Obligatory Fundraising Links
There's some indication that, due to a system glitch, some Indiegogo links I've posted may have disappointed some potential sponsors. Oh, how sorry I am about that. Please, please forgive me! Here's the link the site recommends that youall use as of today:
http://igg.me/at/frugalgraciouslivingchallenge/x/997637
As noted in the latest update on that site: If I'm still around in November, I will definitely not be taking a $2000+ cruise with Jonah Goldberg
and other National Review celebrities, much as I'd like to meet the Goldberg family, especially the dingo. (I've wanted to meet a tame dingo ever since I read Ajax
in grade three.) I will be reading his new books, and I may be "reading" them on Twitter, the way I've been "reading" The Conservative Heart
--which inspired this whole project. I do see the Frugal Gracious Living Challenge as profoundly political, because it's about reversing the long-predicted tendency for democracies to collapse by offering public pensions to able-bodied people. That does not, however, mean that the individual blog posts will be about fiscal conservatism. What I want to do with this blog is discuss the practical details of having more fun with less money than you thought was possible. That means minimal opinions, maximal facts--menus, recipes, do-it-yourself projects, free and cheap stuff, homemade music--content that can be useful to as many different kinds of low-income people, in as many different countries, as possible. So, if you're a left-winger who wants to be able to read my blog without reading political content that causes cognitive dissonance, you absolutely should fund the Frugal Gracious Living Challenge. You could even get in a legitimate left-wing charity--fyi, +Garrison McDavid , the (left-leaning minority) Democratic Party in my home town have set up a beautiful little tuition scholarship fund, which I could support with a clear conscience.Airline Security
Go ahead and laugh; this phrase is a joke. Dan Lewis
reports:http://nowiknow.com/unchecked-baggage/
Animals
There's nothing quite like watching a wounded eagle fly again. Here are some photo clips.
http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/blog/birding-at-its-best-at-virginia-state-parks?
Books (and Magazines)
+Neil Gaiman thinks this sounds like fun. So do I. If anybody out there has a lot of money, and has money left over after funding the Frugal Gracious Living Challenge, they should fund this wacky, arty magazine...its prospectus reminds me strangely of Andrei Codrescu
.https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/outlook-springs/x/997637#/
Charity
Right. This web site stopped nagging you about helping Syrian refugees after it became obvious that those trying to rescue Syrian refugees were instead receiving masses of miscellaneous Middle Eastern deportees, many of whom now seem to have been deported for good and sufficient reason. ISIS is obviously quite nasty enough to send shiploads of violent criminals into the U.S., probably promising them pardons if they succeed in committing crimes against us etc. etc. Our more paranoid correspondents were right; I was wrong. But some conservatives do have hearts. Some conservatives are in the Middle East, trying to help bona fide refugees.
http://www.grassrootsaction.com/r.asp?U=661947&CID=201412&RID=45434200
(Yes, as Scott Adams pointed out, some bona fide refugees are young men...but when a picture marked "refugees" shows only young men, I mean not just two guys posing for a snapshot but hundreds of young men, all of whom have apparently abandoned any parents, children, or wives they had, something is definitely wrong with that picture.)
Christian
What it's all about...
http://www.brookelynnbooks.com/blog/the-cross-is-enough
Civil Liberties
Nice people always use cash. If we seriously converted to a "cashless digital economy," you do know what would happen...Read The Handmaid's Tale
. Recognize that we don't currently have an epidemic of sterility, and the generation in power are at a less sex-ridden stage in life, so the kinky sex motif probably will not be a factor in determining who become second-class citizens or non-persons. Want to guess what will? Or would you rather just burn your plastic, disconnect any online payment systems you may have used in the past, and (if you have a business) advertise substantial discounts for cash payment?http://grassfire.com/the-global-conspiracy-to-ban-cash-regulated-restricted-and-phased-out-of-existence/
Food (Yuck)
Is this "salad" healthy? There's another problem: Raw kale, like raw green beans, is not the easiest food to digest. I eat both, in moderation, and like them, and they don't make me sick--we're not talking about GMO corn!--but humans seem to get more of the nutritional benefit of kale after it's been cooked.
http://grassfire.com/mcdonalds-just-came-out-with-a-healthy-kale-salad-but-theres-just-one-problem/
Glyphosate is not only used as an herbicide. It's toxic enough that some food processors in the U.S. have been using it as a preservative. Which I suspect is why there was a year when peanuts made me sick, and in December potato chips made me sick.
http://detoxproject.org/1253-2/
Food (Yum)
Vegan? Allergic? Here's how to use flaxseed for a nutritious egg substitute that works...better in some recipes than in others, but it does work. I've tried it.
http://www.food.com/recipe/flax-vegan-egg-substitute-104832
Gardening
Milkweed is called a weed, and to my eyes it's not the loveliest of flowers...but if you plant it you'll have flying flowers all summer. Monarch butterflies are only a beginning.
http://livemonarch.org/
Language
Good news in case the Internet collapses, and we all have to go back to using typewriters that don't have all the fancy accent marks: The French Academy has declared some of the accent marks in French optional.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2016/feb/05/why-are-the-french-so-upset-about-the-circumflex?CMP=twt_gu
Music
Neil Gaiman
rocks. In what sense? Listen and find out?http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/were-seeing-the-end-of-an-era-amanda-palmer-on-david-bowie-and-her-new-tribute-ep?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
Obituaries
No link, but this web site notes the passing of U.S. Army Corporal Frank Buckles, the last surviving veteran from World War One (my grandfather's war).
