Good News

 The weekend warrior high decibel neighbors are moving out.

 Stress can increase your sensitivity to allergens and kick your allergic response into high gear. Reflect on whether your stress levels are higher than usual. If you’ve been more stressed than usual, try to lower your stress levels using tools like meditation, therapy, or exercise.

Baby Laughter over the sound of packing tape

here

Nelson Cruz

  Nelson Cruz Events: I'm a producer of stellar event experiences, DJ's and everything fun. Full service event entertainment.  (212) 289-0843 nelsoncruzentertainment@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/nelsoncruzeventdesign/

I feel this way about Swimming

“People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they'll go to any length to live longer. But don't think that's the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you're going to while away the years, it's far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive then in a fog, and I believe running helps you to do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor for life — and for me, for writing as whole. I believe many runners would agree”
― Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Cedar Fever

 Yes, it's possible to experience an upset stomach or intestinal discomfort from cedar fever (an allergy to mountain cedar pollen) because allergies can sometimes manifest gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps, due to the histamine release triggered by the immune response; essentially, your body's reaction to the pollen can affect your digestive system as well. 

When your body reacts to allergens like cedar pollen, it releases histamine, which can cause muscle contractions in the digestive tract, leading to stomach upset.

While typical cedar fever symptoms include runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, and a sore throat, some people may also experience mild stomach discomfort, nausea, or diarrhea.

Cedar Fever Explained

https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/content/article.aspx?id=31295

Nevertheless, it should be said clearly and without equivocation: President T**** will bear direct responsibility for any harm that could come to these people from foreign actors.

 Tom Nichols

“Dawn was her favorite time of day. Sunrise made no promises. A bright young beginning didn’t necessarily foretell a glorious evening, nor did a dark and livid start mean a stormy afternoon.” ― Jill Ciment, Act of God

“Grief doesn’t feel as if a rug has been pulled out from under her. There is no rug. There is no floor on which to lay a rug. There is no ground on which to build a floor to lay a rug.” ― Jill Ciment, The Body in Question

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” ― Brené Brown

Nobody writes back once Christmas is Over

This family trait pisses me off every year. Do we really need birthdays and holidays to care about each other? What about regular days?

Keeping the Kitchen Rolling

I woke up thinking about Caroline Kennedy and her courage. 

I pressure cooked a bowl of chick peas that I had soaked overnight. 

I read about diverticulitis and kidney stones to help a friend. 

I shaped the 12 sourdough rolls in baby loaf pans. They are baking now. 8 more baby loaves! 20 total.

I hard boiled a half dozen eggs.

Now I'm pressure cooking wheat berries and basmati brown rice mixed. 

The chick peas will be made into a bucket of hummus by pureeing the cooked chick peas, fresh lemon juice fresh garlic and sesame tahini. We live on it.

Josh Marshall Calm Amidst the Storm

Find what you can actually do that’s not begging or meaningless and then do it.”

There is palpably an appetite for someone to be the opposition to all of this. And what works as an opposition is knowing where the footholds of power actually are and using those aggressively and to the hilt. There’s is nothing to be gained by begging Republicans to do this or that. You attack them for supporting what’s happening. Raise the stakes. Gaining credibility as an opposition means demonstrating you know how to do it, that you can land wounds, catch your opponents off guard, leave them confused or force them to come to you. Results.

As we discussed Monday, early 21st century American politics is all about this theater of performative power. A resolved calm and knowing the limited levers of power and using them to their maximum extent is power. It signals power. It also drives press narratives as the White House or Trump or whoever else has to react to that power. This is where we are.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/calm-amidst-the-storm

Tom Nichols

Article

Know Your Rights ACLU https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights

 https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights

Cedar Fever is Early this Year

 I've been suffering with it since January 20. https://www.kleenex.com/en-us/pollen-count

Subscribe to Recalls: The FDA and the US Dept. of Agriculture

AS A REMINDER: The FDA and the US Dept. of Agriculture are not allowed to announce any recalls or traceback studies on ANY food or foodborne illnesses due to the Trump administration’s health communications blackout on all federal organizations. You can find it directly here at this link: https://fsis.usda.gov/recalls

Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims.

Carolyn Kennedy

 https://www.tiktok.com/@jack.schlossberg/video/7465030204700937518?_r=1&_t=ZT-8tRvuakLi15

The Art of War: An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes. Sun Tzu

T**** Sparks Constitutional Crisis, Seizing Budget Authority from Congress

 https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-kicks-off-major-constitutional-crisis

The American Civil Liberties Union

https://www.aclu.org/

The retired heads of Madame Tussauds.

