Tag Archives: incitytimesworcester.org – the ICT website

Tonight! Abby’s House Spring-Tacular!🌺🌻🌼🌷

April 20, 2017 admin

Parlee (left), Abby’s housing advocate, will be at Holy Cross tonight.

The Abby’s House event also features Dorrie, proud mum of just rescued Peggy Sue. Here’s Peg resting – a few hours earlier she had a tooth extracted at the vet’s.😢 pic: D.M.

The annual Abby’s House Spring-Tacular fundraiser, a food and beverage tasting event, will take place TODAY – Thursday, April 20 – from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the College of the Holy Cross’ Hogan Campus Center.

The event will feature:

14 tasting stations🍤🍷

jewelry sales💍💎💍💖

surprise Buy-A-Bed boxes💕

and a silent auction.💋

The cost is $65 per person.

Money raised will help to support Abby’s overnight shelter, affordable housing programs, and advocacy for homeless women and their children.💙💜💛

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.abbyshouse.org/spring-tacular or contact Justina at Abby’s House at (508) 756-5486 Ext. 14.

Animal Issues

Easter … another perspective

April 12, 2017 admin

Parlee Jones💗💗💗💗

By Parlee Jones

Peace, Worcester People!! I hope this issue of InCity Times finds you in the best of health – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

When I was a child my mom made sure that my two sisters and I were greeted with gifts for every holiday!! Christmas presents! Easter baskets! Thanksgiving feasts! Fourth of July cookouts at the ocean! She did her best to make sure that we wanted for nothing. She also did this for our children, her grandchildren, until she passed away September 13, 2013.

Once my sisters and I grew up and started doing our own research, we took different paths ~ a Rasta, a Muslim and a 5%er – all ways of life that give an alternative view to the Anglo-Christian norms that are accepted in the United States and, basically, worldwide. Learning truth or where these “holy-days”/“holidays” originated is usually a part of gaining knowledge.

Countless Christians celebrate Easter Sunday as the day that Jesus Christ rose from the “dead,” which is written in the New Testament of the Bible. According to the Gospel of John in the New Testament, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where Jesus was buried and found it empty. An angel told her that Jesus had risen.

Easter is Christianity’s most important holiday. It has been called a moveable feast because it doesn’t fall on a set date every year, as most holidays do.

As with many holidays, the new Christian religion had to include aspects of what is considered “pagan” holidays to make it easier to convert more people to Christianity. Christianity adopted the pagan Spring festival. … All things fun about Easter are pagan!

What do bunnies and eggs have to do with Easter? The egg is an ancient symbol of new life and has been associated with pagan festivals the world over celebrating spring since the beginning of time.

“In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, with further symbolism being found in the hard shell of the egg symbolizing the sealed Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg.

Colored eggs, I’m quite sure, developed with amazing marketing for the masses. Bottom line, we know it’s about the dollar bills!

Well, what about the Easter Bunny?

Since ancient of days, bunnies have been associated with spring and rebirth. It is thought that the Goddess of Spring, Eostre, had a hare as her companion. The hare represents fertility and revival. Later Christians changed the symbol of the hare to the Easter Bunny.

According to some sources, the Easter Bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” Their children made nests in which this creature could lay its colored eggs.
-www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/21/easter-bunny-debunked-how_n_852187.html

Goddesses who celebrate Spring and Rebirth:

The goddess Ishtar is the East Semitic Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and is the cognate for the Northwest Semitic Aramean goddess Astarte.

Ostara is a fertility goddess. Her annual arrival in spring is heralded by the flowering of trees and plants and the arrival of babies, both animal and human. She is also known as Eostre, the Germanic Goddess of Spring. Eggs and rabbits are sacred to her, as is the full moon, since the ancients saw in its markings the image of a rabbit or hare. She is also a dawn goddess and may be related to the Greek Goddess of the dawn, Eos.

Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the world and were celebrated in the spring time:

🌸Aphrodite from ancient Greece;

🌷Ashtoreth from ancient Israel;

🌺Asarte from ancient Greece;

🌹Demeter from Mycenae;

🌻Hathor from ancient Egypt;

🌼Ishtar from Assyria;

💐Kali from India;

🌷Ostara from Germanic culture.

Just a few interesting facts that make you go … hmmmm!

Thanks for listening with an open mind and heart! Peace and Blessings! And enjoy your holy-day!!!

Parlee, at an Abby’s House event

Animal Issues

FYI 🌷🌷🌷🌷…

April 11, 2017 admin

At the Mustard Seed kitchen, on Piedmont Street: every eve, free dinner to the community. Pictured here: Central Mass Kibble Kitchen super volunteer Dorrie Maynard checks in with super Mustard Seed volunteer “AUTUMN”💗💗💗 (in red apron, behind the counter) before dinner. Besides serving food to the needy, Autumn helps Mustard Seed diners connect with social service programs or Dorrie/Central Mass Kibble Kitchen, if they are pet owners and need help feeding their dogs and kitties. Go, Autumn, go!! pic: R.T.

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8th Annual Asian American Mental Health Forum

Spinning Threads of Hope:
Preventing Suicide in Asian Communities

Opening Remarks by:
MA Dept. of Mental Health Commissioner Joan Mikula

Keynote Speech by:
MA Dept. of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel

Wednesday, May 10, 2017 – 9 AM to 3 PM

Higgins University Center, Clark University

Hosted by Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts

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Roberto G. Gonzales

April 14 at Clark U: Leading expert to present ‘Lives in limbo: undocumented and coming of age in America’

Clark University will host Roberto G. Gonzales for “Lives in limbo: undocumented and coming of age in America,” at NOON, on Friday, April 14, in Jefferson 320, Clark University campus.

This free, public event will highlight the disastrous effects immigration policies have had on more than two million children coming of age in the United States.

Gonzales, an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has conducted the most comprehensive study of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

His book, “Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America” (University of California Press 2015), is based on an in-depth study that followed 150 undocumented young adults in Los Angeles for 12 years and exposed the failures of a system that integrates children into K-12 schools but ultimately denies them the rewards of their labor.

Gonzales’ National UnDACAmented Research Project has surveyed nearly 2,700 undocumented young adults and carried out 500 in-depth interviews on their experiences following President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

His work has been has been featured in top social science journals as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Gonzales has received support for his work by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation. He has received the American Sociological Association Award for Public Sociology in International Migration and the AERA Scholars of Color Early Career Award.

This event is co-sponsored by the Sociology Department, the Center for Gender, Race and Area Studies, the History Department, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

The first 50 guests will receive a free copy of Gonzales’ book.

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As you do your spring cleaning, add these products to your ‘toss’ pile

By Amanda Nordstrom

This spring, as you dust cobwebs out of corners and pack up unwanted clothes for the charity thrift store, there’s an important task that you may not have thought of: tossing cruelly produced items from your bathroom. If your soap, shampoo, toothpaste or deodorant were made by companies that still test on animals, it’s time for a fresh start.

It’s hard to believe that in this day and age — when more than 2,400 responsible companies have gone cruelty-free — some manufacturers are still needlessly poisoning and killing animals in order to test their products. Rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits and others are forced to swallow or inhale massive quantities of a test substance or endure immense pain as a chemical eats away at their eyes or skin. Some tests, such as the now-infamous lethal dose test, continue until a predetermined percentage of the animals dies.

No law in the U.S. requires companies to test personal-care products on animals — and such tests have been banned in the European Union, India, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. Not only is using animals as test tubes cruel, it often produces inaccurate or misleading results. Even if a product has blinded an animal, it can still be sold to consumers.

Fortunately, the number of forward-thinking companies grows every day, as more and more manufacturers reject cruel and crude tests on animals — relics of the 1920s — and opt instead for modern, sophisticated techniques to evaluate the safety of their products. The results of non-animal tests are quick and accurate, and no one gets hurt.

