Good morning 99percenters!

Ever stand in the grocery store and wonder whether the fish you’re considering buying is sustainable? The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a web site, Seafood Watch, that can advise you on which seafood to buy or avoid and help you select items that are fished or farmed in ways that have less impact on the environment.

The site is easy to navigate and there is an app available for your phone so you actually check it while standing in front of the seafood counter. Or, if you’re more of a luddite there’s a downloadable PDF for each state that you can slip into a pocket, or purse.

This is an open thread, so tell us what’s on your mind today. Anyone watching some hoops?

I ran across a box of old cartoons I clipped years ago and thought I'd scan and share some of them.

Good morning 99percenters!

Simple fact: male birds are more colorful than female birds. Ever wonder why?

Well, you can get up close and personal with some of the fanciest birds in North America at the All About Birds blog.

With colorful quizzes and rare footage you’ll get to know males that use feathers, songs, dance moves, and even design skills to woo mates. Discover the upper limits of extravagance with peacocks, parrots, lyrebirds, hummingbirds, sage-grouse and more.

Then satisfy your curiosity about the origins of fanciness by watching as the birds-of-paradise bring evolution to life.

Here’s hoping you have a great weekend.

This is an open thread. What’s on your mind today?

Google Ads are a major source of income for a lot of websites. Recent actions by Google suggest that it will throw its weight around to engage in political censorship of websites that carry their ads. It may not be smart for lefties to rely on that income.

This evening's music features New Orleans r&b piano player, singer and songwrither Huey Piano Smith.

Every few years an economic event will happen that can be easily seen by everyone except mainstream economists. Today that economic event is a global tidalwave of deflation that is sweeping the globe.

Good morning 99percenters!

The Spring and The Fall

In the spring of the year, in the spring of the year,
I walked the road beside my dear.
The trees were black where the bark was wet.
I see them yet, in the spring of the year.
He broke me a bough of the blossoming peach
That was out of the way and hard to reach.

Fear dominates everything in America today. It’s crept into everything: politics, advertising, news coverage and social media. And if you fear, you don’t reason correctly. How do we fight this? Here’s a start. Alternet has launched a series of articles on fear and how to combat it.

This evening's music features one of the great blueswomen, Etta James.

Good morning 99percenters!

The sun drank the last traces of snow from our lawn yesterday. That’s surely a sign that spring is on it’s way. And even better, one of our local beer gardens is opening for the season this afternoon. I don’t mind admitting that sitting outside under the spring sun and enjoying a pint of freshly brewed craft beer is one of my guilty pleasures.

If you have an inkling to drop your neighborhood local or maybe see what’s on the shelf these days at a near by retailer you might want to check out this handy guide of Craft Beer Spring Seasonals 2015 by the Craft Brewers Association. There are recommendations by region as well as availability by state.

This is an open thread so tell us what’s on your mind today, or share a beer recommendation of your own.