The pickle tree

The other night Payton and I were talking while she was getting settled into bed for the night.

Payton: "When we were going to plant the garden?"
Dad: "Tomorrow we are going to start planting the garden."
Payton: "I can't wait to grow some pickles"
Dad: "You mean cucumbers...cucumbers are what we grow and then they get turned into pickles."
Payton: "No dad, I want to grow a pickle tree...that would be awesome!"
Dad: "Well - cucumbers actually grow on the ground."
Payton: "Well, I am going to plant a pickle tree."
Dad: "Sounds great. Good night."

So naturally, being an Enginerd...I just had to see if there was something called a pickle tree. Voila. For $3.99 it may just be worth setting a 4 year-old's imagination on fire!

Payton's Dance Recital (23 photos), by Jennifer Cavagnaro

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Another gem from Santa Clara county

The news article failed to mention what the Live Oak High School mascot is … you guessed it …. the Acorn …and their home page has “Go Nuts” across the main screen.  How fitting!

 

 

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Students-Wearing-American-Flag-Shirts-Sent-Home-92945969.html

On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel Galli and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing T-shirts with the American flag. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day especially on a campus with a large Mexican American student population.

Galli says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when the vice principal asked two of the boys to remove American flag bandannas that they wearing on their heads and for the others to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out. When they refused, the boys were ordered to go to the principal's office.

"They said we could wear it on any other day," Daniel Galli said, "but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it's supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today."

The boys said the administrators called their T-shirts "incendiary" that would lead to fights on campus.

"They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended," Dominic Maciel, Galli's friend, said.

The boys really had no choice, and went home to avoid suspension. They say they're angry they were not allowed to express their American pride. Their parents are just as upset, calling what happened to their children, "total nonsense."

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous," Julie Fagerstrom, Maciel's mom, said. "All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature. They're expressing their individuality."

But to many Mexican-American students at Live Oak, this was a big deal. They say they were offended by the five boys and others for wearing American colors on a Mexican holiday.

"I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day," Annicia Nunez, a Live Oak High student, said. "We don't deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July."

As for an apology, the boys and their families say, "fat chance."

"I'm not going to apologize. I did nothing wrong," Galli said. "I went along with my normal day. I might have worn an American flag, but I'm an American and I'm proud to be an American."

The five boys and their families met with a Morgan Hill Unified School District official Wednesday night. The district released a statement saying it does not agree with how Live Oak High School administrators handled this incident.

The boys will not be suspended and they were told they can go back to school Thursday. They may even wear their red, white, and blue colors again, but this time, the day after Cinco de Mayo, there will be no controversy. 

 

 

The lawyers are coming...the lawyers are coming (part-II)

The first article I read about Holder sending DOJ to the gulf struck me as downright odd – so I posted it for all to provide more insight.  The part that struck me as the most odd was this part: “The Justice Department stands ready to make available every resource at our disposal to vigorously enforce the laws that protect the people who work and reside near the Gulf, the wildlife, the environment and the American taxpayers.”  Well, it appears that there really is more to the story than first appeared…from the most transparent administration evah. Read the article below which starts to point towards a slightly different story…one where the lawyers really would be needed.  I especially like the part where Congress wants to now modify the existing law (retroactively)…maybe they understand that the original $75M was stupid low.  It does raise an interesting question…did BP agree to pay for the damages so quickly knowing that the law may in fact change at a later date (thus locking in the $75M cap)?  Seriously…it is always about the money.

 

Google News/AP: …Take President Barack Obama's repeated claims that BP will be responsible for all the costs associated with the devastating spill that began after an oil rig operated by the company exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and later sinking.

 

"Let me be clear: BP is responsible for this leak; BP will be paying the bill," Obama said while touring the area Sunday.

 

While it's true that the federal Oil Pollution Act, enacted in 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, makes BP responsible for cleanup costs, the law caps the company's liability for economic damages — such as lost wages, shortened fishing seasons or lagging tourism — at $75 million, a pittance compared to potential losses.

 

Administration officials insist BP will be held responsible anyway, noting that if the company is found negligent or criminally liable, the cap disappears. Claims also can potentially be made under other state or federal laws, officials said.

 

Yet the liability cap is problematic enough that a trio of Democratic senators introduced legislation Monday raising it to $10 billion, and the administration quickly announced its support. Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Bill Nelson of Florida voiced concerns that unless the cap is raised, BP would avoid paying for the mess and leave small businesses, local government and fishermen with the bill.

 

"They're not going to want to pay any more than what the law says they have to," Nelson said.

 

That's not quite the seemingly ironclad guarantee heard from the president.

 

 

 

Hypocrisy

 

Payton's 4th Birthday (53 photos), by Jennifer Cavagnaro

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