If you don’t spend your days working on this issue, as I do, you may not realize that there are a surprising number of pioneering non-animal tests now in use and more in development, including cell and tissue cultures, reconstructed skin grown from human cells and computer models that allow extrapolation of existing data to predict the activity of a chemical.

For example, the fluorescein leakage test method uses a fluorescent dye to measure a chemical’s ability to break through a solid layer of cells, thereby mimicking the damage that the substance would cause to the eye. This spares rabbits the pain that they endure when chemicals are dripped into their sensitive eyes. EpiDermTM — a 3-D, human cell–derived skin model that replicates key traits of normal human skin — is more accurate at predicting allergic responses than cruel tests on guinea pigs and mice, which involve injecting them with chemicals or smearing substances onto their shaved skin.

Even China, a country not known for its progressive stance on animal welfare, is moving forward on this issue. Late last year, the Chinese government, which currently requires cosmetics companies to pay for inhumane tests on animals, announced that it is accepting findings from the completely animal-free 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake Phototoxicity Assay, which tests chemicals for their potential toxicity when they come into contact with sunlight.

As these and other sophisticated tests show, we don’t have to choose between protecting animals and keeping humans safe. It’s really a choice between effective and ineffective science.

So this year, as you go about your spring cleaning, why not clear your conscience as well as your clutter? It’s as simple as making the decision to support companies that are committed to animal-friendly principles by always buying cruelty-free. PETA has a searchable online database that makes finding cruelty-free products a breeze.

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IN CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WEEK

THE FITCHBURG COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT INVITES YOU TO:

A Community Development Celebration

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017: 4 PM – 6 PM

GARDEN ROOM — FITCHBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY

610 MAIN STREET, FITCHBURG

• View the programs funded by the Community Development Block Grant

• Learn about current Community Development projects

All are welcome to attend.

For more information please call: (978) 829-1899

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Fashion

Baking your own Easter bread – always in style!🌷

April 8, 2017 admin

Here’s an Easter bread recipe from Chef Joey’s Greek and Italian family💗 …

EASTER BREAD!🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

Photos, recipe and text by Chef Joey

That wonderful spring holiday, Easter, is upon us and, as with holidays, food is involved. Main courses vary for Easter, as it is the end of Lent, but meat is usually at the top of the menu. Depending on your heritage, Easter lamb is right up there, but there is one staple food that is widely known and on just about everyone’s table: Easter Bread.

In many European countries, many traditions exist with the use of bread during Easter. Traditionally, the Easter bread is sweetened. I was curious to learn that “Communion” bread traces its origin back to Byzantium and the Orthodox Christian church. However, the recipe for sweeter bread – sweetened with honey – dates as far back to the Homeric Greek period! Many classical texts mention a “honey-bread.” It is also widely known that sweetened bread desserts similar to today’s panettone, were always a Roman favorite.

The Easter holiday is one where “sweet” bread brings itself into the symbolic realm.

The Sweeter breads indicate Easter Sunday and the rising of Christ.

Although bread is significant for religious purposes, it is also symbolic of life. A peasant proverb: “Chie hat pane mai non morit” — “One who has bread never dies.”

Throughout history there have been many shapes of Easter breads. One usually contained two points and an egg covered with a cross. The egg and the points that recall birds in flight speak of fertility, sexuality and procreation — basic themes in Easter and its pagan origins. This was most likely the influence of today’s braided bread.

The second bread was designed to have no general shape, but was rather baked to encircle an egg, with the initials BP put on it. The initials BP stand for Buona Pasquaor – “Happy Easter.”

Babka is a Polish bread also made at Easter. Babka typically is tall and cylindrical, like panetonne. It frequently contains raisins, may be iced on top and is sweet.

