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Lottie Ellis lived her entire life in Danville, Kentucky. When she died in 1999 at the age of 91, she made a gift to Danville and Boyle County that will live forever.
Ms. Ellis, a former bookkeeper, lived a quiet, simple life. For the last ten years of her life, she was unable to leave her home. An avid reader, Ms. Ellis looked forward to weekly visits from the Boyle County Library's book mobile.
Few were aware that she had inherited an estate valued at $4 million from her long-time friend, T. Yates Hudson, Jr.
Ms. Ellis' intention was to use her wealth for the good of Danville and Boyle County. In her will, she directed that her estate be used to establish two permanent endowment funds at Blue Grass Community Foundation: the Hudson-Ellis Scholarship Fund the Hudson-Ellis Discretionary Fund.
The Scholarship Fund makes educational awards to Boyle County students.
The Discretionary Fund makes annual competitive grants to Boyle County nonprofits. In accordance with Ms. Ellis's wishes, an advisory board composed of Boyle County residents reviews grant applications and recommends awards.
To date, the Hudson-Ellis Scholarship Fund has awarded over $234,125 in scholarships and the Hudson-Ellis Discretionary Fund has awarded over $860,000 in grants. The largest grant to date, $45,000, was presented to the Danville Library to renovate and re-name the Lottie Ellis Bookmobile.
As Lottie Ellis did, you too, can leave a legacy to the causes and community you care about. Blue Grass Community Foundation works with donors of all sizes across Central and Eastern Kentucky to help them realize their charitable dreams. The Community Foundation is happy to assist with your charitable planned giving needs free of charge. Contact Halee Cunningham (firstname.lastname@example.com) or call 859-225-3343
In 2014, the Hudson-Ellis Competitive Grant-making Program at Blue Grass Community Foundation awarded Danville's Community Arts Center $7,000 to support its Way off the Walls (WOW) project. WOW allows young people to engage in the arts through a curriculum of hands-on activities designed to accompany the Community Arts Center's visual exhibits.
Through the WOW project, 37 different hands-on activities were developed to accompany the center's exhibits throughout the year. These activities included holiday-themed events, a youth arts showcase, interactive quilting exercises, collage workshops and more.
"This grant has caused us to fundamentally re-examine our approach to exhibits, and the results have been outstanding," said the center's executive director, Mary Beth Touchstone. "The Way off the Walls project has energized the entire organization."
This year, the Hudson-Ellis Fund awarded the center a $4,760 grant for the Discovery Lab to house rotating and interactive arts activities.
Originally constructed in 1909 as a U.S. Post office, the Community Arts Center was refurbished in 2004. It is now part of Danville's rich and vibrant arts district, providing the community with innovative arts programs. Hudson-Ellis Discretionary Grants are made possible through the generosity of Lottie B. Ellis and John F. and Lena H. Joyner, who established funds through bequests at Blue Grass Community Foundation. To date, the Hudson-Ellis Fund has provided more than $860,000 in grants to Boyle County nonprofits. Because this fund is endowed, it will continue to provide support for Boyle County in perpetuity.
To learn about establishing a fund to benefit your community, contact Allison Lankford at firstname.lastname@example.com 859-225-3343
Blue Grass Community Foundation was ranked the fifth most active community foundation grantmaker in the U.S. in 2014, according to a recent national report by CF Insights. CF Insights operates under the auspices of the Foundation Center, a nonprofit that is a leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide.
The report, Benchmarking Beyond Asset Size: the Top 100 Lists, considers attributes of community foundations that go well beyond asset values.
CF Insights calculated rate of grantmaking by dividing a foundation's total grants by its total assets. In 2014, Blue Gras Community Foundation's grant distribution rate was an impressive 26 percent, well ahead of many community foundations that have over ten times the amount of assets.
"We are thrilled but not completely surprised to learn that the Community Foundation is among the top five community foundations nationally when it comes to making grants for community good," said Lisa Adkins, President/CEO of Blue Grass Community Foundation. "Our mission is to invest in our communities through catalytic grantmaking and strategic community leadership. Bottom line, our donors are extraordinarily generous. And we are committed to being good stewards for the funds our donors entrust to us."
Last year, Blue Grass Community Foundation awarded over $16 million in grants. The overwhelming majority benefited nonprofits in Central Kentucky.
In addition to grantmaking, Blue Grass Community Foundation has made other significant strides in growing charitable giving in the region. In the last four years, contributions to funds at the Community Foundation have grown by 494%.
"At the Community Foundation, we are committed to building endowments, which are permanent charitable resources," said Adkins. "Seventy-three percent of all funds at the Community Foundation are endowed and so will continue to provide perpetual support for our communities. This includes The Fund for Greater Lexington, an endowed fund dedicated to providing support for exciting, innovative projects in Lexington for generations to come. We invite everyone who wants to make Lexington even better to contribute to the Fund for Greater Lexington at bgcf.org."
Hudson-Ellis Funds at Blue Grass Community Foundation Award Over $89,000 to Organizations Serving Boyle County
Blue Grass Community Foundation recently awarded over $89,000 in grants to 17 charitable organizations for projects that will improve the quality of life for citizens in Boyle County. Organizations serving Boyle County applied for funding through the Hudson-Ellis Competitive Grantmaking Program, which is made possible by the generosity of Lottie B. Ellis, John F. Joyner and Lena H. Joyner, whose bequests established endowments at Blue Grass Community Foundation.
"At the Community Foundation, we are committed to building endowments, which are permanent charitable resources," said Lisa Adkins, president and CEO of Blue Grass Community Foundation. "To date, the Hudson-Ellis Fund has provided over $860,000, while the Joyner Fund has provided over $18,000 in grants to Boyle County nonprofits. Because both of these funds are endowed, they will continue to provide perpetual support for Boyle County."
A complete list of 2015 grant recipients appears below.
Arts Commission of Danville-Boyle County, Youth Art Fair and Fun with Art Workshop.
Assisting Deaf Adults to Participate Totally, to purchase office equipment and supplies.
Boyle County Schools Board of Education, to purchase industry-standard equipment in the Boyle County High School culinary lab.
CASA of the Bluegrass, to train 17 additional volunteers who will advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the Boyle County Family Court system.
Community Arts Center, for the Discovery Lab to house rotating and interactive arts activities.
Danville Library, to purchase the new Lottie Ellis Bookmobile.
Danville Schools Education Foundation, to purchase 10 Chrome books for third- to fifth-grade classrooms.
Danville/Boyle County Happy Feet Equals Learning Feet, to purchase 200 pairs of shoes and socks for underprivileged children.
Danville-Boyle County Humane Society, to purchase equipment for the grooming facility at the new animal adoption center.
Family Services Association of Boyle County, for emergency housing assistance for residents of Boyle County.
Great American Brass Band Festival, to extend current Brass in American Jazz programming in Boyle County and Danville Independent Schools.
Heart of Kentucky United Way, for the Gladys Project, to help adults who are raising infants learn to read and interact with their children to prepare them for preschool or kindergarten.
Heritage Hospice, for Sarah's Heart Bereavement Camp for grief outreach to children in Boyle County.
Kentucky School for the Deaf Charitable Foundation, to provide access to Makerspace tools that allow for hands-on exploration and participatory learning.
Presbyterian Church of Danville, the Soups on Us hunger project to deliver meals to individuals in Danville and Junction City.
Special Persons Advocacy Network (SPAN), 2016 Camp Hope.
Wilderness Trace Child Development Center, to purchase a sensory play kit designed to engage special-needs students.
Dr. Ron Saykaly credits his father with teaching him life's most significant lesson: the importance of giving back. "My father always told me that I had the ability to make a difference," he says, "but that it was my responsibility to develop those abilities."
For many years, Dr. Saykaly was a highly respected physician at the University of Kentucky in the field of rheumatology. In addition to treating patients, conducting research and teaching the next generation of physicians, Dr. Saykaly also volunteered in clinics for low-income rheumatoid arthritis patients.
"So many people have helped me in my life," Dr. Saykaly says. "I knew I could never repay them, so I decided to pay the debt forward." He consulted with a trusted financial advisor about the best way to do just that. His advisor recommended Blue Grass Community Foundation.
"The Community Foundation is perfect for me," he says. "An endowment fund at the Foundation allows me to support the projects I care about, in perpetuity--without the expense of setting up a private foundation. The staff is sensitive and caring. At the Community Foundation, I'm not just another fund—I'm an individual."
To date, Dr. Saykaly has established four funds at the Community Foundation including the Saykaly-Garbulinska Composer in Residence Fund in memory of his late wife, concert pianist Teresa Garbulinska. Dr. Saykaly has also made plans to leave a generous bequest to the Civic Leadership Fund, which makes it possible for the Community Foundation to continue its work far into the future.
"Physicians must earn their patients' trust in order to be effective," says Dr. Saykaly. "The Community Foundation has certainly earned mine. The Foundation's administration of my legacy is essential to me since I have no offspring to carry out my intentions. I know I can trust the Community Foundation to pay it forward on my behalf--long after I'm gone."
Contact Allison Lankford (firstname.lastname@example.com) or Halee Cunningham (email@example.com) or call 859-225-3343.What kind of legacy would you like to leave? The Community Foundation is happy to assist with your charitable planned giving needs free of charge.
At the Community Foundation, we believe that the power and passion of philanthropy leads to stronger, better communities for us all—not just for today, but for generations to come.
That's why the Community Foundation is especially committed to building endowments for the communities we serve.
Endowments are permanently held assets that provide perpetual support for charitable causes. Typically, about five percent of these permanently held assets are granted back into the community, year after year.
A mere five percent doesn't sound like much. But let's look at the numbers.
A Transfer of Wealth study conducted in 2010 shows that within the next five years in Fayette County alone, donors will leave $6.3 billion to their heirs. And there is no guarantee that this wealth will stay in Kentucky.