 

Jennifer Thomas @JThomasABC Word that’s making me smile today: bungersome. It’s a lost dialect word for someone who is impressively clumsy.

Christian Bale unveils plans to build 12 foster homes in California

 https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/08/christian-bale-to-build-12-foster-homes-in-california

Pierogi Classes at KRAKOW DELI Krakow Deli hosts periodic pierogi-making classes. They sell out fast, but stay tuned for announcements of new classes on their Facebook page.

 https://www.valleybreeze.com/news/krakow-deli-s-pierogi-classes-a-lesson-in-culture-community/article_b2c03da0-d1c8-11ef-8f17-631d8cc1cbac.html

https://www.facebook.com/KrakowDeliBakerySmokehouse/ 

https://tourblackstone.com/event/pierogi-cooking-class-with-polish-food-tasting/7712/

Pierogi Cooking Class with Polish Food Tasting

Dates:

1/26/2025, 2/2/2025, 2/23/2025

executive order misstates facts about sex and gender, scientists say

Definition likely to encounter intensive problems in enacting it in the courts and in law

Protesters on the steps of the Cranston Library in Rhode Island while Independent Women's Network hosts a meeting voicing the anti-trans, anti-CRT, and anti-LGBTQ movement, with guest speaker Chris Elston, known as "Billboard Chris." Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

President Trump’s executive order recognizing only two sexes — male and female — includes language that is biologically inaccurate and erases trans, nonbinary, and intersex people from federal recognition, according to experts.

The order, signed last week, defines a female as “a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell.” Male, according to the order, means ”a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell."

While it’s true that humans are capable of producing just two types of reproductive cells — eggs and sperm, the former thousands of times larger than the latter — the expression of human sexual traits goes well beyond reproductive cells and is anything but binary, said Sarah Richardson, a historian of science at Harvard who specializes in women, gender, and sexuality.

---

---

When describing the diversity of human sexual traits, some biologists refer to the “3Gs”: genes, gonads, and genitals, said Meredith Reiches, a founding member of the Harvard GenderSci Lab.

The only G determined at conception are genes, which in this context refers to sex chromosomes. The vast majority of human embryos are conceived with either XX or XY chromosomes, associated with females and males, respectively. However, in rare cases, people can possess other combinations.

For example, 47,XYY syndrome, also known as Jacobs syndrome, is associated with above-average height and an increased risk of learning disabilities. Another example, 47,XXY syndrome, also known as Klinefelter syndrome, is linked to infertility and underdeveloped, poorly functioning testes, among other symptoms, said Reiches.

“Biologists tend to think of biological sex as more of a recipe with various parts to it. Often, those parts exist in ways that are consistent with popular understandings of male or female, but you also have variation,” said Reiches.

Gonads are organs, such as ovaries and testes, that produce reproductive cells. Humans may possess one or the other, or, in rare cases, both.

“Just because you know what’s going on with someone’s genes doesn’t necessarily mean you can predict what their gonads or external genitalia will look like,” said Reiches.

For example, those with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome possess XY chromosomes, but because their bodies don’t respond to androgens (hormones associated with male development), they’re born with female genitalia, are usually assigned female at birth, and raised as girls. However, they also typically possess internal testes and cannot menstruate or become pregnant.

---

---

Complicating things further, the testes of individuals with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome don’t produce sperm in most cases. Since these people’s bodies do not produce any reproductive cells, Reiches asks: Where do they fall within Trump’s narrow sexual binary? What prisons, single-sex schools, shelters, sports teams, and gender-specific government services do these individuals have a right to?

Richardson said she was unsurprised by this executive order’s redefinition of the sexes because it follows a years-long trend on the right to mask retaliation against the advancement of trans rights behind the façade of “biological truth,” in the words of the executive order.

“This definition is likely to encounter intensive problems in enacting it in the courts and in law due to its incommensurability with medical and scientific knowledge and practice,” said Richardson.

While the vast majority of people do identify with the sex assigned to them at birth, an estimated 2 percent of the country, or more than 6 million Americans, do not fall within these binary definitions, according to interACT, an intersex advocacy organization.

“Under a Trump-style executive order, folks in this situation would be assigned a sex that has nothing to do with how they’ve lived their lives, how they understand themselves, or how the medical establishment has understood them,” said Reiches.

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Nathan Metcalf can be reached at nathan.metcalf@globe.com. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/28/metro/gender-at-conception-trump/

It’s Easier To Break Than To Build

We talk a lot about the structural imbalances in American politics, but perhaps the most consequential disparity arises from the Trump right’s fundamental commitment to breaking shit. We’ve seen it unfold in spades this week, as promises to destroy as much as they can as quickly as they can begin to be kept.

