Hi, all, and happy Wednesday! So much going on! Chris Licht is out. The Republicans are fighting over gas stoves. Mark Meadows has likely flipped on Trump. The East Coast is being suffocated by smoky air. It’s enough to give anyone a headache. Even the good news carries a tinge of hysteria. To say that we live in dramatic times is, well, a dramatic understatement.
I just posted this to the House Democratic Agricultural Committee:
I’m an average US citizen who cares about clean water, and I assume my government has the same concerns.
I’m writing to urge you to support an expansion of the Agricultural Conservation Easements Program – Wetland Reserve Easements in the 2023 Farm Bill.
Now that the Supreme Court has gutted protections for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, it is critical that we take advantage of every other avenue for wetland preservation. If we allow these marshes to be destroyed, critical habitats will be destroyed and even more species will go extinct. We will lose barriers to hurricanes and storms with great loss of human life and property. The water quality will be much worse and we will have many more toxic algae blooms, endangering human health.
We the people count on you the elected representatives to to ensure that our interests are respected in the work you do; please do not let the biased and corrupted SCOTUS trash our environment!
Please help incentivize landowners to permanently preserve wetlands by expanding funding for the Wetland Reserve Easements component of the ACEP.
Thank you for protecting the best interests of all Americans.
Last week I replaced our 10-year old GE gas stove with a new GE induction stove. I don’t cook but I did get a $750 rebate from our city’s Community Environment Action Fund and a chance “to own the ReThugs!” Proud to say I live in Minnesota--the state where good things happen for all.
We put an induction cooktop in our new house. (Solar, all electric.) Haven’t moved in yet. However, a friend moved into a house with induction and she was going to replace it with gas. After using it for a week she was hooked. Loves it. Everyone I know that uses induction likes it.
Jun 7, 2023·edited Jun 7, 2023Liked by Jessica Craven
I'm always in for a good laugh, Jess. I copied this link a while ago, but it's still relevant today. Watch/listen as MTG tries to call for order in the House!
Some days are just more loaded, aren't they? Since I'm still recuperating from surgery I am a bit limited in what I can do, but writing colorful get-out-the-vote postcards is one thing I can do. It does help. And I agree, laughter is the best medicine of all.
Jun 7, 2023·edited Jun 7, 2023Liked by Jessica Craven
I agree that we need to find humor wherever we can in this morass. Let me try a feeble attempt at it with a few of my "Morganisms." I recycle some of these in my writing if they fit the context.
If Republicans are for smaller government, why do they keep running for office?
****************
I'm tired of the steady diet of Republican-served fact-free, irony-rich word salad, tossed and drenched with tasteless window dressing.
****************
Commentary on the likes of MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, Gosar, etc.: there must have been too much chlorine in their gene pool.
****************
Reference to TFG's followers as "echo"lytes and "sicko"phants.
****************
Reference to TFG's former advisors as the "Tool" Cabinet.
****************
Today's Republican Party: a self-made case for birth control.
****************
I long for the days when Democrats and Republicans couldn't agree on policy. Now they can't agree on facts!
****************
trumpidity noun
trum-pid-i-ty | trəm-ˈpi-də-tē
Definition of trumpidity
: willingness to surrender one’s incomparable ability to think for self to incoherent buffoon
: unintelligent decisions or acts mirroring incoherent buffoon
: an unintelligent or careless manner befitting incoherent buffoon
I was reading TalkingPointsMemo.com, an article that mentions bill by Maisie Hirono to stop the judge shopping in 5th circuit that caused Roe taken away, among others. [They are going for ACA again.]
Jessica, The VA primary with Lashrecse Aird is HUGE. Her democratic opponant is a terrible human. Here is an excerpt from the Washington Post The primary about his wife who is suing him for divorce,
” she explained, now 27 and filing for divorce from Morrissey, 65, a Virginia state senator who did jail time over their relationship when she was a minor and timed their wedding to his election cycle.
