Those green pencils are still hanging on the Rhodie. It was bitter cold out there last night and getting in and out of the car was a real treat. It’s below freezing this morning and I’m looking at an icy drive. It has that sheen. The rush hour traffic appears to have taken the hint and slowed down and hopefully the rising sun will warm things up a bit.
I managed to re-pull the same arm muscle while shoveling snow yesterday. Not happy about that.
Slippers finished while talking at the party last night.
The weekend chores got done except for one. I am going to try and fit that one in today sometime. Oh, and I have to fold a load of laundry. Not bad, almost had the whole list crossed off.
The Chocolate Bacon Bark I made for the party last night was a big hit. I made two batches, one with bittersweet and one with milk chocolate. After trying both Dearest & I voted for the milk chocolate batch and took it with us. The bittersweet chocolate overpowers the bacon and the carmel flavors. Dearest told me he would be happy to eat the bittersweet batch none-the-less. LOL!
As we walked into the party last night I saw baby stuff and asked what it was for. Nan replied, "the babies". "What babies?" I asked. "So and So had twins," Nan said. Nobody tells me anything! Yes folks, our friend’s baby is now having babies. They were cute and blessedly quiet 98% of the time - matter of fact quieter than the grownups. :)
Two of my all time faves have passed.
Peter O'Toole, Lawrence of Arabia star, dies aged 81
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25393557and here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25392876 Not long after learning of O’Toole’s passing, I hear that Joan Fontaine has also left us.
Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine dies aged 96
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25395231 Have a good one!
Recommended Reading
The Tiny Swimming Pigs of Pig Beach
http://deepseanews.com/2013/12/the-tiny-swimming-pigs-of-pig-beach/ How Ted Koppel and ABC TV Tried to Steal my Life Work - The Mouse tries to screw a freelance journalist.
http://natethayer.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/how-ted-koppel-and-abc-tv-tried-to-steal-my-life-work/ No Old Maps Actually Say 'Here Be Dragons'
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/no-old-maps-actually-say-here-be-dragons/282267/ NSA officials consider Edward Snowden amnesty in return for documents - so what is in those documents? I want to know.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/nsa-edward-snowden-amnesty-documents Women and LGBT Activists Fighting Street Harassment Hollaback! - And It's Working
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/20637-women-and-lgbt-activists-fighting-street-harassment-hollaback-and-its-working Police Say Teen Shot Self in Head - While Hands Cuffed Behind Back
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/police-say-teen-shot-self-head-while-hands-cuffed-behind-back?akid=11278.204376.XwD-57&rd=1&src=newsletter936781&t=11 Why Is the US Getting in the Way of International Efforts to Make Clean Water a Basic Human Right?
http://www.alternet.org/water/why-us-getting-way-international-efforts-make-clean-water-basic-human-right?akid=11278.204376.XwD-57&rd=1&src=newsletter936781&t=23 Gingerbread village gets world record
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25362429 Google buys military robot-maker Boston Dynamics - Ask yourself “why?”. I think this is number 8.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25395989 Wengenn in Wonderland: Baby's nap becomes artist's dreamscape
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25243004 A Very Good Idea!
Click to view
Go sign the petition:
http://climatenamechange.org/ The Commerce Dept's Internet Policy Task Force proposed making it a felony to stream copyrighted content (aka SOPA Section 201).
Interpreted broadly, this proposal would apply to anyone who uploads a YouTube video of themselves covering a song without permission, a video with copyrighted music playing in the background, even your friend's embarassing karoke performance or your family singing "Happy Birthday To You."
The federal government wants to make streaming -- including material which falls under the "public performance" category -- punishable by years in prison.
As was pointed out last time they tried this, many artists depend on uploading YouTube covers to jumpstart their careers (including the young Justin Beiber...), and many others enjoy streaming creative interpretations of existing songs on their own websites or blogs. This proposal would make both subject to felony prosecution.
