Packing a lunch via fd.

This morning is the first day of school for The Peanut. We packed up her backpack full of new school supplies last night, and put together a tasty lunch while she was eating her breakfast this morning.

She was scrubbed, brushed and bright eyed as we walked out the door, happy to be going back to school to see her friends and her new teacher.

But I couldn’t help thinking about all those kids in America for whom the start of school means something else entirely: two meals every weekday.

How tough would it be to be that young and already have learned that lesson?

The number of children eating free breakfast and lunch at school is expected to rise substantially this year, to a 41-year high. And that hunger is not something that just sticks around until that child’s next meal. Malnutrition can impact that child detrimentally for a lifetime, from stunted growth to developmental delays and beyond .

Star News in Wilmington, NC, has been doing a fantastic series on hunger and children in their region. And the reporting is heartbreaking:

…often the youngest children fall through the cracks – subject to their parents’ ability –or inability– to feed the family nutritious foods. Many food support programs exist for children once they reach school age that are not consistently available to very young children….

…the health effects on young children from not eating regular nutritious meals can range from diabetes, constipation and obesity to learning disabilities. Malnutrition in young children also has a societal cost – more hospital stays, lost work for the parents and an increased stress on the social services sector.

These children did not ask to be born into poverty. Yet their start in life is several steps behind other children nonetheless.

All over the country, organizations and local governments have worked to stem that problem through summer bridge programs for these kids so that they wouldn’t go to sleep with a gnawing belly every night of the summer. But we need to do more. All of us.

A window is opening to not just tackle poverty issues for at risk kids, but also nutrition for these and all of our children. As early as October, the Child Nutrition Bill could begin to wind its way through Congress. Let’s talk about ways we can get out in front of that bill to make certain that nutritious food is served to children who so desperately need it.

Prior articles in this child poverty series:  making child poverty a priority;  mortgaging the nation’s future Part I and Part II; better childhood nutrition Part I and Part II; give kids a head start; bringing poverty to the table Part I and Part II; true compassion, Will children be casualties of the stimulus compromise? and Summertime: The Living Ain’t Easy For Children In Poverty.

Yellow Legged Honeycreeper via MrClean1982. Gorgeous!

Color me intrigued by the potential of this film in asking really important questions about life and internal debates.  And possibly shedding some needed light on a very shrouded religious sect’s history:

The project was initiated by a member of Opus Dei, is partly produced and financed by the group’s members and has enlisted an Opus Dei priest to consult on the set. News of the project has set off criticism among some former Opus Dei members that the movie will be little more than propaganda for the organization. But Mr. Joffé, in the first interview he has given about the film, said that he had been given complete creative control and that Opus Dei never had any influence on the project.

He ditched the script he was originally given, he said, because he did not want to make what he called a “biopic” about Escrivá’s life. But, he added, he was intrigued by Escrivá’s ideas about the power of forgiveness and the capacity of every human being for sainthood. Opus Dei — the name is Latin for work of God — teaches that ordinary work can be a path to sanctity if the believer maintains a demanding regimen of religious practices intended to achieve holiness.

And yet? I’m skeptical about the "full creative control" from financial backers.

Does that smack of set up for contrived public protest and victimhood if the film isn’t sufficiently reverential of its subject to anyone else?

Anyone heard anything about this film? 

I loved the shades of gray and bleak honesty of Joffe’s prior work in "The Killing Fields."  Would love to see some of that on this subject matter, good or ill, as well.

Caprese stack via smcgee.

It’s summertime, and the living is easy. Or at least, it just feels that way when you have some fresh produce in the house.

We finally have some ripening tomatoes larger than the tiny cherry variety in our little square foot garden.

And I managed to get The Peanut to try some homemade salsa this week. My not-so-secret plot to increase veggie intake is working.

*insert evil Mom laugh here*

We have several local produce stands that have had wonderful veggies and fruits this summer, and I am absolutely loving it. Last night’s supper included corn on the cob and green beans fresh from local farmers to our table.

Anyone discover new veggies — or great recipes to showcase them? Do share.

Here’s my contribution for the week:  Easy Batter Fruit Cobbler. I made this with frozen peaches and fresh blueberries and it was delish. I tweaked the batter a little by adding some ground cinnamon — about 1/2 tsp. — and it added just the right amount of zing.

I don’t know about everyone else, but reading the news makes me tired these days. Downright bone weary, frankly, because it’s too much of “the more things change, the more things stay the same.” Which just is not exactly a bliss-inducing thought, now is it? So I thought I’d look around for something a little more unusual to share this morning. Behold! Some actual good news…

Those darned Weather Channel people.

I always knew the tornado chasers looked a little too squirrelly for their own good.

Sometimes, you just need a hefty dose of mockery, laced with some out and out snark.

And Fridays are the perfect day to share it, aren’t they?

Enjoy. Bless you, people at The Onion.

It’s a free range chicken kinda day.

Prepare to giggle.

A lot.

Gonzo, assorted chickens and Strauss. What could be more perfect for a Friday?

Enjoy!

All signs point to yes. Paul Mirengoff at Powerline has been the point man for the Federalist Society talking points on Johnsen’s nomination. And he recently went with the inaccurate hyperventilation technique here: …Dawn Johnsen, President Obama’s aggressively radical nominee… Note that for Paul, John Yoo and David Addington are jim dandy, and a government which willfully lies to you about violating the laws and your civil rights is a-okay. But Dawn Johnsen? She’s “aggressively radical.”

We’re having a new air conditioner unit installed this morning, as well as some updates to our system in the whole house. Beginning at the crack o’ dawn. *YAWN* Happily, it will be a more energy efficient system overall once they are done, which makes me really happy.