Anyone following Virginia politics knows the story of a teenage receptionist and the self-styled “Fightin’ Joe.” He’s a twice-disbarred attorney who has acknowledged fathering eight children with five women. He’s in court for his own cases of dog bites, defamation and trespassing, as well as appearing for his clients.
I have been a subscriber to Chop Wood, Carry Water and I received a notice that my renewal payment was unsuccessful(I changed credit cards since last renewal). I tried to click on the "Update Payment" but a renewal screen would not come up. I tried doing this on both safari and Google Chrome without success. I would like to renew my subscription - is there any way you can help me.
So far, great. Although all I’ve done with it is boil water and scramble eggs. What I like is that it throws off very little heat. With our gas stove, if I had two things cooking at the same time, the handle on the microwave above it was too hot to touch. All the heat stays in the pan, if you will. Unlike an electric stove (but like a gas cooktop) the temperature adjustment is immediate. I like having knobs that mimic a gas stove. And it’s clean! Because the stove top is never really hot, anything that bubbles over or splatters doesn’t burn on. We bought silicon pads to use on each of the burners so the glass top doesn’t scratch, but you can use paper towels under the pans while cooking. I was also concerned about some of the indoor pollutants gas stoves presumably emit. We bought a GE Cafe induction range (it’s replacing our GE cafe gas range). It’s a Wirecutter favorite and is a little higher end (about $4000) but HD recently had a sale for a highly rated Samsung for just over $1000. We had 30-year old aluminum Calphalon pans that we I was happy to have an excuse to replace, but if a fridge magnet sticks to the bottom of your cookware, it’s induction compatible. The out-of-the blue offer from our city is what got us to “go induction.” I think we may be eligible for some federal tax benefits as well, but I haven’t looked into it yet..
And Jessica—I loved your TikTok video about all the glorious accomplishments of Minnesota’s blue trifecta this legislative session. There’s a recent article in the Star Tribune about how it all came about—you might want to check it out. (For the life of me, I can’t understand why everyone doesn’t want to live here.)
This is so helpful! So no cast iron pans, huh? And nothing gets hot on the stovetop? How weird! I didn't know that! I guess I have no idea how an induction stove works. As for Minnesota, it's really sounding more and more enticing. Gotta make sure you keep your Dem majority there!
Jessica—Here’s another new Minnesota law you might have missed:
A new Minnesota law is being celebrated by repair shops and DIY-ers, the Pioneer Press reports. The “right to repair” law will force manufacturers to provide the parts and instructions needed to do repairs yourself more easily.
It might seem rinky-dink on the face of it, but this is a huge deal for farmers because companies like John Deere would insist that only dealers could repair ultra expensive computer-driven farm equipment.
It’s a law like this that helped bring rural and urban legislators together to craft legislation that benefits folks state-wide.
No this is HUGE! I think I mentioned it either in the video or separately in an Extra Extra but maybe not. Right to Repair laws are a big deal. Thanks for flagging!
Cast iron works greats with induction as does enameled cast iron cookware (e.g. Le Creuset). I worry about cast iron scratching the glass cooking surface, hence the burner protector pads. The burners may be warm after you remove the pan, but it’s only the residual heat of the pan. I’d be happy to let you check out my induction stove when you visit Minnesota—and you really must!
I just posted this to the House Democratic Agricultural Committee:
I’m an average US citizen who cares about clean water, and I assume my government has the same concerns.
I’m writing to urge you to support an expansion of the Agricultural Conservation Easements Program – Wetland Reserve Easements in the 2023 Farm Bill.
Now that the Supreme Court has gutted protections for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, it is critical that we take advantage of every other avenue for wetland preservation. If we allow these marshes to be destroyed, critical habitats will be destroyed and even more species will go extinct. We will lose barriers to hurricanes and storms with great loss of human life and property. The water quality will be much worse and we will have many more toxic algae blooms, endangering human health.
We the people count on you the elected representatives to to ensure that our interests are respected in the work you do; please do not let the biased and corrupted SCOTUS trash our environment!
Please help incentivize landowners to permanently preserve wetlands by expanding funding for the Wetland Reserve Easements component of the ACEP.
Thank you for protecting the best interests of all Americans.
