Link Log for March 26

Happy Twitterday...meaning loads of links! Today's Categories: Animals, Books, Extreme Weather, Fashion, Food, Foot & Mouth Disease, Immigration, Job Opportunity, Politics, Quotes, Sports, Travel, Weird Science, World News. Whew. This is plenty. After checking in with non-Twitter e-friends I may post another Link Log.

Animals 

Please don't overfeed your pet. Cats' and dogs' ribs should be hard to see, but easy to feel.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/26/pets-fat-serious-consequences-unhealthy-diabetes

Books 

Now I have to read Strahan's Managing Ignatius...I loved A Confederacy of Dunces (any student doing student labor can relate to Ignatius) and later worked with a friend on a snack wagon.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/26/reading-american-cities-books-about-new-orleans

Has anyone ever cited Tom Sawyer as influencing his decision to "become a vagrant"? (Especially considering that, according to Mark Twain himself, although Huckleberry Finn did think about becoming a vagrant at the end of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he later went back to his home town and shared a few more adventures with Tom Sawyer...)

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-32070271

Extreme Weather 

Tornadoes in Arkansas and Oklahoma, including the town of Moore:

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/mar/26/tornado-tears-through-oklahoma-video

Massive flash flood in the desert of Chile:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32062039

Fashion

Cardigans are the height of fashion, the Guardian reports.

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/26/cardigan-comeback-knit-fashion-spring-trend

Hmm. Does any of these cardigans appeal to you?

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/middle-school-girls-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/yellow-sands-cardigan.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/pastels-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/scallops-cardigan.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/monet-cardigan.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/sheaf-of-corn-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-smoking-jacket-and-stocking-cap.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/babys-tomten-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/silver-toddler-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/hand-knitted-by-gena-greene-photos-by_31.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/mauve-patchwork-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/big-turkish-carnation-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/hand-painted-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/rock-creek-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/faded-ribbons-jacket-with-beanie.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/09/painterly-impressions-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/10/dressy-patches.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/10/babys-delight.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/10/four-shades-of-green-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/10/garter-stitch-blocks-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/10/aran-and-fairisle-mix-coat.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/11/timbered-fairisle-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/11/soft-silvery-childs-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/11/babys-cap-and-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/11/maine-pines-cardigan.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/11/santa-fe-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/11/aqua-lace-cardigan.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/12/turkish-carnation-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/12/childs-jacket-and-cap.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/12/color-me-beautiful-spring-jacket-and-hat.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/12/dawns-early-light-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/12/jesters-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/12/knitted-plaid-jacket.html

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2014/12/turkish-scrollwork-ski-jacket.html

Food 

Cookies! (The nice kind.)

http://www.roanoke.com/life/columns_and_blogs/columns/fridge_magnet/new-fridge-magnet-columnist-says-hello/article_b874eb44-410b-5da9-b1f8-815ebf18b360.html

Foot & Mouth Disease 

MSNBC apologizes for Jamilah Lemieux's claim that "Nothing says 'Let's go kill some Muslims' like country music." Er. Um. I have heard country songs that were definitely about "Let's go do some things of which Muslims would not approve." I've never heard one that specifically mentioned Muslims at all, nor am I aware of one that seriously advocates killing...murder ballads, in which the killing has already happened and usually the killer has lived to regret it, yes. Does anybody out there have clue one what Lemieux thought she was talking about?

http://www.teaparty.org/msnbc-nothing-says-lets-go-kill-muslims-like-country-music-91145/?

Immigration 

Katie McHugh's Breitbart.com story reads as more angry and defensive than persuasive...but you need to scroll down to the next to last paragraph to read the key fact. The position of this web site is that conservatives should stop wailing like bashful toddlers about the idea of strangers being around us, and start strategizing ways to counteract the way the Old Left is actively reaching out to those who may not have heard that the Cold War is over..."President Rodriguez"? Some of our conservative correspondents are already campaigning for "President Cruz"! The position of this web site is also that a more crowded United States will not be able to fulfill anybody's American Dream, and people in other countries need to focus on bringing the benefits of American Democracy to their countries rather than trying to move here. 

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/24/nyt-jealous-hoarding-americans-should-let-in-11-million-immigrants-annually/

Turns out that Ted Cruz is not a natural-born U.S. citizen though...his parents were citizens, but his mother happened to be in Canada when he was born. I sympathize. I'm a seventh-generation Virginian but my parents happened to be in Los Angeles on the historic day. Canadian Ilya Shapiro sympathizes, too. But will constitutional law have to be revised to allow Senator Cruz to run for President?

http://www.cato.org/blog/yes-ted-cruz-eligible-be-president?

Now here's a place that could use some immigrants. Points if they already speak Spanish!

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/mar/26/the-spanish-region-as-deserted-as-siberia-in-pictures

Job Opportunity 

If I could depend on anybody else to look after the cats for six months (and yes, the Cat Sanctuary does take in strays in addition to resident cats; yes, we have one this week) I might go after this job, because Grist badly needs some True Greens to help them focus on genuinely sustainable as distinct from Poison Green stories. Well, I'm too old for them anyway. If you're a college senior or recent graduate, this might be for you.

http://grist.org/fellowships/

Politics 

Virginia requires voter registration one month before an election. How bad is this? Does it ensure that newcomers have a reasonable idea which candidates for state and local positions are which, or does it keep people who've moved across town from voting? Both I'd guess. But here's this web site's timely tip for political activism: Get your neighbors registered to vote before October. And provide opportunities for them to find out which local people you do or don't support, and why.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/03/26/google-searches-show-that-millions-of-people-wanted-to-vote-but-couldnt/?tid=sm_tw

Meanwhile, another big hairy land use dispute takes shape in Virginia's New River Valley. Makes me glad I don't live there, although some of our correspondents do, and this web site will doubtless receive plenty of correspondence about it...

http://www.nrvliving.com/2014/11/21/mountain-valley-pipeline/

Quote 

Laura Ingraham quoted Charles Mackay (1841): "Men...go mad in herds, and only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

Sports

Why Bristol's spring Race Week has been moved to April rather than March.

http://www.tricities.com/sports/gregory-bms-date-change-shaping-up-to-be-the-game/article_9fa83db8-d35d-11e4-9e78-ffd84767e21c.html

Travel

Personally, I sort of fancy the idea of taking the plunge (into marriage) at the "Lovers Leap" at Natural Tunnel. But nobody can deny the appeal of Alexandria Old Town.

http://blog.virginia.org/2015/03/places-to-get-married-in-virginia/?adref=twtr0315

Weird Science 

Tobacco mosaic virus helps boil water faster?

