The Crow's Nest

Um, you’d have this reaction too, if you opened a wedding shower present and found this eerie doll…. (OK, so it’s an ongoing Farm and Dairy newsroom prank: After being found at the nearby Goodwill this winter, it shows up in a new “home” every once in awhile. Generally accepted office behavior, you know.)

Trying to become Miriam Miller's daughter

Saying goodbye to my Mom in a column this week.

When Robin Roberts left Good Morning America a month later to get treatment for MDS, Curry asked NBC if she could tweet a note of sympathy for the ABC co-host. NBC said no, afraid she was trying to aid the enemy.

Joe Hagan (via soupsoup)

npr:

Cooking with animal fat — common around the world for centuries — was dealt a near-fatal blow in the early 20th century by Crisco and its anti-lard campaign. Lard was demonized as an unhealthy fat, and cooks took note. Other vegetable oils came along, and lard was all but forgotten.
Now, after years in culinary exile, lard is staging a comeback.
Kitchen Window: Lard And Schmaltz Make A Comeback In The Kitchen
Get recipes for Husk’s Cornbread, Duck Fat Fries, Schmaltz, Matzo Ball Soup and Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake With Vanilla Chocolate Chip Buttercream Frosting.
Photo: Peter Ogburn for NPR

npr:

Cooking with animal fat — common around the world for centuries — was dealt a near-fatal blow in the early 20th century by Crisco and its anti-lard campaign. Lard was demonized as an unhealthy fat, and cooks took note. Other vegetable oils came along, and lard was all but forgotten.

Now, after years in culinary exile, lard is staging a comeback.

Kitchen Window: Lard And Schmaltz Make A Comeback In The Kitchen

Get recipes for Husk’s Cornbread, Duck Fat Fries, Schmaltz, Matzo Ball Soup and Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake With Vanilla Chocolate Chip Buttercream Frosting.

Photo: Peter Ogburn for NPR

After FERPA Fact rating, Saddleback College reverses position on records relating to shooter

ferpafact:

Here’s a first: After earning FERPA Fact’s “Not protected by FERPA” rating, one California college has reversed its position.

Last week, we gave a Triple Duncan rating to Saddleback College’s use of FERPA. The school cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (before citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) when denying student journalists at the Lariat access to public records about a former student who went on a shooting spree that killed three in February.

This week, the college has reversed its position. In an email sent Thursday, the school’s spokeswoman told Lariat editor Angie Pineda that after consulting with the school’s lawyers, the school would be releasing records relating to Ali Syed.

“The opinion of legal counsel is that based on the U.S. Department of Education’s interpretation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), it is within the discretion of the district to decide whether to release the documents in this highly unusual circumstance,” McCue wrote. “The college and district take student privacy rights and laws protecting those rights seriously. Given that it is within our discretion to release the documents in this circumstance, the college and district have made the decision to honor the Lariat’s request.”

Pineda said she and her staff never expected administrators to provide the records. ”We were all stunned,” she said. Read the documents here.

Student journos rock!

Great farm parody video (of Thrift Shop) from farmer Derek Klingenberg. And read a quick interview with him on Farm and Dairy’s blog, The Social Silo.

laughingsquid:

Piano-Playing Fan Asks Billy Joel to Perform Together, Joel Obliges

Now this takes some balls. Love it.