In the news
Or, how to raise one's blood pressure.
The House of Representatives has vote to make most of the provisions of the Patriot (*cough*) Act permanent. The only two that were put on hold (for another 10 years) involve library (and other personal) records and roving wiretaps. The rest now go to the Senate for confirmation. The Republicans refused to let the Democrat amendments for further time-limits even come to a vote.
There's some good health news: on average, USians' levels of lead and second-hand tobacco smoke are lower. However, this is (more than?) balanced by the bad news: levels of cadmium, insecticides, and phthalates (something to do with plastics) are higher. The complete almost-500-page report is downloadable as a PDF from the CDC (third down on the list). There's been a lot of energy spent on limiting lead and smoking, and I'm glad it's made a difference. I wish that people would pay as much attention up front to the risks of new things (insecticides, new plastics, whatever), rather than just waiting for problems to appear. I mean, insecticides, things meant to kill stuff, might be bad for larger mammals, too. But we blithely go on, making ourselves dependent on it, rather than working on other, greener approaches to the problems.
Now that same sex marriages are legal (and recorded appropriately) in Massachusetts, the next question is apparently "what about the kids?" Gov. Romney is telling hospitals to cross out "father" and write "second parent" on birth certificates. But town clerks question whether it's legal to have a birth certificate with cross-outs. And if that's a problem, how does the person use the birth certificate to get other ID? From the Globe article, my impression is that Romney is dragging his feet about having new forms made, because he's personally still opposed to same-sex marriage. Yet another instance of kids paying for their parents' perceived sins.
And on a lighter note, I don't want to lose the link to this scallion pancake recipe; it looks pretty doable (once the heat drops). (Have I mentioned how much I like this blog? (The RSS feed is tigerberries.) The way she writes reminds me of Laurie Colwin's food books, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking, just the right balance of knowledge, home cooking, and food obsession to suit my fancy.)
The House of Representatives has vote to make most of the provisions of the Patriot (*cough*) Act permanent. The only two that were put on hold (for another 10 years) involve library (and other personal) records and roving wiretaps. The rest now go to the Senate for confirmation. The Republicans refused to let the Democrat amendments for further time-limits even come to a vote.
There's some good health news: on average, USians' levels of lead and second-hand tobacco smoke are lower. However, this is (more than?) balanced by the bad news: levels of cadmium, insecticides, and phthalates (something to do with plastics) are higher. The complete almost-500-page report is downloadable as a PDF from the CDC (third down on the list). There's been a lot of energy spent on limiting lead and smoking, and I'm glad it's made a difference. I wish that people would pay as much attention up front to the risks of new things (insecticides, new plastics, whatever), rather than just waiting for problems to appear. I mean, insecticides, things meant to kill stuff, might be bad for larger mammals, too. But we blithely go on, making ourselves dependent on it, rather than working on other, greener approaches to the problems.
Now that same sex marriages are legal (and recorded appropriately) in Massachusetts, the next question is apparently "what about the kids?" Gov. Romney is telling hospitals to cross out "father" and write "second parent" on birth certificates. But town clerks question whether it's legal to have a birth certificate with cross-outs. And if that's a problem, how does the person use the birth certificate to get other ID? From the Globe article, my impression is that Romney is dragging his feet about having new forms made, because he's personally still opposed to same-sex marriage. Yet another instance of kids paying for their parents' perceived sins.
And on a lighter note, I don't want to lose the link to this scallion pancake recipe; it looks pretty doable (once the heat drops). (Have I mentioned how much I like this blog? (The RSS feed is tigerberries.) The way she writes reminds me of Laurie Colwin's food books, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking, just the right balance of knowledge, home cooking, and food obsession to suit my fancy.)