In Memory of Robin Rothrock

I wouldn't be the feminist I am today if it weren't for the internet. 

I said this while on Digital Sisterhood Radio earlier this month and I've been meaning to expand on that statement for weeks. The death of Robin Rothrock brings me back to that thought.

I 'met' Robin on a listserv around 1995-1996. I was a know it all college student and she was amazing. This was my first evidence of the power of the internet. Somehow, I still don't know how, I was invited to join a new women's organization that was online. It sent out an e-newsletter and with your paid dues could join a listserv. After a trial period, I had no problem sending a $10 check to this group to maintain my membership for access to the listserv. That list connected me to feminist activists around the country, many of whom had reputations older than I was at the time. They weren't old, they were experienced and for the most part eager to share their knowledge with a pretty young feminist.

Reminder, this was happening during the Clinton administration and just after the GOP took over Congress. There was a lot to celebrate and worry about. I remember us discussing current events, pending bills and the history behind most of those two things. Why would someone as feminist as Hillary Clinton support welfare reform? What is behind the GOP push to pass a bill outlawing something called "Partial Birth Abortion" and what the hell is that procedure anyway?

I learned so much on that listserv. And I learned a lot from Robin.

When I joined the list, I was certainly pro-choice, but all I knew of reproductive health issues were things I had read about in the paper and going to the Planned Parenthood clinic each month for my pack of pills. Robin was the owner of a women's health clinic and shared her experiences with the group.

One such experience was the case of Michelle Lee, then 26, who had two children, a weak heart and an unplanned pregnancy. Due to the laws of Louisiana, Lee was unable to find a doctor to perform an abortion for her. "[LSU has] taken care of me for five years," she said during an interview inside her cluttered cinder-block shack. "They told me I couldn't get pregnant because it'd kill me, and now they're turning their back on me." And of course Lee found her way to Robin. And Robin worked day and night to find Lee a doctor who would do their job and save her life.

This case and Robin's insights helped propel me from a pro-choice feminist to the activist I am today.

Robin shared with us a lot of the fights she took on for the women of her area. They were the same fights that many activists took up in the USA. The same fights Robin and other providers have been fighting for years. She had just won a case  in the fall against the state of Louisiana to keep her clinic open. The fighting won't stop with her death, especially as the same fights are being fought across the ocean.

Our listserv isn't as active as it was back in the late-1990s, but a lot of us still keep in touch. Thus when I heard that she died earlier this week my heart broke.

The reproductive justice and feminist communities lost a hero this week. A hard working hero who wanted something so very simple, for women to be able to make the best decision for themselves and their families.

All I can do is say thank you to Robin. For everything.

Her son posted on Robin's Facebook page a request for people to donate to the Center for Reproductive Rights in lieu of flowers. Robin and CRR worked closely over the years.

2010 Word Cloud

Happy New Year to everyone who has read, shared, followed, subscribed, commented or otherwise supported Fair and Unbalanced.  For fun, I created a word cloud generated from all of the 2010 blog posts (beginning in mid-October, when it all began).  Here is hoping that "Republican" will be a little less prominent in 2011's word cloud.

The Year in Death

The New York Times editorial Still Cruel, Less Usual, notes the ebbing tide of the death penalty this year:  "States are putting fewer people to death, and juries continue to favor the punishment of life without parole over execution when given the choice."  It cites the Death Penalty Information Center's report of 46 executions in 2010, which is 12% fewer than 2009, and down from 85 executions in 2000.

The reasons for the decline include concerns over questions of innocence given the growing number of exonerations (see Must Read), as well as the staggering cost of pursuing the death penalty in times of state and local budgetary crisis (the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice established that death penalty cases cost at least three times more than non-death cases).  And then there were the executions that could not be carried out because of the shortage of a lethal-injection drug. (See Lethal Lifesavers, Hide and Seek, Drug Problem).

The Times also points out an encouraging trend of "electoral victories by candidates who oppose the death penalty, like the new governors of California and New York and the re-elected governor of Massachusetts, suggest[ing] that it’s not a voters’ litmus test or political third rail."  (See Tough on Crime).

And, speaking of California, while we have gone another year without any executions thanks to the continued litigation over the lethal injection process, as the Los Angeles Times reports, the State "continued to buck a nationwide trend away from costly and litigious death sentences in 2010," adding 28 new prisoners to death row, which at 717, is the largest in the country.

Internationally we remain grossly out of step. Cuba just commuted the sentence of that nation's only death-sentenced prisoner.  In November, the UN Human Rights Council held a hearing on the United States’ human rights record, in which the U.S. delegation heard repeated calls from several countries to abolish the death penalty.  The United States is consistently one of the countries that carries out the most executions every year.  In 2009, the countries with the most executions were Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, China and the U.S., and 2010 will likely put us in similar company.  (See We Are the World).

46 executions is 46 too many.  The Times editorial concludes:  "We can only hope the country is closer to putting its shameful experiment in state-sponsored death behind it."  Let's do more than hope -- support and join Death Penalty Focus, the ACLU of Northern California, and other groups that are dedicated to ending this "brutal anachronism."

End of the Year Wingnuttery

President Obama announced that the United States will become a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2007, but  opposed by then-President Bush.  The Washington Post reports that the U.S. is the last major country to sign on to the Declaration, which was endorsed by 145 countries in 2007.  Obama declared that "the aspirations it affirms -- including the respect for the institutions and rich cultures of Native peoples -- are ones we must always seek to fulfill."  While not legally binding, the UN describes the Declaration as setting "an important standard for the treatment of indigenous peoples that will undoubtedly be a significant tool towards eliminating human rights violations against the planet's 370 million indigenous people and assisting them in combating discrimination and marginalization." 

But to the far right, of course, this is all a secret plot.  The Christian conservative group American Family Association claims that Obama "wants to give the entire land mass of the United States of America back to the Indians.  He wants Indian tribes to be our new overlords."  The conservative Web site World Net Daily asserts that the treaty "could accomplish something as radical as relinquishing some U.S. sovereignty and opening a path for the return of ancient tribal lands to American Indians, including even parts of Manhattan."  Adding to Obama's suspicious motives is the fact that back in 2008, during the presidential campaign, he was adopted into the Crow Nation, and bestowed with the name, “One Who Helps People Throughout the Land.”

