EspressoBuzz

This Friday I'm leaving to see my Mom and Dad who retired back to Italy some time ago (http://www.consorziomaronti.it/lastcam.php). They live on a beautiful island in the Bay of Naples. The island itself is the tip of a volcano (Epemeo), one of many in the Naples area and Italy in general. I find it funny that when the headlines read this past week that activity in the area had increased and the hot springs have gotten hotter, I was excited but my wife was nervous. Volcano's are in my mind the hot pepper flakes on the sumptuous dish that is Italy! https://www.wired.com/2017/05/everyone-stop-freaking-italys-supervolcano/ http://www.newsweek.com/campi-flegrei-supervolcano-eruption-risk-naples-italy-lava-609015 https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2450863/campi-flegrei-supervolcano-naples-erupt/ We are 15 miles as the crow flies from Campi Flegrei!

Helmut living up to da name!

I didn't mean you bringing hate down because i brought religion into it i meant in general people get nasty when their beliefs are challenged. I think most people who have taken a good look at the civil war and it's reasons would agree that it wasn't going to be settled without a war. Once war was started all weapons came to bear and the emancipation was another weapon of war but specific to that war. Once again, these monuments to the losing side of the civil war are not being destroyed nor is their legacy being banished from the history books. Many are going to museums, and private home museums. In museums their story can be more fully delved into and the history preserved.

I can't wait for the square tomato! https://www.nature.com/news/fixing-the-tomato-crispr-edits-correct-plant-breeding-snafu-1.22018

Growalot, the men you speak of may well have been washed over by the wave created by their politicians but the heads of state are the ones who voted for secession because of the desire to maintain slavery. I have an alternate reading suggestion for you one that will surely bring down hate and anger on me but here goes. Read the sermons given by pastors of the time before and during the Civil War and see how (southern) Christianity perpetuated the myth that the negro was incapable of living outside of the confines of slavery and how it was gods work. Allusions to european slavery which was perpetuated against people of all colors and not just black people was not the same as in America. When the south lost the war many who fled the country because of the war went to Brasil (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederados) a country which held onto slavery for another two decades. I ran a digital Imaging company in the late 90's and early 2000's which scanned photos, documents and historical papers for many museums and historical societies. I have read personal papers from men & women on both sides of the conflict. Slavery may well not have been the reason the lowest rank may have been fighting for in their minds but it was the reason in their commanders minds. None of us has ever been held in slavery but for us as a people to not imagine it 10 times worst than any idea we have in mind is to belittle the pain, horror and death it caused not just to the Negro but to the country as a whole.

I read a very in depth history of the lynching in La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience by Prof. Jerre Mangione. For anyone who thinks the civil was not about slavery, or not mostly about slavery you are wrong wrong wrong as a Professor at West Point explains here:

Except that we aren't destroying them we are relocating them and adding context.

Scientists Sneak A Peek At How Ladybugs Fold Their Wings http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/20/529148056/scientists-sneak-a-peek-at-how-ladybugs-fold-their-wings What struck me was how often we make big jumps in technology by watching nature. This video could well be the future of a flying cars or awesome folding portable cabins...

No one is melting them down, all have been moved to museums, private property or historic homes. History is written by the victors.

Crowd gathers in New Orleans to watch statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee being removed http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-orleans-general-lee-20170519-story.html "Throughout the years, the Lee monument has served as a focal point for Civil War reunions and a host of civic celebrations. In 1891, it was a gathering spot for the mob responsible for the largest mass lynching in American history: the killing of 11 Italian American men for their alleged role in the murder of the city’s police chief, David Hennessy."

Done!

Frontline WNETDT - 13 Tue, 5/16, 10:00 PM 1 hr "American Patriot" New, 5/16/2017, Investigative, Documentary, Politics, Public Affairs, Social Topic Since the Bundy standoff of 2014, in which Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his family, and his supporters initiated an armed conflict against the federal government to protest federal overreach, armed militias, or "patriot" groups, have grown in number. Credits: Will Lyman (Narrator)

well, duh!

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/15/528470657/millions-of-pieces-of-plastic-are-piling-up-on-otherwise-pristine-pacific-island Millions Of Pieces Of Plastic Are Piling Up On An Otherwise Pristine Pacific Island

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/14/americas/perfect-dinosaur-fossil-alberta-canada-museum-trnd/ Freaking wild!

Mayor: Torch-lit protest in Charlottesville, Va. “hearkens back to the days of the KKK” http://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlottesville-protest-richard-spender-kkk-robert-e-lee-statue/

http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/333342-white-nationalist-group-protests-removal-of-confederate-statue-in

How important is a good working knowledge of United States history to a President?

Testify Sister! I married an Italian, they either kill for you or kill you!

John McCoy: Could ‘kill shots’ eventually kill hunting? http://www.wvgazettemail.com/outdoors/20170401/john-mccoy-could-kill-shots-eventually-kill-hunting Thoughts?

‘Just See How I Shoot.’ In Norway, Women Are Joining the Hunt. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/28/world/europe/norway-female-hunters.html?_r=0 I got two girls one hunts, one don't (have time), both fish!

Happy and Best Birthday ever! my right wingnut sparring partner!

The 7 min segment from 10:15 onward is exactly the way I remember our hunt when I was a young teen minus the steak feast but with a feast none the less.. Straining to see, sadly I didn't see many teens and worry for the hunting culture which is so important for the health of the vineyards.

I personally i'm amazed that our forefathers had the vision to provide for a postal service that is the model the world round and the most efficient in the world, not for lack of Republicans efforts to cripple it. Question: How much of the federal budget goes to the Post Office? http://republicansexposed.org/republicans-plan-to-eliminate-the-postal-service/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karl-frisch/postal-service-cuts_b_961602.html http://www.cnbc.com/id/45018432 http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/10/the-right-wings-assault-on-the-post-office-smashing-the-myth-that-its-in-financial-trouble.html http://www.salon.com/2012/03/14/congresss_war_on_the_post_office/http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/07/nation/la-na-tt-postal-service-20130206 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/4/22/1084948/-Republicans-manufacture-a-crisis-for-the-Postal-Service-and-too-many-Democrats-go-along To you gov't can never ever get anything right types, the post office is 0% of the budget and is one of the cheapest postal services in the world, and cheaper that private postal and parcel services. And they know a Santa when they see one!

As is often said in Bella Italy, "If you can't stand the heat, stay off the volcano!" WATCH: Mount Etna volcano in Italy erupts, injuring 10 http://globalnews.ca/news/3316132/mount-etna-volcano-erupts/ I've climbed a lot of volcanos in my time but always with a hard hat and other protection, on stromboli I wore shoulder pads as well!