But what if we and our friends and neighbors made a plan to leave just five percent of our wealth to permanent charitable endowments for the benefit of our community? Five percent of $6.3 billion equals $315 million. And five percent of that equals $16 million in new money that would be available, year after year, to support local causes. Just imagine what we could accomplish, together, with an extra $16 million, every year!
In addition, donors who give to endowments held at qualified community foundations (like Blue Grass Community Foundation) may be eligible for an attractive state tax credit.
You don't have to be rich to establish an endowment. You just have to care, passionately, about the future. To learn how to leave a legacy for those who will come after, contact Allison Lankford at firstname.lastname@example.com or 859-225-3343
During one amazing weekend in mid-April, the small, quiet town of Versailles rocked— thanks to Spark Versailles, a joyful, lively festival featuring live music, local food and more.
The festival drew more than 7,000 people — most of them young — from Woodford and surrounding counties. It also brought new energy and excitement to the sedate streets of the city's downtown.
Most amazing of all, Spark Versailles was organized and carried out entirely by students from Woodford County High School.
Students in Kyle Fanin's Community Activism Class came up with the idea. Their goal, according to Adrian Teegarden, a high school senior in the class, was to create "a powerful, new force for downtown" to spark economic growth. And what better way than by sparking the interest of college students and young professionals with something fun — like a festival?
No one thought they could pull it off.
"I was skeptical at first," Versailles' Mayor Brian Traugott admitted. "I don't think there's ever been an event-planning situation like this before." But after meeting with the class, Traugott said, "this is exactly what Versailles needs — the energy of these young people."
Students are already hard at work on an even bigger and better festival in 2016.
The Spark Versailles Festival was funded in part by a $2,000 grant from the Woodford County Community Fund, a component fund of Blue Grass Community Foundation, with a local board of advisors.
Community Funds are permanently endowed assets raised by local residents for the good of their community. Because they are endowed, community funds continue to provide support for their communities year after year, in perpetuity.
Woodford County Advisory Board members are Sandi Bromagen, chair; Lori Garkovich; Joe Graviss; Aaron Hamilton; Helen Rentch; Ken Kerkhoff; Michelle Oxley and Ron Wallace.
Blue Grass Community Foundation is always available to work with communities that want to make a positive difference for today and tomorrow in their region. Contact Allison Lankford at firstname.lastname@example.com or 859-225-3343 to begin making your vision for your hometown a reality.
To learn more about the Woodford County Community Fund and other Community Funds at the Community Foundation, go to https://bgcf.org/woodfordcounty or contact Jane Higgins at email@example.com 859.721.2349
Blue Grass Community Foundation was recently named one of cfinsights.org's "100 Most Active Grantmakers" among all Community Foundations in the United States! BGCF is listed as number five.
Check out the full report here.
Blue Grass Community Foundation recently awarded more $89,000 in grants to 17 charitable organizations for projects that will improve the quality of life for citizens in Boyle County.
Organizations serving Boyle County applied for funding through the Hudson-Ellis Competitive Grantmaking Program, which is made possible by the generosity of Lottie B. Ellis, John F. Joyner and Lena H. Joyner, whose bequests established endowments at the foundation.
To date, the Hudson-Ellis Fund has provided more than $860,000 while the Joyner Fund has provided more than $18,000 in grants to Boyle County nonprofits. Because both of these funds are endowed, they will continue to provide perpetual support for Boyle County, the foundation said in a press release.
See more via Central Kentucky News
The Nest Center for Women, Children & Families has been providing free childcare for low-income families in Lexington since 1977. Their services include drop-in emergency childcare with long-term childcare options. The Nest is located at 530 North Limestone.
In 2012, The Childcare Awareness Report stated that the average income in Kentucky for a single mother was $18,735 per year, and that the average cost of childcare for an infant was $6,594 per year. The Nest has recognized this disparity and has been providing a service to these struggling parents. In 2014, the Nest provided more than 247,000 hours of childcare for 162 children from 125 families.
Of the families served by The Nest, 60 percent were single parents, 77 percent had an income of less than $19,999, and 60 percent had no more than a high school education.
In 2014, Blue Grass Community Foundation awarded The Nest a grant of $10,000 to fund scholarships to its childcare program. The Nest anticipates that the grant will allow them to serve 150 more children.
The $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation will also be used to implement a literature-based curriculum that will prepare children for kindergarten and instill a love of reading and books. The program will also allow families to participate in activities related to their child's education, such as a Family Night, classroom activities, or parent/teacher conferences that will encourage literacy and reading in the home. The award from the Community Foundation will allow The Nest to purchase the books and materials necessary to bring the program to life.
To apply for a 2015 Early Childhood and Family Literacy Grant, click here.
There has never been a better time to support the causes you're passionate about—and to receive significant Kentucky state tax benefits for doing so. Don't miss the deadline to receive them!
Thanks to the Endow Kentucky Tax Credit, businesses and individuals may be eligible to receive generous state tax credits—up to 20 percent—for gifts to endowed charitable funds at qualified Kentucky community foundations. Blue Grass Community Foundation is approved to receive these gifts.
Unlike tax deductions, tax credits are taken off a donor's tax bill dollar for dollar. A gift of $5,000 can eliminate a $1,000 state tax liability. A gift of $50,000 or more can eliminate a $10,000 state tax liability. This is in addition to your federal charitable tax deduction. And the Endow Kentucky Tax Credit can be carried forward for up to five years.
But the deadline for donors to take advantage of the Endow Kentucky Tax Credit is fast approaching. The Kentucky state legislature has approved a total of $500,000 in tax credits for this fiscal year. To be in the running to receive them, you must apply by July 1, 2015.
Or you could let Blue Grass Community handle all the paperwork for you. Call us at 859-225-3343 and let us know that you'd like to make a gift that qualifies for the Endow Kentucky Tax Credit. We'll take care of the rest.
Don't delay. These tax credits go fast!
This year, the Kentucky Department of Revenue guarantees that allapplications submitted to the Kentucky Department of Revenue between July 1 and July 7 will receive a prorated portion of the Endow Kentucky State tax credit.
Blue Grass Community Foundation will make sure that your application is filed by the deadline of July 1, 2015, so that a significant portion of your donation qualifies to receive a prorated share of the Endow Kentucky Tax Credit on your Kentucky 2015 state tax return.
Whether it's supporting an existing endowment at Blue Grass Community Foundation or creating one of your own, we can help, every step of the way.
Don't miss out on receiving considerable Kentucky state tax benefits just for supporting the causes you're passionate about.
Have a cause you're passionate about and aren't sure which nonprofits best fulfill their mission to support that cause? Check out GoodGiving.net. You'll find portraits and user-friendly, easy-to-read financials of 350-plus Kentucky nonprofits committed to making our community a better place.
To learn more about taking advantage of the Endow Kentucky Tax credit, to establish an endowment of your own, or to support an existing one, contact Lisa Adkins, President/CEO of Blue Grass Community Foundation at email@example.com or 859-225-3343. We're here to help.
Lexington, Kentucky, is a mid-sized city with a small-town feel. We're home to a vibrant arts scene and an impressive array of talented artists. Inspiring, thought-provoking works of art created by local artists are prominently on display throughout the city.
But not in all parts of our city.
Like all cities, Lexington is also home to under-resourced communities. In addition to the challenges these communities face every day, they also endure a distressed environment.
Yet these same communities are also home to forward-thinking entrepreneurs and community activists with great ideas about how to revitalize their own neighborhoods.
Blue Grass Community Foundation reached out to local community groups to help identify projects that would have real, lasting value. Together, we worked even harder to come up with goals, outcomes, timelines and line-item budgets. We believe that the key to success is a clear, cohesive plan, and—no surprise—funding.
We regularly form partnerships and serve as the lead applicant for much-needed dollars from funders whose mission aligns with the project at hand. We appeal to local donors and the city, state, and federal governments.
We also appeal to private funders, including a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant, for an especially promising project: The North Limestone Cultural Plan, for the benefit of the most racially diverse neighborhood in Lexington.
In August 2014, the NEA notified the Community Foundation that we had been awarded a $75,000 Our Town matching grant—one of only 66 applicants out of 275 to receive one.
Our Town grants recognize that excellent public art helps build stronger communities. But Lexington's Our Town grant will do more than deliver outstanding public art. It will also develop a plan to ensure equitable access to art and public spaces. And it will involve the entire North Limestone community.
The real credit goes to our community partner, the North Limestone Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit that promotes economic development, housing, and cultural programming in the North Limestone neighborhood.
"The North Limestone Cultural Plan will unite residents, businesses, arts organizations, schools, and city government to form a cohesive vision for arts, culture and public space in our community," said Richard Young, executive director of the NoLi CDC. "We plan to work with our community through public forums to ensure that this plan is rooted in its values."
The planning process will engage residents to form an assessment of public space needs, recommendations for public art programming, and strategies to eliminate access barriers to cultural assets. Over the next few months, NoLi CDC will host over 50 public walks with community stakeholders to gather information regarding public space and access to cultural assets. "For the first time on a wide and focused neighborhood scale, we have the opportunity to dive into the complex issues within our community's past, present, and future," said Young.
Other partners include LexArts, the city of Lexington, and the University of Kentucky.
Best of all, the Our Town grant builds on another successful partnership between the Community Foundation and the NoLi CDC—a $425,000 ArtsPlace America grant awarded in 2013 to create an affordable home ownership and equity program for artists in the North Limestone neighborhood.
Community foundations are uniquely positioned to act as a liaison between grassroots community groups with a vision and national funders with the capital to turn vision into reality. At Blue Grass Community Foundation, we're committed to partnering with the communities we serve. We believe the most crucial elements for success are great community partners—and a plan.
Other successful partnerships of Blue Grass Community Foundation include:
Before After
Blue Grass Community Foundation is now accepting applications for grants to fund early childhood education and literacy projects. Charitable organizations serving Anderson, Bourbon, Fayette, Franklin, Harrison, Jessamine, Madison, Montgomery, Scott or Woodford counties are eligible to apply. Deadline to apply is 4 p.m., May 15. Nonprofits will be notified about the status of their request by August. Grants will range between $2,500 and $10,000.