I suppose the good news is that the recent vitriol about Obama's plan to transfer New York and other parts of the country back to North America's Indian tribes means there is no longer fear that he is really a Muslim.  The bad news is the level of discourse on such "liberal" topics as human rights remains so abysmally low.

The Story of Yo La Tengo

Those of you who are devoted followers of this blog know that I feature a Yo La Tengo song every Friday.  This band really resonates with me, and not only because Ira Kaplan, the band's leader, is a big Mets fan, and the band's name happens to come from a classic story in Met lore (which Ira and former Met Ed Kranepool explain here).

Yo La Tengo combine an original, capitvating sound, great songwriting and an encyclopedic and enthsiastic knowledge of rock and pop music, with humor, irreverence, and passion.  Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, YLT consists of Kaplan on vocals and guitar, his wife Georgia Hubley on drums and vocals, and since 1992, James McNew on bass and vocals.

Their "8 Nights of Hannukah" tradition at Maxwell's in Hoboken encapsulates their generous spirit, sense of fun and stellar musicianship.  (I wish I could have been there).  Each show includes a comedian to open, and a wide array of musical guest stars (The National and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy appeared this year).  As described in The Jersey Journal, the "deadpan trio's experimental yet harmonious cornucopia of shoegaze, noise, toe-tapping pop, lo-fi and even rhythm and blues" perform while the menorah sits atop the speakers, candlelight flickering against the red of the curtains shrouded in a wall of sound," with "fan requests each night determining a charity that will benefit from the proceeds."

Their website explains the parameters of their upcoming tour, which includes spinning a carnival wheel to determine each night's first set, that could include Q's & A's from the crowd, the band and crew acting out a classic sitcom, or a setlist with only songs starting with "S."  But, to be sure, the band is not just about gimmicks.  YLT boasts, as one music critic put it, "adventurous eclecticism, defiant independence, and restless creative ambition."  They have "explored the extremes of feedback-driven noise rock and sweetly melodic pop, shading its work with equal parts scholarly composure and fannish enthusiasm."  Ira Kaplan has described the band's process of songwriting as starting with a long jam, finding a song within the jam, and only then figuring out the song on acoustic guitar.  They are sort of like a jazz band that doesn't play jazz.

My initial foray into the band's music was their album Fakebook, released in 1990, which includes several covers of mostly obscure (at least to me) songs, as well as some great originals.  Fakebook is perhaps Yo La Tengo at their most accessible, and a great place to start.  After that, my favorites include, but are not limited to:  I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997), I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006), And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000), and Painful (1993), as well as their latest Popular Songs (2009).  

Check them out -- or just tune in here on Fridays.  [Related posts:  If It's Friday It Must Be . . . Yo La Tengo -- Mr. Tough, The Summer, I Feel Like Going Home, Today Is The Day, Sugarcube, Tom Courtenay, Here to Fall, Autumn Sweater, Femme Fatale, Our Way to Fall]

If It's Friday It Must Be . . . Yo La Tengo

My friend Raoul pointed me to this What's In My Bag segment with YLT's Ira Kaplan and James McNew showing off their encyclopedic musical knowledge and eclecticism at Amoeba Records in San Francisco.

Cranberry Apple Pumpkin Bread

How do you feel about New Year's resolutions?  I'm a little obsessed with them at the moment.  I'm also a little obsessed with cranberries.  It's kind of a problem.

So how about those resolutions?  Big fan of 'em or resolution hater?  Do you prefer silly resolutions or serious ones?  I am one of those weirdos that is always working on goal lists so, of course, yearly resolutions are right up my alley.

I've always liked New Year's because it is a fresh start.  And, any holiday that motivates people (including myself!) to treat their bodies better and focus on their health?  That's a holiday to celebrate.

For 2010 I had the usual round of resolutions (work out more often, save money) along with a couple of more challenging ones: be more positive, give myself more credit, and live my life from a place of possibility rather than fear.  I really liked that last one so I'm keeping it for 2011.  It reminds me to try new things, push my own boundaries of what scares me, and always leads to great and unexpected experiences. 

What's on your list for 2011?  Would you be willing to share it with me?  Here is what I came up with:

• Live my life from a place of possibility rather than fear.
• Treat my body like the precious resource it is.
• Connect more with those I love.
• Take more quiet time for myself.
• Push my athletic boundaries.
• Have more fun.

Oh, and add cranberries to more recipes.  They're good.

This bread is an adaptation of my Not-Your-Average-Pumpkin-Bread recipe. As you may have guessed, this is also not-your-average cranberry apple pumpkin bread. Get ready.

What I love most about this bread is that I don't feel guilty when I'm eating it.  Since I usually end up eating a majority of what I bake (unless I promptly give it away), I try to use the healthiest and freshest ingredients possible. The only downfall about this bread is that it can be a little soft fresh from the oven, but I like it best after it's been sitting in the fridge overnight anyway.  See you in the New Year!

Adapted from Holistic Nutrition Bytes

1 1/2 cups flour of your choice (I used a combination of spelt and white whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
dash cloves
1 cups cooked and pureed pumpkin
1/4 cup unrefined virgin coconut oil
3 Tbsp flaxseed meal mixed with enough hot water to make 1/2 cup
2 Tbs water
1/2 cup agave
3 tbs applesauce
handful of chopped walnuts for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease loaf pan. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

Puree pumpkin, flaxseed meal mixture, coconut oil, water, agave nectar, fresh ginger, and applesauce in blender until smooth. Mix flour mixture with puree until just combined and pour into the pan.

Sprinkle a few walnuts on top, if desired.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, until an toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean.

Laughter May Increase Appetite

A hearty laugh and a moderate workout may have more in common than anyone thought.

Both affect the appetite hormones in much the same way:

- When leptin goes down, it increases appetite
- When ghrelin goes up, it increases appetite

That is what typically happens after moderate exercise.

Leptin (from Greek, leptos, meaning thin) is a protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. Leptin acts on receptors in the hypothalamus of the brain where it inhibits appetite.

Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates hunger. The name is based on its role as a growth hormone-releasing peptide, with reference to the root "ghre", meaning to grow. It is produced by the cells lining the fundus of the stomach and epsilon cells of the pancreas. It is considered the counterpart of the hormone leptin, produced by adipose tissue.

Twitter comments:

@LJaneTn Fat and Funny?

@doctorwhitecoat This explains why I'm always so hungry.

@scanman That explains why I eat too much when I party with friends.

References:
Laughter Affects Appetite Much Like a Workout Does. WebMD.

Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

Mid-Week Palate Cleanser: The National

Mistaken For Strangers by The National

Anticancer effect of "5 a day" fruit and vegetable servings is negligible

It is widely believed that cancer can be prevented by high intake of fruits and vegetables. However, inconsistent results from many studies have not been able to conclusively establish an inverse association between fruit and vegetable intake and overall cancer risk.

People who eat more fruit and vegetables than average may have a slightly reduced risk of getting cancer, a big study concludes, but the benefit is much smaller than previous studies suggested.

The European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) was a 9 year prospective study of nearly 500 000 Europeans. It concluded that the protective effect of eating fruit and vegetables is “very small” (J Natl Cancer Institute 2010).

Associations between reduced cancer risk and increased intake of total fruits and vegetables combined and total vegetables for the entire cohort were similar (200 g/d increased intake of fruits and vegetables combined, HR = 0.97); 100 g/d increased intake of total vegetables, HR = 0.98); intake of fruits showed a weaker inverse association (100 g/d increased intake of total fruits, HR = 0.99).

The reduced risk of cancer associated with high vegetable intake was restricted to women (HR = 0.98). Stratification by alcohol intake suggested a stronger reduction in risk in heavy drinkers and was confined to cancers caused by smoking and alcohol.

References:

Study finds that anticancer effect of “5 a day” is less than expected. BMJ, 2010.
Fruit and vegetable intake and overall cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). J Natl Cancer Inst. 2010 Apr 21;102(8):529-37. Epub 2010 Apr 6.

President Obama has been smoking for 30 years and managed to quit - and so can you

The White House says President Obama has kicked the habit and stopped smoking. "It's been probably about nine months since he last smoked a cigarette," says Robert Gibbs, the President's press secretary, in an interview with CNN. Mr. Obama, like a lot of smokers, has quit before and started back up again. This time may be different. Gibbs says this is the longest he's known the President to go without a cigarette. He quit by chewing Nicorette gum and exercising a lot of will power.

References:

Stop smoking: Follow the President's example. CNN.
The Presidents Club | Photos: Oval Office Secrets from Truman to Obama | TIME, 2012.

Southern Strategy

Haley Barbour is hardly outside the mainstream of the Republican Party.  He is the Governor of Mississippi.  Before that he had a long career as a lobbyist and political operative.  He worked on President Nixon's 1968 campaign in which the "Southern Strategy" was devised to exploit racism and appeal to Southern white voters who had long voted Democratic. Barbour later became chairman of the Republican National Committee.  He is a media favorite and considered a legitimate Republican candidate for president.

But there he was, in an interview with the Weekly Standard, extolling the pro-segregationist Citizens Council, which he claimed kept the KKK out of his hometown of Yazoo City and successfully integrated the public schools without violence.  Rick Perlstein writes that Barbour's recollections are "deeply confused, mostly wrong, and indicative above all of a cynical man who has made a lucrative career of exploiting racial trauma when it suited him, or throwing it down a memory hole when it did not; which is to say, an archetypal Dixie conservative."

Citizens Councils were founded in the mid-1950s in direct response to Brown v. Board of Education, with the goal of thwarting attempts at racial integration. In the Huffington Post, Derrick Johnson, Mississippi NAACP President, responded to Barbour's reminiscences:  "It's beyond disturbing -- it's offensive that he would try and create a new historical reality that undermines the physical, mental, and economic hardship that many African-Americans had to suffer as a result of the policies and practices of the White Citizens Council."  While it may have been true that the Citizens Councils often opposed the Klan, various scholars told the Huffington Post that this was not because the Councils favored racial integration but out of concern that the overt violence of such groups would hurt the local economy.  Citizens Councils used other methods to sustain segregation, particularly economic terror and harassment to intimidate blacks. 

Barbour appeared to remember little about the trauma, intimidation, violence and racism in his community.  He recalled that he "grew up in a town that was like a family."  As for the burgeoning civil rights conflict, "I just don't remember it as being that bad." A few months ago, Barbour gave another interview where he spoke glowingly about attending the University of Mississippi in the mid-1960s, when Old Miss was forced to integrate, describing it as "a very pleasant experience."  Thus, as Perlstein states, "At every important turn in the story, Barbour emphasizes how little he remembers of this most intense period imaginable in his beloved home town -- it really was no big deal, he insists."  He forgets "the entire bad-faith stew of race, sex, and corrupt plutocracy -- and its public repression in images of towns like 'families' and happy Negroes until outsiders stirred things up -- that defined his formative years."

But Barbour is not ignorant.  His forgetfulness and revisionism are part of a clear political calculation, one that attempts to downplay the racism with which he was steeped in the 1950s and 1960s.  Joan Walsh explains that "the story of his rise in national politics is the story of the rise of the South in the GOP.  Race, and the ugly reaction of many white Southerners to integration and civil rights, is at the heart of this story."  Barbour can't run from this story so he creates an alternate version in which he "and his generation of white Southerners built the modern Republican Party on a unifying, post-racial philosophy."   This is exemplified in his contention, made in an earlier interview, that it was the old Democrats who clung to segregation while the Republicans working for Nixon paved the way for civil rights in the south.   

As Digby points out, Barbour's offensive remarks on race (which also include his response to the controversy over the Virginia Governor's failure to mention slavery in honoring Confederate History Month as not amounting to "diddly") are a "dog whistle" to the Tea Partiers and other white conservatives who he needs to win a Republican primary.  This is a time-honored strategy of Republicans; one used expertly by Ronald Reagan when he launched his first presidential campaign by giving a speech on states' rights in Philadelphia, Mississippi, a city known for one thing -- the slaying of three civil rights workers by white supremacists in 1964.  As Bob Herbert once wrote about Reagan's speech, "he was tapping out the code. It was understood that when politicians started chirping about “states’ rights” to white people in places like Neshoba County they were saying that when it comes down to you and the blacks, we’re with you."

