elizabeth warren

senate republicans are threatening to block ANY appointee to head the new "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau" with a bunch of weird rules that steal money from tax payers and serves the richies on wall street. basically they are setting up a system that insures that one guy is gets FILTHY rich on the backs of 10,000 people.

president obama has nominated elizabeth warren to head the agency, but she can't get a hearing (watch this to see just how UNFAIR some congressional hearings are to her. spoiler alert the chair of a congressional committee calls her a liar).

barney frank called the republican move "the worst abuse of the confirmation process i've ever seen" and added, "what it clearly says is that the president will have to make a recess appointment."

i agree.

click here to add your name to the letter asking president obama to appoint elizabeth warren -- then send this email to friends.

this is m favorite elizabeth warren interview ever . . .

Senate Republicans are threatening to block any appointee to head the new Consumer Financial Protect Bureau unless it is watered down to serve Wall Street interests.

Representative Barney Frank called the Republican move "the worst abuse of the confirmation process I've ever seen" and added, "What it clearly says is that the president will have to make a recess appointment."

I agree.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has written a letter to President Obama supporting Warren's recess appointment, and it's been signed by top academics and other progressive organizations.

It's a great letter -- with a message I wholeheartedly support. Can you join them and sign the letter yourself?

Click here to add your name to the letter asking President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren -- then send this email to friends.

Monday, a banking leader who once called Warren the "Antichrist" said his initial impressions were wrong and urged a recess appointment. We have momentum, President Obama is paying attention, and an outpouring of national support will make a big difference.

Since the president appointed Elizabeth Warren to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she has proven she can stand up to Wall Street. Now, it's time for a permanent leader to be appointed and, because Republican senators have vowed to block anyone, it's up to President Obama to use his power constitutional power to bypass Republicans and make a recess appointment.

Academics who know Elizabeth well -- like Lawrence Lessig and Dean Baker -- as well as prominent progressive organizations of all stripes like Democracy for America, Democracia, CREDO Action, the Sierra Club, VoteVets, MoveOn, and others have signed on to the PCCC's letter. Even Wall Street folks who support reform have signed on.

Can you add your voice to theirs? Click here to sign the letter.

National Call to Action for Faith Leaders to End the Stigma that Surrounds HIV and AIDS, live from the White House

i've had quite a bit to do with this: I'M SUPER NERVOUS!

if you can participate, that would be even cooler because the more people on it, the better i will feel ;)

this is for you danny flowers!

The HHS Partnership Center and White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships are hosting an evening National Call to Action for Faith Leaders to End the Stigma that Surrounds HIV and AIDS, live from the White House this Thursday at 5:00 p.m. This event provides an opportunity for your congregation or community organization to host a watch party and join in the discussion on preventing and responding to HIV/AIDS in our communities, and supporting individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy calls for the Federal Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to actively engage faith communities to address HIV/AIDS and promote prevention and early treatment.

We hope you will be able to join us for this discussion. If you have a question for a member of the panel, please email Partnerships@hhs.gov by 12:00pm on Thursday, May 26, 2011. Be sure to include, your name, organization and location.

Panelists:

Joshua DuBois

Executive Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Chantelle Britton-Faison

Scientific Advisor, White House Office of National AIDS Policy

Rev. Edwin Sanders

Senior Servant and Founder, Metropolitan Interdenominational Church in

Nashville, Tennessee

Pernessa C. Seele

CEO and Founder, Balm in Gilead, Inc

Phillip Thomason

Minister of Outreach and Pastoral Care, Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA

To view the webcast, visit http://whitehouse.gov/live.

For listen-in only, please use the information provided below.

Phone: 800-369-1709
Passcode: 3058216

A fact sheet from the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD ), designed to help faith communities pursue these and other activities, is also available: United in Battling HIV/AIDS: A Guide to Understanding How Faith Communities Can Make a Difference (PDF 248 KB). Read our blog post on this guide.

look for the clutter

a couple of days ago, ali and i were talking about how important having clean houses were to us. and we were just talking about clean versus clutter. we both wage a weak battle against entropy. and when that god of disarray wins, we often are able to not notice -- we aren't fond of admitting defeat.

long story short: this afternoon, i decided to go in search of the clutter. it was phenomenal! there was so much junk tucked away all over my house that i just didn't notice. anyway, its like i see the world differently . . . i'm going to let myself see the clutter so i don't have to just let it collect and spend an entire day just trying to see it . . . (blatant metaphor!)

my boss gave me warning today :(

Important Message from Secretary Sebelius
For OS announcements to all of HHS
Sent:	Tuesday, April 05, 2011 7:12 PM
To:	HHS-NEWS-ALL

Memorandum for All Employees

Throughout the discussions about funding for the rest of the fiscal year, the President has made it clear that he does not want a government shutdown, and the Administration is ready and willing to work day and night to find a solution with which Congress can agree. Given the realities of the calendar, however, prudent management requires that I plan for an orderly shutdown should Congress fail to pass a funding bill.

