July 2019

July 4 Poems

With Independence Day upon us, it's a good time to remember some famous American poems and teach them to the young people in our lives. I think one of the most important ones has to be "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, but poems by black poets, Hispanic poets, LGBTQ poets and other marginalized voices are especially important to recongize and listen to. Walt Whitman is always a good idea, as well as some other poems listed in the link.

No Citizenship Question on the Census

As courts across the country are stacked with extremist Trump judges, it's beginning to feel a bit hopeless in America, isn't it? I know progressives who think we just need an entire revolution after these past three mad years (which, let's face it, is really a lowball; things have been steadily backpedaling into the 1950s since Reagan), with an entire new system of government, and they don't have a lot of hope for next year's election.

What Are You Drinking For The Fourth?

Independence Day isn't one of my favorite holidays, but I do love to spend time with my family, have a rare beer on tap at the park (although ours is flooded this year and we probably won't go elsewhere) and watch the fireworks from afar. My husband loves the whole shebang--grilling meat, shooting off his own fireworks, etc.--and while that's not my cup of tea, a good Fourth of July cocktail certainly is!

Summer of Salt

I've never been one to really get into "summer reads," particularly when they're about the beach, traveling or any other summer activities. That just doesn't represent me; I grew up not knowing what a vacation meant, except that I babysat my constantly fighting siblings instead of attending school. So it was a pleasant surprise when I read my Page Turners pick of the month for June and really enjoyed it.

The Bomb Dot Com at Fortune Cookie Soap

Fortune Cookie Soap is my new obsession, and the company has so many deals that there's really no excuse to not try them out. They even have a Christmas in July sale coming up next week where they will have all kinds of goodies on sale, and I can't wait to see what it will be like. I've been getting their box of the month since May (a present I received for Mother's Day) and it's just been so fun to anticipate, open up and try.

Nuclear Reactors 691 - Nuclear Power May Be Too Expensive For The U.S. Energy Market

        I compiled a list of problems with nuclear energy and posted it on this blog. There are many reasons that nuclear fission is not the answer to our energy needs or to climate change mitigation. One reason I keep coming back to is that nuclear fission is just too expensive and it will ultimately price itself out of the market.

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