Here is a simple, basic Easter bread recipe. You can adjust the sweetness. It is extremely delicious on a Monday morning toasted with butter – just sayin’! It is a basic sweet bread recipe my Greek and Italian family used with a few modern touches. You can place colored, pre-cooked hard boiled eggs in your braid, and there is no limit, usually one egg per household member was incorporated into the bread.

FYI: My Greek family used to boil the eggs in red onion skins to color them; the Italians used red wine instead of water. Try 4 cups of blueberries in water and boil your Easter eggs for lavender! Curry for yellow – the list goes on!💗💚💗💚💚💗

pic: R.T.

Ingredients:🌸🌸🌸

1/2 cup whole milk

10 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 1/4 envelope active dry yeast

4 large eggs, room temperature

6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces, room temperature, plus 1/2 tablespoon, melted

Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave until an instant-read thermometer registers no more than 110°F.

Transfer milk to a bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon sugar.

Sprinkle yeast over milk and whisk to blend.

If the milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs and whisk until smooth.

Combine remaining sugar, flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Add milk to mixture. With mixer running, add the room-temperature butter, 1 piece at a time, blending well between additions.

Mix on medium speed for 1 minute.

Knead on medium-high speed until dough is soft and silky, about 5 minutes.

If kneading by hand, have the flour in a separate bowl and add the milk mixture and butter so it incorporates.

Take a bowl double the size of the dough and wipe the inside with some melted butter.

Place dough in bowl. Brush top of dough with remaining melted butter; cover with plastic wrap.

Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size, 1 – 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down the dough and divide it into 2 equal pieces.

Then divide each piece into 3 equal pieces.

Dust your hands with flour and roll out to about a foot a half (18”). Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Arrange ropes side by side lengthwise on prepared sheet.

Pinch top ends together. Braid dough. Pinch bottom ends together to secure (braided loaf will be about 12″ long).

If adding hard boiled eggs, tuck them between braids, spacing evenly. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until puffed but not doubled in size, 45-50 minutes.

Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°F.

Whisk remaining egg with 2 teaspoons warm water in a small bowl.

Avoiding dyed eggs, brush dough all over with egg wash. Bake until bread is golden usually about 20 – 25 minutes and a thermometer inserted into center of loaf reads 190°F.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.🎷🎷

Happy Easter!🐰🐰🐰🐰

******

Animal Issues

Congressman McGovern Condemns Trump’s Move to Sell Weapons to Bahrain without Human Rights Conditions

March 30, 2017 admin

But first …

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Jim is a PASSIONATE advocate of human rights! Go, Jim, go!!

From Jim’s office:

Today U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern, a senior House Democrat and the co-chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released the following statement in response to media reports that the Trump Administration plans to lift all human rights conditions on U.S. sales of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain:

“America has a responsibility to stand up for human rights in all countries and our allies must be no exception. Media reports indicate that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will soon lift all human rights conditions on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain are deeply troubling.

“Such a move would be an extremely short-sighted and unprincipled choice that increases the risk of instability in Bahrain and puts America’s long-term security at risk.

“In 2011, after brutally repressing peaceful citizen protests, the Bahraini regime promised the international community and its own citizens that it would start a national dialogue and take steps to satisfy the democratic aspirations of its people.

“While some progress was made, reforms have stalled, and in recent months I’ve received report after report of escalating repression. People have been arrested for tweeting and participating in protests, an opposition party has been dissolved and another has been targeted, and the ranks of political prisoners have grown to include leading clerics.

“Last August, five U.N. human rights rapporteurs issued a joint statement expressing their concern that the Bahraini authorities were engaged in systematic harassment of the majority Shi’a population. There is nothing in Bahrain’s behavior that is deserving of the reward President Trump is reported to be considering.

“Some of those who support this decision say that arms sales should be decided by America’s strategic interests. I agree with their premise, but not with their conclusion. It is simply not in the U.S. strategic interest to support a government whose own actions deepen and harden sectarian divides, and close off opportunities for political solutions to long-standing problems.