Barbour is tapping into that same code 30 years later.  Perhaps the only difference is his lack of subtlety, as reflected in his quip back in 1982, when unsuccessfully running for the Senate, warning an aide that if the aide persisted in making racist remarks, "he would be reincarnated as a watermelon and placed at the mercy of blacks."  Good Ole Haley probably doesn't remember that one.

It's my birthday!

In lieu of cake, please donate to:

• Chicago Abortion Fund
• Women in Media & News (I'm on the board)
• New Moon Girls thru Mind on the Media. Matching donations up to $7,000 until Dec 31st! (We subscribe)
• Bitch Media (I'm on the advisory board)
• Or to your favorite charity/non-profit that works on behalf of women and girls. 

For the curious I'm 36 today and not feeling old at all. At least not because of any number.Rather today is an odd birthday. I've now spent half of my life as an adult. Whoa...I lived with my parents for 18 1/2 years and in July will finally be more Chicagoan than suburban (at least in terms of numbers). I'm still very suburban in many ways.

I was busy in the fall that this past week I've tried to enjoy my 2 weeks of vacation by hanging with the kid. That means no big birthday or New Year resolutions/goals to tell you all about. Last year my big goal was treating myself to a manicure or massage once a  month. I did pretty good until September/October. I've decided to try to take two classes this spring, so my goal for this year is to survive, mentally and physically, as well as maintain the love of my husband, daughter and friends. There will be a lot of work to do and I am going to do my best to remember to be a great wife, mother and friend.

That's it. Here's to 36!

Better Late Than Never

Filibuster reform is "the single most important thing we can do on a single day to change Washington. It would make a huge difference in the rest of Barack Obama's first term, and might make a difference whether he has a second term."  -- Rachel Maddow

Remarkably, all 53 returning Democratic Senators signed a letter urging Majority Leader Harry Reid to change the filibuster rules.  As reported in the National Journal, the letter "expresses general frustration with what Democrats consider unprecedented obstruction [by Republicans] and asks Reid to take steps to end those abuses."

The filibuster won't be eliminated completely and it is not yet clear what specific reforms will be implemented.  However, with rare party unity, it looks like Democrats may make substantive changes that will streamline the process and force Republicans to actually filibuster.  The blueprint for the changes appears to be coming from a proposal by Sen. Jeff Merkley, which as Ezra Klein reports, filibusters "would require continuous debate on the floor of the Senate, and they would only be allowed once the bill is on the floor."  This would be a significant change from what happens now when one party (i.e., Republicans) merely has to threaten to filibuster to stop a bill as long as it musters enough votes to overcome cloture (41 votes to end filibuster debate) without ever having an actual debate.  Klein says that the Democrats also want to reduce the dead time between calling for a vote to break a filibuster and actually taking the vote.

Given the sanctity of Senate rules, the fact that all returning Democrats favor reform shows how truly outrageous the Republicans have been in abusing the current rules to hold the government hostage to their right wing agenda.  CNN confirmed the truth of President Obama's assertion that "You had to cast more votes to break filibusters last year than in the entire 1950s and '60s combined."  Even the Democrats have had enough.  It's about time.

[Related posts:  Vermont's Finest ]

Cleverest women are the heaviest drinkers, according to Telegraph newspaper

Not sure if this is the best choice for a headline... This is the original source: Education, alcohol use and abuse among young adults in Britain. Soc Sci Med. 2010 Jul.

The findings come from a study carried out at the London School of Economics in which researchers tracked the lives of thousands of 34-year-old women and men, all born in the UK during the same week in 1970.

The report states: "The more educated women are, the more likely they are to drink alcohol on most days and to report having problems due to their drinking patterns.

"The better-educated appear to be the ones who engage the most in problematic patterns of alcohol consumption."

They may have more active social lives or work in male-dominated workplaces with a drinking culture. As girls, they may have grown up in middle-class families and seen their parents drink regularly.

According to the researchers, higher educational attainment is associated with increased odds of daily alcohol consumption and problem drinking. The relationship is stronger for females than males. Individuals who achieved high educational test scores in childhood are at a significantly higher risk of abusing alcohol across all dimensions.

References:
Cleverest women are the heaviest drinkers. Telegraph.

Education, alcohol use and abuse among young adults in Britain. Huerta MC, Borgonovi F. Soc Sci Med. 2010 Jul;71(1):143-51. Epub 2010 Mar 31.

Image source: Wikipedia.

Courting Failure

Goodwin Liu

The Democrats actually used the filibuster effectively to thwart some of George W. Bush's more extreme judicial appointments.  But then they blinked.  In 2005, Republicans threatened to employ the so-called "nuclear option," which would have changed the Senate rules to preclude filibusters for judicial nominees.  Seven Democrats joined seven Republicans to form the "Gang of Fourteen," and signed an agreement in which the Republicans in the gang would not vote for the nuclear option and the Democrats would not filibuster except in "extraordinary circumstances."  In practical terms, this meant that Bush was able appoint the conservatives he wanted to the bench and the Democratic minority, without the seven members of the gang, could not stop him.  Thus, five nominees who had originally been filibustered, and several other conservatives, became federal judges, and, perhaps most significantly, Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court was permitted an up-or-down vote.  He was confirmed by a vote of 58-42, with enough Senators voting against him to have successfully filibustered and prevented a vote on his confirmation.

Which brings us to the current term, in which Republicans, in stark contrast to Democrats during the Bush Administration, have effectively stalled votes and used the threat of filibuster to thwart a record number of nominations.  Notably, Obama's nominees are not mirror images of Bush's right wing picks.  Almost all who have been denied a vote were approved unanimously or nearly unanimously by the Judiciary Committee.  As I previously wrote, Vacant and Lame, Obama and the Democrats have been far too passive in pushing for votes on these judges, most of whom were not controversial, so that as of a week ago there were 38 judges awaiting confirmation.

Now, in the waning days of the session, the Democrats cut another deal that rewards Republican obstructionism.  Republicans have graciously agreed to confirm 19 non-controversial nominees and in exchange Democrats will allow four who Republicans deem are too liberal to lapse.  The others will presumably be renominated next term without any assurance that Republicans, with more Senators, will be any less recalcitrant.