Sincerely yours-
So good! Thank you!
Well done, Tom!
Last week I replaced our 10-year old GE gas stove with a new GE induction stove. I don’t cook but I did get a $750 rebate from our city’s Community Environment Action Fund and a chance “to own the ReThugs!” Proud to say I live in Minnesota--the state where good things happen for all.
Wow! How do you like it so far? We are induction-curious over here.
My response may be above.
We put an induction cooktop in our new house. (Solar, all electric.) Haven’t moved in yet. However, a friend moved into a house with induction and she was going to replace it with gas. After using it for a week she was hooked. Loves it. Everyone I know that uses induction likes it.
Exciting! I think we're going to switch. Ive been inspired by the GOP. (;
My bit of rolling-my-eyes humor today comes from Robert Hubbell. (Today’s Edition Newsletter)
That there exists in Congress a Congressional Golf Caucus! Glad they’ve got a worthy calling. 🙄
OMG WHAT? Haven't read him yet today. Will do now. That's ridiculous!
I'm always in for a good laugh, Jess. I copied this link a while ago, but it's still relevant today. Watch/listen as MTG tries to call for order in the House!
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1661489923201925120?s=20
P.S. Loved Krugman's article, et al.!
Oh yes this was amazing. And apparently yesterday she lost her shoe running away from gun violence survivors who were doing a sit in.
Say what? LOL!
I shared your newsletter with my niece yesterday. She’ll be studying social justice at UCSC in the fall! Thanks for all of your hard work.
That's fantastic! I have dear friends in Santa Cruz. Beautiful.
Some days are just more loaded, aren't they? Since I'm still recuperating from surgery I am a bit limited in what I can do, but writing colorful get-out-the-vote postcards is one thing I can do. It does help. And I agree, laughter is the best medicine of all.
Writing postcards is incredibly therapeutic, I agree.
I agree that we need to find humor wherever we can in this morass. Let me try a feeble attempt at it with a few of my "Morganisms." I recycle some of these in my writing if they fit the context.
If Republicans are for smaller government, why do they keep running for office?
****************
I'm tired of the steady diet of Republican-served fact-free, irony-rich word salad, tossed and drenched with tasteless window dressing.
****************
Commentary on the likes of MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, Gosar, etc.: there must have been too much chlorine in their gene pool.
****************
Reference to TFG's followers as "echo"lytes and "sicko"phants.
****************
Reference to TFG's former advisors as the "Tool" Cabinet.
****************
Today's Republican Party: a self-made case for birth control.
****************
I long for the days when Democrats and Republicans couldn't agree on policy. Now they can't agree on facts!
****************
trumpidity noun
trum-pid-i-ty | trəm-ˈpi-də-tē
Definition of trumpidity
: willingness to surrender one’s incomparable ability to think for self to incoherent buffoon
: unintelligent decisions or acts mirroring incoherent buffoon
: an unintelligent or careless manner befitting incoherent buffoon
Love it! The first one especially!
Feel free to use it! I'd love to see it on a billboard!
I was reading TalkingPointsMemo.com, an article that mentions bill by Maisie Hirono to stop the judge shopping in 5th circuit that caused Roe taken away, among others. [They are going for ACA again.]
Here's link to article; https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/oconnor-affordable-care-act-5th-circuit
Yes! I don't know that we have a chance of passing it until we have control of the legislature again but so important.
Jess, your 6’3” gov gave me a laugh this week with remark about my “small,pathetic” gov.😂
I know. I'm here for it!
Jessica, The VA primary with Lashrecse Aird is HUGE. Her democratic opponant is a terrible human. Here is an excerpt from the Washington Post The primary about his wife who is suing him for divorce,
” she explained, now 27 and filing for divorce from Morrissey, 65, a Virginia state senator who did jail time over their relationship when she was a minor and timed their wedding to his election cycle.
Anyone following Virginia politics knows the story of a teenage receptionist and the self-styled “Fightin’ Joe.” He’s a twice-disbarred attorney who has acknowledged fathering eight children with five women. He’s in court for his own cases of dog bites, defamation and trespassing, as well as appearing for his clients.