“Bahrain’s systematic repression of fundamental rights and constant attacks on people’s human dignity will only feed radicalization in Bahrain, just as it has throughout the region. We should be cooling the embers, not fanning the flames. I strongly oppose the decision of lift conditions on arms sales to Bahrain, and call on the Administration to reverse course immediately before it is too late.”

Music

Cake🎂🎵🎂🎵🎵 – yum yum!🌺 and a song for Gigi!🐰

March 30, 2017 admin

Chef Joey made all the great cakes, below!

CAKES AND FROSTING!

Pics, text and recipes by Chef Joey

Chef Joey made a Smiley Cake last Sunday for Gigi! Go, little girl, go!!

A Smiley cake made easy – and WITH LOVE – by Chef Joey!

Basic Vanilla Cake:

The base for homemade cakes is so simple – keep this recipe for life!!

2 ½ cups sifted flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

½ tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups HOT water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the flour, sugar and oil until well mixed like a thick paste.

Sprinkle with the baking soda and powder and pour the hot water on it. It will start foaming.

Mix BY HAND with a wooden spoon.

Add the vanilla extract.

Pour into your pre-dusted cake pan and bake 20-25 mins for 2 rounds and about 35 for a rectangle cake at 350 degrees.

For Chocolate cake, add 6 tbsp of powdered cocoa to the flour before you sift it.

For Orange cake, add the zest of one orange and substitute ½ cup water for juice.

For Citrus cake, add the zests of lemons and limes and 1 tsp lemon or lime juice during the final mix.

Chef Joey at work!

Sooo Easy Frosting:

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 ½ 1teaspoons vanilla

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed.

Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Add your yellow food coloring* if making a Smiley Cake.

Or make an ALL NATURAL YELLOW COLOR:

You can make natural food coloring by taking a small saucepan … add ¼ cup water, bring to a boil.

Add ½ tsp of turmeric for 3 to 5 minutes.

Allow to fully cool.

Add 1 tsp to your icing.

You can store this for up to 2 weeks in an air-tight container …

… Or add it to chic peas with some oil, salt and lemon juice for a refreshing snack! Turmeric stains so be extra careful.

Back to the frosting: Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable.

If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time.

If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.

You can frost a 13- x 9-inch or fill and frost an 8-inch two-layer cake. Make another ½ cup for a 9 inch cake.

Music

Music 🎵🇺🇸 to our ears!

March 29, 2017 admin

Congressman Jim McGovern

From Jim’s office:

McGovern: Republican EPA Bill is a Giveaway to Corporate Polluters

McGovern Slams GOP for Putting Profits Ahead of Public Health

Today U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern led debate for House Democrats on the House floor against the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act, a bill from House Republicans that limits the participation of scientific experts at the EPA, and would lead to a disproportionate representation of big business and corporate special interests.

Below are excerpts of today’s remarks:

HOUSE GOP IGNORES REAL ISSUES

“Today we are considering a piece of legislation that seeks to prevent the EPA from protecting public health and the environment. This bill was brought [up] in an emergency meeting last night. I think the American people have a pretty good idea of what is and what isn’t an emergency.

“We have no shortage of actual emergencies that we should be dealing with – a devastating opioid epidemic, crumbling roads and bridges, mounting evidence of Russian meddling in our election, and people being killed every day due to gun violence, not to mention Flint, Michigan is still dealing with the residual health effects of toxically-polluted water. These are just a few examples of actual emergencies that Congress is doing nothing to address.”

“As we learned last week, the American people are paying attention to what we do here. They are smart enough to know what an emergency is. And this bill isn’t addressing an emergency. it’s creating one!”

GOP BILL ATTACKS SCIENCE, HELPS POLLUTERS

“The Science Advisory Board at the EPA provides a way for the agency to use sound, independent, and objective scientific data to help make their decisions. “This bill limits the participation of scientific experts at the EPA, leading to a disproportionate representation of big business and corporate special interests. Are these really the people we want making decisions about the health of our kids and the policies that should be protecting our environment?