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/26/new-discovery-uses-virus-to-boil-water-three-times-faster

World News 

Reuters' Joe Penney took some awesome photos of the town of Damasak, Nigeria, after Boko Haram took it over. The Guardian link is what showed up on Twitter; one or two pictures from this collection will probably be in your local newspaper.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/mar/26/boko-haram-attack-nigeria-damasak-in-pictures

SDA TEA: Can the Mix Work?

Patricia Evans e-mailed this invitation to the last of three public events intended to explore the common ground between some Seventh-Day Adventists and some Tea Parties. For me, these are two separate circles of acquaintance; I'm interested in meeting people who even have both circles of acquaintance, much less belong to both. If anyone living reasonably close to Gate City cares to drive out to Moneta to attend this, I'd love to go along!

"Did you know that the Founders believed that passing debt to future generations was immoral?

Did you know that by 1835, fulfilling those beliefs, even after fighting the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the United States was debt free? (well, almost...only $32,733 or about 2/10ths of one cent per person)

Did you know that by 1905, only 114 years after ratification of the Constitution, the United States, with only 6% of the population and 5% of the land area was producing over half of almost everything in the world?

Please join us this Saturday the 28^th  at 2:00 to re-discover the 28 principles of liberty that our Founders deemed essential for any society that wishes to remain prosperous and free!

We will have light refreshments about midway through the presentation. If you’ll be joining us please click  HERE so Cathy will know how much grub to rustle up.

America: A Miracle That Changed the World

Discover the 28 Principles of Liberty that our Founding Fathers deemed essential for a society to remain free and prosperous

When:

Saturday, March 28^th  2:00 – 6:00 or so

Where:

Smith Mountain Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church

10802 Moneta Rd.

Moneta, VA 24121

Maps

Google    Bing    Yahoo    Mapquest

Hosts and Contact:

Chuck & Cathy Angier

434-927-5030

434-688-2208 (cell & text)

cangier@fairpoint.net

PLEASE don’t hesitate to contact us. Email contact will probably be more productive than phone, but either is fine.

With Blessings,

Chuck & Cathy


--

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."  - Thomas Jefferson

"

Book Review: God Is In the Small Stuff

A Fair Trade Book

Title: God Is in the Small Stuff

        
Author: Bruce (Bickel) and Stan (Jantz)

Authors' web page: http://www.christianbook.com/html/authors/5112.html

        
Date: 1998

        
Publisher: Barbour Publishing

        
ISBN: 1-58660-489-9

        
Length: 250 pages

        
Quote: “God is in the details of your life...He cares about what you are doing.”

        
Yes, these two churchmen call God a “He” throughout this book. Outmoded, now that we’ve all examined the Hebrew words used to refer to God and God’s characteristics in the Bible and observed that they vary not only in gender but also in number; God is not bound to a mortal body, so God can sometimes be most like a She, an It, or a They, and, as Mary Daly has discussed at great length, God’s name of choice appears to be a verb. Yes, there will be other indications throughout this book that Bruce and Stan have done more personal witnessing than scholarly studying. Deal with it.

        
Bruce and Stan have, anyway, come up with some pithy epigrams, like, “Don’t worry about proving God’s existence,because no one can disprove it,” or, “Have a passion for God and compassion for people.” I like the one about, “If you think of the Bible as God’s personal letter to you, you might end up reading it as often as you  read your mail.” I don’t get as much real mail as e-mail; if the volume were equal, I might well be 3000 real letters behind...that’s approximately how many unread e-mails I had at the time of writing.

        
Particularly excellent thoughts are found in chapter 10, “Appreciate God’s Creation”: “Don;’t get hung up on how long ago God made the heavens and the earth. Don’t get hung up on how long it took God to make the heavens and the earth...Science is not the enemy of God, and religion is not the enemy of science.” I’d like to see more Christians challenge the claim that evolutionist theory “has the status of a fact” in real science; evolutionism is a religious dogma. Until we discover a way to compare data about the origins of life in other worlds, it will be impossible to call any belief about the origins of life scientific.

        
A remarkably unhelpful thought appears on page 134: “We can’t always choose the situations that life brings to us,.but we can choose the attitude we will use to face them.” If you’re ever tempted to say this, you know why: either (a) you’re visiting someone who has said it to you, or (b) you are a mean, selfish, thoughtless person who  doesn’t want to do anything to help your neighbor, so you just tell your neighbor some patronizing nonsense about his or her feelings and hope your neighbor will go away. If someone has said it to you, here’s the truth to use to smash the lie: “Fix Facts First, Feelings Follow.”For example, one fact you can probably fix that will help you to feel better right away is the one where this unhelpful person is spouting patronizing nonsense about your feelings. By walking out, hanging up the phone, having him removed from your property by the police if necessary, you can eliminate one source of unpleasant feelings right now. 

        
A thought that’s actually quite helpful, even if it arouses more "ouches" than laughter, appears on page 188: “The best jokes are painless and profaneless.”

        
If you’re looking for a fresh supply of uplifting epigrams, this book is for you. It's a Fair Trade Book; if you buy it here, by sending $5 for the book + $5 for shipping to salolianigodagewi @ yahoo, we will send $1 to Bruce & Stan or a charity of their choice. And you pay only one $5 shipping charge for as many books as fit into one package.

Cat Answers My Question

(Reclaimed from Bubblews, where it appeared on April 3, 2014. Image from Gracey at Morguefile: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/596284)

That's a Morguefile image of "a cat watching" because this is a true report about one of my resident cats. Which cat, I'm not saying. Some things this cat is reporting are crimes, so the cat is in the Witness Protection Program.

We have had some trouble with poachers and trespassers at the Cat Sanctuary. We are 99% sure who they are, but since their harassment tends to occur in the dead of the night when it's hard to identify faces or clothing, we have yet to get solid proof. The cat points out to me, every morning, exactly where anyone's been during the night and what, if anything, they've touched. If asked she's proved to be a reliable informant about which way they came and went. Actually, seeing that the cat got extra attention this way, other cats have started copying the behavior. I have wondered, based on forensic evidence, whether the cat makes a distinction between human poachers who may have been illegally hunting deer, and the deer themselves. In the natural course of events I knew that one day the cat would answer this question, too. 

Sure enough...last week when I gave the cats their breakfast this cat did the gesture-posture thing that means "We've had trespassers. Follow me." So I followed her, and she showed me how trespassers had entered the orchard from the woods and exited via the driveway. At the end of the driveway she did the gesture-posture thing that means "Be careful! Someone's around that corner!" Many times, when I've gone outside (warning: this may spoil some readers' mental image of me) wearing something I don't want anybody but the immediate family to see, the cat has used this piece of body language to warn me to go inside before a neighbor drove past, and dress to receive visitors if I wanted to receive visitors. This time I was ready to confront a trespasser, so I proceeded out to the road, and the cat walked with me and pointed to the trespassers.

