March is Women's History Month
Today is
Considered the first female candidate for President of the United States, Victoria Woodhull was a passionate activist for women's rights, labor reforms and free love throughout the 19th century, and is known to be the first woman to petition for Women's Suffrage in front of Congress.
She and her sister are also considered to be the first female stockbrokers in history, and they were quite successful in that endeavor, as well. [via Fetzer Vineyards]
1) Cleopatra was the final pharaoh of Egypt.
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2) Hawaii has been revealed as a major market for illicit ivory.
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3) CNN looked for but could only track down $800k of the $6 MILLION Donald Trump PROMISED would go to Veteran groups.
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4) Bob Dylan has sold his personal archive of 6,000 notes, draft lyrics, poems, artwork and photographs to the university of Tulsa, where they will be made for scholars and public viewing.
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5) Osama bin Laden was an environmentalist. In letters discovered in his compound in Pakistan Bin Laden worried about the dangers of "catastrophic climate change."
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6) At any given time, there is 70,000 animals being tested on in the United States. 95% of them are beagles, because of their docile, cooperative nature. There is a Beagle Freedom Project working to free these poor animals.
Google the Beagle Freedom Project to learn more.
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7) Police secretly track cellphones to solve routine crimes with a device designed to track terrorists.
via USA Today
“BALTIMORE — The crime itself was ordinary: Someone smashed the back window of a parked car one evening and ran off with a cellphone. What was unusual was how the police hunted the thief.
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Detectives did it by secretly using one of the government’s most powerful phone surveillance tools — capable of intercepting data from hundreds of people’s cellphones at a time — to track the phone, and with it their suspect, to the doorway of a public housing complex. They used it to search for a car thief, too. And a woman who made a string of harassing phone calls.
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In one case after another, USA TODAY found police in Baltimore and other cities used the phone tracker, commonly known as a stingray, to locate the perpetrators of routine street crimes and frequently concealed that fact from the suspects, their lawyers and even judges. In the process, they quietly transformed a form of surveillance billed as a tool to hunt terrorists and kidnappers into a staple of everyday policing.
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The suitcase-size tracking systems, which can cost as much as $400,000, allow the police to pinpoint a phone’s location within a few yards by posing as a cell tower. In the process, they can intercept information from the phones of nearly everyone else who happens to be nearby, including innocent bystanders. They do not intercept the content of any communications.
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Dozens of police departments from Miami to Los Angeles own similar devices. A USA TODAY Media Network investigation identified more than 35 of them in 2013 and 2014, and the American Civil Liberties Union has found 18 more. When and how the police have used those devices is mostly a mystery, in part because the FBI swore them to secrecy.
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‘I am astounded at the extent to which police have been so aggressively using this technology, how long they’ve been using it and the extent to which they have gone to create ruses to shield that use,’ Stephen Mercer, the chief of forensics for Maryland’s public defenders, said.”
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8) The 10 Most Literate Countries in the World (Nope, the U.S. Isn't No. 1)
via TakePart
“In late February when President Barack Obama selected Carla Hayden, the head of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, to run the Library of Congress, he lauded her commitment to boosting the community’s use of the facility and providing patrons with greater access to computers. Hayden’s focus might also get a thumbs-up from the authors of a new study that ranks 61 countries from most to least literate.”
The study found that “there are 781 million illiterate people in the world, and examined several factors, including Internet and library resources, newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, years of schooling, and literacy scores on standardized tests. According to those criteria, Finland—which is known for its high-performing education system—is the world's most literate nation.
The study set out to analyze data for 200 countries but was only able to find reliable information for the 61 included in the study. No nation from central Africa is included. “
The Pacific Rim countries, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and China, would top the list if test performance was the only measure," they said. However, “when factors such as library size and accessibility are added in, the Pacific Rim nations drop dramatically
Here's the List:
THE 10 MOST LITERATE COUNTRIES (among 61 which were tested)
1. Finland
2. Norway
3. Iceland
4. Denmark
5. Sweden
6. Switzerland
7. United States
8. Germany
9. Latvia
10. Netherlands”
[To tell you the truth, I’m kind of surprised that we ranked on that list at all! I am astounded by the lack of knowledge that our children and collegians exhibit.
Message me for a link to an astonishing video of college students being interviewed who did not know who the Vice President is, or which side won the Civil War!]
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9) CANNABIS WATCH
Domestic Pot is better, and cheaper, and cutting into the profits of the Mexican Drug Cartels
[I'm doing my Happy Dance!]
via SFGate
“Medical marijuana laws in 23 states and adult-use laws in four, as well as Washington D.C. are having a long-predicted effect: damaging the profits of Mexican drug cartels.
For decades the U.S.’s main source for cannabis has been Mexican drug trafficking organizations who grow the drug in rural central Mexico. Ever since California’s Prop 215 in 1996, domestic producers have been undercutting the cartels, providing higher quality product closer to market — and it’s killing cartel farmers in Mexico, NPR reported Monday. Farm gate prices have been slashed in half in Sinaloa.