“There’s nothing scientific about corruption and that’s exactly what this bill will open the door to.

“This bill is about allowing the Republicans’ big corporate cronies a direct route to the decision-makers at the EPA. It’s about disrupting the EPA’s ability to fairly enforce the rules, hold corporate polluters accountable, and protect our health. It’s about undermining scientific fact with political cronyism.

“Americans can’t afford to have the EPA run by people who live in a fantasy land where facts and science don’t matter. Our environment and the health of our families is too important. This bill defies logic, it defies reason. It will hurt the people who sent us here and it will help polluters. Republicans are putting corporate greed ahead of public health and the American people will be the ones who will suffer. Americans deserve better. We should be fighting for them.”

FIRST GRADE SCIENCE LESSON FOR GOP

“Let me tell my Republican friends what I tell first graders that I visit back in my district in Massachusetts. Science is important. It’s a big deal.

“Scientists tell us things that are really important, like climate change is caused by greenhouse gases, something my Republican friends continually deny. They tell us that polluted air can give children asthma. They tell us that lead in children’s drinking water causes learning problems. They tell us pesticide exposure can cause cancer. These are important things.

“You know, the first graders I speak to, they get it. They understand the importance of science. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues in this chamber do not. I would bet that those first graders understand the importance that it is scientists that sit on scientific advisory boards and not corporate cronies.”

Full Text of Congressman McGovern’s Floor Speech:

“ I rise in strong opposition to this rule and the underlying legislation. This is the 23rd closed rule of this short new Congress. Both Democrats and Republicans have been denied the opportunity to amend nearly 60 percent of the legislation that has been brought to the Floor through the Rules Committee. This effort by Speaker Ryan and the Republican leadership to halt a fair and open debate in the People’s House is outrageous. We’re supposed to be a deliberative body – where both parties get to deliberate. These Putin-esque rules – that shut down all debate – need to stop. This isn’t the Kremlin.

“I think Representative Rooney – a Republican – said it best last week. Quote, “I’ve been in this job eight years, and I’m wracking my brain to think of one thing our party has done that’s been something positive, that’s been something other than stopping something else from happening,’

“Well, today we are considering a piece of legislation that seeks to prevent the EPA from protecting public health and the environment. Not exactly positive. This bill was brought to the Rules Committee in an emergency meeting last night. Let me emphasize that – an emergency meeting.

“I think the American people have a pretty good idea of what is and what isn’t an emergency. A tree falls on your house? That’s an emergency. Your rose bush needs pruning? Not an emergency. Timmy fell down a well? That’s an emergency. Timmy might stub his toe? Not an emergency. On April 28th, the government will run out of money. That’s an emergency, even if it is self-inflicted by the Republicans.

“And we have no shortage of other ACTUAL emergencies that we should be dealing with – a devastating opioid epidemic, crumbling roads and bridges, mounting evidence of Russian meddling in our election, and people being killed every day due to gun violence, not to mention Flint, Michigan is still dealing with the residual health effects of toxically-polluted water. These are just a few examples of actual emergencies that Congress is doing NOTHING to address.

“Instead, the underlying bill — the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act — was brought to the Rules Committee and to the House floor as emergency legislation. As we learned last week, the American people are paying attention to what we do here. They are smart enough to know what an emergency is. And this bill isn’t addressing an emergency. it’s creating one!

“The Science Advisory Board at the EPA provides a way for the agency to use sound, independent, and objective scientific data to help make their decisions. Science, you may have heard of it. It’s kind of a big deal.

“But this bill won’t help the EPA to include more scientists in their decisions – it will force them to include people with potential financial conflicts of interest on the Science Advisory Board, so long as they disclose them. Do we really want people on our advisory boards if they could profit from a decision they are about to make? There’s nothing scientific about corruption and that’s exactly what this bill will open the door to.

