should have got an Oscar . Bravo bravo .
What is the fascination with Bin Laden? Who cares.
You would have to be a complete dimwit to even consider the idea that he was somehow involved in 9/11.
“You would have to be a complete dimwit to even consider the idea that he was somehow involved in 9/11.”
I guess the overwhelming majority of Irish and American people are “dimwits” by your expert standards. Great another “one world order” “conspiracy theory” genius. That’s weird Palestinian Americans were cheering on the day of the attacks in Jersey City shouting “death to America” and partying. I bet all the attacks by Radical-Muslims in Germany, UK, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, France, etc. after 9/11 were also part of a conspiracy. Not to mention the failed plot in Ireland, against the Israeli Embassy in Dublin. Which could have killed hundreds of Irish also, since the Israeli Embassy shares their building with Irish Companies, by passers on the street, and neighboring buildings?
The same guy who talks about “Syrian Rebels” also believes that 9/11 was an entirely inside job.
Who knew?
are you mates with jim corr?
An anonymous seagull poster.
Fly in, drop a load of shite and then scuttle off.
I never really pay attention to these anonymous seagulls – errrrr except in this case.
Move on!
have your say