Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Book Review: Hallowed Bones

Title: Hallowed Bones

Author: Lucy Smoke

Date: 2026

Publisher: St Martin's

ISBN: 978-1-250-41375-8 (e-book)

Quote:  "May your feral independence burn bright enough to be historically inconvenient."

"Lucy Smoke" sounds like a woman's name but this book was really written by a man--even if a woman typed the actual words. You know it because, even though the premise of the story accepts the modern "TV witch universe" rule that really good witches have to be female and hereditary magical powers go bad if inherited by men, even though the "Sons of Salem" are considered unlucky and shunned by other covens of "real" witches in Salem and Ipswich, still...

1. Most of the action in this book (volume one of a series) consists of one girl being taught about who she is and what she's inherited by four boys, all just slightly older than she is.

2. She's the one whose "untrained," unsuspected magic powers have attracted the bad luck, including the fire in which her parents died and undescribed disasters that got her expelled from high schools. (The book doesn't explain why she has black hair with a dramatic white streak, and the reason probably does have something to do with Tulsi Gabbard on television having reminded the writer of fictional TV characters with streaked hair, but in reality, when young people have a white streak or spot, the white hair is probably growing through scar tissue. This fun fact may or may not contribute anything to the back-story later in the series.)

3. Her value to the coven is explained to her in terms of having babies.

4. The mystical initiation where she claims her role as witch priestess, the climax of the story, does not involve facing her monsters or the emotions on which they feed. It involves her having very explicit, consensual though rougher than really Highly Sensory-Perceptive people would be likely to like, sex with one of the four boys, in the way that makes babies. 

5. Because, after all, this girl has no plans for a future life; she's too young to be in college, is there just because no relative wants the risk of living with the bad luck she attracts, has no career in mind, so she might as well just get pregnant and drop out anyway, riiiight, baaaby?

Here I stand to testify that, although students who've got into college while everyone else their age is in high school may be confused about their futures, may lack goals, may be really looking for time and space to find out what they want out of life, what they want is probably not premature parenthood. I was that kind of college freshman and I know. 

So this is not a story about "TV witch" initiation as a metaphor for female empowerment. At its core it's anti-girl. Actually the male fantasy at its core isn't really empowering for guys either. I don't think reading it will harm adults, although the sex is explicit enough and the things described happening to people who have not done anything bad are gruesome enough that I would rule this book out of consideration for school libraries. (Knowing that that will make some teenagers want to buy it...but other teenagers won't want to look at it, and shouldn't have to.) 

Anyway: Alexander Hartwell, one of the previous generation of the all-male "Sons of Salem" coven, was pushed away from the coven because his powers threatened a senior male. He tried to live a magic-free life with no reminders of witchcraft. The result is that his daughter's growing up as an "untrained" witch whose powers have been seen as something like a poltergeist effect, but also include giving her nightmares and attracting horrible monsters that attack her. Or they attack other people, including Haven's roommate's boyfriend, whom Haven neither dislikes nor covets, and some adults from town Haven's never even met. They're real; their bites draw blood and leave an infection that makes even Haven delirious. The bodies of townsfolk keep being found in horrific conditions. It seems to the five students and the one surviving elder in the "Sons of Salem" that Haven's initiation as a witch priestess will solve the problem. Well, maybe, but because this is a series, things are likely to get worse before they get better.

There are certainly worse fantasies about psychic "witches" Out There. There are also better ones. 
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Petfinder Post: Great Danes and Large Cats

Great Danes are another dog breed the Bossyboots of Britain want to render extinct. They're another large dog that, though usually gentle and mellow, are kept to intimidate intruders. They're not America's favorite breed, but they're popular enough that most people have probably known one. At least most Americans are familiar with one on television: Apart from his cartoon superhero talents for saying words in English and unmasking criminals disguised as ghosts, Scooby-Doo was a fairly typical Great Dane.