Deer, they were. Of course poachers would have run away when they heard the door open and shut. Our resident deer family, however, know that I'm harmless. There were two big deer, two little deer, and two young fawns, browsing in the neighbors' woodlot. And if the cat makes any mental distinction between unknown humans and deer, as large dangerous creatures of whom she feels wary, I couldn't see it in her nonverbal communication.

Of course it's still up to humans to identify human poachers and trespassers by their human names...unfortunately! So I'm sharing this story in the interest of linguistic science. Social animals share information with friends, and this is how much information my social cats are able to provide.

(Update: Continuing harassment has left me 99.9% sure of the human trespassers' names, but still lacking proof that will stand up in court. Social cats copy behavior they see other cats rewarded for doing...all the cats, including little Sisawat, now nonverbally tell me about trespassers. Although dogs and humans continue to be a problem, the majority of our trespassers continue to be deer.)

Link Log for March 25

Today's Categories: Animals In Need, Breaking News, Crafts, Economics, History.

Animals In Need 

Florida is soon to lose one of its cutest hounds. Stroll through a Florida neighborhood with Valentino here:

http://www.dogpawsitivetidbits.com/2015/03/spring-floral-scented-dog-walk.html

...and, if you're feeling munificent, help him and his human relocate here:

https://fundrazr.com/stories/69F982/gp/61I2Q0

The lovable residents of the Cat Sanctuary appreciate readers' support, too. E-mail salolianigodagewi @ yahoo.com for information about how you can support this web site if the "Support My Blog" button isn't working. (With most computers I use, it's never worked.) If the button is working for you, please note that, although you can send $5 to us as "Friends and Family," we get only $4.50 if you use a Paypal "donate" button these days.

Breaking News 

This web site has been documenting the poisonous effects of glyphosate on humans and animals from the beginning, and now the World Health Organization has confirmed:

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2015/03/who-condemns-glyphosate.html

(Yes, this is about those "Roundup Ready" crops, like corn, rice, and peanuts, that should be safe for gluten-intolerant people like me to eat. These days they often make me sick because, in order for these foods to grow in fields saturated with glyphosate, the plants have been genetically modified--made more similar to wheat--by having genes from a species of bacteria that causes drastic food poisoning spliced into them. These days I'm spending less time feeling sick because I'm avoiding far more kinds of food than I ought to be. But I'm neither healthy nor happy.)

Crafts 

Splendid socks...

http://knitting.livejournal.com/10883272.html#cutid1

Economics 

+Theresa Wiza shares a more detailed economic analysis of the minimum wage concept...

http://philosophicalmusingsandinsights.blogspot.com/2015/03/philosophical-debate-on-minimum-wage.html

than this simple one:

http://personapaper.com/article/26448-answer-your-cats-questions-day

History 

Thanks to Elizabeth Barrette for sharing the link to these illustrations of medieval "particoloured" clothes:

http://irisharchaeology.ie/2015/03/split-down-the-middle-parti-coloured-clothes-in-14th-century-ireland/

WHO Condemns Glyphosate

From Food Democracy Now:

"Just this morning, Congress reintroduced the Pompeo bill that would outlaw state GMO labeling bills and make labeling of genetically engineered foods a "voluntary" process, with the USDA and FDA in charge. Incredibly, this comes less than a week after the world's leading cancer agency declared that the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup is linked to cancer in humans. This is an outrage!

​As you ​know, 99% of GMO crops grown around the world are genetically engineered to either be resistant to Roundup or contain their own pesticides. We nee​d Congress to stand up for our health and the future of our children and food supply today!

The World Health Organization Declares Monsanto's Roundup "Probably Carcinogenic​", Now Congress wants to Outlaw GMO Labeling!

ACT NOW: Tell the EPA to ban glyphosate and tell Congress and the White House it’s time to label GMOs! Every voice counts!

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/ban_Monsantos_Roundup_Label_GMOs_now/?t=7&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm

Late last Friday afternoon, March 20th, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a stunning announcement, declaring that the main chemical ingredient in Monsanto’s best-selling weedkiller Roundup – Glyphosate ­­– has the potential to cause cancer in humans. This announcement should have parents and elected officials across the world very concerned, since according to WHO,​ glyphosate is used in more than 750 different weedkillers and is routinely detected in the air during spraying, in water and in our food.

This comes after decades of propaganda by Monsanto and vocal GMO promoters, who have repeatedly claimed that both Roundup and glyphosate were perfectly safe, including such declarations that Roundup is “safer than table salt” and so safe, you can “drink it”.

Incredibly, because of the widespread adoption of GMO crops for food production, an estimated 75% of processed foods in American grocery stores contain ingredients from genetically engineered crops, such as corn and soybeans, that have been engineered to survive being sprayed with ​high doses of Roundup.