It’s not new to Trump. It’s been an essential element of the conservative project for decades now, reflected in anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist’s famous line about shrinking the federal government until it was small enough to drown in a bathtub.

When destruction is the point and there is no responsibility or accountability for building, creating, or even administering, all manner of democratic norms and civic consensus start to fall apart. Perhaps in the long term the consequences of the destruction will exact a political price, but in the meantime, the performative transgression is its own reward.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo/the-trump-ii-destruction-is-already-in-full-swing

ICE Cannot Access RI Public School AG Warns

 Can ICE go into public schools in Rhode Island? Here's what we know.

Tom Mooney

Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s attorney general and education commissioner on Monday issued guidance to schools if confronted with federal immigration officials seeking access to any students.

While federal immigration enforcement policies are changing with President Donald Trump now in office, “basic legal and constitutional principles have not,” Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said in a shared statement with Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green.

“While we do not yet know if federal authorities will conduct operations targeting Rhode Island schools, this guidance is intended to assist schools, teachers, and administrators in protecting the rights of every student.”

Victor Morente, a spokesman for the education department, said Monday that “we have heard of concerns from parents, teachers, and school leaders" about potential ICE activity at schools.

Can ICE go into schools in Rhode Island?

Neronha said that while federal immigration officials “have signaled that they no longer view schools as off-limits for even routine enforcement actions” the law prohibits them from accessing “non-public areas of schools, including classrooms and hallways, without a judicial warrant issued by a federal district or magistrate judge, based on a finding of probable cause.”

Further, Rhode Island law requires schools to implement safety protocols to ensure that only authorized individuals are permitted access to non-public areas of the school.

Therefore, schools may prohibit all unauthorized visitors, “including federal law enforcement officers without a judicial warrant or court order, from entering non-public school areas, except in the event of a genuine public safety emergency.”

When would ICE be allowed in schools?

If school officials are presented with a valid federal court warrant, school personnel “must comply with the requests of federal immigration authorities as set out in the warrant.”

They should also notify the chief school administrator and/or their legal counsel “to verify the terms and requirements of the warrant.”

Neronha said ICE administrative warrants “do not by themselves” authorize immigration officials to access non-public areas of a school or to search school records.

Such administrative warrants “cannot compel school personnel to assist with the apprehension of a person identified in an administrative warrant. Nor are they sufficient “to mandate disclosure of student information that is otherwise protected by state and federal law.”

Similarly, a “notice to appear” that seeks to start formal removal proceedings against an individual before an immigration court “does not require school employees to take any action or grant an immigration enforcement officer any special power to induce cooperation.”

And “administrative subpoenas” are not court orders and do not require immediate compliance, Neronha said.

“School policies should require personnel to immediately alert administrators about the service of an administrative subpoena to allow for consultation with legal counsel and notification of parents/guardians.

What student information can ICE access?

Because students are entitled to enroll in public school regardless of their immigration status or the status of their parents, “schools are generally not required under federal or state law to collect citizenship or immigration status information.”

Neronha said school officials should not interfere or obstruct law enforcement officials in the lawful exercise of their authority, but they must do so “in conformance with the requirements of the Fourth Amendment and other federal and state laws."

Neronha and Infante-Green said their offices will continue to work together with the public schools and “state and federal law enforcement partners to ensure adherence to these principles and to promote a safe and nurturing educational environment for all of our students.”

Questions related to this guidance should be referred to the Office of the Attorney General at 401-274-4400.

Sesame Tahini mixed with Chocolate Syrup+ Halvah

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halva

Hello, Canada?

The next step [in a Fascist movement] is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on one hand and terrorism on the other. Bertrand Russell

“But here’s the important thing when it comes to art.

 “But here’s the important thing when it comes to art. This is what I’ve learned: The art is greater than you and your feelings. You have to serve it. It is not you…Whatever you’re creating may come from within you and your life, but then…it walks away and affects other people you don’t know and have never met. That’s the beauty of it.”
― Malinda Lo, A Scatter of Light

Make a Hamburger in your Waffle Iron

video

“Fear is excitement without the breath.” ― Frederick Salomon Perls, Gestalt Therapy and How It Works

“By remaining alert in the centre, we can acquire a creative ability of seeing both sides of an occurrence and completing an incomplete half.” ― Frederick Salomon Perls, Ego, Hunger and Aggression

“Every individual, every plant, every animal has only one inborn goal—to actualize itself as it is.” ― Frederick Salomon Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim

“We must, for instance, face the fact that we blandly commit what to the experimentalist is the most unpardonable of sins: we include the experimenter in the experiment!” ― Frederick Salomon Perls, Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality

“Thomas Jefferson thought that the United States ought to have a revolution every generation so that democracy could periodically purge itself of contaminants. He meant political revolutions; we have watered down his advice and created a succession of “lifestyle” revolutions instead. Just at the point when a radical innovation or movement might begin to elicit significant discussion within our social order, it makes the cover of Time and receives testimonials from one or two Hollywood stars. Thus elevated into harmlessness, it is soon discarded, leaving little more than a vague, residual stain on our cultural fashions.”