Should people breed more Great Danes? Arguably not. They certainly don't fit into the apartments the Socialists want to herd everyone into. They're not the smartest or most interesting canine companions, too big to be easily transported or bathed but not nearly big enough to win any size records, not very long livers. They've been called "the heartbreak breed" because they age fast and normally live less than ten years. They are vulnerable to several medical conditions, including a tendency to swell up and die from indigestion as well as heart, bone, joint, glandular, and neuromuscular diseases, and may be more likely than other dogs to develop cancer. They seldom bite, but often intimidate people--often enough that some landlords won't rent to people who live with Danes.

"Gawrsh," you say. "Why would anybody want one?"

Because they're there, and they need loving homes, and for a few years they love you back. With a minimum weight of 100 pounds for females, 120 pounds for males, and a rangy body that may stand 7 feet tall when the dog stands on its hind legs, Great Danes are often bigger than their humans--as are many of their humans' humans friends, the Great Danes' humans tell us. You don't mind dating a person who is taller than you are if person is otherwise pleasant to be around, you don't disown your children if they grow up bigger and taller than you, so why would you mind living with a dog who stands taller than you do? Anyway there's something to be said for a dog who will prowl through mean streets with you, guard your house at night, and, if anyone suspicious approaches, knock the person over and lick his face unmercifully. Person is neutralized as a danger to you but, unless he went down unusually hard, in no danger while you flee and/or summon help. Great Danes aren't aggressive but an intruder who gets aggressive with one deserved what he got. They can bite when provoked. They are strong.

Great Danes like to walk with their humans, and they like to sit and lie close to their humans. They can be trained not to rest right on top of you if it affects the circulation when they do, but that is a typical Dane's preference. They're one of the lighter breeds in the mastiff group; they still eat a lot. They need grooming, normally, just once a week (except in spring); there is still a lot of dog to groom. They usually need more visits to the vet than smaller dogs do, and they're no treat to load in and out of cars. But they are patient, kind dogs who offer unconditional love.

Because some Great Danes have heart disease, advice about activity for this breed can seem schizophrenic. Exercise just before or, worse, after meals may precipitate fatal indgestion. Letting a young Dane trot beside you on pavement may damage its growing bones. On the other hand healthy Danes like a good brisk walk, and some Danes thrive on an "athletic dog" lifestyle and participate in competitions. Ask your vet about your dog!

Great Danes and crossbreeds aren't the most common breed in shelters but, because they are just more dog than some people can deal with, they are fairly easy to find in shelters. People are always suffering financial reversals, injuries, opportunities in cities, and so on, and leaving dogs behind. Big dogs are more often left behind than small dogs. 

Along with this photo contest for adorable adoptable Danes, why not a contest for extra-large cats?

Zipcode 10101: Dredd from NYC 


Dredd is a crossbreed; he weighs only 52 poounds. You can get to know him as a foster dog before making the commitment to adopt him. Foster families place dogs more effectively and humanely than shelters can, but you do have to agree to meet new people who are interested in adopting the dog if you don't. 

Cheeta from NYC 


Not fat, just big, Cheeta gives audiences to potential adopters right in town. You need to be over age 18 and have an extra-large carrying cage and litter box. Cats like him usually behave like ordinary house cats; they were born as ordinary house cats but, for no obvious reason, they just kept growing back to the size that was typical of their ancestors. They startle strangers. They purr and cuddle just as normal house cats do. 

Zipcode 20202: Duke from Silver Spring


This one's also undersize for a Great Dane at only eighty pounds. He is known to behave especially well with toddlers and cats. The object inthe foreground is another dog's tail. That other dog would be his brother Cash, who was also available for adoption when the web page was set up. 

Baby Mr Grey from Alexandria 


He's a "misfit" because he's one of those giant cats who started out as normal-looking kittens and just kept growing to the size of their ancestors. Our house cats have been intentionally bred down to the midget end of the size range for their species. Norwegian Forest, Maine Coon, and Manx cats often revert to the full size; even Domestic Short Hair cats ocasionally do, and this one apparently has. Through no fault of his own his head comes up, when he's sitting down, to a level most cats have to be standing on their hind legs to reach. These extra-large cats typically behave like other house cats and don't give much extra trouble, as long as the litter box, carrying cage, etc., provided for them are big enough for them to use comfortably. 

