Feb. 27--Mar. 3---

Monday--

Another story from the Twilight Zone that is now the United States. Henry Rousso put the matter very succinctly: "the United States is no longer quite the United States."

Someone who, unlike Trump, really tells it like it is: evangelical christianity is the American Taliban.

I really like this article. Some time ago, when I cleaned out my closet, I got rid of most (if not all) skirts and dresses. I hope never to wear one again. I haven't bought a pair of panty hose in years. Again something I hope to never wear again. I have come to the point of hating bras because they all chafe, pinch, or bind--or all three at once. And we never, never, never have enough pockets.

Hummmm?? "Financial Toxicity" is a good term but not just in cancer treatment. All of medical care and medications are too expensive for a growing number of our citizens. Just the way the medical industry likes it.

More support for the course we started on a few years ago. We cut back both salt and sugars some years ago and shifted to cane sugar (when we use it because beet sugar is usually from GMO beets) at the same time we shifted to full-fat dairy where we can. We found cottage cheese and milk which fit that category but getting the yogurt we like in the whole milk variety is difficult. We absolutely refuse to buy the 0% fat cheese, milk or yogurt. We also shifted from margarine to butter and occasionally use lard in cooking. We believed for some time that the "expert's" dietary advice was off base and ignored most of it.

Tuesday--

I have decided that any bread recipe I see which gives instructions for mixer, hand mixing, and bread machine in the same paragraph I will ignore. I used a recipe for sourdough that did just that and though the bread came out nicely the dough was a pain in the ass to work with. I am old school on most of my cooking and everything is done by hand. On a humorous note on bread making: I wondered, having just printed off two pumpernickel recipes and using one recently, just what constituted "pumpernickel." So I looked it up and discovered it was simply a bread made with a higher proportion of rye than regular rye breads. I can be made with either rye meal (course grown whole grain) or rye flour (finer milled). The humor comes in with the derivation of the name which according to the source I found comes from two German words: pumpern meaning "to break wind"(a.k.a., fart) and nickel meaning "a devil or demon". They say the course rye meal does roil the digestive system. Mom laughed when I read that remembering when people referred to political gasbags as "pumpernickels".

Wednesday--

Thunderstorms last night but thankfully no hail or tornadoes. The temperatures should drop over the next couple of days. I have to remind myself this is still only March 1. Meteorological spring might start today but the equinox (astronomical spring) is yet three weeks away.

I was going to label this "More on the fake food front," but that isn't totally accurate. Instead it should be "More on the food bait-and-switch fraud," Takes the "tastes like chicken" meme to a whole different level.

Thursday--

We got snow flurries driven sideways by very strong winds. The snow didn't accumulate and the wind has calmed for now.

This is hilarious!! Leaks have been plaguing the Tangerine's administration since the beginning. His current spokes-shill recently demanded all his subordinates hand in their official and personal phones for inspection in an effort to find the leak. Evidently, two private security firms have identified what they think is the source--the Tangerine's own unsecured Android device.

Friday--

I have always been skeptical about the charter school fad and the voucher rage in education enthusiastically promoted by the newest (and least qualified) Secretary of Education, Betsy De Vos. This article provides support for my skepticism--to date the performance hasn't lived up to the promise.

Damn!! Another GMO to look out for.

Ah, Crabby Old Lady is back at Time Goes By and she is right on the money with her critique of the internet today. It is a rare day when all the frustrations mentioned don't have us swearing half a dozen times (or more). I have recently fantasized about taking days off with no computer exposure at all but then I need to look up some crochet stitch or other information.