Phenology Link
This Seattle blogger's committed to do a daily phenology post, and has a better digital camera than I have.
http://www.metrofieldguide.com/365-nature-day-34/
Politics
Donald Trump, #BankruptcyBillionnaire , has a foul mouth and an infantile temper. The White House has seen those things before. "Give'm Hell Harry" Truman was known for his foul mouth, and many loved him; Theodore Roosevelt was known for using "bully" as a term of high praise, and many still cherish his memory. But neither Truman nor Roosevelt was infamous as being a bully, in the sense of a jerk, throughout his private career. Bill Clinton, who is not a gentleman, liked Trump because Trump made Clinton look like a gentleman, in a comparative sense; people in Washington despised Trump for that reason. (People like my husband, who liked Clinton personally and admired Alan Greenspan's work.) He's not merely an outsider in the sense that Jimmy Carter was one, or that Rand Paul or Ben Carson would be one. Trump is a a reptile.
The difference is that if you're at a reception and you're introduced to an outsider, you shake his or her hand, but still, you've only just met the person; you're not--yet--friends. Being an outsider can impede a politician's work unless the said politician has a few friends who are insiders; otherwise, there's nothing wrong with being an outsider. If you're introduced to a reptile, you step back, boggling, and want to find out who brought this undesirable person in...that person is likely to become an outsider.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430628/donald-trump-business-record-bully
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430126/donald-trump-conservatives-oppose-nomination
Now, on a more pleasant topic: U.S. Representative Mia Love just introduced--reintroduced, actually, a revised and updated edition of--a bill that would require legislation presented in Congress to stick to one subject and be written coherently enough that members of Congress would never have to "pass it to find out what's in it." Her bill now has eleven co-sponsors in the House, and Rand Paul has a "twin" bill in the Senate. Currently, although these bills are about as bipartisan as legislation can get--do Democrats want their representatives to have to vote for things they hate in order to get a vote on things they want?--they've been sponsored only by Republicans. As Jim Babka notes, this is just not right. If you are a Democrat, know Democrats, or live in a bipartisan State and are therefore (mostly mis)represented by Democrats in Congress, please help encourage Democrats to support the One Subject At A Time Act. The link below is a toolbox you can use to see the bills on Popvox, write to your Congressfolk about them, "Like" Rep. Love on Facebook if you still use Facebook, and more.
http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6a89b73599e68a4cdf6730e21&id=d938eb0ba6&e=e038f280b8
Dave Barry
sees the funny side in Iowa...I think DB would want youall to know that, in a related study conducted at the University of Maryland, several people who grew up in the state of which he was governor weren't sure which party Martin O'Malley belonged to. (I'm not altogether sure that Governor "We Have Plenty of Rainfall, Why Can't We Tax It?" was sure, either. He sounds very confused.) Maryland teenagers were also hazy on the location of New Hampshire...presumably not the same Maryland teenagers who go to New Hampshire for summer vacation, but it's hard to tell.http://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article58673073.html
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/02/05/reporter-asks-college-students-to-point-to-new-hampshire-on-a-map-check-out-the-responses-he-gets/
The good thing about teenagers is that they do eventually grow up. (Confidentially, Nephews, when my natural sister was the age some of you are now, and I was a college freshman in Maryland, my sister missed the question "Between which states is Washington, D.C., located?" She has since absorbed that information.) Now, for those between ages 15 and 30--well, they're saying up to age 36--who can find each of the United States on a map, first try, and who are interested in politics, and who would enjoy a day trip to Cincinnati, some of this web site's correspondents would like to meet you. Those who type in the most interesting (serious) answers to this survey can win a free trip to Cincinnati. All they're promising is transportation and networking opportunities, Older Nephews. Shopping, restaurant, and sightseeing money are your affair.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HWWVF8Q
Safety Issues
Fair disclosure: this hasn't seemed to be happening in my part of the world, but out on the Pacific Coast...
https://takebackyourpower.net/1000s-of-smart-meter-fires-new-whistleblower-court-evidence-video/
More fair disclosure: Glyphosate is not the only agricultural chemical associated with bone cancer. These people had probably handled others. No importa! Glyphosate contributes to cancer; it should be banned.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-lawsuit-idUSKCN0RT2L220150929
Meanwhile, from Senator Kaine...it's called a press release, but it's on his web site.
http://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/sens-warner-kaine-call-for-additional-funding-to-respond-to-zika-virus
Sports
Wise man on the history of the Super Bowl:
http://www.heraldcourier.com/sports/oral-history-of-super-bowl-i-with-wise-native-carroll/article_4b24793a-cc3d-11e5-80f6-2fb0c662e3e4.html
Women's Issues
Helen Lewis writes about the Cologne attacks.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2016/02/no-feminists-aren-t-scared-write-about-cologne-attacks
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