Zipcode 30303: Bearon from Alpharetta 


Bearon may be in the clutches of control freaks; they mention wanting to visit your home, or if you're further away communicate with another animal rescue organiztion from which someone has visited your home. They do reasonably want to make sure they're not sending this 65-pound dog to live in a flat where the terms of the lease prohibit large dogs, although Bearon is only half the size of a show-quality pedigreed Great Dane. Bearon generally behaves well around other animals and children, but he can be a little too protective of his space and toys, so they recommend him only for homes where he'd be the only pet.

Azula from Decatur 


Being in a shelter for months, facing daily rejection, has made this great big fluffy cat a little wary of strangers, but she does like being brushed and admired. Her web page doesn't say whether her "secret crush" was on another cat. I'm guessing that means it was--and he's already been adopted.
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Monday, October 5, 2026

Web Log for 10.5.26

Animals 


Ganked from Joe Jackson's blog. My husband thought of flamingos as icons of Trinidad island. Some people see them as icons of Venezuela. Their range extends through the Caribbean as far north as Florida, where they were hunted to local extinction but seem to be returning. I'm glad. I think of them as proof that God has a snarky sense of humor. A day with flamingos in it can't be all bad.

Cartoon here might give our Silver some ideas...Silver is a good, quiet, obedient little daughter cat. She does not whine. She seldom purrs. When she wants to call attention to herself, she shreds things. 


Good News 

One should never turn one's back on the ocean. Then again, this surfer did wake up in the arms of a beautiful lady.


Music 

Tom Petty.



Point of Grace Music.


Nick Drake.


Robert Johnson.


Neil Young.




Toby Keith.


Thirteenth Floor Elevators.


"The Simpsons" music, in Estonia.


Creedence Clearwater Revival.


Boxcar Willie.


Magic Castles.


Someone who doesn't appreciate dentists.


Ludovico Einaudi.


Patrick O'Sullivan.


Donovan.


Buffy Sainte-Marie. Who looks as if she could be indigenous, and was brought up as indigenous, but turns out to be merely French, like Neil Young. How bad is that? It's not as if she intentionally misrepresented her ancestry just in order to get benefits. Very few Europeans have the kind of hair she used to have so people assumed she had to be a Native American, or Canadian. The first of her records that I brought home, from the early 1970s, mentioned that she was an adoptive member of her tribe. She didn't know, as an adopted child, what her actual ancestors were; she was looking for that information. She was a member of the tribe. She shared her wealth and glamour, such as it was. She admitted to what she knew about her ancestors when she knew it. She is no relation to Elizabeth Fauxcahontas Warren. At some point these things make me wonder whether we're reaching a point where someone's reputation will be trashed for using an adoptive family's name, like O'Reilly, and identifying as Irish-American, when person's birth parents were English-American. Seriously!


Dave Brubeck.


Joni Mitchell.


Strawberry Alarm Clock.


Hermanos Gutierrez.


Aqua Velvets.

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Web Log for 10.4.26

Still ganking...

Amazon 

Got giftcards? Lyn Lomasi has been doing a lot for children, a sick husband, and other Internet writers for twenty years. Now she has a disability, herself. Here's her Wish List of assistive technology, many items under $50.


Books 

Alan Dershowitz gets censored! How do you know Dershowitz? I remember him best as the lawyer John Holt offered to send us during Virginia's school choice battle. His services weren't needed; the movement had a martyr instead, but I've literally been a fan of Dershowitz since high school. 


Christian 

Long, but good food for thought.


Funny 

I doubt that this is true, but it ought to be...