Ooh can you email me a link to this story? I'm going to make a TikTok. hijesscraven101@gmail.com
JW, I just researched Morrisssey 😱😱😱 !
Any other ways we can help in addition to Jess’s Win ( Incredibly Important! ) Races ??
Yes! postcards 4 VA https://postcards4va.com is great. This is video of Lashrecse Aird talking about her Senate run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV-f5Z1yVic and this is another Phonebank https://www.mobilize.us/nwpcva/event/562803/?link_id=3&can_id=239815ac26bf47454eff88110b2df461&source=email-may-25th-rally-for-virginia-register-today-3&email_referrer=email_1945939&email_subject=make-calls-for-women-running-for-office-in-virginia
You can also donate to her here: https://www.lashrecseaird.com
I have been a subscriber to Chop Wood, Carry Water and I received a notice that my renewal payment was unsuccessful(I changed credit cards since last renewal). I tried to click on the "Update Payment" but a renewal screen would not come up. I tried doing this on both safari and Google Chrome without success. I would like to renew my subscription - is there any way you can help me.
David if you email me at hijesscraven101@gmail.com I will put you on an email with Substack support. Thank you!
😊
So far, great. Although all I’ve done with it is boil water and scramble eggs. What I like is that it throws off very little heat. With our gas stove, if I had two things cooking at the same time, the handle on the microwave above it was too hot to touch. All the heat stays in the pan, if you will. Unlike an electric stove (but like a gas cooktop) the temperature adjustment is immediate. I like having knobs that mimic a gas stove. And it’s clean! Because the stove top is never really hot, anything that bubbles over or splatters doesn’t burn on. We bought silicon pads to use on each of the burners so the glass top doesn’t scratch, but you can use paper towels under the pans while cooking. I was also concerned about some of the indoor pollutants gas stoves presumably emit. We bought a GE Cafe induction range (it’s replacing our GE cafe gas range). It’s a Wirecutter favorite and is a little higher end (about $4000) but HD recently had a sale for a highly rated Samsung for just over $1000. We had 30-year old aluminum Calphalon pans that we I was happy to have an excuse to replace, but if a fridge magnet sticks to the bottom of your cookware, it’s induction compatible. The out-of-the blue offer from our city is what got us to “go induction.” I think we may be eligible for some federal tax benefits as well, but I haven’t looked into it yet..
And Jessica—I loved your TikTok video about all the glorious accomplishments of Minnesota’s blue trifecta this legislative session. There’s a recent article in the Star Tribune about how it all came about—you might want to check it out. (For the life of me, I can’t understand why everyone doesn’t want to live here.)
This is so helpful! So no cast iron pans, huh? And nothing gets hot on the stovetop? How weird! I didn't know that! I guess I have no idea how an induction stove works. As for Minnesota, it's really sounding more and more enticing. Gotta make sure you keep your Dem majority there!
Jessica—Here’s another new Minnesota law you might have missed:
A new Minnesota law is being celebrated by repair shops and DIY-ers, the Pioneer Press reports. The “right to repair” law will force manufacturers to provide the parts and instructions needed to do repairs yourself more easily.
It might seem rinky-dink on the face of it, but this is a huge deal for farmers because companies like John Deere would insist that only dealers could repair ultra expensive computer-driven farm equipment.
It’s a law like this that helped bring rural and urban legislators together to craft legislation that benefits folks state-wide.
No this is HUGE! I think I mentioned it either in the video or separately in an Extra Extra but maybe not. Right to Repair laws are a big deal. Thanks for flagging!
Cast iron works greats with induction as does enameled cast iron cookware (e.g. Le Creuset). I worry about cast iron scratching the glass cooking surface, hence the burner protector pads. The burners may be warm after you remove the pan, but it’s only the residual heat of the pan. I’d be happy to let you check out my induction stove when you visit Minnesota—and you really must!
Oh good as long as we can keep using our cast iron I'm happy! And yes, Minnesota is a place I'd love to visit!