Click here to see the full application.
All 501c3 organizations that wish to apply must have a complete, up-to-date GoodGiving.net portrait. GoodGiving.net is an online search engine that provides details about an organization's programs, management, governance and financials in a clear, user-friendly format. To date, 350 Central and Eastern Kentucky nonprofits have established a GoodGiving.net portrait.
To learn how to create a portrait for your organization, contact firstname.lastname@example.com to register for an information session to be held Thursday, May 7, or Thursday, May 14, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Blue Grass Community Foundation, 499 East High Street, Suite 112, Lexington. To explore GoodGiving.net, go to goodgiving.guidestar.org.
The Early Childhood Education and Literacy Grants are made possible by the MacAdam Early Childhood and Literacy Fund at the Community Foundation. To date, the MacAdam Fund has awarded over $365,000 to central Kentucky nonprofits.
In 2014, Early Childhood Education and Literacy Grants were awarded to 16 organizations for a total of $100,000. Below is a list of last year's awards.
Contact Kassie Branham at firstname.lastname@example.com or 859-225-3343 for any questions about the Early Childhood Education and Literacy Grants.
Looking for the perfect gift for that special teacher in your student's life? Blue Grass Community Foundation has the perfect solution—Giving Cards.
These fun, colorful cards are much like retail gift cards, with one notable exception: The person receiving the Giving Card passes it on to the charity of his or her choice for redemption by any public charity in the United States. That includes schools and places of worship.
Giving Cards are a cost-effective way to make charitable giving a part of every gift-giving occasion. And now, with the end of the school year fast approaching, they can be your way of saying thanks—uniquely and meaningfully, to your children's teachers.
They're also a wonderful way to introduce kids to the idea of giving back.
The person who purchases the Giving Card receives the charitable tax deduction. The person receiving the Giving Card gets the thanks from the charity he or she chooses to donate it to. And the charity that receives the Giving Card gets the support it needs to continue its good work.
Since the Community Foundation came up with this innovative alternative to traditional gift giving, thousands have been purchased and given to employees, clients, loved ones—and teachers.
What better way to thank a teacher than with the gift of giving?
Check out the Giving Cards we've designed especially for teachers. And while you're there, check out the dozens of other Giving Cards for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, or just to say thinking of you.
Giving Cards can also be customized for your own personal special occasions and are available in $25, $50, and $100 denominations.
And don't forget—Mother's Day is just around the corner. We have Giving Cards that honor and celebrate Mom, too.
Giving Cards can be purchased online at bgcfgivingcards.org or by calling the Community Foundation at 859-225-3343.
Art Salomon is passionate about Lexington—and about giving back to the city that has been so good to him.
When he was just out of high school, Art moved to Lexington from, as he puts it, "a little northern town in New York—Brooklyn."
What inspired him to move here? "A girl," he says, "Simone." They've been married for 47 years.
When Art first arrived in Lexington, he had no clear idea about what his life's work would—or should—be. He taught at the Kentucky Village Reformatory, which would later become Blackburn Correctional Complex. He enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University, where the dean of students quickly recognized his business acumen and advised him to consider a career in finance.
It was advice he took to heart. He went on to earn a master's degree in business education at UK. After graduation, Art's first job was as a life insurance agent.
In 1977, Art established Salomon & Company, a highly successful local financial planning business that offers a wide array of financial services to help others ensure successful futures of their own. Art's commitment to integrity and understanding his client's needs have been the pillars of Salomon & Company's success.
"Lexington has been good to me," Art says. "I wanted a way to give back to the place that has given so much to me. So one day I called Mira Ball and asked her to recommend a worthy board I might serve on."
Mira Ball was the perfect person to ask. Mrs. Ball is well known for her generous support of community causes and for her service to local nonprofits. Without hesitation, she recommended Blue Grass Community Foundation.
"I was looking for that one cause I could really believe in," says Art. "And Blue Grass Community Foundation was it."
That was 17 years ago. Since then, Art has been more than a generous supporter. He's given his time and expertise. He's served on committees, on the board, as chair of the finance committee, and now, like Mira Ball before him, as chair of its board of directors.
Also since then, Blue Grass Community Foundation has grown from $10 million in assets to over $76 million.
"It's important to give back," says Art. "The Community Foundation makes it easy for me to give to the causes I already love. But it also makes me aware of even more causes I want to support. More, the Community Foundation has forged important relationships with national funders like the Knight Foundation, which have led to amazing community projects like the Legacy Trail. And, speaking as a financial advisor, the Community Foundation offers its donors attractive tax benefits for supporting causes that make Lexington a better place for us all. When my clients want to advance their philanthropy, I recommend the Community Foundation. Blue Grass Community Foundation offers many innovative programs that make it possible for anyone to leave a legacy."
We are so thrilled to get started on the Bluegrass Double Dollars program! This program will allow SNAP recipients to double the amount of fruits and vegetables they can buy at Lexington Farmers' Markets, Good Foods Coop and the Lexington Market East End. Watch our new video about the program!
Bluegrass Farm to Table has been awarded a $47,250 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get more healthy fruits and vegetables into the hands of low-income residents.
Through the Bluegrass Double Dollars program, participants in the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) who make a qualifying purchase of $10 or more will get an additional token or voucher valued at up to $10 per transaction. The voucher can then be used toward the purchase of fresh, frozen or canned local fruits and vegetables, local herbs or local fruit and vegetable garden transplants through program partners, including the Lexington Farmers' Market, Good Foods Co-op and Lexington Market East End.
"The goal of the Bluegrass Double Dollars program is to improve the affordability and accessibility of local fruits and vegetables among low-income consumers," said Ashton Potter Wright, local food coordinator for Bluegrass Farm to Table, an agency established by Lexington's office of economic development in 2014 to improve collaboration among stakeholders at all levels of the local food system. "SNAP participants will have access to affordable local produce, and local family farms will benefit from increased sales."
More Via Business Lexington
On April 1st, Secretary Tom Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the recipients of $31.5 million in grants from the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) grant program. The FINI program was authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill. Grants have been awarded to local programs and at least one national network that's designed to
1. Double the amount that SNAP recipients can buy at Farmers' Markets (spend $10 for $20 worth of food) or other venues where fresh fruits and vegetables are sold, and
2. By so doing, support local farmers doing business at those markets
One of the highest-level grantees, the national Wholesome Wave network, will work across 17 states and D.C. to establish approximately 177 new venues for the program with its $3.77 million grant. In Berkeley, with its $3.7 million, the Ecology Center said it plans to link nearly 240,000 shoppers with the produce of 2,200 of the state's small farms, stimulating almost $10 million in sales of fruits and vegetables. In Michigan the Fair Food Network received $5.2 million to expand the Double Up Food Bucks program.
Those three programs were in the small group receiving the largest level of funding, but programs in 26 states have been funded for up to four years, using funds from FY2014 and FY2015. The announcement says that the USDA will issue a separate request for applications in FY16, and later years.
More Via nonprofitquarterly.org
A new program in Lexington will soon make it easier for low-income residents to access healthy fruits and vegetables. Bluegrass Farm to Table, Central Kentucky's economic development office focused on supporting local agriculture and nutritional health, today announced funding for Bluegrass Double Dollars through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Local food coordinator Ashton Potter Wright worked with the Blue Grass Community Foundation to secure the competitive grant. "The goal of the Bluegrass Double Dollars program is to improve the affordability and accessibility of local fruits and vegetables among low-income consumers, specifically participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)," Wright said. "SNAP participants will have access to affordable local produce, and local family farms will benefit from increased sales."
See more via Lexingtonky.gov
The nonprofit North Limestone Community Development Corp. will get a $550,000 grant to help turn a former Greyhound bus station into a public market and local food hub focused on the surrounding neighborhood.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is announcing the grant Tuesday as part of its first Knight Cities Challenge.
The foundation split $5 million among 32 projects it thinks can attract talent, improve economic opportunity and increase civic engagement in 12 of the 26 cities where the Knight brothers once owned newspapers, including the Lexington Herald-Leader. Winners were chosen from 125 finalists culled from 7,000 proposals.
See more via Kentucky.com
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded a $182,000 grant to Lexington and San Jose, Calif., to fund pilot projects to encourage citizens to walk more.
The grant will encourage walking through way-finding signs for pedestrians and updated walking maps.
The new Walk Lexington program will also feature signs that tell people how easy it is to get from one spot to another such as "It's only two minutes to the library." The signs are used to help people realize that walking is often faster than driving.
See More Via Kentucky.com
Carolyn Witt Jones and Jo Robertson were only casual acquaintances before their mission trip to Kenya in 2011.
"Carolyn was going alone and I didn't know her very well," Robertson said. "I wanted to go on safari. So I said I will go with you if you will go on a safari with me."
Both women got what they wanted and more.
They spent a month in Ken ya visiting HIV orphanages and churches and returned with their hearts set on doing something to make the lives of women in Kenya better.
See More Via Kentucky.com
See More Via Kentucky.com
The business community honored local philanthropic couple John and Donna Hall at the 2015 Commerce Lexington annual dinner Thursday with the W.T. Young Lifetime Achievement Award.
A 1955 graduate of Vanderbilt University and co-captain of the Commodore football team, John Hall began working at Ashland Inc. in 1957 as a chemical engineer. He spent 40 years at Ashland, retiring as chief executive officer in 1996 and chairman of the board the following year. Donna Hall earned a degree in secondary education from the University of Georgia in 1968.
The couple's causes and service span a wide range of interests, from the arts to business, education to health care, history and athletics.
See More Via Kentucky.com
The 2014 GoodGiving Guide Challenge – an annual campaign geared to increase year-end giving to local non-profits – wrapped up on Friday, December 12 with a total of $1,737,659 raised for 155 local nonprofits. The total was a result of individual donors and matching grants from local corporations and other organizations.