Alarming details in the new World Health Organization report confirm past scientific studies that point to real harm from the overuse of glyphosate. According to the report, published in the prestigious journal Lancet Oncology, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup is linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and lung cancer in humans and there is “convincing evidence” that glyphosate can cause cancer in lab animals.
Americans deserve less toxic chemicals on their food, not more! Tell Congress, President Obama and the EPA, it’s time to ban glyphosate and label GMOs. Every voice counts!
According to the new report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), widely considered the gold standard for carcinogenicity review, scientific experts from 11 countries reached this conclusion after working for more than a year to perform “a comprehensive review of the latest available scientific evidence”.
After a rigorous review, the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s 17 member working group concluded that the chemical glyphosate should be reclassified as a Group 2A substance, meaning “Probably carcinogenic to humans”. The IARC stated that there was sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity based on laboratory studies.
The IARC’s new classification of glyphosate is significant because it places it in the second highest category, Group 2A, Probably carcinogenic to humans, and the only higher remaining classification is Group 1, known Carcinogenic to humans.
While the IARC’s announcement is ground-breaking news, the fact that an estimated 80% of GMO crops worldwide are engineered to be sprayed with Roundup is alarming.
Why you should be concerned: Roundup is Everywhere!
Glyphosate is the main chemical ingredient in Monsanto’s most widely used weedkiller on the planet, used for agriculture, home gardens, state parks and roadways, and is currently being sprayed on hundreds of millions of acres around the world, mainly due to Monsanto’s claim of its safety.
While Monsanto originally introduced Roundup​ in 1974 as a broad-spectrum herbicide, it wasn’t until Monsanto’s invention of Roundup Ready® GMO crops that sales escalated.
Since GMOs were first introduced in 1996, the six main commodity crops have been genetically engineered to survive massive sprayings of Monsanto’s Roundup or glyphosate. These GMO food and agricultural crops include Roundup Ready® corn, soybeans, sugar beets, cotton, canola and alfalfa that are either in our food as processed ingredients or are routinely fed to livestock as the main part of their diet.
Contrary to widely repeated industry selling points, rather than reducing herbicide use, a 2012 Washington State University study published in Environmental Sciences Europe found that GMO crops have led to a massive increase in the spraying of Roundup on agricultural farmland.
In the first fifteen years since Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® GMO crops were introduced, the study found that between 1996 and 2012, the application of glyphosate has skyrocketed by more than 527 million pounds.
Monsanto's Roundup Is in our Food, Air and Water
If being unlabeled in 75 percent of processed food sold in the U.S. weren’t bad enough, a recent study published in June 2014 in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry found that glyphosate could be detected in more than 75 percent of air samples.
The study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and found that glyphosate, as a result of agricultural application on GMO crops, was found in 86 percent of air samples and​ 77 percent of rain samples in 2007. The air and water samples were taken​ in the year 1995, before Roundup Ready® GMO crops were introduced. In 2007, in Mississippi and Iowa, one of the study’s authors claimed that glyphosate “was found in every stream sample examined in Mississippi”. Makes you feel safe, doesn’t it?
So not only are millions of tons of glyphosate being sprayed in millions of acres of farmland across the world, but it’s literally in the water we drink and the air that we breath!
Take Action: Tell Congress, President Obama and the EPA that it's time to ban Monsanto's Roundup and label GMOs! We can’t wait until there’s a smoking gun. What we already know it alarming enough. Every voice counts!
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/ban_Monsantos_Roundup_Label_GMOs_now/?t=11&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm
I​t's difficult to imagine the impact on our children, particularly in agricultural communities. Once and for all, Congress and our regulatory agencies need to know that our children are not science experiments!
Thanks for participating in food democracy,
Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! team
Sources:
1. IARC Monographs Volume 112: Evaluation of Five Organophosphate Insecticides and Herbicides. International Agency for Research on Cancer World Health Organization 20 March 2015
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/1378?t=13&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm
2. “Carcinogenicity of Tetrachlorvinphos, Parathion, Malathion, Diazinon, and Glyphosate” The Lancet Oncology, March 20, 2015
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/1379?t=15&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm
3. “IARC: Glyphosate 'Probably Carcinogenic”, The Ecologist, March 23, 2015
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/1380?t=17&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm
4. “WHO: Ingredient in Monsanto Roundup 'Probably Carcinogenic' to Humans”, Al Jazeera, March 21, 2015
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/1381?t=19&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm

5. “Study: Monsanto's Roundup Herbicide Probably Causes Cancer [UPDATED]”, March 24, 2015
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/1382?t=21&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm

6. “Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use in the U.S. -- The First Sixteen Years”, Environmental Sciences Europe, September 28, 2012
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/1322?t=23&akid=1507.359821.SizWNm "

Amvets WWII Film Project

For the history buffs, here's a new documentary project from Lt. Col. Richard Cole, with fundraising link:

"
I'm one of the 80 men you might know as the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders. We are the men that did the unthinkable — we launched Army bombers from an aircraft carrier over enemy territory to show the Imperial Japanese military they were not invincible. Just four months after Pearl Harbor, no one ever thought this was possible. I heard someone say it was similar in today's world to flying a B-2 bomber off an aircraft carrier.

Most of us crash landed or bailed out of our planes in China or along the coast. One plane landed in Russia, where its crew was interned for two years before escaping. Three Raiders were killed while bailing from their planes. Eight were captured by the Japanese — three were later executed, while another died in captivity.

I'm 99 years old as I write this email and I'm one of only three surviving Raiders. I'm worried about how history will remember our mission, but I'm more worried about how few Americans will remember my fellow Raiders and the impact that their lives had on the rest of the world.

The general story of the Doolittle Raid has been told in books and movies, but nothing has been told about the men themselves: what they did as young men, how they lived their lives, and how the momentous event impacted them. The American Veterans Center came to me to put together a documentary to tell the Raiders' story and I was thrilled that someone would finally tell this story!

The documentary will briefly retell the story of the planning, carrying-out, and the aftermath of the Raid. It is important to remind viewers why striking the Japanese Home Islands was so important to our national morale and to the battle in the Pacific.

This documentary, however, is mostly about the men as individuals. It's about their personal experiences on the day of the Raid and in the days and the years after. This is also about life after the war, including the relationship that we shared and the circumstances that tied us together forever.

The American Veterans Center is partnering with Emmy-winning producer Tim Gray to create this documentary and has filmed interviews with me and the few surviving Raiders. The AVC is footing the bill for the film, but it's going to cost nearly $10,000 to finish editing the program.

I hope you consider sending a gift for $25 or $42 (the year of the Raid). If you send $150 or more, I'll send you a collectors print that I personally signed.

I don't know how many years I have on God's green Earth, but I do know that I want to watch this documentary just once with my children and grandchildren to show them the impact that those Raiders had on me and on the rest of the country. I hope that the families of the other Raiders who are no longer with us will watch the film and see just how important their fathers and grandfathers were to this nation.

The American Veterans Center hopes to have the film completed by this summer. If you send $42 or more, I will ask them to send you an advanced copy of the DVD as soon as it is ready.

This is so important to me and I believe it is important for all Americans to see. I hope you will consider helping. "

Dave Brat Feels Rejected

Another precinct heard from...U.S. Representative Dave Brat (R-VA-7) e-mails to ask fiscal conservatives for support. This web site has no votes in the Seventh District. I don't know whether we have readers in that district. We will, however, share Congressman Brat's message...once. We can't do this every time an elected official seeks reelection, but we suspect that this message may become a valuable historical document.

Dave Brat wrote:

"
I refused to support Barack Obama's illegal amnesty in Congress – and now I'm under attack.

On amnesty, the Republican leadership and political elites in Washington DC are throwing our principles and the Constitution out the door – and now they're throwing me under the bus.

Not only has the GOP House leadership failed to live up to its promise to fight tooth-and-nail against Barack Obama's outrageous, unconstitutional overreach – they're actually directly attacking members like me who wouldn't go along with their capitulation.

You read that right. In retribution for refusing to accept the GOP surrender to President Obama's illegal amnesty scheme, I'm being blasted by $400,000 worth of media attack ads and telephone campaigns – by establishment groups run by former leadership staff!

I was elected to Congress by the people of Virginia's 7th District precisely because they oppose just this kind of arrogant dismissal of their wishes by Washington's political elite – and I will continue to do so – but I need your help.

Will you help me stand up to the immense pressure being directed at me by making an urgent contribution of $25, $50, or even $100 today?

There's more than just amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants at stake here – we're talking about the rule of law.

The Constitution of the United States grants the Congress the right of making laws. Republican capitulation to Barack Obama's "executive action" to subvert the Constitution will only embolden him further.

In fact, the President's Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, has already declared that Obama is "very interested" in using executive action to raise taxes.

