Links you may have missed (Nov 26, 2011)
Some joys of life
Is my dog barking? (The Independent)
Born To Smile: New Evidence That Laughing And Smiling Begin In The Womb (Worldcrunch) - photo above
Some of the hard stuff
At Durban, the big emitters will no doubt fail us again on climate change (Guardian)
Why Ms Merkel will blink (Social Europe Journal)
Three examples of disaster capitalism in action (Antony Loewenstein blog)
We Speak on PBS Newshour About Why No Bank Executives Have Gone to Jail (Naked Capitalism) – Yves Smith’s Naked Capitalism blog is one of the most informative there is — she speaks at 4:20 and 10:45 on the video.
Some of the heroes
Van Jones and Democratic Party Operatives: You Do Not Represent the Occupy Movement (october2011.org)
The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy (Guardian)
Some news of Italy
Italy’s women look to more equal future after fall of Berlusconi (Guardian)
We say Persimmons, Italians say Cachi
Persimmons are easily found in supermarkets and fruit stands in Italy this time of year. The fruit is native to China and known as Kaki. Here in Italy, they are known either by the Chinese name, or by the Italianized spelling, Cachi. Recipes here (in Italian).
The photo is by my friend Tarcisio Arzuffi, taken this week in his backyard in Grottaferrata.
Alice Waters: USA’s mother of Slow Food
Last Sunday, renown chef Alice Waters was featured in an interview on 60 Minutes. She talked about why fresh, organically-grown food is so important for human beings and the planet they call home.
Waters is on the advisory board for Slow Food USA, which is part of Slow Food International (see post here) founded in Italy by Carlo Petrini.
Eat the View: a suggestion for the next U.S. President
If Roger Doiron has his way, future U.S. Presidents won’t just fill their days walking the world’s corridors of power. They also will be able to step just outside the Oval Office doors to check on how their very own beans and Brussels sprouts are growing.
The project, which Doiron launched earlier this year is Eat the View. It is a campaign advocating that vegetable gardens be planted in visible public spaces around the US, including the most highly visible of all, the White House lawn.
Doiron is the founder of Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI). The group’s mission, according to its website:
…is to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance through the promotion of kitchen gardening, home-cooking, and sustainable local food systems. In doing so, KGI seeks to connect, serve, and expand the global community of people who grow some of their own food.
An article earlier this year in the New York Times described the non-profit KGI as “a virtual community of 5,200 gardeners from 96 countries.” (“Out of the Yard and Onto the Fork” by Anne Raver, April 17, 2008)
In his newly posted video (below), Doiron shows why it is a good idea for the White House to have its own vegetable garden, and offers a hands-on, how-to guide for the next American President — whoever that might be:
(I found the link to KGI in the True Blue Liberal article here — “Slow Food Nation Gains Momentum” by Shepherd Bliss, Aug 5, 2008)