Organized by the Blue Grass Community Foundation and Smiley Pete Publishing (this magazine's parent company), this year's campaign "was an even greater success than the year before, with increased contributions and significantly more donors," according to Lisa Adkins, president and CEO of the Blue Grass Community Foundation; this success was despite the fact that the campaign lasted only six weeks this year, compared to eight weeks in years past.
Adkins said that reducing the length of the challenge was an "experiment to see if we could accomplish the same amount of community participation, while reducing any burden on nonprofit participants and decrease the risk of donor fatigue."
See More via Southsider Magazine
Is your bowl half empty or half full? It doesn't matter. At least there is something in your vessel to eat. As I write, I reflect on the tens of thousands of people right here in Central Kentucky who looking into empty bowls. Yes, empty bowls. God's Pantry Food Bank estimates that 300,000 of our neighbors are hungry. How can that be true in the most prosperous nation on the planet?
That disturbing statistic impels me to my favorite culinary event of the year in Winchester, the Empty Bowls fundraiser at First Presbyterian Church to benefit Clark County Community Services. Everything about the annual lunch is perfect, from ROTC kids in camouflage pointing you to a parking place to the little card with an italic blessing that is placed in your hand you as you walk out the door.
Your experience between those two bookends is as profound as it is tasty. The steps go like this – you walk into the entrance of church's fellowship hall, hand over your $15 dollars and proceed to a table full of freshly kilned earthenware bowls of all shapes, sizes and colors. If you are persnickety about your décor, it is important that you look but don't touch a bowl until one speaks to you. Whatever bowl you touch becomes yours to carry to the next station, where it is ladled full of vegetable soup out of a crockpot. You get a slice of rustic wheat bread and a spoon before you find a seat to slurp with friends in the crowded room.
See More via The Winchester Sun
Matthew Mitchell, head coach of the UK Women's Basketball team and his wife Jenna have announced that the Mitchell Family Foundation has pledged $100,000 in matching funds to the GoodGiving Guide Challenge.
Starting December 11 at noon, the Buzzer Beater Challenge will provide a $.50 on the dollar match on donations made to the Challenge at BGgives.org until the match pool is depleted or the Challenge ends. The 2014 Challenge runs from Nov. 3 to Dec. 12 and has already raised over $1 million for 155 Central and Eastern Kentucky charities. Join the Mitchells and be part of the Challenge.
Support our hard-working nonprofits at BGgives.org. About Blue Grass Community Foundation: Blue Grass Community Foundation is the region's go-to source for giving and engagement. The Community Foundation was founded in 1967 as a public charity dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Central Kentucky. BGCF helps individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofits connect their passions to the power of philanthropy. We aid in the establishment of charitable funds and endowments while also leading, convening, and facilitating on important community issues. To learn more about Blue Grass Community Foundation, visit www.bgcf.org or contact President/CEO Lisa Adkins at 859.225.3343.
Story via LEX18.com
Community foundations in Kentucky and across the nation have been helping their communities since the first one was founded a century ago in Cleveland. The Blue Grass Community Foundation, the first in Kentucky, was started in Lexington in 1967.
The foundation's president, Lisa Adkins, said the mission is to grow charitable giving, "making philanthropy and giving a more dynamic, stronger part of our culture - sort of bringing that into everyday activity and really making giving acceptable to the entire community."
Adkins said the Blue Grass Community Foundation is the steward of $72 million in assets from 428 charitable funds. Those funds come from individuals, families, businesses and nonprofits in a variety of forms, including endowments and scholarships.
See More via Public News Service
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 1, 2014) – Blue Grass Community Foundation has awarded nearly $10,000 to eight schools through its Teacher Mini-Grants Program, which supports educators' ideas for creative and interesting programs, projects and events that foster learning through special materials or additional classroom resources.
All teachers in Fayette County Public Schools were invited to apply. A committee of community volunteers considered each proposal's potential to improve student achievement, number of students who would benefit, creativity of the project, potential for continuation and replication, and cost-effectiveness.
For instance, a grant enables Jennifer Nagle of Mary Todd Elementary to schedule an early childhood music teacher who is bilingual in English and Spanish to present music/reading programs for preschoolers who otherwise would not have access to music education.
See More via The Lane Report
Last year the first Bankers' Challenge associated with the GoodGiving Guide Challenge promised $.50 for each dollar given until the matching fund was exhausted, turning a $30,000 pool into $90,000.
But something different happened, according to GoodGiving Guide Challenge co-founder Chuck Creacy. "The way it worked out last year turned each of the $30,000 for the match into $8.65."
A flood of giving ensured for last year's challenge, as the total raised for the day climbed to $229,615, plus the $30,000 matching pool.
This year's edition of the Bankers' Challenge is slated for Thursday, but Creacy is hoping to add to the pool currently supported by Bank of the Bluegrass & Trust Co, Community Trust Bank, Kentucky Bank, Ohio Valley Financial Group and Traditional Bank.
See More via Business Lexington
For shoppers at Joe Rosenberg Jewelers, purchases of that sparkling bracelet or ring will come with an added bonus on nine days through Dec. 6.
Store owners Joe and Ricki Rosenberg will donate all proceeds from those days to nine area nonprofits.
The fundraiser, called Bling for a Cause, launched at the store on Thursday as part of the GoodGiving Guide Challenge that raises funds for local charities.
"I think that we've always believed in giving back to the community and we have a lot of inventory and we thought it would be a nice way we could help," said Joe Rosenberg, whose family business opened in Lexington in 1896.
"We see this as an inaugural Bling for a Cause," he said. "We've had a lot of support for 118 years. And it's a pretty cool opportunity and we're excited to be part of it."
See More via Lexington Herald-Leader
The fourth annual GoodGiving Guide Challenge was just shy of hitting the $300,000 mark a little more than 24 hours after its launch.
The Challenge, a partnership of Business Lexington parent company Smiley Pete Publishing and the Blue Grass Community Foundation raised $1,671,958 for 108 central Kentucky non-profits. This year's campaign brings together 155 area non-profits with a $2 million goal. In its first year the challenge sought $100,000 and brought in $205,000, in year two it eclipsed its $400,000 goal by raising $586,000.
The first day was infused by a $75,000 kick off match granting $7,500 to the first 10 non-profits to raise $7,500 through 50 contributions of at least $25.
Fayette County Public Schools board member Doug Barnett recommended Monday that a trust fund at issue in a state audit be used to help the Lexington elementary school with the lowest test scores in the state.
Money from the fund has been used most recently for educational loans to staff, loans to prevent financial hardship while traveling for professional development, and loans to obtain certifications, according to state Auditor Adam Edelen's recent examination. Edelen questioned whether the trust, established by a former teacher who died more than 50 years ago, was being used in accordance with its charter.
"Instead of using this as a travel-allowance program, I think this money should go back to the lowest-performing schools to provide more resources for those students," Barnett said at a board meeting to discuss the district's response to the audit.
Lexington, Kentucky, is a mid-sized city with a small-town feel. We're home to a vibrant arts scene and an impressive array of talented artists. Inspiring, thought-provoking works of art created by our local artists are prominently on display throughout the city.
Like all cities, Lexington is also home to blighted communities. In addition to the challenges these communities face every day, they also endure a physically distressed environment.
Yet these same communities are also home to forward-thinking entrepreneurs and community activists with great ideas about how to re-vitalize their own neighborhoods.
Blue Grass Community Foundation reached out to these innovative community groups to see how we could help bridge the gap between vision and realization. We believe that the key to success is a clear, cohesive plan, and—no surprise—funding.
See More via Council on Foundations
Mayor Jim Gray announced that Blue Grass Community Foundation and North Limestone Community Development Corporation were awarded a $75,000 Our Town grant from the NEA.
"The area surrounding the North Limestone corridor is one of the most diverse parts of Lexington," Gray said. "The Our Town grant will help develop the North Limestone Cultural Plan, bringing the community together to set priorities and develop strategies for improving access to public art and cultural programming."
See More via SurfKY
Mayor Jim Gray announced Monday in front of the Loudoun House in Castlewood Park that Lexington's North Limestone neighborhood is the recipient of an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Blue Grass Community Foundation and North Limestone Community Development Corporation were awarded the $75,000 grant together.
"The area surrounding the North Limestone corridor is one of the most diverse parts of Lexington," Gray said. "The Our Town grant will develop the North Limestone Cultural Plan, bringing the community together to set priorities and develop strategies for improving access to public art and cultural programming."
Is North Lime the new Jefferson in Lexington?
The latest news out of the neighborhood comes courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts who has announced that it will be awarding a $75,000 Our Town grant to the Blue Grass Community Foundation and the North Limestone Community Development Corporation (NoLi CDC).
The money will go toward what is being described as a "a creative placemaking project aimed at enhancing quality of life and equitable access to arts and culture."
More specifically, the grant will help fund the North Limestone Cultural Plan. This type of plan is a first for the city of Lexington but it will build off of the city's 2009 Central Sector Small Area Plan and the North Limestone Sustainability Plan.
See More via Ace
A memorial for the most successful jockey of all time is officially under construction in Lexington's East End neighborhood. Today, Mayor Jim Gray joined community leaders, representatives from Blue Grass Community Foundation and state officials in breaking ground at the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden.
"This park, which was once the site of Isaac Murphy's home, will honor the contributions of African-Americans in the horse racing industry," Gray said. "The garden will serve as a beautiful gathering place, a showcase of public art and a starting point for Lexington's marquee trail."
Located at the intersection of Third Street and Midland Avenue, the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden is a trailhead for the Legacy Trail. The trail is a legacy project of the 2010 World Equestrian Games, attracting hundreds of visitors each year. Once completed, the 10-mile walking and biking trail will connect the East End with the Kentucky Horse Park, where Isaac Murphy is buried.
