Catching up with the Village Reader

We're back from adventuring to the East Coast and somehow need to find a way back into regular blogging habits. After slogging through tons of email and attempting to get through the backlog of blog posts the Google Reader, I've got some highlights to share here:

Aphra Behn has a good long rant about "quacktitioners" proposing a theory that women choose alternative therapies to get that "me time" so lacking in visits to medical doctors.

Good4Girls is organizing donations of reusable cloth menstrual pads for girls in African countries. Perhaps you've seen the ads on TV promoting a certain commercial disposable menstrual product's charity donations to help keep young African girls in school. Great thought, but not exactly environmentally friendly. Good4Girls has the answer and many people are sewing hand-made re-usable pads to donate to the cause. They also have many links to sites that show you how to sew your own reusable pads. This site, for example.

Beth of Fake Plastic Fish has some tips on brewing coffee without involving anything plastic.

Metaefficient has pictures and news about the first ever installed tidal turbine that produces clean energy from beneath the sea.

Thanks to TalkLeft for leading us to this Washington Post story on Obama's major big money backers.

On the other hand, The Playgoer gives us a very good reason to support Obama -- the candidate's words on arts and education are quoted in this post.

Michael Shermer reviews Expelled in Scientific-American online.

And in today's ABJ, news that Countywide landfill has struck a deal with the EPA to cap and cover a portion of its smelly landfill. Environmental reporter Bob Downing reports:

The agency and Republic Services Inc., the Florida firm that owns the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility, announced a negotiated agreement to install the cap at the 258-acre landfill in Pike Township.

And I wonder what is the point of an EPA if it has to "negotiate" agreements for actions that affect public health? Downing points out that no clear timetable for installing the cap is included in the agreement.

Things to do during The Blizzard of '08

First thing of course, is document the event via digital photography. The next thing is to go back to your computer with full cup of coffee and read blogs for hours. Then when you feel you've finally got a good buzz on, get into snow gear and put in some shoveling time. My front steps had about a foot of snow on them. By the time I'd finished shoveling, the snow kicked up again and is going stronger on through the afternoon.

I've got some books to keep me company and good music in the background. Not feeling up to writing much myself, so here are some links worth visiting from the Village Reader:

Aphra Behn posts on "The god of the gaps" --

The gap which is usefully plugged by philosophy is narrowing as neuroscientists and cognitive scientists do their job. For example, we will soon know whether or not a moral sense is innate and why it might be that some people appear not to have one.

Renters have much to fear from the foreclosure crisis and you can read about it in Callahan's Cleveland Diary.

Beth at Fake Plastic Fish has another extremely useful link, this time to The Electronics Take Back Coalition. They are looking for stories of dead gadgets:

We would love to receive stories just like the one you documented on your blog, showing clearly how products simply can’t be fixed or upgraded, because of clear choices made by the product designers. Please send your stories to Stories@deadgadgets.com.

PZ Meyers at Pharyngula comes up with an atheist's creed. The only problem I have with that is the tendency when confronted by a creed, no matter how individualistic the claim for its use, is for it to be taken up and pushed on to others. So read PZ's, get inspired, and write your own creed if you absolutely must have one.

Obtained via Phayrngula (a scientific cornucopia of useful links): read one man's live-blogging of a vasectomy operation here.

Lots of performing arts groups are canceling performances this weekend. NEOPAL has the scoop here. That's the NEOhio Performing Arts List, an invaluable tool for finding out about shows, auditions, workshops and anything remotely related to the performing arts. Find out how to join the list here.

A wonderful post on Pete Seeger at The Brain Police, including a video of Pete's performance of Big Muddy on the old Smothers Brothers show.

Blogger has been going nuts today -- perhaps because everybody's blogging since we are all snowed in.

Most searched for item on the Village Green blog? All hail the power of Converse sneakers' new advertising campaign. Or could it be the power of the actual original tune and lyrics? Regardless, everybody wants to know more about Everybody's a Star.

Oberon, the amazing Huskador Retriver, just went out into the path I cleared this morning. Note how much more snow has fallen in the past two and a half hours. Yikes!