I am baffled because I have the opposite point of view entirely. Has anyone ever thought about what your ancestor Gunter in Germany was eating a thousand years ago? Probably cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, onions, garlic, barley, cabbage, pork, and turnips. How about Earnest in England?... pretty much the same. Far from food going extinct, I think there is tremendous diversity now in food production. Industrial production might require GM and capitalization of research through protection of intellectual property, but the fact remains that you are eating tomatoes, kohlrabi, six kinds of lettuce, two kinds of carrots, brussels sprouts, etc. All of those are robust and are grown as millions of mini varieties in gardens all over the world. I mean EVERYWHERE. Seed banks, seed companies, and people's dresser drawers hold huge stores of DNA, all slightly different. In five minutes, I could buy 100 different packets of seeds at the hardware store. Was that even possible in the 50s? And that is F1 or F2. Some okra farmer in Alabama has seeds produced through 50 crosses. People can and do create and study their own cultivars of darn near everything every season and then trade them internationally. How will that change? Activism is all well and good, but GM and Mxxxxxxo are small in the big picture and probably getting smaller. Remember that they have to invest millions in a cultivar just to get it to a commercial seed stage. How many cultivars can they do that with? And they and their timing are going to be wrong how often? Monsanto is not a juggernaut, it is a riverboat gambler. The bigger it gets, the bigger it bets. For better or worse, some gardener in China has a seed that is better than what Mxxxxxxo has got, and it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world finds out about it. In Japan, a single pumpkin seed can sell for hundreds of dollars. Mxxxxxxo has not moved in on that action, and it never will. The market is fuelled by enthusiasts and connisseurs. If the market gets cornered, people will immediately lose interest. Viewed in terms of sheer greed, it is in Mxxxxxxo's interest to maintain wild type specimens in environments all over the world. Even if Mxxxxxxo could sell one type of tomato seed that would make all others extinct, it would not do it. Has anyone considered that? Well, I guess that is enough. I could give 20 more examples. Viewed from a wider perspective, food diversity has never been better. And I will not be buying Mxxxxxxo stock. I should watch more TV, it sounds very entertaining.

dgmarie, I just came from a committee meeting to plan a mother daughter event. Initially it was going to be a tea (and I gathered lots of info for the event); however the rest of them wanted to change it to a hat party. Anyway, if you email me with your email address at dulcimer03@yahoo.com I'll send you 12 pages of info that I gathered off the internet regarding themes, decor, planning ideas, tea sayings, etc. It's just random things but it might be something you can use. For example..... Alternative Theme Titles: Out Your Spout Tea Party Tea Cups and Lace Woman of Character Let's Have Tea! Tea Please! A Lovely Tea Party A Garden Party Tea An Afternoon Tea Theme Verse Suggestions: "...Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. " I Timothy 4:12 1. Consider the basics. o Your budget. o Where it will be held. o How many are likely to attend. o What type of food you will serve. o Do we want a speaker and who might we choose. o What you already have to work with such as tables, table coverings, florals, placemats, etc. o What you'd like your color scheme to be. Try not to use more than 2 to 3 colors together. o Dishes paper or plastic? o Any "extras" you want such as door prizes. o Table décor gather all the tea pots you can find a hodge podge of tea posts of various sizes, colors and shapes makes a wonderful display (place tent cars in front of each one with the name of the lady who brought it) o For table decorations use tea cups filled with flowers o Fill a teapot with flowers for a main table or display 2. Decide on a menu. Keep it light. You can serve a full course meal, just don't make it something heavy. 3. Make a focal point. Use a child's size table and chairs set up with a children's tea set. Place dolls or stuffed bears in the chairs to sit with a small teapot full of flowers in the middle of the table. 4. Use door prizes. o Basket filled with 2 tea cups and specialty tea packages. o Sprinkle candy inside of the tea cups. Wrap with cellophane tied up with ribbons or raffia. o Individual Teacup filled with candy. Wrap with cellophane tied up with ribbons or raffia. o Serving tray 5. Use favors. o Purchase specialty flavor tea bags. Make sure they are individually wrapped packages. Tie with a hang tag that says "Tea with special friends improves life's aroma." along with your church name and date. o Use tea strainers as favors and use the same hang tag suggestion as above. 6. Have fun. o Assign tables ahead of time for a group of ladies or one designated lady to serve as hostess and allow them to come up with a theme and decorations for their table. Each table will be unique. o Have your ladies wear hats and dress for tea. o Have special music. o Sing the "I'm a Little Teapot" song as a chorus. o Play Victorian Parlor Games such as charades. o have some old time etiquette information of interesting facts. I wish we could sit down together And have a cup of tea But since we cant When you have this one I hope youll think of me. source unknown -------------------------------------- I cannot sit and chat with you, the way I'd like to do. So brew yourself a cup of tea, I'll think of you, you think of me. source unknown --------------------------------------- When youre feeling sad & blue And have no clue what to do Sit down and have a cup of tea And a hug or two or maybe three Feel those troubles melt away And start you on a better day. by Paulette, 1998~~TLC Creations.

Hey, I can swear with the best of you, although I rarely do. Raising a bunch of boys after their father died taught me the value of 'holding my tongue', as it were. Once in a blue moon, when I'd had enough and really let loose, the effect was electrifying. Just as sherrmann described, my sons' friends still talk in hushed and awed tones about the time "Miz B told Jason to take his sorry azz and all his chit out of her house and never, ever bring his effing scumbag self back". They were in such a state of shock, they barely said a word for 2 days afterwards. rofl Okay, not exactly the language my mother taught me. But I caught Jason with dope, so Southern manners were the least of my concerns, right? I'm just fine with 'salty' language, as long as nobody is around who would be offended. For instance, I'd never insult my 90-year-old great aunt by using words that would upset her. (You may call that hypocrisy. I call it courtesy.) What I'm not okay with, under any circumstances, is crude language. And the word "snot" is painfully crude, particularly when used to describe food. Turns my stomach (and I don't have a weak one!) sm P.S. And I have to add that comparing Julia Child's voice to coarse language is THE most ridiculous 'strawman' evah!!!

I think we'll just have to roam Pitigliano to find places to eat - the difficulty there is that not much seems to open early, but I think it will be an interesting experience whatever happens. Here's the web site for Narcisi & Bussi - doesn't look breakfast to me, and I was trying to find a bakery. Since they open at 8:30 AM, we'll probably go there anyway. There is Forno Del Ghetto Di Francesca in the Jewish neighborhood, but I do not know what hours it is open. It may be the only bakery in town, since it is a small town. That yacht is grossly huge - fortunately, I do not generally have to deal with that client - I only get called in when the production department cannot handle the designs sufficiently. I am lucky that I am insulated from clients - my only client is my boss. The furniture that is going into that yacht is huge and overscaled, but I suppose it will look okay once it is in place. In the warehouse, it just looks out of proportion. I'm mainly working on new designs for our New York and London showrooms, and we are putting in a lot of new furniture there, fortunately in stages so that I do not get swamped. Most of my work is somewhat on hold for now, while we finish the furniture for that yacht!