See More via KYForward
Mayor Jim Gray joined community leaders, representatives from Blue Grass Community Foundation and state officials in breaking ground at the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden.
"This park, which was once the site of Isaac Murphy's home, will honor the contributions of African-Americans in the horse racing industry," Gray said. "The garden will serve as a beautiful gathering place, a showcase of public art and a starting point for Lexington's marquee trail."
What started eight years ago as a good idea has become a reality with the Rowan County Community Fund (RCCF) now operational.
The RCCF has announced it is accepting applications from non-profit organizations in Rowan County for the distribution of its first $5,000 in grants.
The minimum grant will be $500.
The money to be distributed through a competitive process came to the RCCF as a bonus from the Appalachian Regional Commission for meeting a challenge goal of raising $10,000 to create a permanent endowment.
See More via The Morehead News
The University of Kentucky is now in what it calls the "early schematic design phase" for the new football practice facility, but doesn't have any formal drawings in place yet.
However, the athletics department has hired an architect.
HNTB and Ross Tarrant Architects, the same team brought on to complete the $110 million Commonwealth Stadium renovations, has been hired to design the practice facility.
See More Via Kentuckysports.com
Kentucky is in the process of selecting a construction manager, UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said.
The practice facility, which will connect to the Nutter Indoor Training Center and include new practice fields between that and Alumni Drive, has been estimated to cost $45 million.
At least $10 million of that is coming from the Blue Grass Community Foundation of Lexington on behalf of an anonymous donor.
That donation, which was part of the $23 million in private donations UK confirmed having raised last month, was approved by the University's Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
See More via Lexington Herald-Leader
Sarah Fritschner spent Thursday morning finishing preparations for a conference for local farmers.
Then she talked to the directors of a program in Madison, Wis., that gives vouchers for fresh, organic vegetables to consumers.
That was interrupted by a phone call. Someone needed 500 pounds of Kentucky sweet potatoes.
"So I dropped everything and I started making phone calls," Fritschner said.
As Louisville's Farm to Table coordinator, Fritschner is focused on making those connections between farmers and consumers — and growing a local food economy.
Lexington soon will become the second city in Kentucky with a local food coordinator.
It's long overdue, said Ouita Michel, one of Central Kentucky's most-acclaimed chefs and champion of buying foods grown and produced locally.
"Why should we ship our cattle to Indiana or Missouri for processing?" Michel said. "We can do that here. We need to strengthen our food infrastructure. It can be its own growth industry and add money to the economy. But it's also part of our culture and our history."
The Urban County Council approved the creation of the local food coordinator at Thursday's council meeting. The majority of the funding for Lexington's food program will come from a combination of local agriculture development money, private grants and $25,000 from the city. The total is more than $100,000. But not all of that will go toward salary.
Article via Lex18.com
Blue Grass Community Foundation is excited to announce that thanks to the generosity of Matthew and Jenna Mitchell's Mitchell Family Foundation at Blue Grass Community Foundation, the $100,000 Buzzer Beater Challenge will help the community close out the GoodGiving Guide Challenge like charitable champs!
"Jenna and I are extremely excited about the Challenge," said Matthew Mitchell, head coach of the University of Kentucky women's basketball team. "God has truly blessed us by bringing us to this community and allowing us to pursue causes we are passionate about. We are constantly inspired by individuals and organizations in this community who do so much for people. We hope the Challenge inspires people to donate to their favorite nonprofits and help make a difference in our community. No donation is too small or too big! Here's a chance to have your donation increased by half!"As the 2013 GoodGiving Guide Challenge moves closer to this year's final buzzer at 11:59pm, on Tuesday, December 31, the Mitchell's decided to throw down one final giving challenge destined for the record books. Tip-off for the Mitchell Family Foundation's $100,000 Buzzer Beater Challenge starts at noon, on Monday, December 30. The Mitchell Family Foundation will match individual donations made to nonprofits in this year's GoodGiving Guide Challenge at 50 cents on the dollar, up to $1,000 per donor (maximum match of $500 per donor, per nonprofit). Donors may make match-eligible contributions to as many nonprofits as they choose. Until the $100,000 match pool is exhausted, there is no limit on how many match dollars a nonprofit may earn.
"The Challenge is a wonderful way to get the whole community together in support of local causes," said Jenna Mitchell. "It's a great team effort that we're proud to be part of, and we encourage everyone who loves the Bluegrass to give to the nonprofits of their choice at goodgivigguide.net."
The GoodGiving Guide Challenge is a community-wide online giving campaign presented by Blue Grass Community Foundation and Smiley Pete Publishing. The Challenge runs from November 1 to December 31. Now in its eight week, the Challenge has already exceeded its goal of raising $1 million for 107 Central Kentucky nonprofits.
To learn about the 107 participating nonprofits and to make your secure gift, go to goodgivingguide.net.
The Lottie Ellis Match Challenge, which begins 8 a.m. Monday, will provide $20,000 in matching challenge grants for Boyle County nonprofits participating in the Good Giving Guide Challenge. It offers a 50-cent match for every dollar raised up to $1,000 per donor, until the $20,000 pool is exhausted.
This means a donor making a $50 contribution will earn a $25 Lottie Ellis match, which equals $75 for the nonprofit.
This holiday season, the GoodGiving Guide Challenge offers an easy way to help nonprofit organizations. The campaign, organized by Smiley Pete Publishing and the Blue Grass Community Foundation, runs through Dec. 31.
It is aimed at growing local giving by highlighting the work of local nonprofits and encouraging givers to donate in any amount to the cause of their choice.
Local businesses are donating a percentage of sales to the challenge, and the money will go to the grand finale match pool, in which nonprofits will be eligible to compete for prizes.
All non-profit organizations in Clark County will get a chance to bring in new funding from the Blue Grass Community Foundation with the help of local supporters.
The Bluegrass Heritage Museum will be taking part in the GoodGiving Guide Challenge this year, which set up as an online donation site where local supporters can log on and donate to their favorite organizations. The challenge is sponsored by the Clark County Community Foundation as well as the Blue Grass Community Foundation.
For every dollar donated from online supporters, the Clark County Community Foundation will match it up to $15,000. Each participating organization will have the opportunity to receive up to $30,000 in donations.
Sandy Stults, the director at the Bluegrass Heritage Museum, said this is the first year the museum and the other Clark County non-profits have participated in the GoodGiving Guide Challenge.
"For us, our goal is to use this challenge grant to get the word out to our supporters to go online and vote," she said.
She also said themuseum will use the funds for new education programs as well as building maintenance.
According to a press release, the GoodGiving Guide Challenge is in its third year and is designed to engage the entire community. It also said the challenge will raise funds for 108 central Kentucky charities this year.
See More via Central Kentucky News
Five Boyle County are particpating for the first time in the GoodGiving Guide challenge: Heritage Hospice, Inc., Kentucky School for the Deaf Charitable Foundation, KyADAPT, Sunrise Children's Services and Community Arts Center. The groups are inviting the public to come out for a launch party Friday at V the market.
The GoodGiving Guide Challenge is a partnership between the Blue Grass Community Foundation and Smiley Pete Publishing to promote online charitable giving to local causes.These two organizations have lined up challenge grants to award bonus money to non-profits that raise the most donors and dollars, as well as dozens of gifts for individual donors. The Boyle County organizations are all sponsored in the challenge by a match grant from the Hudson-Ellis Foundation, which supports Boyle agencies.
This is the third year for the challenge and there are 108 agencies involved. The Challenge continues through Dec. 31st, but the first 10 non-profits to raise $7,500 from 50 unique donors of $25 or more will recieve a $7,500 match.
See More via Central Kentucky News
In just their third campaign, organizers of the GoodGiving Guide have set a goal to raise $1 million for 108 area nonprofits when the campaign kicks off Friday at the West Sixth brewery.
After starting with a goal of $100,000 for the initial GoodGiving Guide two years ago, the joint project between Smiley Pete Publishing — parent company of Business Lexington — and the Blue Grass Community Foundation more than doubled those expectations. The initiative brought in $205,000 in its first year.
"The thing we loved when we first heard of this model was how it utilized all the tools we already knew in our business — that is, making publications, building websites, email marketing and social media. We do this work every day. With the fundraising expertise of the Blue Grass Community Foundation, we felt equipped to take on and succeed with such a project, " said Smiley Pete Publishing co-owner Chuck Creacy.
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Physical Traits of Libra Zodiac Sign That'll Tell You All About Them
Of all the zodiac signs, Libra is known to have the maximum number of good-looking people. Read on to know more about the physical traits of Libra.
Ningthoujam Sandhyarani
Last Updated: Jan 24, 2018
"Devil on my shoulder, the lord as my witness
So on my Libra scale, I'm weighing sins and forgiveness."
So on my Libra scale, I'm weighing sins and forgiveness."
― Lil' Wayne, She Will
Among the twelve zodiac signs, Libra is the seventh sign. In Latin, the word 'Libra' means scales or balances. Those people who are born between the 23rd of September and 22nd of October belong to the Libra zodiac sign. According to many astrologers, Libra is known to be the most desired horoscope as it represents the zenith of the year.
Unlike other zodiac signs, Libra is the only one that is not assigned with an animal or human symbol. The symbol of Libra is represented by scales of balance. According to astrology, it is believed that the Sun enters Libra when the length of the day and night is equal. This balance symbol signifies a lot about the personality traits of a Libra.
• A Libra, by nature, is very diplomatic and believes in negotiating in extremities. He/she is kind, gentle, charming and good looking. It is often described that a Libran can never be ugly, though he/she is also not beautiful.
• The astrological element of Libra is air that represents constant movement. Libra is ruled by the planet of values, beauty, and love - Venus. Lucky colors are pink, green, and purple. Emerald is the lucky stone and its animal sign is an elephant. Let's take a look at the physical characteristics of the Libra zodiac sign.
