A doc no woman should ever see alone

Which is worse, doc's conduct then or his thuggish try at intimidation now? 
 Defamation suits against people who report on the misdeeds of powerful people are attempts to SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) people. 

Thank goodness Oregon has a strong Anti-SLAPP law.

Harvest Celebration at John Knox Community Garden, Oct. 8, 11-2

Harvest Celebration at John Knox Community Garden, Keizer

Saturday, October 8, 11 am - 2  pm

Tubers & Roots:  A Harvest Celebration at John Knox Community Garden

Open to the public, Saturday, October 8th from 11am to 2pm. 

452 Cummings Ln., in Keizer.  

Come for live music from Curt McCormack and Friends, tubers and roots dish tasting and recipes, kid's veggie art activities, garden tour and general merriment! 

Coming up Next Saturday, the final Harvest Celebration:

Super Squash!  Saturday, October 15th

Location: Oregon School for the Deaf. 999 Locust Ave. NE. Enter gate off Maple.  

Come for...draft horse plowing demonstration from Sweetwell Farm, dramatic performance from OSD students, squash dish tasting, hot apple cider.

Another for the LOVESalem Bookclub

In this unique and insightful book Schlesinger analyzes the cultural forces that urge us to avoid critical thinking and independent analysis.  The media reduces politics to a spectator sport, standardized tests teach students to fill in the dots instead of opening their minds, and even the Internet promotes habits that discourage looking deeper. But the situation isn't hopeless. Schlesinger profiles individuals and institutions renewing the practice of inquiry--particularly in America's youth--at a time when our society demands such activity from us all.


"From her start in politics as a teenager Andrea Batista Schlesinger has asked the important questions. Now she asks her most important: are we teaching young people to value inquiry, and if not, what hope can we have for the future of democracy?"  -Katrina vanden Heuvel, Publisher, The Nation

LOVESalem Bookclub - like Oprah's, only better

The Salem Public Library had a little breakdown this year, having the book requests misdirected to a dead letter file instead of to a librarian for fulfillment.  So I got a bunch of my requests sent back to me -- don't know if that means they aren't going to find them for me or not.  But it makes it easy to recommend some new books (or new to me anyway).

The Abundant Community:  Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods

Coal exports to China: The worst of all possible worlds

Oh, brilliant.  Let's export the coal to China, so that it is burned with zero pollution control and deposits the mercury, polonium and other radioactive isotopes, and smog into Oregon in about six hours after combustion.

The question we should ask anyone who wants to mine coal, but especially to mine and export coal is this:  Why do you hate America so much?  Why would you want to condemn our children to an impoverished and degraded future of poisoned food, acidified and barren oceans, and uncontrollably wild climate extremes?

Insanity.  If you have children or grandchildren, you need to understand this:  our only hope for moderating the worst that we've got coming is keeping the coal in the ground.

What will it take?

A Salem thinker asks, how do we wake people up to what's coming down?

Quick, get this man a Pulitzer!

Yikes again! 

Cigarettes and Climate and the Power of Doubt

Image by Tumbleweed:-) via Flickr
"Doubt is our product."

Still underway on solar power (and a little ocd) :^)

9-21-11 Fall Equinox 3650 kWh produced since 12/11/10

Speaking of the solar system we had to put in to power the boys' heated blanket, we installed the solar system at LOVESalem HQ last fall and it started in operation just a few days before the Winter Solstice, as the sun was at its nadir.

So, in round numbers,

we had 0 kWh on the Winter Solstice of 10;
500 kWh on Spring Equinox of 11;
1950 kWh on the Summer Solstice of 11, and now, 3650 kWh on the Fall Equinox, just a few days ago.

My little reports prompted this comment from a true friend of mine:

"You are an absolute F----g freak.  Srsly, I am into this sh!t but you are way off the hook."

 If you would like to join me in feeling GREAT when you think about your energy use, you have some options:


SolarCity (a nice offering, including a $0 down plan)

Sunwize (our choice -- if you have them out to do a visit on your plance and you tell 'em I sent you, they'll give me $50 that we'll put towards one of the Salem causes or activities posted here). 

Solarize Salem -- a cool, local organized effort.

Happy Birthday, Momcat!

It was just after Christmas 2009.  It was becoming very clear that the kitty-shaped hole in my Sweetie's heart was simply never going to heal.  But, thanks to Salem Friends of Felines (who recently placed its 5000th kitty), we found a cure -- the two sweetest boys in the world, Gus and Simon.  They are, you can be forgiven for not believing this, often very active and energetic!  (Now you see why we had to install solar panels at LOVESalem HQ: these boys get a heated blankie about nine months of the year!)