Melançon Enterprises • a multidivision multinational since 1980

The world media and the British press in particular (plenty of articles if you search for Jenin massacre myth) did a terrible job demonizing Israel for things that mostly did not happen, with all the newspapers seeming to interview the same guy somehow, during the attack on Jenin that was part of the re-occupation of the West Bank.

A close friend often talks about his eyes being opened: to a better understanding of how the world really is; to a better way of living; to more open and understanding ways of thinking, feeling, being. And he frequently tells me i'm already there.

In short, education reform is a good cause. Experimentation is good -- and some of the best charter schools today have experimented in what could be valuable ways. But the push, coming from Wall Street and the extremely wealthy, for this specific form of charter schools, for this specific way of funding them [a thirty-nine percent New Markets tax credit from the federal government], is part of both short-term and long-term drives for profit that will accrue to the wealthiest while weakening the middle class.

(Talking about Germany, here, i don't know that the U.S. can be said to have learned in the first place from its centuries of extreme, institutionalized racism and their aftermaths.)

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has courted growing anti-immigrant opinion in Germany by claiming the country's attempts to create a multicultural society have "utterly failed".

Speaking to a meeting of young members of her Christian Democratic Union party, Merkel said the idea of people from different cultural backgrounds living happily "side by side" did not work.

Andrea telling me:

Cornucopia Institute

monitor places that claim they are organic
released their findings
haven't read it, heard it on FSRN, but it doesn't look pretty - the big chains claiming organic stuff

Michael Pollan was saying another tactic they use, and then for the last two weeks, they open up the barn– and at that point the chickens don't leave

[This is a Facebook comment left in response to a New York Times article by Ted Fishman, "As Nations Age, A Chance for Younger Nations", which the always fascinating and engaging Kara Andrade posted a link to.]

We need to wage war strategically against the institutions at war with our rights to justice and liberty. An obvious case study for interests sharply and actively at odds with our common interest, that is getting some ink recently, is the brothers who currently own Koch Industries. (To be fair, the Koches are much more on the attack against economic and environmental justice than the more common perceptions of liberty; in the foundations they fund, at least, there's some internally coherent commitment to libertarian principles.)

I went to Yom Kippur services with the old JWEC (Jewish Workshop for Education and Culture, or somesuch).

They read "John Melançon" as one of the half-dozen of the original congregation who has passed away. This means a lot to Dad. Not many things would. I felt like running home to tell him.

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Reminded of the reasons why i think H may be making a pretty good choice about religion.

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Spaghetti rigati, al dente
1 Onion, chopped
2 heads Brocolli, sliced for the stems and long divided florets for the rest
Pureed/ground/extremely finely chopped carrot (a failed attempt at juicing carrots, rescued by this recipe)
Fresh jalepeño and that small long skinny orange pepper.
Can of navy beans (used Goya easy-open 15 ounce).

Stems go in first, at the same time as the onions, in a wok in a little bit of olive oil.

Add some salt. Some celery seed. A little poultry seasoning (coriander, mostly).

Start the pasta.