If we don't draw the line against the undermining of the Constitution for political advantage now, the Congress might as well close for business – and that's why I so desperately need your support – so please stand with me today. "

Book Review: Are You Anybody?

A Fair Trade Book

Title: Are You Anybody?

        
Author: Marilyn Funt

        
Date: 1979

        
Publisher: Dial

        
ISBN: none, but click here to see it on Amazon

        
Length: 339 pages with many photos

        
Quote: “What is it like to be the wife of a very famous man? As the wife of Allen Funt, I should have known.”

        
Hmm. I guess he was more famous then...Allen Funt was involved with the old “Candid Camera” TV show. While divorcing him, his wife passed her time interviewing: Veronica, Mrs. Muhammad Ali; Sandy, Mrs. Tony Bennett; Ruth, Mrs. Milton Berle; Dorothy, Mrs. Lloyd Bridges; Alicia, Mrs. Red Buttons; Joanna, Mrs. Johnny  Carson; Kari, Mrs. Dick Clark; Emmy, Mrs. Howard Cosell; Altovise, Mrs. Sammy Davis Jr.; Anne, Mrs. Kirk Douglas; Shera Danese, Mrs. Peter Falk; Ruth Bell, Mrs. Billy Graham; Lydia, Mrs. Charlton Heston; Jeanette, Mrs. Alan King; Lynn, Mrs. Michel Landon; Patti,Mrs.Jerry Lewis; Kate, Mrs. Zero Mostel; Nancy, Mrs. Carroll O’Connor; Marcy, Mrs. William Shatner; and Joyce Davidson, Mrs. David Susskind.

        
If you’re old enough to remember the husbands, you probably recognized some of the wives’ names too...but not many. Pathetically few, the feminists of 1979 would have fumed; hadn’t they all grown up on the story of how even Roberto Rossellini didn’t feel secure enough to “be Mr. Ingrid Bergman” for long, and why should women be expected to do something men apparently couldn’t, etc., etc.

        
If you were a slightly more levelheaded woman, you remembered that not everyone wants to be a household word, that in fact Jane Wyman left Ronald Reagan because she didn’t want to be a political wife. You might have wondered whether any of the unknown wives of famous husbands wanted to be famous. And if you had been well known in the TV community, in your own right, as Mrs. Funt happened to be, you might have had a chance to ask them.

        
Even then you might have encountered some difficulty. Muhammad Ali didn’t want Mrs. Funt talking to his wife, and finally consented only if he could be there during the interview, and only after asking a question he knew would be considered rude: “Your bosses are going to make a lot of money—why should she talk for nothing? She’s a lady, she wouldn’t ask.” Nevertheless, although America’s greatest boxer didn’t want his wife giving interviews or doing anything un-Islamic, he affirmed that he did want his much younger wife to finish her degree: “I told her to go to college and get some knowledge. Stay there until you are through. If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread they sure can make something out of you.”

        
One wonders whether the interviews were actually done in the order they were written, and whether either the husbands or the wives had access to previous interviews. By the next interview in the book, in which Mrs. Tony Bennett was overgeneralizing that “being married to an Italian was very difficult” and then putting the blame back where it belonged, “Anything I do is stressful,” readers should feel a little more empathy toward wary husbands.

        
However, most of the wives didn’t share Mrs. Funt’s sense of being oppressed by a needy, neurotic, ego-tripping husband. Mrs. Buttons had more serious concerns than ego competition; she outed herself as a cancer survivor. Ruth Bell Graham also felt a need to prepare for widowhood; reading this book during Billy Graham’s years of widowhood gave a strange overtone to his wife’s description of how, long before she died, “we have to take separate bedrooms because [my coughing] would just keep both of us up.”

        
Some wives, like Mrs. Howard Cosell, revealed things about their men that didn’t show up on TV: “He is a worrier, very overprotec­tive...He is reasonable.” Mrs. Peter Falk, on the other hand, revealed that her husband “says he is very liberal, but he isn’t.” And Charlton Heston played defiant “angry young men” well, but his wife said that “he’s the fetcher” in contrast to actors who were spoiled by others’ stepping and fetching for them, and “I think [he] is [the] more openly affectionate [spouse].”

        
Marilyn Funt concluded that “my unhappi­ness was not typical of...being a celebrity wife...more a personal problem between my husband and myself.” If Allen Funt had fans of his own, as distinct from fans of an idea that made clever and comic TV, he probably lost a few when this book was published.

        
However this book is a significant piece of Women’s History, over and beyond the celebrity gossip that made it interesting for my generation. During the 1970s many women emerged from “consciousness-raising groups” with a confused, excited impression that experiences they’d shared with a carefully selected, planned, and organized small group of demographically matched neighbors must be experiences all women were having. To some extent this was made possible by a tendency to identify women like Joyce Davidson or like Joyce Brothers, or Margaret Atwood, Erma Bombeck, Raquel Welch, Rosalynn Carter, or even most of these celebrity wives, as “part of the problem”...not even because they were conservative (the celebrities named weren’t) but because left-wing organizers didn’t want the experience of individual self-empowerment, in any substantial way, to “become divisive” in consciousness-raising groups, to separate the women from the girls. Only unhappy middle-aged girls, e.g. Mrs. Funt, were likely to agree on the need for leftward political movement as a solution to these problems.

        
Mrs. Funt wasn’t typical. She went out and did the legwork, talked to women who didn’t fit in with the consciousness-raising groups, and reported, honestly, that although her problems were not unrelated to the sexist attitudes society then tolerated, they were not part of a syndrome automatically produced by the conditions of her marriage.

According to IMDB.com, Marilyn Funt is still alive, so we can offer Are You Anybody as a Fair Trade Book: when you send salolianigodagewi @ yahoo.com $5 for the book + $5 for shipping, or $10 altogether, we will send Mrs. Funt or a charity of her choice $1. 

Fleece My Sheep

(Reclaimed from Bubblews, where it appeared on May 10, 2014. Image from BlondieB at Morguefile: http://mrg.bz/aGC8cM )

Years ago, a minister for whom I never had much respect introduced my family to Mennonite school choice activist Stanley Brubaker, for whom I do have some respect. I was thinking of the minister (now dead) when I wrote this verse to go with the tune of Brubaker's song, “Lord Give Us Christian Schools.” 

Lord, give me a Christian flock

That easily fleeced will be;

Give to my books innocent looks,

Semblance of purity.

Followers who doubt me not,

Never suspect my plot—

Not like the ones I’ve got!

Lord, give such a flock to me.

Robert Hurt on Privacy Issues at Healthcare.Gov

From U.S. Representative Robert Hurt: 

"Hearing from those living and working in Virginia’s Fifth District has always been, and continues to be, my greatest resource as I serve you. Your input has brought to light problems created by some of the big government programs coming out of Washington.