Health 

I'm not sure how much of this is news. Our late lamented Adayahi noticed side effects of statins when he tried a statin-type pill in, what was it, 2007? By 2008 the members of this web site were aware of many of the dangers the Midwestern Doctor lists here. But recent research has quantified some known hazards and added some formerly unconfirmed ones.


This one is extremely disturbing. It charges that claims that the unvaccinated were more likely to die "from COVID" than the vaccinated because some hospital staff arranged it so. 


History 

Some of what some Nephews missed by not going to school in Virginia. 


Music 

Roky Erickson.


Church bell ringers, .


Robin Trower.


Judy Freed.


The Tokens.


Monty Python cartoon illustrating one of the more pleasant things a forced smile brings to observers' minds:


Patrick Watson.


The McCoys. Warning: dancing girl's role as a character with very low social status is visualized by her dancing without a bra.


The Fifth Dimension.




Cathy Maguire.


"Hair," the musical.


Crosby, Stills, Nash and/or Young.






Jack Bruce.


Beatles, together and independently.



Traffic.


John Sebastian.


Procol Harum.


Bonzo Dog Band.


Jamie O'Neal.


Bob Dylan.


Tom Petty.




R.E.M.


Muse.


Creme Soda.


Aqua Velvets.


Peter Frampton...now there's a vintage rocker whose records haven't been worn out recently.


War (the band).


Bill Evans.


Blind Faith.


Ludovico Einaudi.


Yeahman.


Matthew Halsall.


The Incredible String Band.


Robert Gromotka.


Olexandr Ignatov.



Snowy White.


Aaron Gold.




Strawberry Alarm Clock.


Boogie Belgique.


Chequerboard.



Johannes Bornlof.


Florian Christl.


Philosophy 

Rajani Radhakrishnan raises some interesting questions. We all know "you can't take it with you" when we leave this life, but if we could take one thing, what would it be? Most of us would probably name a person--does that person know? Would you take an emotion, a mental attitude? As an activist, would you be glad to lay down righteous indignation forever, or would you drag it into the next world? 

I've never tried to approach life through an emotional filter, and don't want to start. But on Substack, where the Monthly Fluffball isn't paywalled (yet), I see a high level of interest in "fluff" content. I know I feel a real need to balance activism with the fun and friendly "fluff" content, myself, and suspect other activists do too. We live longer and do more good when we keep our blood pressure down. 

(You may have noticed the amount of feel-good content in Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions...if anybody knew how to be very very active, be seen as extremely effective, and still live to age 80, Gloria Steinem did.)


Politics 


Lens credits the "team" of Senator Jacky Rosen. 


Lens says the man is Walton Goggins, but does not idntify the author of the words.
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Book Review: Poisoned Prose

Title: Poisoned Prose

Author: Amy Boyles

Quote: "Mitch wanted an endorsement."

Mitch is the author of a novel called Slasher of Sacrifice.  It contains an actual incantation that was once used to summon malicious spirits. The novel sounds hilariously, outrageously bad, but can a book be bad enough to send its readers into comas?

This is a sequel to Witch's Block and will appeal to everyone who laughed over the first novel in the trilogy. (Actually, it's grown beyond a trilogy. What I have is the initial trilogy.) Reading this series won't send readers into comas but it may send some of them to bookstores to buy every volume.
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Butterfly of the Week: Heraclides Epenetus

This week's Giant Swallowtail is as little known as last week's species is well known. Heraclides (formerly Papilio) epenetus lives in Ecuador and seems good at avoiding humans.

Possibly because of its retiring habits, this species was not named after the usual war hero, but after a saint. Epenetus of Carthage is somewhat obscure in Western Europe and the United States; he is remembered mostly by the Eastern Orthodox church. The name is mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans. According to various non-Biblical writers, Epenetus was one of the seventy disciples Jesus sent out as advance publicity, who are generally thought to be Jewish, and/or he came from Ephesus and was the first Asian convert, or maybe he managed to be both. He spent his mature years in Carthage and was elected bishop there.