Click here to tell Obama NO to making streaming a felony, and NO new SOPA-style censorship:
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/streaming/?referring_akid=2268.655732.bYRpA8&source=taf It is best that you watch this:
'We're building a domestic army' -Marine Corps colonel speaks out
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/15/1231397/--We-re-building-a-domestic-army-Marine-Corps-Colonel-speaks-out?detail=email ***How Government Cover-Up on Fish Farming Affects Your Health - Canada has a problem. It’s lengthy but worth the watch.
Petitions that need your signature
Subject: Here we go again…
The Monsanto protection act is back and may be included in the new 3-month spending bill!
Though wrapped in a “farmer-friendly” package, the Monsanto-driven rider remains simply a biotech industry ploy to continue to plant GE crops even when a court of law has found they were approved illegally.
Will you join me in telling Congress to exclude this dangerous rider in the upcoming spending bill?
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11974&sp_ref=10142675.65.579.e.2444.2 The USDA is about to slash regulations for poultry plants, saving big corporations millions at the expense of public health and workers’ safety.
If new rules are allowed to go into effect, poultry plants will be able to follow less stringent health and safety rules, speed up their production lines, and police themselves for any violations. That means that chicken will come doused with feces and bleach and that workers will be at greater risk of serious injury.
Now the only person who can reverse these regulations is President Obama. Will you join me in saying that these that these disgusting rules are unacceptable?
http://action.sumofus.org/a/usda-chicken/2/?sub=taf Rep. Darrell Issa is trying to pass a bill that would not only end Saturday delivery by the postal service, but also door-to-door mail service for millions. We must stop this outrageous attempt to kill the USPS and hand its business to FedEx and UPS. Go sign the petition:
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/issa_usps?akid=8606.952925.D3Dc4S&rd=1&t=2 They are at it again
The Texas Taliban - also known as the rightwing majority on the Texas State Board of Education - want to revise the state's standards for science textbooks to require the addition of religious pseudoscience when teaching subjects like biology. And this isn't just bad news for Texas school children because the Texas standards will impact the textbooks used by millions of students nationwide.
Texas may want to dumb-down their children by teaching them pseudoscience but I don’t want the children of my state to be taught this way. Tell textbook publishers to stand up to the Texas Taliban and only publish books that are based on sound, peer-reviewed science scholarship. Click the link below to sign the petition automatically:
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/texas_taliban/?sp_ref=7570952.4.422.e.0.2&referring_akid=8622.952925.lJjLf7&source=mailto_sp The Mind Your Own Business Act
http://mindyourownbusinessact.com/?source=Jun13Email America's top grocers are selling fake honey containing carcinogens, heavy metals, and banned antibiotics.
Get grocers to make sure they're selling us the real thing.
http://action.sumofus.org/a/honey-fake-walgreens/4/2/?akid=1806.65932.QE7P4I&rd=1&sub=fwd&t=3 The Wounded Knee site has been held sacred by the Lakota Sioux since the horrific massacre that happened there in 1890. Now, it's in danger of being sold to the highest bidder, including someone who would build a horse slaughterhouse on the plot.
The current owner has offered to sell the site to its rightful owners, the nearby Oglala tribe, for the cool price of $3.9 million. But The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, just a few miles from where Wounded Knee is located, is one of the poorest places in the country. To build a horse slaughterhouse on their sacred site after everything the tribe has already suffered would be unthinkable.
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AhnMh/zNI6/3R2f And now a word about Monsanto and others like them. These profit-hungry biotech companies have found a way to exclusively ‘own’ something that freely belongs to us all -- our food! They’re trying to patent away our everyday vegetables and fruits like cucumber, broccoli and melons, forcing growers to pay them and risk being sued if they don’t.
Companies like Monsanto have found loopholes in European law to get away with this, so we just need to close them shut before they set a dangerous global precedent. And to do that, we need key countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands -- where opposition is already growing -- to call for a vote to stop Monsanto’s plans. Go sign the petition.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_loc/?bjeIjab&v=23911 Tell Nestlé: Stop trying to patent a natural cure
In a paper published last year, Nestlé scientists claimed to “discover” what much of the world has known for millennia: that nigella sativa extract could be used for “nutritional interventions in humans with food allergy”.