“This bill also limits the participation of scientific experts at the EPA, leading to a disproportionate representation of big business and corporate special interests. Are these really the people we want making decisions about the health of our kids and the policies that should be protecting our environment? Is that what we want?

“So what is this bill really about? It’s about allowing the Republican’s big corporate cronies a direct route to the decision-makers at the EPA. It’s about disrupting the EPA’s ability to fairly enforce the rules, hold corporate polluters accountable, and protect our health. It’s about undermining scientific fact with political cronyism. Maybe things have changed lately – it’s been a while since my last science class – but I’m pretty sure there’s no step in the scientific method that says “consult corporate cronies.”

“The truth is that this Republican majority wants the EPA to base their decisions on fiction, not fact. Americans can’t afford to have the EPA run by people who live in a fantasy land where facts and science don’t matter. Our environment and the health of our families is too important. This law is going to have real life consequences. It will undermine science, hurt the environment, and help polluters.

“We need to allow the EPA to make decisions based on fact. We need to ensure the EPA is always free from financial conflicts – not making decisions based on panels filled with industry insiders like the ones this bill would create.

“This bill defies logic, it defies reason, and it defies sanity. It will hurt the people who sent us here and it will help polluters. Republicans are putting corporate greed ahead of public health and the American people will be the ones who will suffer. Americans deserve better. We should be fighting for them.

“Let me tell my Republican friends what I tell first graders that I visit back in my district in Massachusetts when I go to visit their schools. I usually begin by telling them that science is important. It’s a big deal. And it’s such a big deal that all our schools teach it. And if you do your homework, and you study hard, and you pay attention, you might grow up someday to become a scientist.

“Scientists are people who dedicate their lives to protect the health and well-being of all over the world. And they dedicate their lives to protect our planet. Scientists tell us things that are really important, like climate change is caused by greenhouse gases, something my Republican friends continually deny. They tell us that polluted air can give children asthma. They tell us that lead in children’s drinking water causes learning problems. They tell us pesticide exposure can cause cancer. These are important things.

“And we all learned in school, thanks to science, that the Earth orbits around the sun. That gravity causes this pen to fall when I drop it. That plants turn sunshine into energy. That dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago.

*******

Animal Issues

🍀🍀St. Patrick’s Day Yum Yums and March Musings by Chef Joey

March 16, 2017 admin

Chef Joey!🍀🍀🍀🍀💚

Papa Joey and some of his family!

Gigi celebrates her birthday in March. This fab cake was not baked by Chef Joey, but by a neighbor who adores Gigi! WE ALL DO!❤ Happy Birthday, pretty Lil’ One!!

Go, little girl, go!!!🌸🌻🌹🌺💐

It’s March!

Text, photos and recipes by Chef Joey

Can you even believe it is March?! And March 1 was the first day of Lent – kicking off my “Plan B” of the New Year Resolutions for the 40 days of Lent. I gave up giving up for my Lenten resolution!😉 February was such a tease – brilliant snow storms and record heat … Welcome to New England! So as commences our Lent and what Christianity taught us leading up to “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras, we are done with the fats and in with the lean!

This year is odd because the entire month of March is during Lent, except March 17 – the one meat-eating “sin day” allowed by the Catholic church because, after all, St. Patrick saved Ireland in the 1600s, and it would be a shame to forget him!

meat …

Lent also reminds me of LENTils! Lentils are wonderful! They are so nutritious and inexpensive and HEALTHY, it is not even funny! The protein and fiber alone in lentils should make them a weekly staple in your diet. So instead of making corned beef this St. Patrick’s Day, you can eschew animal suffering and make a tasty dinner with the same ingredients – minus the meat. You will save yourself money – and your waistline!

So instead of a corned beef and cabbage soup – try a Barley and Legume Soup …

It’s easy to make, oh so healthy and it costs less that $10 to feed 8 people!

You will need:

9 cups (basically a ½ gallon of stock) or water with Bouillon.