The butterfly named after him is one of the "giant" swallowtails, with a wingspread of about four inches, sometimes more. Its only known host plants are citrus trees. Nevertheless, its life history is undocumented. 


Photo by Josh Vandermeulen, Ecuador, February.


Photo by Jonathanaguirre, Ecuador, May. A female? It seems interested in leaves...

According to https://www.loja-zamora.eu/es/fiche-papillon/001-Papilionidae/001-Papilioninae/005-Papilionini/001-Heraclides/022-epenetus/_ , male and female can look pretty much alike, but the male may have a brown, yellow, and orange color scheme while the female is more charcoal gray, white, and red. Both sexes have on the upper wing surface, and to a lesser extent on the under wing surface, a row of pale-colored spots outlining the difference between inner wing and wing tip. These spots may or may not be conspicuous, and the inner wing surface may or may not be much darker than the tips. 

Caterpillars are said to be gregarious and eat citrus tree leaves, but are not common enough to have been described as a pest species. Their preferred species may be wild trees; caterpillars who live in the treetops in forests are easy for humans to under-look. While biig tropical caterpillars have enormous appetites and eat enormous quantities of leaves, tropical plants grow fast and may even benefit from an occasional leaf stripping.




 
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Sunday, October 4, 2026

How Safe Is Decaffeinated Coffee, Again?

From GMO/Toxin Free USA:


"




New Testing Finds Industrial Solvent-Related Chemicals in Starbucks Decaf Coffee as Consumer Lawsuit Challenges Lack of Disclosure

GMO/Toxin Free USA releases Grounds for Concern: Hidden Chemicals in Decaf Coffee white paper documenting methylene chloride, benzene and toluene in multiple lots of Starbucks Decaf House Blend








WASHINGTON, D.C., September 29, 2026 — GMO/Toxin Free USA today released a new white paper, Grounds for Concern: Hidden Chemicals in Decaf Coffee, detailing independent laboratory testing that detected methylene chloride, benzene and toluene in multiple lots of Starbucks Medium Roast Decaf House Blend.

The findings come as Starbucks Corporation faces an active consumer class action lawsuit in a Washington state federal court alleging, among other claims, that the company failed to disclose volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and industrial solvents detected in certain decaffeinated coffee products including benzene, methylene chloride, and toluene.

GMO/Toxin Free USA’s independent testing found substantially higher concentrations in two Starbucks lots tested in April 2026 than in a January 2025 lot. Methylene chloride increased from 22 ppb (parts per billion) to 84-89 ppb, benzene from 28 ppb to 159-170 ppb, and toluene from 87 ppb to 375-400 ppb. Testing was conducted through an independent ISO/IEC 17025-accredited analytical laboratory using GC/MS methodology.

The detected methylene chloride concentrations remain below FDA’s current 10 ppm limit for decaffeinated roasted coffee. The white paper identified no coffee-specific federal residue limits for benzene or toluene. Importantly, detection alone does not establish where the chemicals originated or the health risk associated with the concentrations measured.

Still, the chemicals raise significant transparency questions. Benzene is classified as a known human carcinogen, while methylene chloride and toluene have established toxicological concerns. Consumers are generally not told which decaffeination process was used or provided product-specific residual-solvent testing results.

“This is fundamentally a consumer right-to-know issue,” said Diana Reeves, Executive Director of GMO/Toxin Free USA. “If industrial solvent-related chemicals are detectable in a product millions of people regard as an everyday food, and particularly one people may choose for health reasons, consumers deserve transparency. The coffee industry has the analytical tools and alternative processing technologies to do better.”

The pending class action lawsuit similarly focuses on disclosure rather than alleging that Starbucks exceeded FDA’s methylene chloride limit. Plaintiffs seek relief under federal and state consumer-protection claims and allege consumers would have paid less, or chosen differently, had the presence of VOCs been disclosed.

GMO/Toxin Free USA is calling on coffee companies to publish decaffeination methods, routinely test finished products for residual solvents and VOCs, disclose testing results, and transition toward processes that minimize avoidable chemical residues.

