President Obama on Absent Fathers and Being an Engaged Parent

President Obama

In his weekly address this Father’s Day, President Barack Obama discusses the importance of being a present and attentive parent. He emphasized how vital it is for dads to be active in the lives of their children, and how very much kids need your time, guidance and unconditional love.

Obama also mentioned the impact upon his own childhood of his absent father while he was growing up. He pondered how his life might have been different if his dad had been more involved in his life and had not left when he was just an infant.

Alice Walker, Palestine, SlutWalks and Hirsute Nipples

slut

The writer Alice Walker was interviewed in Guernica recently, and the article is definitely worth reading. The eloquent intellectual shared her world view with Michael Archer; she had quite a bit to say about a number of issues, including her recent experiences in the Middle East. Walker’s insights into the Israeli occupation are quite revelatory and compelling. In addition to Palestinian resistance, she spoke of the growing strength of the feminist movement, women’s resistance to both violent and cultural oppression, SlutWalks and the power of language.

Six Things to Love About Germany

Berlin sewer cover

Recently I was editing some images from our last trip to Berlin, and started thinking about why I love Germany, and what they do well. So many good things come to mind, not even including the really obvious items, like a strong economy and social safety net, tons of windmills and solar power, and the fact that the European country has now abandoned nuclear power.

Since it is not possible to include everything that is wonderful about Germany, here is a list of just six random things that I love about Deutschland (plus one additional item that is not so great):

Pages: 1 2

Soil Magic with Sandwich Composting

Constructing compost sandwich with layers of cardboard, newspaper, compost and green material

It might seem highly improbable that just a pile of cardboard, newspaper and grass clippings will magically turn into beautiful rich soil, but that is indeed what actually happens. I saw it with my very own eyes. In our quest to find more space to plant vegetables in our ever expanding garden, we did a trial sandwich composting project on the sunny, but weedy side of our house last October. Now in spring, our simple compost sandwich has really turned out beautifully.

Utah Attorney General Shurtleff Now Supports Legalizing Medical Marijuana

cannabis

The state of Utah’s Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, has just announced that he now wholly supports the legalization of medical marijuana. He has recently endured many months of intensive chemotherapy treatment for his Stage 3 colon cancer, and has seen directly how much medicinal cannabis has greatly helped ease the suffering of other cancer patients.