• In order to notice the physical traits of a Libra, one needs to have a discerning eye. Generally, a Libran is not very noticeable, but has a pleasing appearance. Most people born under this sun sign have even and well-balanced features. A Libran has a charming appearance, high forehead, bow-shaped mouth, and curly or wavy hair.
• The most noticeable trait of the Libra zodiac sign is the Venus dimple, which is often regarded as its trademark. A Libran will probably have a dimple, either on the cheek or chin. In case you don't notice a dimple on the cheek or chin, there are chances that a Libran may have one on the knees. Yes! We are not kidding! Many do have dimples on their knees.
• Regarding the Libra woman, she is very beautiful with adorable features and a graceful figure. She tends to be tall with a well-proportioned body. The Libra woman usually has slender, long legs. Similarly, a Libra man is tall, handsome, with well-balanced features. Due to his attractive nature, the Libran man enjoys flirting and therefore is quite often considered a womanizer.
• A Libra usually has a pleasant facial expression. So, the next time you meet a Libran, do not forget to check his/her facial expression. A Libran, though he/she gets angry, manages to keep cool and look calm. This person will speak very sweetly, even if he/she is angry with the person. That is why, it is very difficult to understand the character of a Libra.
The most obvious physical traits of a Libra is the V-shaped chin line and almond-shaped eyes. Very often, you will recognize a Libra by his/her soft smile. People born under this zodiac sign are very cheerful and loyal to their friends and near and dear ones. Thus, whenever you meet a Libra, you will have the feeling that he/she can never hurt you.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Chosen twice in 1982 by Andres Segovia to perform in master-classes in Geneva and in New York, the guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino has enjoyed considerable distinction as a player, with early triumph in the Artists international Carnegie Recital Hall Début Competition, the first solo guitarist to win this honour. An active accompanist as well as soloist, he performs regularly with singers Paul Hillier, Susan Rode Morris, Judith Nelson and Susan Narucki. His recordings include the first period instrument versions of Luigi Boccherinis Guitar Quintets, Mauro Giulianis Grand Quintetto and Johann Kaspar Mertzs Bardenklange, all of which have received great critical acclaim. In 1995 a duo recording with British violinist Monica Huggett, featuring virtuoso sonatas by Paganini and Giuliani, was released. Richard Savino has appeared on the CBS and PBS television networks, has been heard in recital on National Public Radios Performance Today, Morning Pro Musica, Off The Record, Englands BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporations Music from Montreal and Music from Vancouver programmes. Since 1987 he has directed the CSU Summer Arts Guitar and Lute Institute and in 1996 he will be a contributing author to the Cambridge University Press Studies in Performance Practice series. He is responsible for editing the complete works of Fernando Sor for Editions Chanterelle and a collection of madrigals by Francesca Caccini for Indiana University Press. In recent years he has been a featured artist and faculty member at numerous festivals throughout the United States of America and Europe and has recently been named Visiting Artistic Director of the 1995 Aston Magna Academy at Rutgers University and Coordinator of Performance Practice at the Monadnock Music Festival in New Hampshire. Richard Savino has studied with Oscar Ghiglia, Eliot Fisk and received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from SUNY at Stony Brook where he studied with Jerry Willard. He is at present Professor of Music at the California State University at Sacramento.


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In mid-July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an alert to veterinarians and pet owners regarding reports of increased incidence of a heart disease called canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). This disorder is characterized by weakening of the heart muscle, which leads to a decreased ability of the heart to pump, and if untreated, to cardiac failure. The reported cases occurred in breeds that are not considered to be genetically predisposed to this disorder.
Further, a significant number of the dogs were found to have reduced levels of circulating taurine in their blood and have responded positively to taurine supplementation. It is speculated that these cases are related to the consumption of foods that negatively affect taurine status, leading to taurine-deficiency DCM. Foods containing high levels of peas, lentils, other legume seeds, or potatoes were identified by the FDA as potential risk factors. These ingredients are found commonly in foods that are formulated and promoted as "grain-free."
As these things go, there followed a lot of hype and a fair bit of hysteria in response. Let us avoid this type of reaction and instead look at the evidence – what do we currently know about the role of diet and taurine in the development of DCM in dogs and how is it that "grain-free" foods have been recently targeted as a possible dietary cause?
What is Taurine? The nutrient taurine is a unique type of amino acid, called a beta-amino sulfonic acid. It is not incorporated into proteins but rather is found primarily as a free amino acid in body tissues and circulating in the blood. Taurine has many functions, but two that are important for this discussion involve its role in normal heart function and its presence as a component of bile acids, which are needed for fat digestion. Most animals obtain adequate taurine to meet their needs by producing it endogenously (in the body) from two other amino acids, methionine and cysteine.
This means that while animals require taurine physiologically, most do not have a dietary requirement for taurine. The exception to this rule is the cat. Cats (but not dogs) always require a source of taurine in their food. If they do not have it, one of the diseases that they can develop (and possibly die from) is……you guessed it…..DCM.
Taurine-deficiency DCM is well documented in cats. We also know quite a lot about the dietary factors that contribute to this disease in that species. In contrast, dogs (usually) do not require a source of dietary taurine. However, we know that some dogs still develop taurine-deficiency DCM. Why does this happen? The history of DCM in cats can help in untangling what may be occurring in dogs.
Taurine-deficiency DCM in Cats: Looking back, I cannot avoid a sense of déjà vu. In the early 1980s veterinarians began reporting increased incidences of DCM in pet cats. By 1987, a role for dietary taurine was suspected. In a seminal study, a veterinary researcher at UC Davis reported low plasma (blood) taurine levels in 21 cats with clinical signs of DCM (1). When the cats were supplemented with taurine, all 21 completely recovered from the disease. This discovery led to a series of controlled studies that supported the existence of taurine-deficiency DCM developing in cats, despite being fed diets that contained sufficient concentrations of taurine.
What was going on?
It has to do with Bile Acids: Another role of taurine is the body is that it is necessary for normal bile acid function. Taurine is linked to bile acids in the liver to form bile salts. These compounds are secreted into the small intestine during digestion where they function to aid in fat digestion. Animals are very efficient at conserving the taurine that is secreted into the intestine by reabsorbing the bile salts back into the body further down the intestinal tract. This occurs through a process called "enterohepatic reutilization" and prevents a daily loss of taurine in the feces.
Herein lies the problem for cats with DCM: If anything happens during digestion that causes the degradation of the bile salt taurine or that inhibits its reabsorption into the body, more is lost in the feces. If this happens consistently, the cat will experience an increase in his or her daily need for dietary taurine. Simply put – if anything causes the cat to poop out more taurine-bile acid complexes (or their degraded by-products), the cat will be in danger of a taurine deficiency if a higher level is not provided in the diet.
This is exactly what was happening in the cats with taurine-deficiency DCM – and is possibly what we are seeing today in dogs. The difference is that we know what diet factors caused taurine deficiency in cats during the late 1980s. These factors are not yet fully understood for dogs (but we can make a few guesses).
Here is What We Know: The studies with cats found that several dietary factors influenced taurine status (2,3,4). These were the level and type of dietary protein, the amount and type of dietary fiber, and the degree of heat treatment that was used during food processing. These factors could affect taurine status in three ways:
- Bile Acid Binding: Certain fibers and peptides (small protein chains) in the food can bind with bile salts the small intestine and make them unavailable for reabsorption into the body. This results in an increased daily loss of taurine in the feces and a subsequent increase in daily taurine requirement to replace that loss.
- Increased Microbial Degradation: Thermal processing of protein (extrusion or canning) can lead to the production of Maillard products – complexes of sugars and amino acids and are poorly digested in the small intestine. The undigested complexes travel to the large intestine and provide an intestinal environment that favors increased numbers of taurine-degrading bacteria. An increase in these bacterial populations reduces the proportion of taurine that is available for reabsorption and reuse by the body.
- Reduced Taurine Availability: Taurine is found naturally in animal-based proteins but is not found in plant-based protein sources. Therefore, providing diets that include a sufficient level of high-quality animal proteins (that are not heat damaged) should ensure adequate taurine intake. However, protein that is of low quality or that has been excessively heat-treated will be poorly digested, reducing the availability of taurine and of its precursor amino acids, cysteine and methionine. (Note: Cats produce small amounts of taurine from these precursors, while dogs can produce all of their needs from them, if adequate levels are available).
In response to new information regarding the interaction of dietary factors and taurine status in cats (and their relationship to DCM in cats), the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) increased the recommendations for dietary taurine in extruded and canned cat foods in the early 1990s. The current recommendations are 1000 mg taurine/kg (0.1 %) in dry (extruded) cat foods and 2000 mg taurine/kg (0.2 %) in canned cat foods.
So, What about Dogs? Unlike the cat, dogs that are fed diets containing adequate levels of protein should be capable of synthesizing enough taurine from the two amino acid precursors, cysteine and methionine, to meet their needs. Therefore, a requirement for dietary taurine has not been generally recognized in dogs.
Breed Predispositions: However, there is evidence – evidence that we have had for at least 15 years – that certain breeds of dogs, and possibly particular lines within breeds, exhibit a high prevalence of taurine-deficiency DCM. Genetically predisposed breeds include the American Cocker Spaniel, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Saint Bernard, Newfoundland and English Setter (5,6). Although the exact underlying cause is not known, it appears that some breeds have either a naturally occurring higher requirement for taurine or a metabolic abnormality that affects their taurine synthesis or utilization.
Size: A second factor that affects taurine status in dogs is size. There is evidence that a large adult size and a relatively slow metabolic rate influences the rate of taurine production in the body and may subsequently lead to a dietary taurine requirement. It is theorized that increased body size in dogs is associated with an enhanced risk for developing taurine deficiency and that this risk may be exacerbated by a breed-specific genetic predisposition. For example, when compared metabolically, Newfoundlands have a significantly lower rate of taurine synthesis than Beagles (7).