‘If the U.S. continues to legalize pot, they’ll run us into the ground,’ states Nabor, a 24-year-old pot grower in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa.
Mexican cartels stand to lose up to $1.8 billion in annual revenue, The Mexico Institute for Competitiveness think tank estimates.
The cartels are adapting, however. With record numbers of Americans hooked and dying from prescription pharmaceuticals, the Sinaloans are following Purdue Pharma and Abbott Laboratories into the opioid game as well.”
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10) Protester Punched in Face by Trump Supporter, Then Arrested by Police
A man who attended Donald Trump’s rally in North Carolina was arrested and charged Thursday with two criminal counts of assault and disorderly conduct after multiple videos posted online appear to show him punching a protester in the face.
A protester was hit in the face at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina while being escorted out by police. Police have a 78-year-old man in custody, charged with assault. The man was only arrested after a video came to light.
John McGraw was questioned and arrested by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the incident after police identified him as the man in the video, public information officer Sgt. Sean Swain told CNN.
McGraw appears in the video to punch a black protester in the face as he was being escorted out of the venue with a group of protesters by a half-dozen police officers. The incident occurred during Trump’s rally Wednesday night in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
When McGraw was tracked down and questioned by the press, he was very proud of himself, and was caught on video saying, "You bet I liked it. He's not acting like an American! YES! He deserved it! The next time we see him, we might have to kill him."
"There may be somebody with tomatoes in the audience. So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell— I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise. It won’t be so much ’cause the courts agree with us too."
[Ya think The Donald will volunteer to pay McGraw's legal fees? I swear, if we get through this Trump Campaign without an on-air murder, I will be shocked. I'm not wishing for it, but I'm just saying that we could very likely see it happen.]
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11) Every Dairy Farm should have a Methane Digester, just like The Straus Family Organic Creamery!
[I lived in West Marin, in the Point Reyes National Seashore area for over 40 years. I had already been living there for more than 20 years when the Strauss Family Creamery in Marshall was founded in 1994. How lucky I felt to have the absolute BEST organic dairy products right in my own backyard! Their products are thick and creamy and SO delicious.]
In their own words:
"Straus Family Creamery was founded in 1994. We are a family-owned and operated business, dedicated to making the highest quality and minimally processed organic dairy products. With our dairy and creamery located in the small town of Marshall on the Northern California Coast, we were the first certified organic dairy west of the Mississippi River and the first 100% certified organic creamery in the United States."
Poop to Power– Renewable Energy powers the Straus dairy using methane from our cows.
We make electricity from manure, the manure from our own cows, to be precise. We create enough renewable energy to power the entire dairy, to charge Albert Straus’ electric car and to feed some electricity back into the grid. We use a methane digester, which turns methane gas, a part of manure, into electricity. Poop to power, so to speak - this is how it works.
How the methane digester works
Twice a day, the barns are flushed clean with recycled water, including water that has been recycled from the creamery. Manure from the barn is also scraped by tractor into a holding pond. From there, it goes through a separator, which separates solids from liquids. The solids are composted and the liquids are piped into a second pond that is covered with an enormous tarp. Under the tarp, the liquid manure is transformed by bacteria, through the process of anaerobic digestion. The result of this sustainable practice is renewable energy in the form of methane gas, carbon dioxide and a small amount of hydrogen sulfite.
The tarp that covers the pond captures the gas. It is then pumped to a combustion engine where it fuels a generator and creates electricity. The heat created in the process is used to heat water for the dairy. This 180-degree Fahrenheit water is used to clean barns.
Sustainable benefits
There are many benefits to this system in addition to the energy it generates. The most important is that it prevents methane gas, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more detrimental than carbon dioxide, from entering the atmosphere. In addition, it greatly eliminates odors on the farm and significantly reduces flies. Two byproducts, separated solids and leftover liquids, are used as organic fertilizer on pastures. The system allows the Straus dairy to run electrical meters in reverse and to offset electrical usage from other meters at the farm.
Good-to-know facts and numbers:
Generator capacity: 80 kW
Average performance per month: 28,800 kWh
Average performance per day : 960 kWh
Implementation cost: $334,680 – initial conversion to anaerobic digester plus refurbishment
Initial funding: $155,261 – DPPP and EPA through CA Water Quality Board
Annual cost savings: $40,000 - $50,000
Return on investment: 4-5 years
Values in Action
We like to act on our beliefs and values and we have done so since the very beginning. Over the years, this has translated into a wide range of sustainable practices at Straus Family Creamery that aim to preserve organic integrity, reduce our carbon footprint, support family farms and take responsibility for what is happening in our local communities and our food system at large.
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Sustainable Practices include:
Methane Digester • GMO Labeling • Non-GMO • USDA Organic • Reusable Bottles • Water Reuse • Community Participation • Carpool Program • Farmer's Market Participants
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Visit the strausfamilycreamery web site to learn more about all of their sustainable practices.
