I plan to try to finish up planting the rest of my bulbs tomorrow. I also need to mow the front and the back. I took the day off from work.
I am contemplating getting a tiller to till in the organic material. The soil is hardpan clay. Red as can be from the Iron Oxide.
Why is the ongoing victimizaion of Elizabeth Smart a national story. Add this to all the other exploitation and schadenfrede stories the media trots out to stir suburban angst (JonBennet, etc). There are three patterns:
1. Child kidnapped, molested, killed
2. Wife kidnapped, raped, killed
3. Family killed by insane husband.
There is no reason for these types of stories to make national news.
Another NY Times article grabbed my attention. This time an article about Penn station and it's wreckage. I am fascinated by the remnants of buildings, and vestiges of past cityscapes. It kills me that this McKim, Mead & White glory was demolished for the toilet that is there now.
I am a fan of small farms, u-pickems, and CSAs. This article from the NY Times talks about CSAs. It is important that we remain in touch with nature and this is one way. Plus you get really good food. You learn to be patient with what God gives you seasonally. We are so divorced with the concepts of time and seasonality in this generic SuperMarket age.
The article describes a CSA as:
The concept, called community supported agriculture, or C.S.A. in farm-club jargon, aims, simply but profoundly, to restore a sense of place to the food that people eat. Knowing exactly where those carrots came from and who grew them makes people think differently and eat differently, nutritionists and organizers say.
They later say:
Of the estimated 1,000 C.S.A. groups across the nation, 28 are in New York City, up from 19 over the last two years, according to figures from Just Food and csacenter.org, a Web site that encourages and tracks the trend. On average, a seasonal share for a family costs about $350 to $400, although many groups also sell half-shares and have discounts for low-income buyers.
An interesting article about a photoblog
>Here is a great monthly column from the ajc and Walter Reeves. It gives you a list of tasks to accomplish in your garden during the month. Also check out ecoterra landscaping
I wanted to mention my favorite band Marillion is preselling their next album Marbles. As they say:
By pre-ordering marbles before 31st December 2003, your album will ship a month before the scheduled release date (currently 26th April 2004*). Pre-orders placed on or after 1st January 2004 will not ship UNTIL the scheduled release date. In short, if you order early, you get your album early - it's that simple!
Ian has started walking with a vengance this week. I will have to post a picture. He is so cute. I have forgotten how cute Alexa was at this stage. He is now trying to climb the stairs with reckless abandon.
from clarkhoward.com
Identity theft has been on the radar screen of the Clark Howard Show for about seven years. The number of ID theft calls has steadily increased, but listeners dont hear the half of it. We get calls from people who have ended up in jail more than once, and its gotten more and more ugly. The biggest problem has been that banks, credit card companies and retailers dont care and havent made ID theft a priority. So, consumers have been helpless to stop it. But now, under enormous pressure from the FBI, something is finally happening. The financial services industry is setting up the Identity Theft Assistance Center. They are hiring staff members now and it will be operating in the spring. The center will act as a one-call-does it-all system, when you have your identity is stolen. Right now, when your identity is stolen, you the victim must contact everyone to get your identity back. Now,
it will take just one phone call and the center will handle all of those contacts. We still have a long way to go, but this is a huge step in the right direction. Clark has to give kudos to the banking industry, regardless of how it came about. There should be a national standard for how to deal with identity theft, and the financial industry is taking the first step. Retailers need to step up to the plate next. Then well really be getting somewhere with this problem.
A great article in this month's Atlantic Monthly about the destruction of the Columbia. It is written by William Langewiesche who also wrote the great article about Egypt Air 990.
The irony in this story is great. The Japanese are now trying to imitate us after all those years of the USA trying to turn into Asian Tigers. The homogenity of Japanese society is now working against it.
Italy's courts have ruled that crucifixes in state schools are to be banished. I think this is a good thing. I must preface by saying I am a practicing Anglican. I have seen how state churches have killed Christianity in Europe. I think decoupling God from the state and even state funding would be a great thing. I think you would see a huge refocusing of faith in Europe.