Last year, a constituent contacted our office to express concern over the fact that he was unable to delete his profile from HealthCare.gov. Even though he decided not to sign up for healthcare coverage through the federal online marketplace, he was unable to remove his profile from the site. When he called the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), he was told that his personal information simply could not be removed.

After investigating the issue, we discovered that others were experiencing the same problem and that HHS had no justification for this policy. After HHS refused to fulfill my request to change this policy, it became clear that legislative action would be necessary to ensure that Americans have the ability to protect their personal information. That is why I recently introduced the Healthcare Consumer Privacy Act, H.R. 1446, with my Democratic colleague, Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota. This bill will enable individuals to remove their profiles and personal information from the federal healthcare website if they decline to purchase a plan through the site.

This issue is critically important given all the reports over the past year and a half regarding the security vulnerabilities of HealthCare.gov. In July, HealthCare.gov was hacked, and HHS did not even discover the malicious software embedded in the site for weeks. In September, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study pointing out that several privacy and security risks from the site’s launch months earlier had not yet been fixed. The GAO report expressed concerns that serious risks of unauthorized access, disclosure, and modification of all information collected and maintained by this website still persist.

To make matters worse, in January, the Associated Press reported that private companies that specialize in advertising and analyzing Internet data were obtaining consumers’ personal data from HealthCare.gov. This Administration was so focused on getting the federal online marketplace to function at a basic level that it did not take sufficient action to ensure that users’ personal information will be protected. Given the outrageous amount of money the Administration has spent building the website - more than $2 billion according to a Bloomberg report - it is astonishing that these major digital vulnerabilities persist, jeopardizing the personal information of millions of Americans.

While I remain focused on repealing the President’s healthcare law and replacing it with real healthcare reform based upon market-oriented principles, the Healthcare Consumer Privacy Act is a critical step in the interim to protect individuals’ personal information. It is my hope this commonsense, bipartisan bill moves swiftly through the legislative process. Congress must also remained focused on its oversight role and continue pressing the administration to secure HealthCare.gov. I look forward to working with Representative Peterson and my colleagues to ensure that individual privacy is protected.

If you need any additional information or if we may be of assistance to you, please visit my website at hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.

Robert visited with Brandy Henderson, Constance Henderson Covington, and their daughter, Ayanna Henderson of Danville (pictured from left to right). Ayanna was the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials’ poster contest winner this year for her piece entitled: “What Home Means to Me.”

Robert met with Robert Vaughan, Maggie Guggenheimer, and Barbara Fried of Charlottesville’s Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Founding (pictured from left to right). "

Link Log for March 24

Categories: Animals, Art, Books, Celebrity Gossip, Crafts, Frugal, Funny, Health, Music, Pain, Phenology, Piracy/Plagiarism, Poetry, Politics, Recycling, Social Issues, Writing...this post is long enough; I'm not going to call this post "#1," but I'm not ruling out the possibility of a "#2."

Animals 

The African moon moth looks a great deal like the American luna moth...but the differences go beyond one being yellow and one pale green. The African moon moth can become a pest species. Liz Klimas reports about an individual moth who found a more individual way to be a pest.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/24/what-a-moth-did-to-a-reporters-ear-during-live-shot-left-him-saying-yuck/?

More exotic animals from +Angel Sharum :

http://www.personapaper.com/article/27657-chattanooga-zoo-video

One of the ducks my husband and I used to watch in Maryland. This one would have been migrating and would have either skipped the parks near Washington, or passed them by altogether; we didn't see a lot of scaup there. The "share photo" option on my Google + page doesn't show the bird in its beauty or the photo in its fortuity. Click here:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/+RayHennessy/albums/6129404264580802129/6129404264392092898?pid=6129404264392092898&oid=115977797497263198843

I should've posted this long comment here, rather than at Google +:

"Last December, I walked past the trailer house where the five teenagers, four dogs, and several cats used to be crowded together. Now the big boys are gone, so who's left to walk with the big dog? The big dog came out and barked at me. (He looked a lot like the one in the picture, maybe bigger--80-90 pounds of muscle.) I shouted "Go in! Go home!" as usual, and instead of going into his home, he bounded up and grabbed my arm. And Iknow all he meant to "say" was something like "Come and play with me," because if that dog had meant any harm he would've left a lot more than three little surface wounds on my arm. And I called the dogcatcher, anyway...because the boys were never able to provide a healthy environment for that dog, because that dog was a neighborhood nuisance at best, and now that the boys are gone the parents and younger kids aren't even trying."

It was a comment on +Sandy Segur 's post, where she summarized the situation as sad. Very. Here's the post again, in case anyone missed it:

http://myloveofanimalsdogs.blogspot.com/2015/03/dogs-running-at-large-are-dangerous.html

For some people, not sitting down in a home where the dogs and cats roam is a matter of ritual purity, part of some people's Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu practice. I've been thankful that my whole-Bible Christian practice is more practical, less ritualistic...but sanitary living with members of different species really does call for a lot of work. Don't we wish that adorable LOL Dog picture could've been real?

http://www.livewagbark.com/life-with-dogs/how-to-keep-your-home-clean-with-multiple-dogs/

Cute photo essay, serious warning:

http://border-collies-in-the-burbs.blogspot.com/2015/03/tim-border-collie-gets-into-mischief.html

Fans of Valentino, can any of you spare a few dollars? I can't; I got into a Major Bind last week when a client kept postponing a recurring odd job, and I wasn't able to cash out a Paypal payout for online work, so I ran completely out of food and money. I had a snack, not a complete meal, on Wednesday, and then a snack again on Monday morning and a meal Monday night. And I shared that meal with the cats, because they ran out of kibble on Sunday. Yes, you can support this blog, too. (If the "Support My Blog" button isn't showing or working at the top of this page, e-mail salolianigodagewi @ yahoo.com.) Anyway +Ruth Cox and her handsome hound have to move, and e-friends are trying to help them raise the money. If you want to help this dog and his human, here's the link:

https://fundrazr.com/stories/69F982/gp/61I2Q0

Art 

Peek at Park Rae Hyun:

http://themillionhair.tumblr.com/post/114421288474/park-rae-hyun-south-korean-female-painter

Books 

Wendy Welch reviews another book that I've not read, but her review contains a helpful hint for fiction writers:

https://wendywelchbigstonegap.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/the-monday-book-the-grace-that-keeps-this-world-by-tom-bailey/

Online writers of the world, do you need covers for your e-books? +Angel Sharum can make a beautiful one...

http://www.personapaper.com/article/27678-book-cover-deisgn

Celebrity Gossip 

Angelina Jolie shares directly with her fans...via a site that I think is becoming less browser-hostile than it used to be...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/opinion/angelina-jolie-pitt-diary-of-a-surgery.html?smid=tw-share&_r=2

Crafts 

Where Jil Eaton hangs out in real life:

http://jileaton.blogspot.com/2015/03/knit-simple.html

Have you ever tried using laundry markers to enhance the possibilities of Easter egg colors? Sharpies come in a range of colors; Dawn Rae demonstrates how they work.

http://reviewthispersonalreviews.blogspot.com/2015/03/sharpies-great-way-to-personalize.html

Frugal 

+kathleen wallace describes the way frugality is supposed to work. I can't say it's worked for me in the past ten years. But it used to work.

http://katyladysjourney.blogspot.com/2015/03/why-i-do-frugal-i-do-and-rich-i-want-to.html?