Read Grounds for Concern: Hidden Chemicals in Decaf Coffee white paper.

Read the First Amended Class Action Complaint against Starbucks.

"
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Morgan Griffith on Fraud

From US Representative H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9):

"

Republicans are on the front lines to root out waste, fraud and abuse of the federal government by large criminal conspiracies.

Accordingly, I am taking additional steps to continue the Republicans’ War on Fraud.

Earlier this year, I helped lead investigations into Medicaid fraud. Together with Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Brett Guthrie, and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman, Congressman John Joyce, we probed ongoing fraud in numerous State Medicaid programs.

Our Committee investigations extended to fraud-ridden States such as California, Minnesota and New York.

As a result of our investigative work, which shows nationwide trends in Medicare and Medicaid fraud costing American taxpayers billions of dollars every year, we produced a comprehensive staff report to shed a light on our findings.

The report makes several recommendations.

One is to strengthen federal program integrity guidelines.

Minimum qualifications, screening risk standards for providers of equipment and services, and more frequent screenings as well as background checks for providers are fraud-preventative actions that federal authorities can push.

Another recommendation is to improve States’ capacity to prevent fraud before it occurs.

It is clear that some States make patients more vulnerable to fraud due to weak oversight measures. If this lack of oversight action is maintained at its current trajectory, this problem will continue to persist and grow, allowing fraudsters access to valuable health care dollars and thus robbing resources from patients that need them.

For example, some States like Virginia exercise provider screening and investigative audits. These program integrity tools and practices must be fully applied in more States.

That is why our report also encourages the employment of innovative tools to improve fraud detection capabilities.

Artificial intelligence technologies can complement the above oversight actions to help States better track unusual and fraudulent activity.

As a solution to the highlighted problems, the Committee recently unveiled a package of policies that help combat fraudulent activities, protect public health programs and serve vital health care resources to patients. 

As part of this policy package, I introduced H.R. 10621 – the Medicaid Fraud Fighting and Taxpayer Protection Act.

My bill targets Medicaid fraud by incentivizing States to take steps, such as implementing program integrity tools, that investigate fraud and protect federal health care programs. 

The incentive provided by my bill allows States to receive an increased portion of the federal dollars saved when they identify fraud. This saved money can then be used to support numerous State programs like those in Virginia. 

Ongoing fraudulent activities recently impacted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Virginia.

In Lynchburg, officials notified residents that more than $60,000 in SNAP benefits were stolen from Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards in the month of August! It is believed that fraudsters stole private EBT card information and used the money loaded onto the cards to make purchases.

Cardinal News reported that this crime represented a 21-fold increase in food aid fraud.

Even worse, no system was in place to provide the Lynchburg SNAP theft victims with reimbursement of their stolen benefits.

Thus, the victims found themselves squeezed into a desperate situation. 

Already faced with challenging health and financial conditions, SNAP recipients who lose access to all or a portion of their benefits will struggle to get by.

That is why I am promoting a measure that cracks down on fraud impacting SNAP benefits and supports victims of SNAP theft.

I am co-sponsor of H.R. 3887 – the SNAP Anti-Theft and Victim Compensation Act.

This anti-fraud bill creates new civil penalties for any person who knowingly accesses, uses or transfers SNAP benefits. 

Additionally, the bill provides that States can use SNAP benefits to reimburse households whose benefits are stolen due to no fault of their own. 

These are some policies that can complement the ongoing work of federal efforts that are saving taxpayers billions and bringing bad guys to justice.

Whether you are a recipient of Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP or some other federal public health program, the benefits belong to you, not some criminal actor which are often part of international criminal conspiracies.

I am proud to continue my efforts that target fraud, protect valuable resources for patients and provide leadership for our War on Fraud.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office.  You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at https://morgangriffith.house.gov/. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.

" 

[that nice signature graphic Google doesn't like: Morgan Griffith]
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