consumer reports: organics

The magazine lists sixteen fruits and vegetables worth buying organic. These selections are ones that tend to build up pesticide residues the most, so if you’re going to dip into organic fruits and vegetables, start with cranberries, nectarines, peaches, strawberries, pears, apples, cherries, cantaloupe, green beans, sweet bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, and lettuce.

i'm voting republican

today is share tongue-in-cheek support for the republican party day. aside from the video above, here's an additionally funny (yet more depressing) stab: a loyalty oath for clinton supporters who turn to mccain instead of obama

in my opinion, women's reproductive health is the number one reason to vote democratic this election. with the strong likelihood of an open supreme court seat in the next four years, mccain's openly anti-abortion stance, and the nomination he's suspected to make that will change roe v. wade, i really hope that all of you urge your friends and family to vote, and vote specifically obama. for more on the kind of evil we're facing that we've got to get proactive against (from the article i linked above):

And amidst these obstacles, anti-contraceptive activists attack women's access to contraception on every other level: President George W. Bush's Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2006 bars pharmaceutical companies from selling birth control at a discounted price to university health centers and safety-net clinics, leaving low-income and college women paying full price for birth control.

why? there's really little actual reasoning behind that kind of policy. i hate using the word "evil" when talking about politics, but i can't think of a more fitting word in this instance.

on dunder and blixen

one of the more terrifying things, in my opinion, is lightning. and i'm convinced that this area must sit directly below jupiter's perch (see video for area footage on the subject).

but tell that to my husband, and he'll comfortingly remind you that you're irrational. because statistically, your chances for a car wreck or cancer trump lightning by far. he's right in that comparative context. but there are facts about storms that lightning-brave folks often aren't aware of or ignore:

• while death is a possibility, hundreds more suffer life-debilitating injuries: memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, numbness, dizziness, and weakness


• location and personal behaviors are sufficient variables in likelihood for harm


• lightning causes more deaths than do most other natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes and tornadoes)


• lightning is the cause of nearly 10,000 forest fires every year in the united states


• property damage caused by lightning can total over $2 billion a year and lightning hitting a home (or a tree nearby the home) can render home electronics useless in a second flat
  

that's my lightning PSA. the more you know, the less you glow¹.

1. sorry, that was punful².
2. sorry, that was worse.