No. 108 – July 31, 2014 – Let's Have Lunch – John Fund and the Tape

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

“John Fund?! He never sent us the autographed book we paid him for,” Monique said, with some heat. They reminded him several times but never received a response. I was not surprised, but suggested a short article about the incident might elicit a long awaited response and apology.

The book Monique bought from John was not his original, Stealing Elections, but the new version full of new disinformation titled, Who's Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk, by John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky at the Glen Beck - Free PAC Conference in Dallas from July 26 - 28 in 2012.

John really didn't want to write about elections but it was his consolation prize when he blew the opportunity to be a speech writer for Bush Jr. in 1999. The scandal over his relationship with Morgan, my much strange daughter, reminded them they had to stand up for family values.

Monique was delighted to meet John - at the time.

Monique and I get together when our schedules allow, at Casa Capelli on Main Avenue. Over lunch we chatted on about our families, the economic prognosis, and politics. It was the conversation on family which caused Monique's mouth to drop open, over a story about John Fund.

Since Sex, Lies, and the Tape, the article by John Connolly from Vanity Fair is still up on line at American Political Journal it was easy for her to hear for herself. That tape got John bounced from the 700 Club.

Looking back, it is now easy to see John and Morgan had a lot in common. No conscience. Desperate need for drama. Less decency than the real people portrayed in the book, Fifty Shades of Gray, now shocking readers and headed for the big screen.

John got the boot from the Wall Street Journal finally not over the scandal but because no one told Murdoch, when he purchased the WSJ, John is not paid for his writing but because he is a useful political operative. John's first such job was in 1978, working for the Kochs on taking over the Libertarian Party.

And today John is at National Review, a real step down. And he still needs to make Monique happy. But he doesn't need to send the book, just a refund. And if he has lost her address he can just contact me and I'll provide it. 

Find out more about John Fund at JohnFund.blogspot.com 

No. 109 – August 8, 2014 – The Delights of the Rummage Sale

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

The bags and boxes started accumulating on the stage in the upper church dining room several months ago. People remembered It Was Coming.

Saint Peter has a rummage sale every year and the event attracts people who delight in poking though the books, household items, clothing, and enormous variety of items which begin to fill up the tables, crowding out the After Church Coffee people, who sigh and take the opportunity for an early preview of what is available.

This year the number of beautiful dolls, some of them collector's items were thick upon the ground, or the tables. But also in evidence as the tables filled up to the groaning point are ancient tools, new electronics, new shoes, still in the box, Christmas decorations, craft supplies, appliances, furniture, and toys, toys, toys.

But the Stuff to be sold is only part of the story for the Saint Peter Rummage Sale. Much of the fascination is people, the ones who sort, clean, arrange, hauling tables and shaking their heads over items no one knows how to categorize.

Carol Wardell has been 'doing' the Rummage Sale since the last Captain of Commerce, Neddy, turned the ship over to her years ago. Carol says it is like Christmas. Sort of. Opening the boxes and finding ever more smaller and smaller items is always brings the unexpected, something which is true of life in general, she says.

Captain Carol is joined by swabbies and crew who change depending on the needs of their families but the jolly discussions of 'what it is worth,' continue throughout it all.

Sometimes an early browser will gasp at the sight of something which brings back memories, painful or joyous. You see the object grasped, sometimes with reverence, turned and examined as the times past flow through the expression on the face. From such moments come discussions which touch the heart and take us all back to a multitude of 'thens.'

Other objects, for instance items which can serve projects Saint Peter People are undertaking, for instance shelving for the Food Pantry, about to start, and useful additions to the church kitchen are washed and shelved immediately.

Debbie Nelson and her crew have made the Pantry their ministry.

Rummage is the cast-offs of many; Items no longer useful to someone which become precious acquisitions for others. And always, the Rummage Sale brings people together, August 15 & 16^th.

How Fertilizer Is Poisoning the Water Supply of 400,000 People

From:  Motherboard 

by Ben Richmond

Coinciding with the return of a prodigal Cavalier, it's possible that many in northern Ohio didn't give second thought to a warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that this summer would be another bad one for toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie. But there's no remaining ignorant about the situation now. 

Fueled on fertilizer and warm weather, the toxic algae has been blooming like crazy, making 2014 a bad year for anyone around the lake, the fish in it, and the 400,000 people in and around Toledo, who can't shower or drink the water from their taps.

On Saturday, Toledo officials issued a warning not to drink the water, after they discovered high levels of the toxin microcystin in the water, coming from a huge bloom of the cyanobacteria (or, “blue-green algae”) microcystis in Lake Erie’s Maumee Bay, where the city of 284,000 draws its drinking water. Boiling tap water only concentrates the toxins further, so residents were left emptying store shelves of bottled water and lining up at water distribution centers, as their water supply turned a sickly shade of Satanic vomit-green.

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