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12) Michigan Mayor: Security Threatened To Kick Me Out Of Debate For Vocal Bernie Support
via BuzzFeed
“FLINT, Michigan — After expressing vocal support for Bernie Sanders during Sunday night’s debate, the Independent mayor of Michigan’s third largest city says security warned him that he would be booted from Sunday’s Democratic debate, if he did not quiet down.
Jim Fouts, the three-term Independent mayor of Warren, told BuzzFeed News Monday that he attended both the Republican and Democratic debates in Michigan over the past week. The audience at the GOP debate at the Fox Theatre in Detroit Thursday was loud. But the mood in the Whiting Auditorium on the campus of the Flint Cultural Center, where Sanders and Hillary Clinton met in one of their sharpest-elbowed debates to date, was very different, he said.
'The Democratic debate is totally controlled by Hillarys [sic] good friend DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz,” Fouts wrote on Facebook Monday. “No commentary is allowed by the audience. Particularly if you are cheering Bernie Sanders. Persons who do not adhere to Hillarys [sic] rules are threatened with expulsion.'
Fouts has not officially endorsed Sanders, but he is a big fan. He told BuzzFeed News that if he does vote in Tuesday’s Democratic primary,'it’s going to be for Bernie Sanders.'
At the debate, Fouts sat in the center section of the hall, directly behind Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chair. Next to him was his longtime executive assistant. Fouts told BuzzFeed News that at multiple times during the beginning of the debate, he turned to his executive assistant, praised Sanders’ performance, and said the Flint debate — added to the calendar after the initial set were announced — proved that more debates were a good idea.
‘I was just saying ‘great job, Bernie!’ and ‘we need more debates,'Fouts said. He said that at one point he vocally criticized Clinton for'wrapping herself around Obama.'
He insisted he was speaking at a 'normal conversation’ level. Staff for the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia who were sitting near Wasserman Schultz and Fouts said he was being ‘very disruptive’ and made it hard to hear the candidates.
Wasserman Schultz did not respond to a request for comment.
During an early commercial break, security confronted Fouts, roused him from his seat, and pulled him and his assistant off to the side of the hall. He was told there had been “complaints” about his behavior and that security had been ordered to throw him out.
The sergeant at arms said, ‘The people that run this want you ejected, they don’t want you here,’ Fouts recalled. He said his assistant asked if the complainer was Wasserman Schultz.
'The security guy said, ‘don’t say I said it,' Fouts said.
Fouts was outraged by the evening. He called for Wasserman Schultz to step down in the Monday interview. After the conversation with security, Fouts said he returned to his seat and took extra care to be quiet.
'I was even careful when I clapped,' he said. 'I’m sorry that I offended her with my enthusiasm.'
Clashes between the Sanders campaign and its supporters and the DNC have been routine throughout the primary. When the debate calendar was first announced, Sanders supporters were among those who shouted down Wasserman Schultz during a speech at the New Hampshire Democratic state convention.
When the DNC suspended Sanders’ campaign access to the party’s online voter file following a break of Clinton data by Sanders campaign aides, the Sanders campaign filed a lawsuit and accused Wasserman Schultz of doing Clinton’s bidding.
Top DNC officials, including the chair, have pledged neutrality throughout the primary process, saying that the party takes no sides.
Fouts said he didn’t think the quiet rule at the Democratic debate was very democratic. He prefers things a little looser, if not as loose as the Republicans do it.
'Frankly I was appalled by what I saw and what happened,' he said."
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*NOTE* - Please understand that I do not claim to be a “journalist”. I am only passing on bits of information, which others have researched, that drift through my awareness, on any given day. I watch, read and listen to any number of different news and entertainment sources, and it’s more than anyone could possibly intake and retain in a day, so I created this little daily “cheat sheet” for myself, so that I could remember all these oddball facts. Then I decided to share these tidbits, and thus was born the Daily TILT. I do this for fun. I hope you enjoy it.
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[Snarky comments by me are usually in brackets like this].
All photos by me, unless credited otherwise.
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**NOTE: I purposely do not include links or photos in the TILT. The idea is to not have one story be highlighted above all the others. And sometimes links can be stressful. I, myself, sometimes get conflicted when presented with too many choices, so I thought I'd save you the trouble of having to make any of those types of decisions for a few minutes, while you read the Photo and Link-Free TILT!
I encourage you to further research any story that interests you, though. They are easy to Google.
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***My Daily Sources are usually one of the following: Democracy Now, The Daily Kos, Thom Hartmann, care2, Mother Jones, David Pakman, Ring of Fire, Jim Hightower, Alternet, Bill Press, Wired UK, John Fugelsang, Lee Camp, Bill Maher, The Huffington Post, The Daily Show, TYT Network, todayifoundout, Truthout, DIGG, Think Progress, Politico, Salon, Star Kelley, Friends of the Earth, Talk Media News, NRDC, Pirate Television, The Upworthiest, The Chase, The View, Soul Pancake, The Petition Site, Bioneers, TechKnow, The Daily Beast, PPP, YouTube and occasionally, MSNBC.
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As Thom Hartmann always says, "Democracy is NOT a spectator sport. TAG, you're it!"