There is additional evidence that large and giant breed dogs have lower rates of taurine production compared with small dogs. Ultimately, studies suggest that certain dogs possess a genetic predisposition to taurine depletion and increased susceptibility to taurine-deficiency DCM and that this susceptibility may be related to the combined factors of breed, size and metabolic rate.
What is the Role of Diet? The recent spate of cases and media attention to taurine-deficiency DCM in dogs suggests that this is a very new problem in dogs. However, it is not new. A connection between diet and DCM in dogs was first described in a paper published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2001 (8). What is new is the sudden focus on certain pet food ingredients and the target that appears to have been placed upon the backs of all "grain-free" pet food brands by some bloggers and veterinarians. Not to put too fine a point on this, but the 12 cases of taurine-deficiency DCM described in the 2001 paper were collected between 1997 and 2001, years before grain-free dog foods had arrived on the pet food scene. Rather than disparage one class or type of dog food (or pet food company), it is more important to look at specific dietary factors that may be involved in DCM in dogs.
Generally speaking, these are expected to be the same as those identified for cats, including low protein levels, poorly processed or heat-damaged proteins (leading to Maillard products), and the inclusion of a high proportion of plant-based protein sources such as peas and legumes.
Over the past 15 years, reduced taurine status in dogs has also been alternately associated with feeding lamb meal and rice diets, soybean-based diets, rice bran, beet pulp, and high fiber diets (9,10,11). As with cats, there appear to be multiple dietary (and genetic) factors involved. For example, it was theorized that the perceived (not proven) association between lamb meal and taurine status was due to low levels of available amino acids present in the lamb meal, or to excessive heat damage of the protein, or to the confounding factor of the inclusion of rice bran in many lamb meal-containing foods. To date, none of these factors have been conclusively proven or disproven. Although, the most recent study showed that three types of fiber source – rice bran, cellulose, and beet pulp – all caused reduced plasma taurine levels in dogs when included in a marginally low protein diet, with beet pulp causing the most pronounced decrease (11).
Complicated? You bet. This is why it is important to avoid making unsupported claims about certain foods and brands. Taurine-deficiency DCM has been around for a while in dogs and continues to need study before making definitive conclusions about one or more specific dietary causes.
What DO we know? We know that any dietary factor that reduces the availability of taurine precursors, binds taurine bile salts in the intestine, or causes an increase in the bacteria populations that degrade taurine can reduce a dog's ability to synthesize taurine or will increase taurine degradation and/or loss in the feces. These changes could ultimately compromise a dog's taurine status (especially if the dog was genetically predisposed) and affect heart health. In extreme cases, as we are seeing, this can lead to taurine-deficiency DCM (see diagram below).
FDA Report: The FDA report identified foods that contain high amounts of peas, lentils, legume seeds, or potatoes to be of potential concern. The FDA also stated that the underlying cause of DCM in the reported cases is not known and that at this time, the diet-DCM relationship is only correlative (not causative). However, this has not stopped various bloggers and even some veterinarians from targeting small pet food companies and/or grain-free brands of food, and implying that these foods, and these foods alone, are causing taurine-deficiency DCM in dogs. Their reasoning is that peas and legumes are present in high amounts in foods that are formulated and marketed as grain-free. However, the truth is that many companies and brands of food include these ingredients. More importantly, there is no clear evidence showing that a particular dog food type, brand, or even ingredient is solely responsible for taurine-deficiency DCM in dogs.
Rather, it is more reasonable and responsible to speculate that one or more of these ingredients, their interactions, or the effects of ingredient quality, heat treatment, and food processing may play a role. Furthermore, the underlying cause could be the protein, starch, or fiber fractions of these ingredients. As plant-source proteins, peas and lentils and legumes include varying amounts of starch (both digestible and resistant forms) and dietary fiber. These protein sources are also generally less nutritionally complete and less digestible than are high quality animal source proteins – additional factors that could influence a dog's ability to both produce and use taurine. Potatoes, on the other hand, provide a digestible source of starch in an extruded food but also contain varying levels of resistant starch, which is not digested and behaves much like dietary fiber in the intestinal tract.
The Heart of the Matter: Because any or all of these dietary factors could be risk factors for taurine-deficiency DCM in dogs and because peas, legumes, and other ingredients identified by the FDA report have not yet been fully studied, the heart of the matter is that no conclusions can yet be made about the underlying dietary cause or causes of taurine-deficiency DCM in dogs. Given what we do know, a recommendation is to feed a food that contains sufficient levels high quality, animal-source protein, does not include plant-source proteins as its primary protein source, and does not contain high levels of dietary fiber. If you are worried about your dog's taurine status or heart health, see your veterinarian for a complete physical examination and if needed, to measure plasma levels of taurine.
Cited Studies:
- Pion PD, Kittleson MD, Rogers QR, et al. Myocardial failure in cats associated with low plasma taurine: A reversible cardiomyopathy. Science 1987; 237:764-768.
- Earl KE, Smith PM. The effect of dietary taurine content on the plasma taurine concentration of the cat. British Journal of Nutrition 1991; 66:227-235.
- Hickman MA, Morris JG, Rogers QR. Effect of processing on the fate of dietary taurine in cats. Journal of Nutrition 1990; 120:995-1000.
- Hickman HA, Morris JG, Rogers QR. Intestinal taurine and the enterohepatic circulation of taurocholic acid in the cat. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 1992; 315:45-54.
- Freeman LM, Rush JE, Brown DJ, et al. Relationship between circulating and dietary taurine concentrations in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy. Veterinary Therapeutics 2001; 370-378.
- Backus RC, Ko KS, Fascetti AJ. Low plasma taurine concentration in Newfoundland dogs is associated with low plasma methionine and cysteine concentrations and low taurine synthesis. Journal of Nutrition 2006; 136:2525-2533.
- Ko KS, Backus RC, Berg JR, et al. Differences in taurine synthesis rate among dogs relate to differences in their maintenance energy requirement. Journal of Nutrition 2007; 137:1171-1175.
- Fascetti AJ, Reed JR, Roger QR, et al. Taurine deficiency in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy: 12 cases (1997 – 2001). Journal of the American Animal Veterinary Association 2001; 223:1137-1141.
- Delaney SJ, Kass PH, Rogers QR, Fascetti AJ. Plasma and whole blood taurine in normal dogs of varying size fed commercially prepared food. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 2003; 87:235-244.
- Torres CL, Backus RC, Fascetti AJ, et al. Taurine status in normal dogs fed a commercial diet associated with taurine deficiency and dilated cardiomyopathy. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 2003; 87:359-372.
- Ko KS, Fascetti AJ. Dietary beet pulp decreases taurine status in dogs fed low protein diet. Journal of Animal Science and Technology 2016; 58:29-39.
- A version of this article was published in the September 2018 issue of Whole Dog Journal.
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We spend more time talking about cooking from cookbooks than we spend cooking from cookbooks, and it's time to change that. Once a month, we'll have Cookbook Club—a meal planned entirely from one cookbook, new or old, big or small—and we'll ask our community members to do the same.
This month, we cook from Christina Tosi's new book, Milk Bar Life.
Tang Toast is made from white bread, margarine, and Tang drink mix.
I'm staring at the cover of Milk Bar Life, trying to figure out what to say about Christina Tosi's newest cookbook, when I look up and see her face.
My friend is watching the fourth episode of Vice Munchies' "Fuck That's Delicious"—a web show starring the chef-turned-rapper Action Bronson—and, like any New York food personality worth his salt, Bronson is making a pilgrimage to the Milk Bar kitchen in Williamsburg. He's brought his aunt's famous baklava, and together, he and Tosi toss it into a blender, add a spoonful of Benton's bacon fat and plenty of Cereal Milk™—here, the camera lingers—and spin it into a milkshake.
Tosi is everywhere: I see her on bus shelters when I pass the Corcoran Group's Live Who You Are advertisements; I've watched her on "Mind of a Chef" and, soon, I'll watch her on "MasterChef" and "MasterChef Junior," too; I hear about her from my boyfriend's kid sister in Baltimore, who wants to know if I've met her.
As the story goes, Tosi was initially hired by David Chang (founder of the Momofuku restaurant group and a poster child for culinary bad asses) to write his food safety plan. Dessert wunderkind that she is, Tosi ended up building the restaurants' dessert service from scratch and earned a place as the pastry chef and an owner of Milk Bar (and the winner of the 2012 James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year and a finalist in the 2014 title of Outstanding Pastry Chef). The bakery, which first opened in 2008 in the East Village, now has six locations in New York, one in Toronto, and soon, another in D.C. They also ship worldwide.
It's not that surprising then, that despite the number of cookbooks we bow to one day then allow to accumulate dust the next, the editors at Food52 chose Milk Bar Life for our inaugural cookbook club. It's the same reason it's not surprising that I reach for the Cheerios instead of Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal and M&Ms instead of Milk Chocolate Gems. The choice is practically instinctual.
Inspired by Shopsin's—the source of the original recipe—we topped our Mac and Cheese Pancakes with hot sauce and maple syrup.
Milk Bar Life is as appealing as the sprinkle-topped sugar cookies that cover the end papers. When I first got the book, I flipped through its pages with childhood glee, reaching for the food in the saturated photos as I would for packages of Ritz crackers and Fruity Pebbles in the grocery store—and happily, I'd have an excuse to do so: These nostalgia-rich foods are the ingredients in Tosi's recipes.
Any jitters I had in reading the ingredient lists were soothed by my faith that if anyone could take unusual combinations of often-shunned ingredients—white bread, margarine ("not butter," Tosi specifies), and Tang drink mix in Tang Toast; a reduction of cranberry sauce and Heinz chili sauce for the coating on Cocktail Meatballs—it was Tosi, the brainchild of Crack Pie and B-Day Truffles, a modern-day alchemist. Here was my female, New-York-City-food-world role model telling me it was okay to eat junk food and it was smart and creative to cook with it. And where her first book—the 2011 Momofuku Milk Bar—frequently called for scary equipment (acetate cake collars) and freeze-dried ingredients, this one, Tosi writes in the introduction, takes a "more down-home, lowbrow approach."