Funny Stories 

Tsu friend Taylor Swift complained that a standardized test misquoted one of her song lyrics as an example of bad grammar. Somebody actually pronounced that "Somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them" is not bad grammar. Well, neither that nor the misquoted "you got to believe them" is bad in the sense of preventing English-speaking people from understanding the sentence, but I knew better than to hand in either version to a teacher by...oh, grade five at least. (In grade four I liked the way the translation of Anne Frank's Diary retained European-style commas instead of semicolons between related independent clauses. In grade five I learned that, in English, that type of punctuation is marked "wrong." Or in my school days it was. It should be "Somebody tells you she or he loves you; you're likely to believe that person." Of course, C.S. Lewis had told us that in his school days it should have been "If someone tells you that he or she loves you, you are likely to believe that person"--no contractions. Never mind. It's a song.)

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/24/princeton-review-knocks-taylor-swift-for-grammar-in-sat-practice-test-theres-just-one-problem/?

Health (Physical & Mental) 

It's Huffington Post (which seems to work a little better in Chrome than in Explorer, but this web site understands that Gates Foundation computers are programmed to work only with Explorer). And I don't even agree with Maysoon Zayid's belief that responding to trolls helps them; if you enjoy a good flamewar, responding to trolls may amuse you, but I think it actually encourages the trolls. So why recommend this? Because our American cultural mania with "face reading" and eyeball-to-eyeball as substitutes for saying what we mean is hard enough on people with astigmatism, like me, or people with myopia, like Hillary Rodham Clinton...but it's insanely vicious toward people whose cerebral palsy happens to affect their face. The writer known as Shalecka Boone could hardly ever go to a restaurant, concert, movie, even a church meeting in peace, without having to be an activist, and guess what, spastic facial muscles don't make it easy to speak so strangers can understand your words, either. My husband had a student who probably had extensive brain damage, but, like Ruth Sienkiewicz, was always believed to have much more serious brain damage than she had; we had to work to convince people that she could see and hear. So I've seen some of the garbage Maysoon Zayid has had to live with, and I salute her for talking about it and clowning about it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/23/maysoon-zayid-cyber-bullying_n_6912984.html

Nothing else looks as good as being healthy, but some people have always had to learn the hard way...

http://www.velveteenbeauty.com/2015/03/fatal-attraction-terrifying-beauty.html

Music 

Nancy Hardin remembers Billie Holiday:

http://nancywriteseverything.blogspot.com/2015/03/billie-holiday-voice-of-genius.html

Pain 

Just as this document sinks off the front page, into the archive of "Older Posts"...

http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2015/03/priscilla-king-on-painkiller-addiction.html

...an e-acquaintance shares some bad news. Obviously Patrick Nielsen Hayden is going to need to type less, and unless "Dragon" (voice recognition) software has become a lot easier to "train" than it was when a friend got it, he'll have to blog less. This web site joins the thousands of readers of Making Light who regret this, and hope PNH recovers soon.

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/016176.html

Phenology (with a Mini-Rant)

Big Stone Gap...apparently they got far enough from town that they can still see a sky full of stars like that. I wish I could. I used to look up and see views like that, on nights like last night. Last night I walked out around the house, about 3 a.m., and all I saw was disgusting city-street-type lights, not yet hidden from view by trees. And a dull grey sky with just a scattering of stars. Personally I still find it much easier and safer to let my eyes adapt to starlight than to pollute the night with artificial lights. Walking at night, I may miss some things I want to see, but I can see where I'm stepping--until some idjit motorist drives past with nasty headlights casting weird shadows that distort the view. I cover my eyes, even when the headlights aren't excessively bright, because I can see where I'm walking better without the artificial light. Homeowners need to be reminded: a flashlight can help you find things at night, and a lamp indoors can help you read, but by and large the natural darkness is your friend. (Artificial light indoors helps control some kinds of mold, but outdoors it's the burglars' friend.)

https://wendywelchbigstonegap.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/how-soon-unaccountable/

In the daytime I've enjoyed the March Thaw, and yes, my crocuses are in bloom, and in town the daffodils on the south sides of people's lawns are blooming too.

At the Cat Sanctuary this has been the froggiest year I can remember. Many frog and toad species are endangered, although Spring Peepers aren't, so some localities are posting signs to try to remind people to protect their natural insect control. You can actually see the "Frog Crossing" sign on the Google+ page; I can't see it on Bubblews:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/9904477-frog-crossing

Thanks to Elizabeth Barrette for sharing the link, and Zirconium for these spring flower pictures from Nashville, Tennessee:

http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/102440.html

Of course, the nature of the March Thaw is to give way rather quickly to Redbud Winter, which tends to move from north to south:

http://protectoshell.blogspot.com/2015/03/cool-post.html

Piracy/Plagiarism 

Elizabeth Barrette's take on the latest intellectual property piracy issues...very interesting. Oh how I wish this web site's odd assortment of readers were as generous as her niche audience apparently is.

http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/3605745.html

Poetry 

Alice Walker shares three new poems, free of charge, to celebrate spring. My favorite is the one about the sweetpotatoes. American farms produce "irregular" fruits and veg, just like Mexican farms. If you live on the farm, those "irregulars" are what you eat, and they are delicious and nutritious, and nothing you find in a store will ever be quite as good. If it's a factory farm, the "irregulars" are likely to be wasted; whoever picks and sorts the harvest will be told to leave them on the ground to rot. But on a small family farm, the "irregulars" you eat are always fresher, therefore tastier and more nutritious, than the "perfect" fruits and veg in the store.

http://alicewalkersgarden.com/2015/03/poems-to-welcome-spring/

Audrey Howitt on the permanence of words:

http://audreyhowittpoetry.blogspot.com/2014/06/words-and-anomaly-of-time-or-words-make.html

Politics 

Arlene from Israel reports on the election there:

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2015/03/23/overwrought/

Here in the U.S., do we need "surveillance reform"? This link offers an overview...and this web site recommends that, before making a commitment to anything in the U.S. Congress, you go to Popvox and make a real effort to read the whole thing. The benefit of reading legislation pending in Congress at Popvox is that, if you understand it after reading it, you can vote and comment on it there.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/Passcode-Voices/2015/0324/Opinion-Meaningful-surveillance-reform-must-prioritize-civil-liberties

Recycling 

A few years ago, this web site responded to a proposal to extend town sewer lines into a suburb with a discussion of water-free toilets and roaches. That gross-out post became the all-time most profitable post ever to appear on this web site. Now, with due apologies, this web site will share Liz Klimas' gross-out post...not only on The Blaze but with an icky graphic, explaining exactly why some of us might some day shift from charring our nightsoil into harmless soil, to selling it for actual money. (The link as it appears here has been edited.)

