Category Archives: Uncategorized

An open letter to the guy who followed me while I was on my bike

Fit and Feminist

Dear Guy,

Last weekend was pretty nice, wasn’t it?  We both wanted to take advantage of the fact that it wasn’t a monsoon outside, which is why I took my bicycle and you took your motorcycle and we both went for rides that took us around Walsingham Park.  That park is one of my favorite places to go, with all of the trees providing shade over the roads and trails that twist around the lake.   The shade is especially important now as most days it gets into the 90s, and that’s really hot, even when you’re on a bike with your self-generated wind blowing past you.

I had hit my turnaround point and was on my way out of the park when I heard your motorcycle engine come up behind me.  I figured you wanted to pass, so I moved over as close to the edge of the road as…

View original post 976 more words

Farmers Speak Out for Sustainable Agriculture at USDA and on the Hill – NSAC

Maryland dairy producers Holly and Eric Foster detailed how two Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG) helped improve their cheese and yogurt production at their family-owned farm, Chapel’s County Creamery.  Likewise, Peter and Kelly Whisnant of Rain Crow Ranch in Missouri spoke to the importance of VAPG funding to catalyzing their 100 percent grass-fed, organic, and animal welfare approved certified beef business.

Terry Jacobson of North Dakota, who raises grass-fed beef and grows grain on his North Outback Farm, stressed the importance of rewarding farmers for their environmental stewardship through the Conservation Stewardship Program.

And Margaret Campos of Comida de Campos in New Mexico detailed how the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) helped her conduct on-farm research into extending her tomato growing season, which now allows her to market produce for a longer period of the year.

via Farmers Speak Out for Sustainable Agriculture at USDA and on the Hill – NSAC.

Not a vulture but a drone: S. Africa police detain cameraman | News , International | THE DAILY STAR

South African police on Friday detained the owner of a radio-controlled helicopter drone carrying a camera that was filming scenes around the Pretoria hospital where ailing anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is being treated.

F.C. Hamman, a South African freelance film-maker, was escorted away by police along with the helicopter camera he was flying with his 21-year-old son Timothy outside the clinic where Mandela, 94, has spent three weeks with a lung infection.

“As far as I know, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Hamman told Reuters by phone from the office in the hospital compound where he was taken by police. He said he was waiting to be interviewed by senior officers and for them to view the footage filmed.

“We were careful not to fly over the hospital,” Hamman said.

He said he had intended to offer to media organisations the aerial shots of intense activity around the hospital, where crowds of jostling journalists have mingled with well-wishers paying tribute to South Africa’s former black president.

The intense media scrutiny has angered some of Mandela’s family. Daughter Makaziwe on Thursday lambasted foreign media “vultures” for not respecting his privacy as he lay critically ill.

Hamman said he had already used the home-built flying camera in other film projects and had also assisted police with surveillance work in operations against suspected drug-dealers in the crime-plagued Johannesburg suburb of El Dorado.

via Not a vulture but a drone: S. Africa police detain cameraman | News , International | THE DAILY STAR.

Homemade surviellance drone

UK Prime Minister Cameron Insists on British Rebate at EU Summit – SPIEGEL ONLINE

It is all he is good at – being a spoil sport and trying to look tough for voters that know he is out of his depth…

British Prime Minister David Cameron managed to find conflict where none was wanted. As he arrived in Brussels, he said he was going to focus on defending the so-called UK rebate — the sum of money Britain gets back from it EU budget contributions due to the limited benefits it receives from European agricultural subsidies.

Other summit participants were less than impressed. Cameron is “never happy” when it comes to the EU budget, complained European Parliament President Martin Schulz.

via UK Prime Minister Cameron Insists on British Rebate at EU Summit – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Exposing President Morsi’s Lies

Egyptian Streets


In his speech Wednesday night, President Mohamed Morsi mocked his rivals, accused politicians and judges of corruptions, claimed the media had a wicked agenda, and blamed the country’s recent problems on remnants of the former regime, whom he believes are attempting a counter-revolution.

One of the individuals singled out for corruption during the President’s three hour speech was Ahmed Shafik, a former Prime Minister and the presidential runner-up. Morsi claimed that he has strong evidence proving that Ahmed Shafik was a corrupt Minister of Civil Aviation. Ahmed Shafik was Minister of Civil Aviation from 2002 until he was appointed Prime Minister by Former President Hosni Mubarak on 31 January 2011 during the Egyptian revolution.

In his speech, Morsi declared that in 2005 the former Prime Minister bought 737-800 Boeing aircrafts for the price of $US 148 million per aircraft, while the actual price was $US 98 million per aircraft. Morsi…

View original post 282 more words

More than 110,000 in Confech student protest in Chilean capital

Police violently enter Universidad de Chile over chancellor’s objections while clashes with masked vandals left several injured and provoked multiple arrest in Santiago.

Organizers claim more than 110,000 participated in Thursday’s student protest for education reform in Santiago.

Photo by Evan Lang / The Santiago Times

Despite the violence which followed the march, the protest itself — led by the umbrella organization Confederation of Chilean Students (Confech) —  was peaceful and hailed a success by student leaders.

via More than 110,000 in Confech student protest in Chilean capital.