You can buy “better than Bouillon” – a jar of paste that has no MSG, and it will last you a few recipes. Knorr has individual ones, as well. You can go the extra mile and boil any kind of veggies, onions, garlic and fennel down to make stock.

Also, this recipe calls for beans. If you buy dried beans, they go a very long way! A ½ cup soaked beans turns into 1 cup of regular beans after expansion.

What’s in the soup? Here is a list:

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion chopped small (the smaller the pieces the faster they cook)

Garlic!💚💜💙💛❤😄

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cannelli beans (presoaked or canned)

1 cup soya beans (presoaked or canned)

½ cup chic peas (presoaked or canned) – also called garbanzo beans

¼ cup lentils

½ cup barley

salt and pepper

In a sauté pan, add 2 tbsp oil and the garlic and onion.

While doing this, in a soup or stock pot, bring your stock to a boil.

Sauté the onions and garlic about 10 minutes on a low heat until they start to turn brown.

Add the barley and lentils and coat them with the mixture.

Add all the ingredients to the stock and bring to a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for a good hour.

Just before serving add the 2 remaining tbsp of oil to the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

*****

Chef Joey makes the dog food for all his pups! How cool is that?!

Another Quick Lentil Dish … “Puré de Lenticchie” – or Lentil Puree

It is very simple and costs less that $5 to make and serves 4 people. Its called Puré de Lenticchie, or Lentil Puree. You do not have to mash the lentils, but it is a great base if topped with fish or meat. Or you can enjoy it as is.

You will need:

1 ½ cups lentils soaked for 3 hours then drained

1 celery stalk

1 carrot

2 tbsp butter

1 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Add the soaked lentils to a pan and cover with water.

Add chopped celery and carrot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for an hour.

Drain and pass through a food mill or a blender.

Use the same pan and heat the cream. Stir in the lentils, and when mixed, add the butter.

Season to taste and enjoy!

Yummy yummy in kitty’s tummy! (Joey doesn’t make his cats their cat food – but he does make them homemade kitty treats!)

Animal Issues

Chef Joey parked in Speaking Out: Irish “Soda Bread”!🍀🍻🍀

March 11, 2017 admin

Chef Joey!🍀🍀🍀

Text and photos by Chef Joey

We have a few things to look forward to this month – we get to change the clocks this weekend and gain more daylight! The days have been waxing right along and now a whole extra hour to adjust to. Then, of course, we have a parade to honor the city’s Irish population for good ol’ Saint Patrick.

Little is known of Patrick’s lifeline, but it is sort of narrowed down to the second half of the 5th century – that’s a long time ago, for sure. What is known about this Saint is that he was born in what is now called Great Britain. His first name was Sucat and he was kidnapped by pirates when he was about 16 years of age. He was a slave to these Irish pirates for about six years, and he managed to escape and get back to his family.

He became a cleric and took the name Patrick, which means “nobleman” and decided to return to northern and western Ireland. Following the path, he eventually became an ordained Bishop. Unfortunately, not much is known about the places he worked – he does get credited for Christianizing the island and for being the first Bishop of Armagh, which is the of ALL of Ireland versus being the Bishop of Dublin.

So Patrick is known as the “Apostle of Ireland” and is the patron saint of Ireland, out showing poor Brigit and Columbia.

What makes his day so special?

It is actually the day of his death. Indecently, Patrick was so sacred it took two centuries to celebrate because it was a sacrilege to mention his name! Well, the real reason I believe is that it falls during Lent, and Catholics lifted the restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol for the day. This religious miracle has promoted and encouraged the tradition of over consumption!

There’s more to the holiday than drinking – eating is a big part of the celebrations. And what meal goes without bread?

So here is an Irish “Soda Bread” to whet yer whistle!

It is actually a quick bread and its roots go back far by mixing cake or pastry flour, baking soda and buttermilk, causing a chemical reaction to make bubbles in the bread.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup buttermilk

Optional: 1 cup Soaked Raisins