What is most troubling is that the four nominees who the Democrats have agreed to jettison without a fight are hardly radical, and would have been excellent additions to the federal bench.  Goodwin Liu is a particularly bitter loss.  He was nominated to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and is highly regarded in the legal community.  The Times, in a recent editorial, argued that Liu, is an "exceptionally well-qualified law professor and legal scholar who would be the only Asian-American serving as an active judge on the Ninth Circuit," and that "his potential to fill a future Supreme Court vacancy seems to be the main thing fueling Republican opposition to his nomination."

Ed Chen, now a federal magistrate, was nominated to be a district judge in San Francisco.  Opposition to Chen stems from the fact that he was an ACLU attorney before becoming a magistrate, where his work included fighting discrimination against Asian Americans.  The other two district court nominees who were defeated are former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler of Wisconsin and Jack McConnell of Rhode Island.  McConnell, was opposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for his willingness to represent victims of lead paint poisoning.  Butler was deemed an inappropriate choice because of his rulings that ended compensation limits for medical malpractice victims and allowed poison victims to sue all lead paint manufacturers if they didn’t know which one made them sick.  Butler's decisions so disturbed business interests that they spent $1 million to prevent his reelection to the state supreme court.

As put by Marge Baker of People For the American Way: "It's deeply disappointing that so many qualified nominees will be refused a vote."  As most of those confirmed were approved by the Judiciary Committee unanimously, "winning approval for these19 nominees in the full Senate is a consolation prize at best, especially given the absence of any significant opposition to most of those confirmed."  Furthermore, by capitulating on Butler, McConnell, Liu and Chen, the Democrats "let Republicans block qualified nominees without even putting their opposition on the record."

With a large majority in the Senate, the Democrats allowed Republicans to stymie their tepid efforts to confirm Obama's judicial nominations.  Compounding this failure was President Obama's inexplicable failure to push his worthy, and mostly non-controversial nominees.  Now, in the last days of the lame duck session the Democrats feel compelled to cut a deal in order to fill at least some vacancies on the federal bench.  As Baker contends, "in the next Congress, the White House and Senate leadership have to make judicial nominations a far greater priority and prevent this kind of backlog from building up again. That means calling up nominees and taking cloture votes early and often."

[Related posts:  Active Engagement, Vacant and Lame]

Monday Jumpstart: Devotchka

The Clockwise Witness by Devotchka

Quinoa Cakes with Sweet and Spicy Corn Relish

I don't know about you, but I probably had more sugar over this past month than in the last 12 months combined.  It's time to get back to some healthy eating in these parts.

In other news, there have been some recent changes around here.  You might have already noticed, but the web address has changed.  You can now find this blog at: www.fortheloveoffoodblog.com/

It's nice and official looking, huh?

If you are an email subscriber or reading this on a feed, everything should be up and running smoothly.  (If not, please leave me a comment or send me an email at: livelovefeast[at]gmail[dot]com)  And if you're not already a subscriber and would like to be, please venture over to the right side of the blog and sign up. You can also find a link there to the new Facebook and Twitter pages as well.  Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

These quinoa cakes are super delicious and adorable.  I really love cute finger food and these are the perfect remedy to keep you (and me!) away from the vegan brownies at a New Year's party.  They are also yummy at brunch or as an entree paired with a salad or some baked tempeh. They are gluten and soy-free and, contrary to what you might think of when you hear the word "cake," they don't involve sugar except for a little maple syrup in the relish.

My directions below call for a standard size muffin-pan for baking, but if you are serving these as purely finger food you might want to use a mini muffin pan (just be sure to adjust the cooking time accordingly).  The challenge with making these is that if they are not cooked long enough they will not hold together.  However, if you cook them too much then you end up with crunchy quinoa.  In my oven, longer than 25 minutes seemed to be when things started to get too crispy.

I cooked my first trial batch for 30 minutes and none of them fell apart, but the outside layer was a little too crunchy.  To remedy this, I put them (while still hot) in a glass storage container and let them cool in the fridge for a few hours.  The trapped steam softened the quinoa up perfectly and none of the cakes fell apart.  This is now my preferred method of making them, but if you will be serving them straight from the oven be sure to cook them for 20-25 minutes.  Just know that you will probably lose one or two to crumbling. 

Serves 4 as an entree or about 6-8 as an appetizer. 

Quinoa Cakes
Makes 12 quinoa cakes.  

1 cup raw quinoa, cooked and then cooled
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup spinach, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
egg replacer for 3 eggs (I used Ener-G brand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cold quinoa with paprika, cumin, spinach, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.  Add egg replacer and mix together.  

Add 1/4 cup of the quinoa mixture to each muffin cup.  Press down a little on the top so it is flat and even. 

Cook for about 20-30 minutes, until the tops are just turning brown and cakes are fully formed. Remove from oven, cool, and then flip the muffin tin over onto a baking sheet.  Your quinoa cakes are ready!

Sweet and Spicy Corn Relish
Inspired by Herbivoracious' recipe. 

1/4 tsp lime zest
1 tsp lime juice
1 Tbs cilantro, chopped
1 tsp red chile pepper flakes (if you want this less spicy, use 1/2 tsp or leave it out entirely)
1 Tbs maple syrup
1 cup corn kernels
1 small onion, diced finely
olive oil 
salt and pepper

Saute onion and red chile pepper flakes in a little olive oil over medium heat until the onion is just turning brown.  Add the corn and a little more olive oil as necessary.  Saute for about 5 more minutes. 

Mix the lime juice, zest, cilantro, maple syrup, and corn mixture together.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over the quinoa cakes.

Positive attitude and cheerfulness not related to college success

This study investigated the relation between positive affect and college success for undergraduate students matriculating at 21 colleges and universities in the United States.

Positive affect — cheerfulness — was positively related to students’ self-rated academic abilities, self-predicted likelihoods of various college outcomes, self-stated major and academic-degree intentions, and self-reported subjective college outcomes, but negatively related to most objective college-success variables (e.g., cumulative college grade-point average) recorded by the institution of matriculation, and not related to objective college outcomes reported by the student.

