The Good, the Bad, and the hope for justice in the Ugly

The Good: FDA to require prescriptions for antibiotic use in livestock. The Bad: Filth and inhumanity plague chicken farm, source of 4.5 million eggs headed to your supermarkets per DAY.

The hope for justice in the Ugly: Thank goodness George Zimmerman has been charged. Trayvon's killing is such a tragedy for the Fulton-Martin family, and yet another sad reminder of the results of our unwillingness to make gun ownership harder to achieve as well as Florida's insane Stand Your Ground law and lenient gun permit and concealed weapon rules. In Florida, "about 1 of every 17 adults has" a concealed-weapons permit (LA Times); to obtain this permit, applicants are neither required to explain why they want to carry a weapon nor whether they're able to use and aim it properly. Wow! And I don't mean that in a good way.

Compost sieve

Y'all, I just took my new compost sieve out for a spin, and it's awesome!!! All the not-yet-ready stuff stays behind, and you're left with gorgeous black gold, laden with worms. Seriously, there must be many thousands of worms back there. So cool! I just spread some as a top layer in my gardens. Easy, no smell, no waste. I LOVE it! If you've got a pile or tumbler going (I like my open pile better) and are in the market for such a sieve, I got mine from Gardener's Supply Company. It's heavy-duty, and I'm quite pleased. Earth Day's coming- get psyched!

Quote of the morning

This was in the weekly newsletter from J's school, a wonderful Quaker institution whose values totally speak to me. I feel inordinately grateful that J is a student there, and I could not agree more with the attitude expressed in Swayne's quote (below) which, as you'll see, was published in 1959! What is happening to this country, or at least to the parts "led" by the Rightists who are walking us back rather than forward, as ardently and quickly as possible? "Because there is a great diversity of opinion on the problems of the resurrection and immortality, and since Quakerism takes no formal stand on any of them, it becomes the function of religious education to present as fully as possible all points of view and reasons therefor, and allow each individual to form his own conclusion from the evidence presented. No person can do this adequately who has been allowed to see and understand only one side of the picture. It is especially important that children be given a secure foundation of faith in such a way as to leave the doors of their mind open..."

-Amelia W. Swayne, from The Observance of Easter, published in 1959

Amen, sister!