― Frederick Salomon Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim

as Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect

 KAFKA

“You cannot achieve happiness. Happiness happens and is a transitory stage. Imagine how happy I felt when I got relief from bladder pressure. How long did that happiness last?” ― Fritz Perls

“Don't push the river, it flows by itself.” ― Frederick S. Perls

Perls in 1923 Born July 8, 1893 Berlin, German Empire Died March 14, 1970 (aged 76) Chicago, Illinois, US Known for Coining term: Gestalt Therapy Spouse Laura Perls Scientific career Fields Psychiatry, psychotherapy

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fritz Perls
Perls in 1923
Born	July 8, 1893 Berlin, German Empire
Died	March 14, 1970 (aged 76) Chicago, Illinois, US
Known for	Coining term: Gestalt Therapy
Spouse	Laura Perls
Scientific career
Fields	Psychiatry, psychotherapy

Friedrich Salomon Perls (July 8, 1893 – March 14, 1970), better known as Fritz Perls, was a German-born psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. Perls coined the term "Gestalt therapy" to identify the form of psychotherapy that he developed with his wife, Laura Perls, in the 1940s and 1950s. Perls became associated with the Esalen Institute in 1964 and lived there until 1969.

The core of the Gestalt therapy process is enhanced awareness of sensation, perception, bodily feelings, emotion, and behavior, in the present moment. Relationship is emphasized, along with contact between the self, its environment, and the other.

Life

Fritz Perls was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1893. He grew up in the bohemian scene in Berlin, participated in Expressionism and Dadaism, and experienced the turning of the artistic avant-garde toward the revolutionary left. Deployment to the front line, the trauma of war, antisemitism, intimidation, escape, and the Holocaust are further key sources of biographical influence.

He was expected to practice law, following his distinguished uncle Herman Staub, but instead he studied medicine. Perls joined the German Army during World War I and spent time in the trenches. After the war in 1918 he returned to his medical studies graduating two years later, specializing in neuropsychiatry as a medical doctor, and then became an assistant to Kurt Goldstein, who worked with brain injured soldiers. Perls gravitated toward psychoanalysis.

In 1927, Perls became a member of Wilhelm Reich's technical seminars in Vienna. Reich's concept of character analysis influenced Perls to a large extent.^[1]: 205ff And in 1930 Reich became Perls' supervising senior analyst in Berlin.^[2]

In 1930, Perls married Laura Perls (born Lore Posner) and they had two children together, Renate and Stephen. In 1933, soon after the Hitler regime came to power, being of Jewish descent and because of their anti-fascist political activities in the time before,^[1]: 292 Perls, Laura, and their eldest child Renate fled to the Netherlands, and one year later they emigrated to South Africa, where Perls started a psychoanalytic training institute. In 1936 he had a brief and unsatisfactory meeting with Freud.^[1]: 211

In 1942, Perls joined the South African army, and he served as an army psychiatrist with the rank of captain until 1946. While in South Africa, Perls was influenced by the "holism" of Jan Smuts. During this period Fritz Perls co-wrote his first book, Ego, Hunger, and Aggression (published in 1942 and re-published in 1947). Laura Perls wrote two chapters of the book, although when it was re-published in the United States she was not given any recognition for her work.^[3]

Fritz and Laura Perls left South Africa in 1946 and ended up in New York City, where Fritz Perls worked briefly with Karen Horney, and Wilhelm Reich. After living through a peripatetic episode, during which he lived in Montreal and served as a cruise ship psychiatrist, Perls finally settled in Manhattan. Perls wrote his second book with the assistance of New York intellectual and author, Paul Goodman, who drafted the theoretical second part of the book based upon Perls' hand-written notes. Perls and Goodman were influenced by the work of Kurt Lewin and Otto Rank. Along with the experiential first part, written with Ralph Hefferline, the book was entitled Gestalt Therapy and published in 1951.

Thereafter, Fritz and Laura Perls started the first Gestalt Institute in their Manhattan apartment. Fritz Perls began traveling throughout the United States in order to conduct Gestalt workshops and training.^[4]

In 1960 Fritz Perls left Laura Perls behind in Manhattan and moved to Los Angeles, where he practiced in conjunction with Jim Simkin. He started to offer workshops at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, in 1963. Perls became interested in Zen during this period, and incorporated the idea of mini-satori (a brief awakening) into his practice. He also traveled to Japan, where he stayed in a Zen monastery.