Positive affect was thus associated with “positive illusions” about college-success variables.

References:
Positive Affect and College Success. Journal of Happiness Studies - SpringerLink Journal, 2010.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org (public domain).

Great Jazz Albums (IMO) #13

John Coltrane, Tadd Dameron with John Coltrane (1956).  I figured you don't need me to tell you that John Coltrane was one of the greatest and most influential jazz musicians, period.  You also probably don't need me to tell you about his truly incredible albums from the late 1950 to mid-1960s, particularly Blue Train (1957), Giant Steps (1960), My Favorite Things (1961), Ballads (1963), John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963) and Love Supreme (1965).  So, here's one you may not know.  Coltrane recorded Mating Call with pianist Tadd Dameron, who was considered "the most influential arranger of the Bebop era" and was also a brilliant composer.  This session of six Dameron elegant compositions was recorded at the time Coltrane had been playing with in the wonderful Miles Davis Quintet and just before truly launching his solo career with the albums noted above.  It includes the great Philly Joe Jones on drums and John Simmons on bass.  Coltrane is given plenty of space, and he takes full advantage of it.  This album is an overlooked gem.

[Related posts:  Really Great Jazz Albums,  #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12]

If It's Christmas It Must Be . . . Yo La Tengo . . . (It's Christmas Time)

It's Christmas Time by Yo La Tengo

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

There is nothing I hate more than last-minute baking... during the holidays... when your final product tastes like $*#&... and you have now run out of ingredients.  Not that I would know what that's like, or anything...

The nonprofit I work for has an awesome tradition of having the staff bake holiday cookies for our clients to take home.  There's nothing I would love to do more than give a small gesture of light in these dark times.

On my way out the door of the office someone asked if I had signed up to bake cookies for tomorrow.  With a guilty conscience, I replied no.  In my defense, I figured that no one would want vegan cookies which I would probably make with spelt flour and agave.  But, I soon learned that the person that I was talking to happened to be a wheat-free vegan... so all my excuses flew out the window.

I felt good on the way home knowing that I had just picked up a new tub of Earth Balance the night before.  I had the supplies, I had a little time, and I honestly wanted to do it.

Then I got in my kitchen and everything fell apart.  My oatmeal cookies wouldn't hold together... then a batch burned... heck, my bag of compost even spilled on the counter.  It was a rough night.

Around 10 pm, out of Earth Balance and almost out of patience, I asked Ashley to go to the store and buy cookie dough.  Yes, pre-made cookie dough.  It was an all-time low.

Instead, she returned with another tub of Earth Balance and some encouragement... and cookie dough as a back-up.  These are what resulted.

Happy holidays to you and yours.  

To spare you some pain and heartbreak, here are some important lessons I learned:

• When a recipe says that your margarine (or butter) should be softened, don't melt it -- especially on accident.  Besides, that would be dumb.  Who would do that anyway?
• Keep your cool.  In baking, the more you get frustrated the worse the result.  Take a mandatory time-out if you're starting to lose it. 
• Different cookie sheets cook cookies differently... a little fun-fact I learned after my kitchen filled up with the lovely smell of burnt cookies.  Yum.  Cooking with cookie sheets that do not have edges require less time than cooking with cookie sheets that do.  Now you know.   
• And finally, remember to give thanks to your kitchen-support team.  You know, the people that are willing to run out to the store at 10:30 pm at night for supplies.  You rock. 

Adapted from The Best Recipes Cookbook
Makes about a dozen and a half cookies.

1 1/4 cups Earth Balance, softened

1 1/2 cups (vegan) sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Egg-replacer for 2 eggs

2 1/4 cups oatmeal
1 cups dried cranberries
3/4 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

In large bowl, beat earth balance and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  (I did this by hand but you could use a mixer at medium speed.)  Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and egg replacer; beat until just blended, occasionally scarping bowl with spatula. Stir in oats, dried cranberries, and walnuts.

Use a little less than 1/4 cup of dough and form into a nice cookie shape and flatten just a bit. Place on the ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.  Bake 350 degrees until golden about 10-12 minutes.  Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Why Conservatives Hate Government

Historian Rick Perlstein has written an interesting article entitled Enemies of State, in which he explains how "historically, nothing has terrified conservatives so much as efficient, effective, activist government."  As he puts it, Republicans have long understood that "governing well in the interests of the broad majority brings compounding political benefits for the party of government."  "The mortal fear" for Republicans, Perlstein says "is that if government delivers the goods, the Republicans have no future."

This fear turns into hysteria, which we certainly have seen in the portrayal of Obama's mild efforts at regulation and reform as socialist or worse.  Perlstein demonstrates that such propaganda by the right has been pervasive since at at least the1930s.  While originally these "education" efforts were less effective because the organizations behind them were seen for what they were,"extremist and plutocratic," there has been increasing sophistication over time "by which anti-government sentiment severed itself from that taint."  Thus, "the ideology of industrial barons comes no longer to look like the ideology of industrial barons; it becomes popular folk wisdom instead. One word for this development is: 'Reaganism.'” 

More recently, according to Perlstein, "it took the rise of the religious right to devise ways to transmogrify government into an active and existential evil in and of itself. In turn, however, an increasingly sophisticated Washington D.C.-based conservative movement has turned moralistic piety to serve the larger pro-business conservative cause."  What we are left with is that "in the minds of larger and larger segments of the public, government becomes an actively destructive force: always the problem, never a solution."

Living Legends

Bob Feller

Bob Feller, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, died on December 15th, at the age of 92.  In a time before radar guns could measure the speed of a baseball, Feller's fastball raced a speeding motorcycle, and won.  