But instead of creating an artificial substitute, or fighting to make sure the remedy was widely available, Nestlé is attempting to create a nigella sativa monopoly and gain the ability to sue anyone using it without Nestlé’s permission. Nestlé has filed patent applications -- which are currently pending -- around the world.
Sing the petition:
http://action.sumofus.org/a/nestle-nigella-sativa/11/2/?akid=1601.65932.w0DNPx&rd=1&sub=fwd3&t=4 Maddow features PCCC activism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7LANHts78c Tell Congress Social Security is non-negotiable.
http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/standwithbernie Amazon is at it again! Please go sign this petition. It is not fair for those of us who make our living by writing. Authors are not libraries and while most of us enjoy the social side of writing we do this to pay our bills. If some one returns an ebook after reading it our royalties get reduced.
I just signed the pe
etition "Amazon Kindle e-Book Return Policy: Stop allowing refunds on e-Books after e-Books have been read." on
http://Change.org/ It's important. Here's the link:
http://www.change.org/petitions/amazon-kindle-e-book-return-policy-stop-allowing-refunds-on-e-books-after-e-books-have-been-read North Dakota just passed the most extreme abortion ban in the country. It's just one of some 300 bills across the country designed to take away women's rights and access to health care -- and ultimately to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Don't let lawmakers get away with it, take action today:
http://ppaction.org/WakeUpCall Click here to tell Obama to veto CISPA:
http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/veto_cispa/?referring_akid=a8234599.655732.Af5Ve3&source=auto-taf AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon have all agreed to start spying on their users.
The US's largest Internet Service Providers are implementing a new "online infringement" plan to identify and punish, with virtually no due process, users suspected of downloading copyrighted content.
https://act.demandprogress.org/letter/six_strikes_2013/?rd=1&t=1&referring_akid=undefined Remember CISPA? Well, it’s back - sign the petition
http://www.cispaisback.com/ Oppose Seismic Surveys in the Atlantic - sign it please
http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6937 Tell Congress to Dump Monsanto's Riders!
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=8644 Bury Power Lines in Cities and Towns, Prevent Long-Lasting Outages, Improve National Security
http://signon.org/sign/bury-power-lines-in-cities?mailing_id=7341&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=913515 Protect Global Internet Freedom - go sign the petition
http://protectinternetfreedom.net/ The Sierra Club has a variety of actions to be taken. Just follow the link.
Send the congress a letter here:
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=9962 ![](http://www.youvebeenowned.org/images/ribbon-left.png)
Do you really own the smartphone or computer you’re using to read this email?
If you sold your computer, would you be breaking the law? A federal court in New York says you would be.
It's unbelievable, but trademark and copyright holders really are trying to take away your right to sell things that you own. Please click here to fight back:
http://www.youvebeenowned.org/ The First-Sale Doctrine gives us the right to sell most property we own. But if the Supreme Court supports the lower court’s decision, we won't really “own” anything if it's from a different country. We expect them to issue a ruling later this year.
The President can urge the Court to side with consumers; then Congress will probably weigh in on the issue, no matter how the Court rules.
If we lose this fight, anybody who wants to resell foreign products, from Macbooks and iPhones to our clothing and textbooks, will have to ask copyright holders for permission first. And they'll have the right to deny it!
Just click here to email your lawmakers right away:
http://www.youvebeenowned.org/ There are two very bad internet bills that you need to be aware of. The first concerns making streaming content a felony. Read about it here:
http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/ten_strikes?akid=700.450896.5hVZPC&rd=1&t=1 and the second is the Protect-IP Act that gives the government power to censor search engines and browsers. Read more about it here:
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/protectip_docs Both of the above pages have a petition to sign so please do so.
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