Fly The Friendly Skies And Be Forced To Endure Invasion Of Your Personhood

Did you give you child the talk? You know the talk about not allowing anyone to touch you in your "special place." The talk in which you say to your sweet innocent child that no one, no one ever has the right to touch you when you don't want to be touched? Well you need to go back and modify that speech a bit.

Your new speech should include that the government and its agents always has a right to touch you even if the constitution happens to mention that whole silly little search and seizure blah blah blah thing.

Just by let your child know that the TSA can impose its will on your body against your will but if you are a good little girl these nice people will let them you can fly to Disney World, I'm certain that will just make things go so much better for your child than this video.

Oh and wasn't it a great idea for the TSA Agents to get the child to think that they are playing a game? Of course I think child molesters do that to. They touch you against your will and tell you that it's OK because it's just a special game you are playing. That certainly won't confuse a child.

Golly Gosh darn it Janet Napolitano what a great idea! Don't forget we face a determined enemy. Just curious Janet, that determined enemy, are they three year old girls?

Oh but the news gets better for the ladies both young and old. Screeners are now authorized to use the front of their hands and to touch areas around breasts and groins. Passengers being screened are supposed to be given privacy during these more invasive pat-downs and the searches are supposed to be done by screeners of the same sex.

Do you think they will buy me dinner first? Will there be that awkward moment afterwards where the screener says, "I'll call you"

Oh and by the way have we even been told the truth about the dangerous levels of radiation full-body scanners emit? I don't know about you but even at 51 years old, my dentist asks me if there is a chance I might be pregnant before giving me a full mouth X-ray.

Should pregnant women be concerned about exposure to this radiation?

Too many questions that are not being answered. Thanks for all that transparency we were promised.

The Cooks Source Dot Com Pile On

We all say we hate to see someone kicked when they're down but, really, really, really deep down inside, we take joy in the fact that some times someone needs a good A$$ Kicking and we want to be there to witness the whole thing.

Guards release the hungry lions....

I don't believe I have ever used or for that matter even knew of the existence of Cooks Source. Then recently I saw an active chat out there on the "internets" about how an article, “American as Apple Pie -- Isn’t,” was published in Cooks Source, without the approval of the writer, Monica Gaudio and I joined the ranks of observers of the train wreck that could have been avoided.

It appears that Monica was alerted by a friend that her article without her permission. Monica tried to contact the magazine’s editor Judith Griggs asking for three things: an apology on their Facebook page, an apology printed in their next issue and compensation for her work in the form of a $130 donation (about $0.10 per word) to the Columbia School of Journalism. In hindsight, this was probably a far cheaper and better way to handle this whole brouhaha.

Ms. Griggs attempted to school Ms. Monica with the following lecture: “the web is considered “public domain” and you should be happy we just didn’t “lift” your whole article and put someone else’s name on it!”

Ms. Griggs also let Monica know that “the article… was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally… For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain… We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me!”

Really Ms. Griggs? I am no lawyer but I will tell you that even after only a couple of Business Law classes in college, I would have to say I think you might not want to represent yourself in court using that as your defense. I don't that will play well in court. Especially since it appears you used material from Food Network, Disney, NPR and other sites. Might I suggest you bone-up on current guidelines for attributions at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/

Fool yourself once shame on you.... fool yourself a whold bunch of times.....er ah well however that whole thing goes it's still shame on you!!!!

Now it's one absolutely viral and it's been covered written on CNN, MSNBC, NPR and more. If you check out Cooks Source's Facebook account you will discover many great one liners about Cook's source catering at KFC or dropping boulders on the "fat kid from Lord of the Flies or even learning that cooks source's on the knoll may have actually been on the grassy knoll when JFK was assassinated.

This onslaught of hate mail seems to be another one I witnessed a year or so ago against a Mommy blogger who took photos of strangers at the airport and mocked them, including a young girl whom the mommy blogger mocked for being "too fat".

Since Cooks Source believes in the copy and paste philosophy of copyright infringement, I'm sure she will understand me copying and pasting, word for word exactly what appears on her home page.

We have cancelled our Facebook page on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 6:00PM. It has since been since been hacked by unknown parties and now someone else unknown to us has control of it. Their inclusion of Cooks Source issues and photos is used without our knowledge or consent. Please know that none of the statements made by either Cooks Source or Judith Griggs were made by either our staff or her.

