a Mother Jones article about Old Cell phones....26th day of the Happiness Challenge, Tuesday Tails

Firstly, here is the Mother Jones Article that should be of concern to those of us who find themselves in the Monoculture Wheat Fields from Hell (aka The New Earth Created by the Infamous One Percent):

This is part of a Mother Jones article about the non extension of the DMCA rulings.  Part of the reason is that carriers (not the big metal ones the DOD churns out but the other more "airy" types) can spend literal Fortunes on this  issue, and we can fight back with, maybe, bake sales, and tiny rallies.  In other words, we can do diddly squat.   And we thought AGRA business was the biggest bad boy in the Lobby at the Congressional Building.  Well, "Duh" upon us...

Here's the part: "In March, a coalition that includes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Reddit, and the popular website BoingBoing petitioned Congress to permanently exempt cellphones from the DMCA. Legistators from both sides of the aisle have introduced bills and the White House supports the idea. Yet so far none of the legislation has made it out of committee—thanks, no doubt, to the clout of the wireless industry, whose annual revenues of $196 billion dwarf those of agribusiness and auto manufacturing. In 2012, the CTIA, a trade association that lobbies for the major carriers, spent more than $12 million pressing Congress on various issues, while individual carriers and phone manufacturers unleashed well over $30 million. (Backers are most optimistic about a new bill from California Rep. Zoe Lofgren that would address the ban as part of a more significant DMCA fix.)
Wiens of iFixit says industry could take other steps, like putting repair manuals online, to keep phones out of landfill. But lifting the ban is "low-hanging fruit," he adds—especially for pols who wants to please their constituents. "It's amazing how popular these unlocks are.""

... So, what will now become of them. our cast off phones.  Can we do a lot of squawking?  Come on all you little parrots!  We can do this thing!

Yes, I know.  It IS "Mother Jones", and they are sort of Leftist but who in the heck isn't Leftist visa vie the right wing nut jobs running the "Big Business Fake Foundation Parade" these days.

Day 26 of August Happiness Challenge.  

Over the past three months, I have been getting some of these.
They are comfy and lovely.  Though other colors tempt me, this is enough.  Well, maybe some blue.

Now for Tuesday Tails:  I saw a bird on the Mendocino County Audubon web page that I couldn't ID.   So, out came the books and in the NGS Birds of North America out popped the Varied Thrush.  It's a male.  GO SEE?  It is the bird in the bottom left corner.  And to whomever took the picture of the Allen's Hummingbird on the tree bit, I congratulate you!  I've got a resident Allen's that I can't get more than a few pictures of a YEAR!

Today, there was a Wilson's Warbler (tiny bird twice the size of the Hummingbird) in the Cape Honeysuckle, and that  sassy little warrior Allen, was dancing all around it trying to flush it out of getting  dinner and force the Wilson's into an aerial dogfight.    Even the Giant Green June Beetles, one of which DH caught inside a rose eating pollen in the picture below, even this hapless and bumbling creature has felt the wrath of the Allen's male. 

 God Himself knows that the honeysuckle was MADE for hummingbirds, as they, and they alone have a bill and tongue built for sipping the nectar.  That is HIS bush made for only the Hummingbirds!  None but the Orioles  are given a pass.  When they arrive, dread Allen hides out in the Lemon tree or goes to the back wall to wait until they leave.  Orioles thrashing around in the big bush are something to avoid.  It's a little like sailboats dueling with aircraft carriers.

Knitting,  The knitting is all on long needles now; we got them today.  Tomorrow, and every day until they are done, I want to do a few rows until the two fronts are done.  On long needles I can knit them with out getting befuddled and with them ending up  two different sizes.  As knitters know, if this happens then it's very bad for your reputation, or someone wearing it, unless it's designed that way.  This one is not.

It rained this morning.  And it REAAALLY rained in the Mountains- three hours of steady rain.  We are glad of it, but hope that it keeps up through September so the Indian Lands get the water they need.  It was so wonderful to wake up to the smell of rain.

It's time for me to hit the hay.  It's been hot and muggy, and that wears a person down.  I think that is why the pace of life in hot places is a much more sensible one, more human scale.  It's good to relax and take it easy in the heat.  Now you all be sure to do the same!  Sweet Dreams!