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/23?

And, while on this theme, she also found someone recycling styrofoam:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/23/finally-another-use-for-those-annoying-packing-peanuts/?

Social Issues 

Mei Liang Hoe shared Ashton Kutcher's complaint first...he's right, of course. All public restrooms should contain a place to change a diaper. And a way to make that place sanitary enough for a precious baby to touch. Women have been complaining that many restrooms designated for our use don't meet these criteria, either, for a long time.

http://themillionhair.tumblr.com/post/114482983879/hella-nootella-micdotcom-sometimes-gender-roles

Oliver Darcy reports on people who are and aren't proud to be American. (Suggestion: If they're not, maybe they should try being something else. We have plenty of people here.)

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/23/fox-news-asks-people-on-the-street-if-theyre-proud-to-be-american-its-safe-to-say-some-arent/?

"Gift economies" are like communism. Are, in fact, a form of small-scale communism. As systems enforced upon a whole country they'd be unsustainable. As systems developed and practiced by small groups of friends, they're wonderful. More people should open themselves to this delightful experience.

http://www.ic.org/the-richness-of-giving/

Was this middle school bully's punishment too harsh? I've posted the question on my Google + page for those whose browsers can't handle The Blaze. 95% of Blaze readers think the punishment described on the sign the boy is holding up in the picture was just about the right sort of thing to do if your child is a bully.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/23/after-this-dad-found-out-his-son-was-a-bully-he-decided-to-teach-him-a-lesson-he-wont-ever-forget/?

If a celebrity visited your home, how would you treat him or her? All very well to say, as Arthur Chappell does, that you'd treat the celebrity just like anyone else. Some celebrities might enjoy simple entertainment, but you'd have to find room, and offer some entertainment, for the entourage as well.

http://www.personapaper.com/article/27630-fit-for-a-king

Writing 

Lots of reviews...including my review of the classic Easter Egg story.

http://marshasspot.blogspot.com/2015/03/super-sunday-reviews-linky-week-of-32215.html

Tim Kaine on Current Veterans' Medical Issues

From U.S. Senator Tim Kaine:

"I wanted to make sure you know that the McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond is hosting a town hall on Thursday, March 26 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. This will be an open forum for veterans and their families to ask questions about their health care and share any concerns they may have.

The McGuire VA serves the following counties: Amelia, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Essex, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, New Kent, Middlesex, Powhatan, Prince George, Richmond and Surry.  The McGuire VA also serves the following cities: Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg and Richmond.

McGuire VA Medical Center, Room 2K-113
1201 Broad Rock Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23249

If you need assistance obtaining information about services available to veterans or communicating with a federal agency in regard to veterans' issues, my office can help. Click here for more information on how to request constituent services."

Morgan Griffith on Burning the Constitution

From Congressman Morgan Griffith's E-Newsletter:

"EPA: “Burning the Constitution”

Last week at an Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing, I was honored to hear testimony regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called “Clean Power Plan” from legal experts including Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe.  Tribe is a liberal, environmental, legal rock star.  In fact, the POLITICO inside-the-beltway news journal describes Tribe as a "liberal legal lion.”  Interestingly, Tribe taught constitutional law to President Obama, and served as a judicial adviser to Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.  He is no conservative.  But apparently he is a patriot and a defender of the U.S. Constitution.

Don’t let his relationship with the President fool you.  Tribe’s testimony slammed the Administration’s “Clean Power Plan,” saying:

“EPA is attempting an unconstitutional trifecta: usurping the prerogatives of the States, Congress, and the Federal Courts – all at once.  Much is up for grabs in this complex area.  But burning the Constitution of the United States – about which I care deeply – cannot be part of our national energy policy…”

Wow!

And this is despite the fact that Tribe instructed the first environmental law class in the United States and supports “countless” environmental causes.  Tribe may agree with the EPA’s end goal, but he doesn’t think the agency has the authority to accomplish it in this manner.

While a President or Members of Congress may wish for a certain policy to take effect, we have an obligation first to the Constitution.  As Tribe noted in his testimony:

          “EPA possesses only the authority granted to it by Congress.”

As he also noted in a December 2014 Wall Street Journal article:

“The brute fact is that the Obama Administration failed to get climate legislation through Congress.  Yet the EPA is acting as though it has the legislative authority anyway to re-engineer the nation’s electric generating system and power grid.  It does not.”

Wow!

But Tribe isn’t the only constitutional law scholar and Obama supporter to say this Administration is going too far.

Jonathan Turley, a respected George Washington University law professor who has confirmed that he voted for President Obama, said in 2012:

“In many ways, President Obama has fulfilled the dream of an imperial presidency that Richard Nixon strived for.  On everything from [DOMA] to the gaming laws, this is a President who is now functioning as a super legislator.  He is effectively negating parts of the criminal code because he disagrees with them.  That does go beyond the pale.”

Wow!

Turley has spoken out a number of times regarding this Administration’s apparent affinity for executive action and overreach, and had been tasked by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) with handling the House of Representatives’ lawsuit against the President regarding certain Administration actions relating to the Obamacare health care law.

Further, Bruce Ackerman, a Yale Law School professor described by the Washington Post as a “famous liberal constitutional law scholar” wrote in a 2014 Wall Street Journal opinion piece in regard to action against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) without congressional authority:

“[President George W.] Bush gained explicit congressional consent for his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.  In contrast, the Obama administration has not even published a legal opinion attempting to justify the president’s assertion of unilateral war-making authority.  This is because no serious opinion can be written.”

And these three gentlemen are not the only liberal critics of this Administration’s overreach.  Among others, in a recent teletown hall, a self-described Democrat constituent indicated the only thing he agreed with me on was trying to check this Administration’s overreach.

Like the constituent, I believe that first as Americans, we must agree to defend the Constitution.  Then we have the freedom to disagree about all the other issues.

Benjamin Franklin, emerging from the Constitutional Convention, is said to have been asked what sort of government had been created.  As the story goes, Franklin responded, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

I will fight the so-called “burning of the Constitution” to ensure our Republic survives.  I pray you will do the same.

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 www.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."