Eventually, he settled at Esalen, and even built a house on the grounds. One of his students at Esalen was Dick Price, who developed Gestalt Practice, based in large part upon what he learned from Perls.^[5] At Esalen, Perls collaborated with Ida Rolf, founder of Rolfing, to address the relationship between the mind and the body.^[2][6]

Perls has been widely cited outside the realm of psychotherapy for a quotation often described as the "Gestalt prayer":

I do my thing and you do your thing.

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
and you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.
If not, it can't be helped.

— Fritz Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, 1969

In 1969 Perls left Esalen and started a Gestalt community at Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, Canada. There, he hosted eight educational films on his gestalt therapy, which were directed by Stanley Fox for Aquarian Productions, a film production company started by Perls associate Norman Hirt.^[7][8][9]

Fritz Perls died of heart failure in Chicago, on March 14, 1970, after heart surgery at the Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital.^[10]

Reception

Perls' approach to therapy was included in criticism by Jeffrey Masson,^[12] a psychoanalyst who feuded with journalists^[13] and with the psychoanalytic community generally over his controversial theories disputing the effectiveness of psychotherapy.^[14] Masson said that Perls was sexist, as well as physically and emotionally abusive towards women in his private life.^[12] Masson quoted Perls from his autobiography, In and Out the Garbage Pail, where Perls wrote:^[2]

Once I was called to a group to calm down a girl who attacked everyone in the group physically. The group members tried to hold her and to calm her down. In vain. Again and again she got up and fought. When I came in she charged with her head down into my belly and nearly knocked me over: Then I let her have it until I had her on the floor. Up she came again. And then a third time. I got her down again and said, gasping: "I've beaten up more than one bitch in my life." Then she got up, threw her arms around me: "Fritz, I love you." Apparently she finally got what, all her life, she was asking for.

And there are thousands of women like her in the States. Provoking and tantalizing, bitching, irritating their husbands and never getting their spanking. You don't have to be a Parisian prostitute to need that so as to respect your man. A Polish saying is: "My husband lost interest in me, he never beats me any more."

Therapist Barry Stevens, who met Fritz Perls for the first time in 1967, described a different impression of him. She wrote: "... I know that Fritz doesn't like his arrogance, and along with it, he has such a beautiful humility."^[15]: 26 And later she said: "Fritz is almost always a very warm and gentle old gentleman now."^[15]: 186

Stevens also described another incident from a group therapy session: "... Fritz Perls asked us all a question and waited for answers. ... I said nothing. He said 'Barry?' 'I'm blank," I said. He nodded and went on to someone or something else. How nice to have my blankness easily accepted."^[16]

Erving Polster, psychologist and Gestalt therapist, founding faculty member of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland in 1953, said about Fritz Perls: “From Fritz I got the realization that a person could have incredible range in characteristics. I could experience Fritz as the most cutting and as the most tender of all people.”^[17]

Selected publications

• Perls, F., Ego, Hunger and Aggression (1942, 1947) ISBN 0-939266-18-0
• Perls, F., Hefferline, R., & Goodman, P., Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality (1951) ISBN 0-939266-24-5
• Perls, F., Gestalt Therapy Verbatim (1969) ISBN 0-911226-02-8.
• Perls, F., In and Out the Garbage Pail (1969) ISBN 0-553-20253-7
• Perls, F., The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy (1973) ISBN 0-8314-0034-X

A thousand plastic flowers don't make a desert bloom. A thousand empty faces don't fill an empty room. Fritz Perls

I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine. Fritz Perls

Teaching means to show a person that something is possible. Fritz Perls

The person most in control is the person who can give up control. Fritz Perls

“...nobody can stand truth if it is told to him. Truth can be tolerated only if you discover it yourself because then, the pride of discovery makes the truth palatable.” ― Fritz Perls

“Lose your mind and come to your senses.” ― Fritz Perls

“I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, And you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped.” ― Fritz Perls

Abbey of Sainte Foy, circa 1050

 

 

Avoid Frozen Pipes

 

 

Wooden smuggling doll, c.1860. It has a wood panel on its back that opens so contraband items can be hidden within its hollow torso.