Feller's death led me to wonder who of the Golden Era of Baseball is still around, and it is quite an impressive list.  Here are the players who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame that were born in the 1930s or earlier, and played in the 1950s or earlier (in order of age):
1.  Bobby Doerr.  Born in 1918, the oldest living Hall of Famer.  He was a great hitting and fielding 2nd baseman for Red Sox.
2.  Monte Irvin.  Stellar Negro Leagues player before being signed by the SF Giants.  He didn't play in the majors until he was 30. Irvin was part of the first all-Black outfield, with Mays and Hank Thompson.
3.  Stan Musial.  Stan the Man was one of the greatest hitters ever, somewhat overshadowed because he played his entire career in St. Louis.  He won the MVP 3 times and was an All Star 24 times.  The current great Cardinal Albert Pujols refuses to be called El Hombre out of deference to Musial.  According to Pujols, "Stan is The Man. You can call me whatever else you want, but just don’t call me El Hombre.”
4.  Ralph Kiner.  A powerful home run hitter for the Pirates, Kiner famously said, "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs, single hitters drive Fords."  Beloved by Met fans as part of the part of the original broadcasting team, he still makes occasional appearances in the booth. 
5.  Red Schoendienst.  Scrappy, switch-hitting 2nd basemen who mostly played for the Cardinals. I remember him vividly as the Cardinals manager for their great World Series teams of 1967 and 1968.
6.  Yogi Berra. With all of Yogi's famous sayings (although, as he put it, "I really didn't say everything I said"), it is easy to overlook the fact that he was one of the greatest catchers ever to play the game.
7.  Duke Snider.  Although Brooklyn's loyal fans tried to argue that he was the best of the NY center fielders of the era, he comes in third after Mays and Mantle.
8.  Whitey Ford.  Great Yankee pitcher on great Yankee teams.  He has the highest winning percentage of pitchers with at least 300 decisions.
9.  Ernie Banks.  I remember him as a slugging first baseman, but before my time, he was a shortstop who won the NL MVP back-to-back in 1958-1959.  Epitomizing his love of the game is his great quote, "It's a beautiful day for baseball, let's play two."
10.  Willie Mays.  Perhaps the greatest player ever.  I'm sorry I never really saw him in his prime. When he came to the Mets in 1972, he had little left, but he did contribute to the 1973 team that made the World Series.
11.  Jim Bunning.  More recently a crazy Republican Senator from Kentucky, as a pitcher, he won 100 games in each league.
12.  Hank Aaron.  I can till remember sitting on my grandmother's couch in Florida and watching Aaron hitting his 715th homer to pass Babe Ruth.  [more after the break]


13.  Luis Aparicio.  Classic speedy, great-fielding shortstop.  He won 9 Gold Gloves and led the American League in stolen bases for 9 years.
14.  Al Kaline.  Mr. Tiger played 22 years for the Tigers and never played a minor league game.  Great right fielder, great hitter.
15.  Frank Robinson.  When he retired in 1976, he was fourth on the all-time home run list behind Aaron, Mays and Babe Ruth.  In one of the most lopsided trades in history, the Reds sent him to the Orioles before the 1966 season for pitcher Milt Pappas because he was an "old 30."  He won the Triple Crown in 1966, and became a cornerstone for the great Orioles teams of the late 1960s-early 1970s.
16.  Bob Gibson.  After Tom Seaver, Gibson was the favorite pitcher of my youth.  His autobiography, From Ghetto to Glory, which I read as a kid in1968, taught me about poverty and racial discrimination.
17.  Sandy Koufax.  Those last six years of his career, 1961-1966, were the most dominant of any pitcher ever.  Dodger manager Walter Alston should be reviled for the way he abused and misused Sandy's left arm, forcing him to retire because of arthritis at the age of 30.
18.  Harmon Killebrew.  Iconic American League slugger for the Twins, nicknamed "Killer."  He hit the ball very very far.
19.  Bill Mazeroski.  Known more for his slick fielding at second base than his bat, he probably is in the Hall of Fame for one hit, his dramatic home run in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series to win the series for the Pirates over the Yankees.
20.  Brooks Robinson.  Known as the "Human Vacuum Cleaner," Brooks was probably the greatest fielding third baseman of all time.  I still use (and treasure) my Rawlings Brooks Robinson model glove that I bought in about 1976.
21.  Orlando Cepeda.  Nicknamed "Cha Cha" and "The Baby Bull," Cepeda was the son of "The Bull," a legendary player in Puerto Rico.  Orlando was a star for the Giants and Cardinals, winning an MVP award in 1967 with the champion Cardinals.  Busted for drug possession in the late 1970s, he later became a Buddhist and has been involved in many humanitarian and charitable causes.  Orlando's Caribbean BBQ concession at the Giants' AT&T Park features the popular Cha Cha Bowl.
22.  Willie McCovey.  Willie Mac was probably the most feared hitter when I was growing up.  I still remember watching a Met game on TV when he hit one off the outfield scoreboard.
23.  Billy Williams.  Williams was a great left-handed hitter with a beautiful swing.  He played 1,117 games in a row, from Sept. 22, 1963 to Sept. 2, 1970, which was a National League record that stood for 10 years until broken by Steve Garvey.  Like his great teammate Ernie Banks, Williams never appeared in a World Series.

Mid-Week Palate Cleanser: Broken Bells

The High Road by Broken Bells

Crossing the Line: An Update

John Adams

About a month ago, in a blog post entitled Crossing the Line, I wrote about the legal challenge to the Obama Administration's policy of targeting an American citizen for assassination.  The ACLU and CCR (Center for Constitutional Rights) brought suit on behalf of the father of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric with ties to Al Qaeda and allegedly hiding in Yemen.  I was particularly incensed by the criticism of the legal team that brought the lawsuit as having crossed some line by representing a suspected terrorist. 

The judge ultimately dismissed the case without reaching the merits, finding that the father did not have standing to sue.  But it is worth taking note of the New York Times Dec. 12th editorial entitled Judicial Scrutiny Before Death, which argued that despite winning in court, "the administration should remain very worried about the moral implications of its policy," which the district court judge "sharply questioned" despite dismissing the lawsuit.  The Times noted that, as the judge wrote, one of the many unanswered questions remaining is whether "the Executive [can] order the assassination of a U.S. citizen without first affording him any form of judicial process whatsoever, based on the mere assertion that he is a dangerous member of a terrorist organization”

The Times stressed the importance of judicial scrutiny, and suggested creating a court that operates in secrecy, "like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorizes wiretaps on foreign agents inside the United States."  Thus, at minimum, "the government could present its evidence to this court behind closed doors before putting a terror suspect on its target list."  As the Times concluded, "The government may have won this legal battle on technical grounds, but the underlying civil liberties violation is still going on."