We do not, and never have had a Twitter page, so what is attributed as our presence or our statements have nothing to do with Cooks Source or Judith Griggs.

We also cancelled our website on the above date, as our advertisers were listed therein, and with the harassment that has taken place on Facebook, we felt was unsafe for them.

Cooks Source will not be on Facebook again at any time in the future: hacking is too prevalent and apparently too easily performed by disreputable people. The email and Facebook abuse of our advertisers is the prime example: it is hurtful to people who are innocent of this issue, and can ill-afford the abuse -- either emotionally or financially. Small business owners are being bombarded with hate mail, and distasteful messages because someone downloaded their contact information on these bogus sites. These small business owners work very hard to keep their businesses going in a bad economy. We respectfully request this harassment be stopped immediately. If you or anyone knows of this abuse, you should go to the bogus Cooks Source (or other bogus pages) Facebook page, look to the left side of the page and press “Report Abuse,” or else go to How to Report Claims of Intellectual Property Infringement, http://www.facebook.com/legal/copyright.php The Facebook Corporate phone number are 650-543-4800, 650-853-1300 and 650-543-4811which hopefully will assist interested parties who feels these snipers who are perpetuating hate have gotten out of hand and want to report it. Interestingly, this phone number and any other contact info is not listed on the Facebook site, and has taken four people a number of days to track down.

Last month an article, “American as Apple Pie -- Isn’t,” was placed in error in Cooks Source, without the approval of the writer, Monica Gaudio. We sincerely wish to apologize to her for this error, it was an oversight of a small, overworked staff. We have made a donation at her request, to her chosen institution, the Columbia School of Journalism. In addition, a donation to the Western New England Food Bank, is being made in her name. It should be noted that Monica was given a clear credit for using her article within the publication, and has been paid in the way that she has requested to be paid.

This issue has made certain changes here at Cooks Source. Starting with this month, we will now list all sources. Also we now request that all the articles and informational pieces will have been made with written consent of the writers, the book publishers and/or their agents or distributors, chefs and business owners. All submission authors and chefs and cooks will have emailed, and/or signed a release form for this material to Cooks Source and as such will have approved its final inclusion. Email submissions are considered consent, with a verbal/written follow-up. Recipes created in the Cooks Source Kitchen are owned by Cooks Source and as such approval is given for chefs and cooks in our area to use them. Artwork used is created by our staff, or is royalty-free or purchased “clip-art.”

However: Cooks Source can not vouch for all the writers we have used in the past, and in the future can only check to a certain extent. Therefore, we will no longer accept unrequested articles, nor will we work with writers or illustrators unless they can prove they are reputable people, provide their sources, and who, in our estimation, we feel our readers and advertisers can trust and rely on for accuracy and originality. All sources will be listed with the articles, along with the permission, where necessary.

To say this has hurt our business is an understatement. But worse, it is harming the very people we are here to assist. Cooks Source’s is a small, free, local food newspaper-type magazine (called 'magazine' because it doesn't generally include what is known as 'news,') whose mission statement is to assist small businesses and farms in our area and help readers learn about sustainable food issues. We promote small businesses and farms in our area, offer recipes because our readers request them, and because we are offered cookbooks and excerpts from distributors, publicists, agents and authors, non-profits, ag organizations, chefs and home cooks so as to help them promote their works. Cooks Source is so named because it reports on food sources: the farms, the bakers, the chefs and the foodie producers and purveyors-- to the home and professional cooks and chefs in our area.

The misuse of Facebook discussed above also applies to Ms. Gaudio: she did what she felt was the right thing, and doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment, either. Regardless of what has been said, we liked her article very much.

Jennifer Petkov Back In The News Over Some Shit

Does the name Jennifer Petkove ring any bells for you? That's right she was the "lady" (I use this term extremely loosely based solely upon her sex and not her behavior) who decided that it was OK to taunt a young girl who was dying of Huntington’s disease. She was also charged with felonious assault and reckless driving for allegedly trying to run over Tana Bowling as she was crossing the street Oct. 13. Seems that Jennifer is the poster girl for psycho bitch.