 

Nate White

 British Writer Pens The Best Description Of T**** I’ve Read

·         Apr. 24th, 2020 at 11:38 AM

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

The Unjust Department of Justice

Article

Pistachio Wars

Rowan Wernham, Yasha Levine

/ New Zealand, United States

/ 2024

/ 75 mins

/ English

World Premiere

Festival Winner

** Won a Doc Edge award for Best NZ Emerging Filmmaker and a special mention with Best NZ Feature **

A road trip into the dark heart of the American Dream.
 
Journalist Yasha Levine follows a lead on a water sale between a farmer and a small desert town and discovers a hidden side to California's healthy snack industry. 

At the centre of the story are the Resnicks, billionaires with the flashiest mansion in Beverly Hills and a monopoly on the pistachio trade. They've taken control of California's water: draining rivers, building plantations in the middle of a desert, leaving a trail of environmental collapse. Towns ravaged by drought, farms built on oil fields, mass extinction, a water heist straight from the plot of Chinatown, and… war with Iran? 

Pizzelle della Nonna (Grandma's Pizzelle)

https://www.shelovesbiscotti.com/pizzelle-della-nonna/

Seasoning my Cast Iron Frying pans

 Place in 300 degree oven oiled and upside down in the oven on the rack for an hour.

Tom Nichols

America is Counting on You

Savory Granola??!!

https://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes/how-to-make/everything-bagel-oat-crunch

The Truth about Carbohydrates from the Cleveland Clinic

 https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/15416-carbohydrates

Carbohydrates — fiber, starches and sugars — are essential food nutrients. Your body turns carbs into glucose (blood sugar) to give you the energy you need to function. Complex carbs in fruits, vegetables and whole-grain foods are less likely to spike blood sugar than simple carbs (sugars).

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates (carbs) are a type of macronutrient found in certain foods and drinks. Sugars, starches and fiber are carbohydrates.

Other macronutrients include fat and protein. Your body needs balanced macronutrients to stay healthy.

What do carbohydrates do?

Carbs are your body’s main source of fuel. They give you the energy you need to function. Here’s how the process works:

• When you eat carbs, your digestive system begins to break them down.
• Your bloodstream absorbs the carbs (now called glucose or blood sugar).
• Your body releases insulin, which directs the glucose to your cells for energy.
• If you have extra glucose, your body will store it in your muscles or liver. Once you max out glucose storage in those places, your body converts extra glucose to fat.

The amount of carbs you consume affects your blood sugar. Taking in a lot of carbs can raise blood sugar levels. High blood sugar (hyperglycemia) can put you at risk for diabetes. Some people who don’t consume enough carbs have low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

Simple carbohydrates vs. complex carbohydrates: What’s the difference?

A food’s chemical structure — and how quickly your body digests it — determines whether a carb is complex or simple. It takes your body longer to break down complex carbs, so they’re less likely to cause spikes in blood sugar. They also contain vitamins, minerals and fiber that your body needs.

Simple carbs, on the other hand, digest quickly. So, they tend to spike your blood sugar. Too many simple carbs can contribute to weight gain. They can also increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol.

Are simple carbs bad for you?

It might be tempting to think of carbs as “good” or “bad.” Simple carbs aren’t “bad” — but they don’t nourish your body the way complex carbs do. The best rule of thumb is to eat plenty of nutrient-rich complex carbs and eat simple carbs in moderation. Ask your healthcare provider for personalized nutrition recommendations.

What are the different types of carbohydrates?

Foods and drinks can have three types of carbohydrates:

1. Fiber.
2. Starches.
3. Sugars.

Fiber and starches are complex carbs, while sugars are simple carbs. You might also see the words, “total carbohydrates” on a food’s nutrient label. This refers to a combination of all three carb types.

Fiber

Plant-based foods — like fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products — contain fiber. Animal products, including dairy products and meats, have no fiber.

Fiber is a complex healthy carbohydrate with two types — soluble and insoluble. Your body can’t break down fiber well, but soluble fiber can dissolve in water whereas insoluble fiber can’t. Corn is an example of insoluble fiber. Soluble and insoluble fiber pass through the intestines, stimulating and aiding digestion. Fiber also regulates blood sugar, lowers cholesterol and keeps you feeling full longer.

Experts recommend that adults consume 25 to 30 grams (g) of fiber every day. Most people get half that amount.

High-fiber foods include:

• Beans and legumes, like black beans, chickpeas, lentils, lima beans, peanuts and pinto beans.
• Fruits, especially those with edible skins (apples and peaches) or seeds (berries).
• Nuts and seeds, including almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
• Whole-grain products, like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, cereal and whole-wheat bread and pasta.
• Vegetables, like corn, broccoli, brussels sprouts and squash.

Starches

Starches are complex carbohydrates that also give your body vitamins and minerals (micronutrients). It takes your body longer to break down complex carbohydrates. As a result, blood sugar levels remain stable, and fullness lasts longer. Many starches (but not all) fit this category.