I was wrong, first off, that this book would leave freeze-dried ingredients behind: The Mac and Cheese pancakes, adopted from Shopsin's, call for 2 tablespoons of freeze-dried corn powder ("find it at milkbarstore.com," you're told; you'll also need 1 cup of it to make the Cornbread Ice Cream). One 6-dollar bottle of yellow dust and some slightly cheesy, slightly chewy pancakes later, and it was hard to taste the pulverized dehydrated kernels at all.
Another recipe—the Grilled Ham and Cheese Corn Cookie—calls not for corn powder but rather for its offspring, Milk Bar Corn Cookies (these serve as the sandwich's "bread"). In the headnote, Tosi urges us to "take a chance and make" this recipe that "seems like it may be weird"; it's especially good at 11 P.M., she says, when "you really don't have time for a two-course meal."
And that's where Tosi's self-proclaimed "lowbrow approach" to food reveals itself to be just that—an approach. This is a glimpse into how they do things at Milk Bar—and that brand is so powerful, its allure so magnetic, and Tosi so personable and so cool, that we'll buy the book to find out—but it's probably not going to be of direct service in our kitchens.
The Pickled-Juice Poached Fish had a milder flavor and a more powerful odor than we expected.
Some of the recipes we made, like the aforementioned pancakes and the Ritz Cracker Ice Box Cake, tasted like food we would've had to be drunk, high, or otherwise intoxicated to enjoy; yet these recipes stood at odds with others—Kimcheez-its and Burnt-Honey-Butter Kale with Sesame Seeds, for example—which, had we been drunk, high, or otherwise intoxicated, we would not have been able to pull off. The kale chips never dried out at the instructed 200° F—after 40 minutes, we had to increase the temperature to 300° F—and the Kimcheez-its, which had to bake for much longer than expected—came out tough and leathery.
Some of our community participants met success. Before making Tosi's chocolate chip cookies, drbabs "wondered to [herself] if the world really need[ed] another recipe for chocolate chip cookies." Her conclusion after tasting them? "It turns out that we do." QueenSashy made the Lime, Yogurt, and Olive Oil Cake, which produced a cake that was "picture perfect" with a "sweet blast of lime."
Yet before getting around to reviewing the actual recipes, both testers mused on Tosi: "Christina is my kind of girl," says one. "She wears cute dresses. She studied mathematics. She pulls turkey meat with her fingers. She makes blue cheese covered pretzels. She is not afraid to say that she likes supermarket food." The other starts with the statement: "Christina Tosi is my soul sister." And I want Christina Tosi to be my soul sister, too.
But if this book came from another person—one who had not already written a wildly successful cookbook, one who was not affiliated with one of the most praised restaurant groups in New York City, one who had not built a brand on accessibility and quirkiness—we probably wouldn't extol a successful recipe for cookies or a loaf cake; these reliable recipes would be our baseline, and then we'd demand something better. The elements that set this book apart from other anticipated titles—that it shuns conventional "high-quality" ingredients, that it ostensibly asks little in terms of technique—is actually not so different than books on convenience food-centered, semi-homemade-style cooking.
Kimcheez-its with Blue Cheese Dip and Salt-and-Pepper Cookies.
And that's because what is different about this book is the story behind it. Food52 user sexyLAMBCHOPx puts it well when she writes that the people who will most enjoy this book are "diehard followers of Momofuku Milk Bar, a collector of women breaking out in the highly competitive world of cooking, bakers, and pastry chefs looking to cook outside of the box." The book might not hold up in the kitchen, and it might not hold up without the strength of Tosi, Milk Bar, and Momofuku behind it, but that doesn't mean we don't learn from it.
In an interview with Hillary Dixler, Tosi expresses her hope that this book "can be a cookbook, it can be a picture book, it can be a storybook." Where it fails as a cookbook, it succeeds as a storybook; in a few years from now, when Christina Tosi is even more famous than she is today, we'll look back at the book and tell tales of the creative, smart, and resourceful minds behind Milk Bar, and in fifty years from now, we'll study the book and treasure it as a cultural artifact. It will be a textbook in a food culture course in which a professor lectures about the toast trend, the anti-toast trend, and the upper-class reappropriation of junk food culture in the second decade of the millennium. There will be slides from Hot Girls Eating Pizza enjoyed over a tasting of Tang Toast.
What book should we cook from for our next Cookbook Club (and would you like to join)? Share with us in the comments!
See what other Food52 readers are saying.


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Doing Something Half-assed is Better Than Not At All
July 14, 2014
A life lived only by the well, or a life worth living?
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD — one of the earliest pioneers in the mind/body health field — includes a short chapter titled "Life is For the Well."
Here she tells about one of her patients who had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and spent several years seeking help for her symptoms. She would go from doctor of doctor "obsessed with the minutest details of her physical problems, which she tracked in a daily journal." She thought she had to be without symptoms to enjoy life to go the theater, to have children, to love.
It seemed to her that life could only be lived by the well.
Read More


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Results for Thomas Neuwirth
Music News
The song contest/political science experiment called Eurovision took place on Saturday. Jim and Greg have been looking forward to the weird and wonderful phenomenon since speaking with expert John Kennedy O'Connor last month—and Eurovision 2014 did not disappoint. This year's prize went to "Rise Like a Phoenix," a power ballad belted by Austrian diva Conchita Wurst, the drag persona of Mr. Thomas Neuwirth. But the real star of the evening? Politics. Though some considered Wurst's win a victory for tolerance, it outraged conservatives in countries like Russia and Belarus. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine turned the conflict over Crimea into a fight for the spotlight, and the audience showed disdain for Putin by booing the Russian act. Americans may not"get"Eurovision, but 180 million viewers can't be all wrong…
In other bizarre international news is a story from the New York Times. Apparently the people of China have gotten used to saying "goodbye"—or, more to the point, "get out!"—to the dulcet tones of one Kenny G. All across China, the elevator jazz giant's 1989 hit "Going Home" is played at malls, gyms, libraries, and even wedding banquets to signal the day's end. Many don't know the song's name, but they know to pack up and leave once it starts playing. And while China's non-existent royalty policy means that the sax-man makes very little off his ubiquitous tune, Kenny has taken it in stride, joking that at Chinese concerts, he plays"Going Home"last to keep people from leaving early. Greg thinks that China has managed some impressive social engineering—almost Pavlovian, says Jim. But our hosts can sympathize: Hearing Kenny G makes them evacuate the premises, too.Go to episode 442


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Fantastic! I woke up with morning with 10 SPAM messages from Facebook in Chinese!
Looks like spammers are creating Facebook accounts with email accounts they find. Of course, I didn't confirm the Facebook account.
Instead, I reported it to Facebook to have it disabled immediately. You can also send an email to email@example.com for more information.
However, it's interesting how I was able to receive these SPAM messages (below) before I even confirmed the Facebook account.
Hopefully, this will do the trick!


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A Rare Diva Rant
Saturday, November 20, 2010
First of all let me say that I LOVE the kids' pediatrician. She's not only their doctor, she's our friend. She walked us through Isaiah dying and when she got the call that we lost him, she was at our house in less than five minutes. She stayed with us for hours that terrible night. We've been friends ever since.
I also should say that she's part of a practice that includes a number of doctors, so in no way am I coming against her.
When I checked my 12 year old son in at the front desk yesterday he was handed a "private" paper. I was told that he was to fill it out without parental input. RED FLAG!
I took the paper from him and read through the entire thing. While some of it was innocuous, the rest was none of their business in my very strong opinion.
I was a foster parent for years. I know how the State works. I know what doctors are required to report to the State and I certainly know what belongs between parents and children. I also am smart enough to know if my child needs a counselor. I've seen the State abuse their power. I've seen doctors, not ours, abuse their power.
I tried to find the form online and was unsuccessful. So this is from memory.
"Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?" This matters why?
"Do your parents argue?" Whose parents don't?
"Are you afraid of your parents?" I certainly hope to an extent they are. It's called respect, not fear.
"Do your parents listen to you?" Preteens never think their parents listen.
"What form of discipline is used in your home?" None of your freaking business. Does my kid have the tell tale signs of abuse? NO.
"How do you feel about sex?" Again, preteen here.
"Who lives in your home?" Why?
"Do your parents have guns?" Have you heard of the 2nd amendment?
"Where do they keep them if they do?" I keep mine loaded on the kitchen table in full reach of all of the kids and grand kids. Come on!
"How often do you stay home from school?" Again none of your business.
There were other questions that are escaping my memory. Most of the paper I marked a line through and wrote "PERSONAL" across it.
This form was put out by the American Medical Association. While I realize there are irresponsible, and abusive, parents that children need protection from, I also realize that doctors, and schools, are trained to notice this and take appropriate action. They are, as I was being a foster parent, called "mandatory reporters." I have no problem with that.
In my opinion this questionnaire crossed the line. I am not a sheep. I'm not going to blindly do something because someone "in authority" tells me to, especially when it comes to my kids. I'm not going to divulge information that is none of their business. I will not let organizations or the government get into every part of my life and the lives of my children.
If you see my kid with a hand shaped bruise across his face turn my ass in. If you see that my child is obviously malnourished and there's not a medical reason for it, turn my ass in. If you see that my kid jumps when a hand is raised, or is obviously afraid of me, turn me in. But don't ask leading questions, don't go on a fishing expedition and do not get into our personal business.
I think this post is long enough. I know that some of you will disagree with me and that's fine. These are my opinions.
I'll save the other rant for tomorrow. I'm taking the weekend off from Mary. She'll be back on Monday.
Also if you're going to chew my ass out for my opinions, respectfully chew please. I moderate comments and if you're a jerk I'll take Gucci Mama's lead and post your comment in a new post and tear it apart.