Turns out our friend Jennifer is back in the news again. This time over some shit. Yes I said shit.

Police were called 2:40 p.m. Saturday when Bowling told police the Petkovs had been spraying dog feces mixed with water under the fence line and onto her property. yes that is the same Tana Bowling she tried to run down back in October.

Police found what appeared to be dog feces on Bowling’s property and spoke with the Petkovs. Both denied spraying the dog feces under the fence. Scott Petkov said his son had been cleaning up after the dog, which is chained to a fence near where the alleged dog feces was found, and that he would try to clean it up better.

Scott Petkov said Bowling has been warned not to step on their property, a “No Trespassing” sign is posted and he wanted Bowling and a man helping her rake leaves ticketed.

He told police he videotaped the incident. The officer reviewed the tape but could not tell if anyone was on the Petkovs’ driveway.

Bowling and her friend denied being on the property or driveway. Police said the Petkovs want to prosecute them for trespassing.

Jennifer, I realize I'm not a doctor. Heck I don't even play one on TV but it doesn't take Einstein to realize that you really desperately need some psychiatric help.

Surrounding yourself with so much hate and anger is only going to come back to hurt you and your family in the long run. Get help girl! Don't walk RUN. Call a doctor today.

Man's Best Friend

Spot shows us why a dog is a man's best friend.

Twenty Second Day Of Forty Days of Gratitude

Another cold morning but we now have the heat on upstairs. The last several days we've kept warm using an electric blanket because Darryl wants to save money on our electric bill. Today was our first full day of heat so it was a bit easier to get out of bed this morning.

Another reason it was easier to get out of bed this morning was because the clocks had been turned back an hour. This mean I actually slept in until 6:50 am. Trust me, if you knew me that's pretty late. Usually the dogs have me up by then.

Sundays are usually my date with deals and today was no different. We were able to get some really good deals at CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger. My favorite part was stocking up on Annie's Macaroni and Cheese. I love Macaroni and Cheese and I remember when I used to buy Kraft Mac and Cheese for two for a dollar. Today I was able to buy Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese for only 49 cents. Ah the good old days. I was also excited about buying Blue Diamond Almond Milk for only 99 cents a half a gallon. What a great deal.

Our trip to Kroger today gave me my moment of gratitude. We bought a $300 gift card to donate to a local pantry so they could purchase turkey. Right now turkey is only 69 cents a pound and they should be able to get a few more turkeys than they thought originally.

Things may not be as good for us as they were a few years ago but I still feel blessed that we both have a job. I feel that it's important for us to help others who are hurting.

I am also blessed because my son Dan called me. He called because he felt I was the "thrifty store expert". Imagine that. He has a friend who lives in Atlanta who was looking for a thrift store so Dan called me to see if I knew of any good ones. I really don't know much about Atlanta. Darryl really doesn't like going there much so there is still much of Atlanta that I haven't seen. I couldn't help him but he thanked me anyway and told me that he loved me very much. Now who wouldn't feel grateful to have such a wonderful son love her?

Day 21 Of Forty Days of Gratitude

It was one of those cold days that autumn will throw your way to remind you that winter is on it's way. The temperature this morning was only 40 degrees and I could see my breath as I called out to my dog as we took an early morning walk. I watched as my warm breath became became misty tendrils in the dark morning sky and then evaporated. I wanted to crawl back into bed beneath the warm electric blanket curled up next to my husband. Instead I warmed up some tea and had some cookies for breakfast.

I know. I know. Cookies for breakfast are not healthy and they will not help you lose weight but they truly were calling my name.

I turned on my computer and began working on my blog. I was a woman on a mission because companies were counting on me to do a product review and I still had to get my shopping guide ready. The house was quiet and the dogs were lying by my feet.

I let Darryl sleep in despite the fact that we had lots of errands to run. I loved the fact that I didn't have to rush anywhere. On the agenda for today was a stop at Lowes, Bath and Body, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart. Little did I realize that little pleasures awaited me at every turn today.

Our first stop was Lowes. It turns out that the appliances for my new kitchen were all on sale. We took advantage of that sale and after we paid for my new stove and dishwasher we had to run to get a couple of filters for our heater.