You can find starchy carbohydrates in:

• Beans and legumes, like black beans, chickpeas, lentils, lima beans and kidney beans.
• Fruits, like apples, berries and melons.
• Whole-grain products, like brown rice, oatmeal and whole-wheat bread and pasta.
• Vegetables, like corn, peas and potatoes.

Sugars

Sugars are a type of simple carbohydrate. Your body breaks down simple carbohydrates quickly. As a result, blood sugar levels rise — and then drop — quickly. After eating sugary foods, you may notice a burst of energy, followed by tiredness.

There are two types of sugars:

• Naturally occurring sugars, like those found in milk and fresh fruits.
• Added sugars, like those found in sweets, canned fruit, juice and soda. Sweets include things like cookies, candy bars and ice cream.

Sugar goes by many names. On food labels, you may see sugar listed as:

• Agave nectar.
• Cane syrup or corn syrup.
• Dextrose, fructose or sucrose.
• Honey.
• Molasses.
• Sugar.

Limiting sugar is essential to keep your blood sugar levels in the healthy range. Plus, sugary foods and drinks are often higher in calories which can contribute to weight gain. Limit refined foods and foods that contain added sugar, like white flour, desserts, candy, juices, fruit drinks, soda pop and sweetened beverages. The American Heart Association recommends:

• No more than 25 g (6 teaspoons or 100 calories) per day of added sugar for most people assigned female at birth (AFAB).
• No more than 36 g (9 teaspoons or 150 calories) per day of added sugar for most people assigned male at birth (AMAB).

What’s the recommended daily amount of carbohydrates?

There isn’t a set amount of recommended daily carbs. Your age, sex, medical conditions, activity level and weight goals all affect the amount that’s right for you. Counting carbs helps some people with diabetes manage their blood sugar.

For most people, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends a healthy plate approach. You should fill:

• Half your plate with fruits and vegetables.
• One-quarter of your plate with whole grains.
• One-quarter of your plate with protein (meat, fish, beans, eggs or dairy).

Is a low- or no-carb meal plan healthy?

Some people cut their carb intake to promote weight loss. And some healthcare providers recommend the keto diet for epilepsy and other medical conditions.

These restrictions can be hard to follow over a long time. Some carb-restrictive meal plans include large amounts of animal fat and oils. These foods can increase your risk of heart disease. Talk to your healthcare provider before cutting carbs or making major changes to the foods you eat.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Your body needs carbohydrates to stay healthy and work properly. The secret is to choose complex carbs more often than simple carbs. Your best bet is to choose mostly nutrient-dense foods with fiber, vitamins and minerals. Limit foods that have added sugars. Your healthcare provider can help determine the right amount of carbs for your needs.

Boycott all News and Social Media for Four Years: The Monster is Raping America and selling us to Putin limb by limb.

I call it the BUNKER mentality. 

Shut it off.

The gilded age has begun. 

 

The monster is raping America and selling us to Putin limb by limb. 

For MONEY. 

Follow the money. 

The billionaires and the mob boss are above 

and the rest of us are inside the ant farm below.

 

 Do not let it happen.

 FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.

The Poetry Box Chapbook Contest

 https://thepoetrybox.com/chapbook-prize

Light as a Feather Saturday Sourdough Waffles

I made these improvisational sourdough multigrain waffles this morning. I did not measure.

Here are the approximate  measurements below

sourdough rye and whole wheat soupy starter 4-5 cups

4 eggs beaten

buttermilk 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups

bran (wheat) 1 cup

wholemeal cornmeal 1/2 - 3/4 cup

salt, baking powder, baking soda 

orange zest from 1 orange

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Medical Trial Guidance Scrubbed

By Josh Marshall

January 24, 2025 1:40 p.m.

Another detail out of FDA. The agency has removed pages which provide guidance to medical researchers on conducting medical trials with representative numbers of men and women and ethnic and/or racial minority groups. I think most people know this: but this isn’t a matter of symbolic diversity. Many medications and/or diseases or conditions present differently in men and woman and in people with different genetic backgrounds.

Start your day with TPM.

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Josh Marshall (@joshtpm)  is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TPM.

 Have a tip? Send it Here!

It’s a very bad place for writers

You can’t learn to write in college. It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and they don’t. They have prejudices. They may like Henry James, but what if you don’t want to write like Henry James? They may like John Irving, for instance, who’s the bore of all time. A lot of the people whose work they’ve taught in the schools for the last thirty years, I can’t understand why people read them and why they are taught.

