Blueberry Imposters!

 photo from NPR.org

NPR reports that there are fake blueberries masquerading as real fruit. Blasphemy! But then again, why would you want anything but fresh or frozen blueberries?  Mmmm.

AKA NOT NEWS

Boy, 2, outside briefly in cold

Really, Cincinnati.com? Really? This is when you just make the intelligent choice NOT TO POST ANYTHING.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird

My facebook has suddenly become cluttered with links, and my anal-retentive side just can't handle it!  So here is the my breakdown of the past few weeks.

The Good:

• Sara Kruzan, a girl who was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 16 for killing her abusive, adult pimp, will have a chance to live some of her life outside of prison.  This is huge.  Why wasn't this a bigger story?
• Jon Stewart, my hero, makes some of the most sane and wise comments I've heard about the Arizona shootings.  Thank you.
• Sudan is voting to recede the South from the North, which would separate the Christian south from the Muslim north.  Will this finally put an end to the years of civil war and genocide?  Here's to hoping it's a start to real change.... 
• A nice spotlight on the embodiment of a real, true believer public defender: Judy Clarke, who will represent Jared Loughner.
• A man with an IQ of 46 was wrongly convicted and executed 70 + years ago.  He was just pardoned.

The Bad:

• The term anchor babies, code for we hate immigrants, hits the political spotlight.  Kentucky is trying to pass a bill that is even worse than Arizona.  Just what we need our politicians to waste their time on instead of making real, positive change.
• The Arizona shootings.  It's a sad story about the failures of our mental health system and innocent lives being taken.  
• Or the stupid: Palin throws out the term "blood libel" to lash back at criticism against her rhetoric and it's possible implications that it helped incite the Arizona shootings.  Typically ignorant, since the term is generally used to refer to the false accusation that Jewish people murdered Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals.  That is wonderfully helpful, Sarah.  Please refer to Jon Stewart's comments.  Of course it's not her fault.  But would it be a good moment to stop and think about how it is a problem that crazy people's words are reflecting the dialogue in politics?  YES. There just is no need for angry responses right now.
• Haiti is still majorly struggling.  It's been a year since the earthquake.
• A man with an IQ of 46 was wrongly convicted and executed 70 + years ago.  He was just pardoned.

The Weird:

• Dead birds dropping from the sky??  Arkansas.  California.  New Zealand.  Kentucky.  Italy.  Uh. This isn't like, a few dead birds.  It's hundreds.  Thousands. Does it not seem like the beginning of an M. Night Shyamalan movie?  But allegedly, this is not weird?

Wasted Opportunity or Seriously Lucky?

Girlfriend shoots at 'other woman,' cops say

Is shooting at your boyfriend's baby mama a good idea? Of course not. Can I understand the urge? Of course. That being said, ok, you decide to take the low route and shoot at her... and you don't even hit her once. And you mar your spotless record by getting caught. On one hand, if you're going to do it, make it worth the charges, on the other hand, thank goodness you avoided a homicide charge, though it seems to be you will be brushing up against attempted murder if you run into the wrong district attorney. Hmmm.

Compostable SunChip Bag and Green Living

If you had not stumbled upon SunChip's compostable bags, well, they only come with one variety now.  What articles don't mention is that it's only been pulled off the market in the U.S.  Because only Americans care more about their convenience and "noise" of a chip bag than the effects that bag has on the environment.  You wonder why other countries don't care to listen to the U.S. about environmental issues and pollution.  We can't even get behind a great innovation for CHIP BAGS.  Come on, people. Yes, it's loud, but it's not hard to pour the chips into a bowl, or you could adopt my method of opening the bag really wide and sticking your hand through.. just don't hit the bag.  Another solution is to put them in an airtight container, which will keep them fresh AND you can just compost the bag.  My favorite container: OXO pop containers.

While sometimes living green might seem expensive or inconvenient, there are actually small ways that every person can live just a little more responsibly.  Maybe you can help encourage this with your gift-giving this holiday season.  Here are my favorite discoveries and why I love them:

• Wrap-n-Mat: placemat and sandwich holder in one, cute, and totally reusable.  Easy to clean and cuts down on use of plastic baggies for the brief period that you carry your sandwich from home to work.

• Snack Taxi: again, so cute, and so handy for snacks.  I usually just rinse it clean but will occasionally wash it with some dish soap.  Way more fun than a lame old snack bag anyway.  Lined to prevent leakage, though not recommended for super leaky/wet snacks.

• Twist cleaning supplies: biodegradable sponges, cleaning cloths, etc, that are all safe to sanitize in the dishwasher (makes me love them more than rags or towels that I have to run through the washing machine).  I had been feeling so guilty about using paper towels as much as I do for daily cleaning, being a total clean freak, and found my much better solution.  In the long run, I'll save money on paper towels, too! 

• Free high efficiency light bulbs from Duke Energy: customers can call or go online to request them and you get a whole box full.  These bulbs last for years and help you reduce energy costs.  Be sure to look into proper disposal of these bulbs!  

• Reusable produce bags: Washable bags for your fruits and veggies (just stick them in your reusable grocery bags... you are using them, right?).  You can get these at a variety of places online or at some grocery stores.  Maybe there isn't the same money saving aspect to these bags, but they are not terribly expensive and really, who wants an accumulation of those plastic bags from the grocery anyway?

See?  It's not so hard to be just a little green.  When you drive by one of those landfill mountains, you can be at least a little glad that you added that much less non-biodegradable crap into that big, smelly pile.