Then I heard my name and I turned around. There was a former student whom I had taken a special interest in years ago when he was in my class. He was living with his Grandmother because his father had abandoned the family years ago and his mother had died. I noticed that he was slacking off in class because he wanted to be a bit of a class clown.

At first he thought I was picking on him but after I spoke to his Grandmother she realized that I had his best interests at heart. By the end of that year he was enrolled in college and I felt his life was on track.

Today I found out that he wound up not finishing the classes he had been taking and was out of school for now. He was thinking about going back to school to be a teacher. He said he wanted to be a history teacher and I told him about a program that allows people to get an education degree and agree to work in struggling schools to work off their college loans. I suggested that he ask the financial aid officer about the program.

We spoke a little longer and then he mentioned that if he was going to be a teacher he wanted to teach like I did because he felt that students learn better when the book isn't being rammed down your throat. He said he liked how really excited I was about what I taught and he wants to teach history because he's excited about that. I would say that our conversation is one that many teachers hope to have and for me it was definitely a moment of gratitude.

After Lowes Darryl took me out to eat at Chili's. I know he really didn't want to go but I was in the mood for soup and I wanted to try their all your can eat soup and salad. I didn't realize that it came with salsa and chips. I ordered their Potato Soup and at the last minute Darryl decided to order the same item. Let's just say that happiness is Chilis potato soup on a cold day. Darryl must have told me four times that this was the best potato soup he has ever had.

After we finished lunch we headed over to Walgreens with a Register Reward for $6 that we had to spend or lose. That's when I noticed the candy was 75% off. We bought four pounds of candy for $6. All we paid was the tax. This was an unexpected little surprise.

One of the things I was excited about going to Bath and Body Works this weekend because of a sale they were having. You could buy three Bath and Body Works signature body washes and/or lotions and you would get three free. In addition to that I had a coupon for $10 off $30. I was able to bring the price down to $23.01. I had two gift cards that I had won earlier this year and each of them had a few dollars left on them. I used them to bring my total down to $3.43. How's that for a great deal? I was sooooo excited.

We had $8 to spend at Rite Aid from some Up Rewards that were going to expire. Darryl was able to purchase a couple of things he wanted.

From there we headed over to Walmart where we discovered that everything Halloween had been marked down 90%. I wound up getting some great Halloween stuff all for under $6. That certainly was a treat.

The last little surprise had arrived in the mail when we were gone. It was coupons for free hot dogs and free Oscar Meyer cold cuts from Kroger. I love free so I really was happy to see those coupons.

So as you can see despite today's chilly beginning there was so much to be grateful for today.

Shutterfly Helps Make The Season Merry

My husband and I just love sending and receiving personalized Christmas Cards. When we receive personalized cards that feature family photos become keepsakes that we treasure. Snapfish makes it as easy as one-two-three to send these cards to friends and family members.

Step one is probably the most difficult step. I only say that because with more than 3,600 new designs it’s hard to pick just one card. You can select your holiday like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even simply Happy Holidays. You can then narrow your search by religion, number of photos you want on your card, landscape or portrait orientation, color, or design preferences.

It was a tough decision but after a lot of thought we decided to order a set of 20 5×7 Oh Holy Night Christmas Cards which features our favorite family photo on a starry, holy night card. Your family's names will appear below your own personalized greeting. We were able to get a set of 20 for $1.75 per card which includes envelopes and you certainly can’t buy cards as special as these at any price. We decided to go with the matte photo paper but many cards allow you to choose glossy for the same price or for just a little more you can select writeable stationery card stock.

Step two is selecting the photo or photos you wish to use for your card. Snapfish makes it easy to upload photos. Once you decide what photos you want to use, just drag and drop. Now isn’t that easy?

Step Three, we personalized our card. We selected a font and typed our family name.
Now doesn’t that sound easy? I hate to say I told you so.



If your holidays include parties, you will really be impressed with Snapfish Christmas invitations. We plan to send our family and friends the By Golly Party Invitations which features a favorite photo, bold letters and whimsical icons. It’ easy to add the event details next to a fun, festive tree and sparkling snowflakes on a turquoise background.



It's better to give the receive isn't it. Send a little something extra this year with cheery Christmas Gift Tags from Snapfish. Corresponding thank you cards and address labels are also available. I am really keen on the Giving Gifts Tag.