RAY BRADBURY

read this Talking Points Memo

Article on RI Senator Whitehouse

Against the Nomination of RFK Jr.

 Dear Senator Whitehouse,

I have followed you for years. I am alarmed and embarrassed by the possibility that you might confirm RFK Jr. Although you may be friends it is of greater importance that you protect the families of Rhode Island.

Thank you,
Emily Lisker

e·met·ic /əˈmedik/ adjective adjective: emetic (of a substance) causing vomiting. informal nauseating or revolting. a medicine or other substance which causes vomiting.

 The news is nauseating

The only people happy right now are bigots, the rich, and stupid people. John Pavlovitz‬

America was given a choice between a lawless, amoral monster and a qualified, intelligent, joyful woman of color—and it chose the monster. We need to reckon with the reality of what that says about so many of us here.

John Pavlovitz

PTSD

I have PTSD because my mother is president of the USA AGAIN. I am sick to my stomach. The narcissistic, vindictive, sexual abusing, mentally ill, drug addict felon is at it again.

Chris Westergaard Beginners

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJAvTTMKweE&t=75s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pdM5XDFtA4 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcZKWHsbXVA

Philip Eil is a freelance journalist based in his hometown, Providence. His debut book is “Prescription for Pain: How a Once-Promising Doctor Became the ‘Pill Mill Killer.’”

"The opioid epidemic is a crime story. And the longer we let our neighbors suffer simply because they lack the cash or the right insurance, the more complicit we all become."

 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/24/opinion/addiction-overdose-crisis-free-treatment/

Savory Pizzelle

 https://www.attainable-sustainable.net/savory-pizzelles/

When a boy grows up in an alcoholic family, his warriors get swept into the river by a vast wave of water, and they struggle there, carried downriver. The child, boy or girl, unprotected, gets isolated, and has more in common with snow geese than with people.”
― Robert Bly, Iron John: A Book about Men

Terrorist in Chief

What you can do Ten ways to resist T**** II Robert Reich Jan 23, 2025

What you can do

Ten ways to resist T**** II

Robert Reich

Jan 23, 2025

Waffles are a Perfect Food

When my pizzelle maker wasn't working (the cord fried) I used the lemon pizzelle batter I had already prepared to make waffles. I added sourdough rye & whole wheat starter and another egg and buttermilk and dried cranberries. They came out so light and delicious that I am now going to make lemon waffles on purpose!

Use that Anger and Outrage Productively

I should take my own advice. 

On a cold sunny day my neighbor is running a loud machine over the packed snow and ice which seems to just make more ice.

Whaaa?

I start screaming my head off over the disturbance since I work at home. 

This causes me to lose my voice and upset my dog.

The neighbor can't hear me because I am inside behind glass. I am tempted to go outside so he can hear me but I am afraid I might just strangle him and then I'd have to go to jail.

My husband would say perhaps you are really angry at the MONSTER in the white house and I'd say oh, you mean my mother?

 by Dan Rather

The Firehose Effect

Don’t let Trump’s deluge daunt you

Dan Rather

and

Team Steady

Jan 22, 2025

https://steady.substack.com/p/the-firehose-effect

Rebecca Solnit

 rebeccasolnit.bsky.social : “...no alternative to persevering, and that does not require you to feel good. You can keep walking whether it’s sunny or raining. Take care of yourself and remember that taking care of something else is an important part ..."

Amazing Story

One woman's fight

MOBSTER in Chief If you are loyal, you are protected. If not, you may be under attack.

 I know this playbook well.

The criticisms of the bad nominees should be as intense as possible and all focused on the support of these senators.

 It’s simple. When they’re upset or hiding you’ll know you’re doing it right. One more point: no one cares about press releases. Getting on camera or activity on social media matter.

Next up, which Democrat is going to go the well of the House and start telling the stories of the various Capitol Police officers who were hit over the head with flag poles, tasered, crushed in door jams and more, and then list the name of their assailants who Trump has now pardoned? Go to the floor, list off the tales of gore and blood and broken lives and then challenge House Republicans to defend themselves and then listen to the silence. It’s just sitting right there. The most obvious thing in the world. It will get pick up. It will get clipped on social media. Most importantly it will expand the number of days Republicans get asked to defend Trump’s releasing violent extremists and hardened domestic terrorists from prison. And don’t forget the numerous suicides of those who were haunted by the trauma of what Republicans supported. And don’t forget the healthy 42 year old who dropped dead of a brain aneurysm hours after his pitched battles with pro-Trump extremists. Everyone responsible has now been pardoned.

 

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Democrats are Surrounded by Low Hanging Fruit: Get To It

 Member Newsletter

January 22, 2025 3:13 p.m.