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2.20.2013

Caveat Emptor

The Food and Drug Administration does not define or regulate use of the words “natural or “all natural.” Neither has any nutritional meaning.

That’s a big deal becuase “natural” is the most frequently used claim on new U.S. food products and “natural” foods constituted a roughly $22 billion industry in 2008, according to a July 2012 George Washington Law School essay by Erik Benny.    Read more »

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2.19.2013

Stay Cool – Your Life May Depend on It

Strong emotions — positive or negative — can kill.

Grief, excitement, fear, ecstasy can cause cardiac arrest from ventricular fibrillation.

 (See “Can a Person Be Scared To Death?” in the January 30, 2009 edition of Scientific American.)    Read more »

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2.13.2013

Free Media Advice

In the immortal words of Gov. Jerry Brown during his first eight years as California’s chief executive: “Less is more.”

 

Labor Chair Roger Hernández Statement on President Obama’s State of the Union Address

SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Roger Hernandez released the following statement on the President’s State of the Union Address:

“I welcome President Obama’s enthusiasm and energy in creating new jobs in our nation.     Read more »

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1.28.2013

January 28th is the Birthday of “Serendipity”

 

From the Writer’s Almanac:

On this day in 1754 the word “serendipity” was first coined.

It’s defined by Merriam-Webster as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”

A British translation company recently listed “serendipity” as one of the English language’s 10 most difficult words to translate.    Read more »

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1.25.2013

“Very Catholic”

 

— Gov. Jerry Brown’s description of his January 24 State of the State speech to a state legislator    Read more »

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1.22.2013

“One Today” By Richard Blanco

 

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,peeking over the Smokies, greeting the facesof the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truthacross the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies. One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a storytold by our silent gestures moving behind windows. 

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors, each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day: pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights, fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbowsbegging our praise.    Read more »

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1.17.2013

Why Not a Green Pencil? Perhaps Something in Mauve?

”Blue pencil,” the political verb that describes line-item vetoing, started as a noun.

Before Spellcheck and computers, editors used a blue pencil on manuscripts to instruct printers where to indent, which sections to delete and so forth.

A red pencil was used to correct grammatical errors.

Special pencils were once available that had red lead at one end and blue at the other.    Read more »

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1.15.2013

From the “Stuff-Arnold-Schwarzenegger-Wouldn’t-Say” File

All the quotes in Latin and references to ancient Greek and Roman literature and philosophy would obviously be found in this file.

Other than the last sentence of the following quote, it’s  hard to imagine Gov. Jerry Brown’s GOP predecessor waxing poetic or otherwise about the ultimate “challenge” faced by American adn California:

“The challenge is we’re an aging society.    Read more »

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1.11.2013

Seeking Equity in Public School Funding From the Ancients

No press conference by Gov. Jerry Brown seems to be compelte without some reference to ancient Greek or Roman philosophy and literature – often declaimed in the original Latin.

The Democratic governor’s unveiling of his proposed $139 billion spending blueprint for the fiscal year rbeginning July 1 was no execption.

Generating the most media attention is Brown’s desire to change the distribution of state money to public schools.    Read more »

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1.09.2013

If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Stay Out of the Kitchen

“The game here is, ‘Come to Sacramento and get your little piece of the pie.’ Well I’m the cook here and I’ve got to cut the slices in fair amounts and I think we’ve cut a big enough slice for the prisons.”

–Gov. Jerry Brown, Janaury 8, 2013, Sacramento Press Conference

(Art by Katie Lucas)    Read more »

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