The President and I know that the uncertainty of the current situation puts federal employees in a difficult position, and are very much aware that a shutdown would impose hardships on many employees as well as the groups and individuals our Department serves. As we approach the expiration of the current CR, our leadership team will provide you with updated information as soon as it becomes available. For now, I want to provide you with information on how the potential shutdown – should it occur -- will impact Federal employees.

As soon as funding lapses, Federal departments and agencies will not be permitted to incur further financial obligations performing activities funded by annual appropriations, except those related to the orderly suspension of operations or performance of excepted activities. This means that some employees will be furloughed and unable to work. Our contingency planning for the potential funding lapse includes determining which agency functions are excepted from a furlough. Should it become necessary to implement our contingency plans, you will receive formal notice from your supervisor no later than Friday April 8.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has created a document to address some of the questions that I know must be on your mind. The document can be accessed at www.opm.gov/furlough2011. OPM will provide additional pertinent information for federal employees as the week progresses. And our leadership team will do our very best to provide clear information about the status of events as the week progresses.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of all of you, HHS provides critical health services to Americans and vital human services to some of most vulnerable citizens. Your contributions touch people’s lives in so many significant ways, and I want you to know how deeply I appreciate your dedication and your expertise. Thank you for your continued service to the Department and the Nation.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Sebelius

i think it is really important to recognize that there are approximately 310 million Americans. A year ago the number of federal employees was 2.15 million. This furlough will bring unemployment rates up at least a whole percentage point . . . at least. So many federal employees aren't counted because they are hired via a contract. a weird secret of the reagan shrink-of-government, was that he just privatized heaps of stuff. so, government didn't actually shrink, it was outsourced, and ended up being more costly . . . one of the reasons we are in this mess.

the impact on the US economy will be brutal. many federal employees are living paycheck to paycheck. that means 2.15 million people will have a hard time paying their bills, buying food, etc. that is a LOT of revenue just stripped away from the economy is a quick swoope.

they talk about costs of the shutdown, but i haven't heard people talking about all of the employees who are suddenly not going to be able to afford to live . . . will all these employees then go on unemployment? what would you do?

do you know about UMAMI?

i was supposed to be writing my hungary blog, but got down a weird internet wormhole that made me ask the question, "what is the taste tangy" . . . i searched all over and couldn't figure that out, but i discovered that there are 5 basic tastes, not 4 like i learned in school.

do you know that in 1985:

Umami was officially recognized as the scientific term to describe the taste of glutamates and nucleotides. Now it is widely accepted as the fifth basic taste. Umami represents the taste of the amino acid L-glutamate and 5’-ribonucleotides such as guanosine monophosphate (GMP) and inosine monophosphate (IMP).[8] It is described as a pleasant "brothy" or "meaty" taste with a long lasting, mouthwatering and coating sensation over the tongue. This is due to the detection of the carboxylate anion of glutamate in specialized receptor cells present on the human and animal tongue. Its fundamental effect is the ability to balance taste and round the total flavor of a dish. Umami clearly enhances the palatability of a wide variety of foods (for review Beauchamp, 2009). Glutamate in acid form (Glutamic acid) imparts little umami taste; whereas the salts of glutamic acid, known as glutamates, can easily ionize and give the characteristic umami taste. GMP and IMP amplify the taste intensity of glutamate

so there are FIVE basic tastes now (but actually 26 years): sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and UMAMI

these sentences helped me figure out what they are getting at:

• Ripe tomatoes are rich in umami components.
• Umami is a loanword from the Japanese umami (うま味^?) meaning "pleasant savory taste".^[6
• One of Kuninaka's most important discoveries was the synergistic effect between ribonucleotides and glutamate. When foods rich in glutamate are combined with ingredients that have ribonucleotides, the resulting taste intensity is higher than the sum of both ingredients. This is why Japanese make dashi with kombu seaweed and dried bonito flakes, Chinese add Chinese leek and cabbage with chicken soup or Italians combine Parmesan cheese on tomato sauce with mushrooms. The umami taste sensation of those ingredients mixed together surpasses the taste of each one alone.
• Umami has a mild but lasting after taste difficult to describe.
• It induces salivation and a furriness sensation on the tongue, stimulating the throat, the roof and the back of the mouth
• umami is not palatable, but it makes a great variety of foods pleasant especially in the presence of a matching aroma.^[21] But like other basic tastes, with the exception of sucrose, umami is pleasant only when used within a relatively narrow concentration range.^[19]
• Umami taste is common to foods that contain high levels of L-glutamate, IMP and GMP, most notably in fish, shellfish, cured meats, vegetables (e.g.mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, etc.) or green tea, and fermented and aged products (e.g. cheeses, shrimp pastes, soy sauce, etc.)
• The stomach can "taste" sodium glutamate using glumate receptors^[33] and this information is passed to the lateral hypothalamus and limbic system in the brain as a palatability signal through the vagus nerve.^[34]

it is pretty cool to think about what taste is for a little bit . . .

actually, i think hungary is umami: the people, cuisine, history, skyline, etc.