Well, the garden pictures have been posted so on to other things.  Our internet and cable were solid yesterday--for the first time in a month.  We hope the new wire outside will, finally, take care of the problem.  We are still a bit frustrated that it took so long to accurately diagnose the problem.  And we definitely are not happy about the missed appointment that was never scheduled on their end, the failure to even record that call, and the snafu with the appointments and calls on Tuesday.  For now we will let things go as they are--but changing carriers is always an option.  I will keep ATT in mind, Kay.  Netflix might have the British public TV Wimsey stories.  I saw a couple on a PBS station some years back.  I still have the complete collection of the books including the three new ones written by Jill Walsh based on material Dorothy Sayers had generated before her death.  I highly recommend them.

And here is another entry in the on-going Repthuglican efforts to purge voting roles.  It is amazing how well those $#%$# manage to target women, elderly, minority and democrats.  NPR provides this account of the issue.

Isn't this just typical of the agribusiness mindset?  Their scientists have spent the last many decades and who knows how much money breeding tomatoes (and other veggies) for longer shelf life, transportability, and uniformity only to find that a significant part of their potential consumers are unhappy with the tasteless (and nutritionally deficient) product and now they have spent more buckets full of money to find the genes that govern flavor so they can develop genetically modified tomatoes to cure the problem they created in the first place.  Sounds oh so efficient and economical, doesn't it?

Just in case anyone still believes the Repthuglican bullshit that we are 'Number One' in health care, take this antidote.

The nanny strikes again.  I get really irritated with the politicians who push this issue to absurdity.  I don't mind the publicity given to the calorie content of various foods--especially fast foods and prepared foods.  We need that information.  I also applaud the move to make the sellers and manufacturers provide as much accurate information as possible on the labels or on site.  But I resent the notion that they can prohibit the sale of thing I might want to buy but they have decided, supposedly for my own good, I shouldn't have.

Another example of just how idiotic our economic system is: there is no state in which a 40 hour work week at minimum wage would allow a worker to afford a 2-bedroom apartment.  From my own experience it would be very difficult to even afford a 1-bedroom apartment.  And only if you didn't have a car payment, auto insurance, or health insurance payments.

Chris In Paris picked up on the FDA's rejection of the corn syrup lobby's attempt to get its product relabeled 'corn sugar.'  I hadn't expected the FDA to show some backbone in dealing with a deep pockets industry group but am delighted to be surprised.  Chris notes the irony of the group's history of touting its product as being a healthier alternative to white sugar.  (healthier only in terms of how many fewer but emptier calories)  But it is ironic in the industry's assumption that consumers can't translate from 'high fructose corn syrup' to 'corn sugar.'  If we don't want the one, why would we want it under the other name?

Once upon a time the Indiana legislature became the butt of jokes when they tried to legislate the value of pi at 3.  Now the North Carolina legislature can join the scientifically challenged club.