Since during Lent, many of us fast to show our solidarity with those who have little to eat, I thought I would present you with these conflicting images. Not to make you feel guilty, although a little guilt is sometimes a good thing, but to show the extreme inequities in our world. Perhaps, seeing this will help us , not only give more  food to those who have little, but more importantly, to be the pioneers who will change systems and economies so that these gross injustices will cease.

The first look is the piece written by Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. He reviews the Meadowood Inn near St. Helena. Read and enjoy  a description of some of the courses of this $155 meal (not including the wine, of course):

After the complimentary courses, the meal kicks off with a long, tissue-thin strip of vivid red Wagyu beef, cured in pine from the property. It has a slight resinlike flavor and looks like a psychedelic forest topped with circles of pickled kohlrabi, lengths of sea beans, dollops of caviar and little puddles of creme fraiche with the airy texture of whipped cream.

That's followed by an equally artful arrangement of cannelloni, stuffed with sweetbreads on a creamed spinach puree, bejeweled with dots of butter-braised turnips, delicate leaves of miner's lettuce, hedgehog mushrooms, slices of truffles and a truffle broth poured on tableside.

Every luxury ingredient is given star treatment, including lobster roasted in lime salt. It's served with dollops of sweet squash puree, cubes of caramelized sauteed apples and a restrained scattering of vadouvan, an Indian-inspired spice blend. Again the blend of exotic flavors and unlikely combinations came off seamlessly.

But the standout was the meat course of nickel-size medallions of tender goat meat poached in whey. They're garnished with a scattering of barley, dots of goat cheese, delicate yellow flowers, a splash of olive oil and just-sprouted blades of grass plucked from the winter vineyards. The meat is as tender and mild as chicken, yet with a sweet earthiness that sets it apart.

On another course the presentation was just as alluring. Kostow slices squab breast thin and arranges it so precisely that it looks like miniature packaged bacon, set on a bed of toasted pistachio butter, and covered with dollops of carrot puree, glazed cocoa nibs and tiny carrots, all dusted with grated frozen foie gras.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/18/DDN81BQNJH.DTL#ixzz0gUpHcqtB

Now watch the video “Dirt Poor Haitians Eat Mud.”  Yes, you read that correctly. Some Haitians are reduced to eating dirt. These people live in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and live on less than $1 a day.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/19/dirt-poor-haitians-eat-mu_n_168339.html

The devastation of Haiti had a profound effect on the Catholic church of Haiti. It is devastated. Read this from Rocco Palma's account in Whispers in the Loggia:

Coming up on a month since Haiti's "monster" 7.0 quake struck, its toll in the hundreds of thousands, the same obviously can't be said of the heavily-Catholic country. But with the recovery stage now past -- and, indeed, most worship still being held outside -- today's Miami Herald reports that efforts to rebuild the country's ravaged ecclesial apparatus are already underway.

Given the tragedy's distinction as the "the most devastating natural disaster [ever] to hit" a local church, what awaits is no mean task:

More than three weeks after disaster shattered Haitian life, the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Catholic church and the Vatican have quietly begun the task of rebuilding the Catholic church in Haiti, arguably the country's hardest-hit institution. Churches of other denominations are also looking toward reconstruction.

Sacred Heart was among at least 60 Catholic churches that collapsed in the 7.0 quake that killed more than 100 nuns and priests and the top church leadership. It's estimated that seven out of every 10 Catholic churches were lost. Damage estimates run in the tens of millions of dollars.

The earthquake is believed to be the most devastating natural disaster to hit a Catholic diocese, said Bishop Joseph Lafontant. With the death of the archbishop and vicar general of Port-au-Prince, Lafontant is now one of the church's top leaders in Haiti.

``As for material things -- we can rebuild,'' he said last week during a break from a daylong meeting with surviving priests. ``In lives, the archdiocese suffered.''

In a country where the government has always struggled to provide even the most basic services, the Catholic Church has always been a lifeline -- it runs schools, hospitals, orphanages and charities.

``In Haiti, the church is like a central living womb for the community,'' said the Rev. Reginald Jean-Mary of Miami's Notre Dame d'Haiti church, who has been conducting prayers and officiating funerals at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Port-au-Prince....