End of Year Book Reviews aka Last Minute Gift Ideas

For all you last-minute gift buyers, I present a few end of the year book reviews:

And I also highly recommend the following books that I have read in 2010:

Of course Reality Bites Back takes top billing! Not only did one of my best friend's write it, but I'm also in a footnote. But in all seriousness folks, it's a damn good book.

 


 

Book Review: When Big Issues Happen to Little Girls by Erin Munroe

A quick reminder....My daughter is 7 1/2 and in the second grade. This book couldn't have hit me harder in so many ways. Big Issues Happen to Little Girls: How to Prepare, React, and Manage Your Emotions So You Can Best Support Your Daughter by Erin Munroe is a must read for every mother and father of a girl.

Munroe gives the world a great handbook on how to handle challenges and issues of raising a girl in today's world. From puberty to using drugs, Monroe walks us through case studies that exhibit how and how NOT to react to things that happen to our girls.

One criticism I had with the book was that it presents itself as something for parents, yet I felt that it was written for moms. There are subtle things about how she presents suggestions for parents that she's talking to moms.

This book will challenge you. It will challenge you to revisit how you see issues (recreational drug use, teenage sex, the drive for success) not just by what you hope your daughter will do, but also how you did it and your fears for how she might go through it. Munroe uses not just parenting fails, but also parenting fails that were done with the best intentions. Case in point a couple who didn't want to tell their 8-year-old that they were considering a divorce. She totally picked up on the body cues, the fact that Dad was sleeping on the couch and a world of other things her parents thought were going over her head.

And that's the biggest take home message. Our girls are not dumb. They see things in our world that we hope they don't. They hear us mock our bodies. They see us come home buzzed and drop the car keys on the table. They feel our pushes to be perfect at school and on the playing field. They see how we view other women in the world. They know that we expect them to be good, respectful in the face of frenemies.

Our girls are growing up in a different world than we did. Not better. Not worse. Different.

I say, "We're in the second grade," because it is a family effort. One to two hours of homework, monthly class projects that require more parental involvement than I think it appropriate and a pressure to score high enough on standardized tests to ensure a good school rating, teacher bonus and entrance into a prep high school...Yup, that's a team effort alright. Second grade is vastly different than my experience where my biggest issue was choosing between Chad and Corey, keeping my desk clean and beating the-other-Chad to end of our math workbook. Oh yeah...way different.

Parents should get a copy from an indie bookstore or Powells.com.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from a book PR firm. One that ironically is still trying to get me to say, "Yes, I'd like a copy of this book." *sigh*

* Book links are affiliate links. If you buy your book here I could make a very small amount of money that goes towards this blog. 

Book Review: The Daring Spectacle by Mark Morford

The Daring Spectacle: Adventures in Deviant Journalism by Mark Morford is a collection of Morford's "best" essays over the past decade. It's not a book that you need to sit down and read all at once. Rather this is one of those books you keep handy when you think you are the only rational person left on earth. Not that Morford exhibits rationality, but his ability to skewer those who leave you with a WTF look on your face will make you laugh and shake your head.

I just picked up the book to find my favorite essay, alas how can one pick a favorite when Morford tackles subjects from George W. Bush, the Duggers to designer vaginas? You just can't. And that's the beauty of this book. Just when you think you have Morford figured out, he goes on a topic and leaves your head spinning...and you'll also be shaking your head in agreement. Of course you won't always agree with Morford, but if you did, it wouldn't be that fun, now would it?

This makes a fab last minute gift for the rabblerouser in your life! Get them a copy from an indie bookstore or Powells.com.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Mark himself. He found my blog and thought I'd enjoy reading his book. He was right.

* Book links are affiliate links. If you buy your book here I could make a very small amount of money that goes towards this blog. 

Book Review: Do it Anyway by Courtney E. Martin

Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists by Courtney E. Martin profiles eight amazing activists whose stories will touch you. But part of Martin's mission for this book was to show the world that her generation (she's Generation Y, I'm GenX) does care about the world and doing things to make it better.

In order to show that GenY isn't just a bunch of me-me-me individuals, but rather full of people creating positive changes in their community, Martin profiles eight people who are doing some amazing things. The shortcoming is is that Martin stuck to the coasts to find her people. Thankfully she acknowledges this right away. As a Midwesterner, I'm obviously miffed at that shortcoming. Sadly Martin even misses her home state of Colorado.

But the people she does profile will engage and suck you in. She opens the book with a profile of Rachel Corrie which is brilliant as Rachel is such a lightening rod for activists. I learned more about Rachel from this profile than my years of reading bits here and there in news pieces. On one hand, Rachel seemed too idealistic. On the other she seemed like a privileged white kid who got in too deep.

Martin's profiles are rich and will require some tissues here and there. Luckily she wrote in a way that keeps you turning the pages at the same time you stop to shake your head at some of the people's lives (Diaz and Guzman).

Her most troubling profile was of Tyrone Boucher, described as a radical philanthropist. A very rich kid rebels against his privilege and upon learning that he will gain access to $400,000 at the age of 21 decides he's going to give it all away. To this working class kid it made my stomach turn. Martin does try to get him to address this contradiction of life. Of a kid with access to the best schools scoffing at his educational opportunities when so many of us would cherish that access. But what really got my goat was that it wasn't clear where Boucher ends up giving his money away to. He takes the radical stance of being against foundations (disclaimer: my husband works for one & I support the Chicago Foundation for Women), but still ends up working with a foundation in New Orleans. Boucher is still working out all the issues of having a lot of money, not liking the weight of it and how to do the best one can with that kind of power. Martin does a brilliant job at showing us that struggle.

Ironically Martin & I seemed to have come full circle from when I read her first book. She now sees her generation as full of change agents and I think Do It Anyway could have used some stats sprinkled in between the stories or even within to give a larger context of how much good stuff her generation is doing. Because while the stories are moving and awesome, they are still just eight people. That said, this would be a great book for a twenty-something who is struggling with what to do with their lives that will make a difference.

Get yourself or a rabblerouser in your life a copy from an indie bookstore or Powells.com.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.

* Book links are affiliate links. If you buy your book here I could make a very small amount of money that goes towards this blog.