``We're talking about tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars of damage,'' said the Rev. Andrew Small of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaking only of the damage to church structures. The Vatican has tasked the U.S. church with spearheading reconstruction in Haiti, and Small is leading that effort....

``This is a many-year process,'' said Small, who recently flew to Port-au-Prince to evaluate damages.

As a modest first step, the U.S. Catholic church has sent $30,000 worth of equipment to revitalize Radio Soleil, a Catholic radio station operating out of a van in minimally damaged Pétionville. While vast numbers of Haitians still don't have churches to attend, they can listen to prayers on the radio, Small said....

[R]estoring the Haitian church will take longer and be costlier than anything that's come before.

``You are not just talking about the church buildings. You are talking schools, clinics and dispensaries, convents and seminaries,'' said Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, a former Miami pastor who is working with Small on rebuilding.

``It's safe to say Port-au-Prince will need a cathedral again and the country will need seminaries once again, but where they are and how we go about doing it will need to be decided with the Haitians,'' Small added.

The Rev. Jean-Mary of Notre Dame d'Haiti is one of several South Florida Catholic clergymen to rushed to Haiti to fill the spiritual void. Others include the Rev. Robés Charles of St. Clement in Wilton Manors and the Rev. Jean Pierre of St. James in North Miami.

They are spearheading an effort that will soon have South Florida priests taking rotations there.

``You have bodies of your people, students, still in the rubble,'' Jean-Mary said. ``The survivors are in a state of shock. They are people of faith. They are not supermen and women. Down the road, construction of the church will be essential. Without that, people cannot go on.''

PHOTO: Getty

The federal legal battle over same sex marriage is ongoing. So does the battle rage in the States. Emotions are high with both sides adamantly committed to their position.

At the outset and without a lot of detail, I want to state my bias. I believe that traditional marriage, i.e. marriage between a man and woman is a core element to the stability of our society and the best thing for children. I believe, on the other hand, that homosexuals deserve rights and protections from discrimination and the respect due to any child of God.

Having said that, I want to raise the problem that lurks behind the same-sex marriage issue that is profoundly troubling. It is this: If same sex marriage becomes a constitutionally protected "right" as is now being argued in federal court, there will inevitably be serious restrictions on the freedom of worship. Put simply, Catholics who believe that marriage is a sacrament reserved for men and women will be coerced by the State to compromise or reject its belief system.

If sexual orientation becomes a "protected class" like race or ethnicity, the church and its affiliates will be bound by discrimination laws to deal with same sex marriage and homosexuality as it is, willingly, with race.

Here are a few examples of issues that have already come to the forefront:

In 2007 a California Lutheran high school was sued for expelling two girls who engaged in “homosexual conduct” on campus. The school eventually won this suit. Whether or not the school could win with a constitutional ruling and protected status is very problematic.

Also in 2007: The Oakland city government found the words “Marriage is the foundation of the natural family and sustains family values” to be a hate crime and reprimanded a group of Oakland city government employees for using these words on a flyer in the workplace.

And in Massachusetts:

Catholic Charities was forced out of the adoption business for the first time in 100 years because it will not place children with homosexual couples. A similar dislocation of adoption services took place in Catholic charities of San Francisco.

In New Jersey:

Ocean Grove Camp Ground, a Methodist camp, lost its state tax exempt status for not hosting a same-sex union in its marriage pavilion.

There are many more examples of this.

Kathryn Jean Lopez has this in her National Review article today:

Pres. Barack Obama’s nominee for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a Georgetown University professor named Chai Feldblum, wrote in 2006 that “just as we do not tolerate private racial beliefs that adversely affect African-Americans in the commercial arena, even if such beliefs are based on religious views, we should similarly not tolerate private beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity that adversely affect LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] people.” Feldblum believes that there is a “zero-sum game” being played between religious freedom and the homosexual activists, in which “a gain for one side necessarily entails a corresponding loss for the other side.” Religious liberty, in Feldblum’s estimation, must give.

Much more is at stake here than same-sex marriage.