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Greetings from the South Bend Catholic Worker. This summer I hope to blog more about activism/religion/hospitality, and less about community media and Worcester.

Milton Valencia
I’ve been told that Milton Valencia is no longer writing for the Worcester T&G, and has moved on to the Boston Globe. This is a big loss for Worcester, as he’s been one of only a handful of local journalists who take the job seriously. Best wishes and godspeed.

Peace Pilgrim
Speaking of community media and Worcester, here’s a WCCA story about a woman following in the footsteps of Peace Pilgrim.

Anathoth Community Farm
Nice profile of this Catholic Worker-ish community. “The farm, which takes its name from a biblical reference to ‘a place of refuge,’ is throwing itself a 20th anniversary party concert and fundraiser this weekend featuring musician Buckwheat Zydeco.”

The only Anathoth photo I have is of me gardening:

Mass. “will keep Office after Microsoft makes change in software”
Globe: “The state of Massachusetts says a new document format from Microsoft Corp. meets revised state standards, ensuring that state agencies can keep using Microsoft’s popular Office software suite.”

Damn. Via Granite Geek.

Climber Steve House on doping in baseball and cycling
House:

Because enforcement is so difficult, it seems the only way out at this point is to change the rules and make all doping legal. They’re going to do it anyway, you might as well let them. That is as long as the incentive to succeed at any cost is there. Let the viewers and the enthusiasts decide whether or not to support such games. Hopefully people will finally get fed up with these childish antics and go grab a bike, or better, a climbing rope of their own, and leave the TV and go outside themselves.

[…]
Everest is the other example in climbing where the financial incentive to succeed (to not squander that $60,000 permit) has people doping like fiends. 514 climbers have reportedly summitted Everest so far this year and most (maybe all?) used supplementary oxygen. Sucking O’s is definitely doping. And clearly it is cheating. Not one ascent made with O’s counts in my book.

T&G articles
Chris Ariel and I had a letter to the editor published. Back story: After more than 120 people sent a letter to the City questioning the wisdom of the City Council’s uses of Community Development Block Grant money, the City (especially Councilor Barbara Haller) made a big show of proving that the uses were legal. Funny thing is, nobody questioned whether they were legal, just whether they helped low-income residents. The City used to make good CDBG decisions, so this new trend is troubling.

Last week, the T&G had an article in which Councilor Joff Smith, seemingly convinced that being a jerk is the key to reelection, tried to deflect criticism of his decision to vote for a City Council pay raise at a time when the City has no money, by comparing his decision to his opponent’s receiving a disability pension after 32 years as a firefighter. What’s notable is the huge, angry comments thread on the paper’s website.

The T&G comments section is so ill-mannered and ill-informed that even a local news junkie like me avoids it. They oughta make like the Sacramento Bee and encourage people to take ownership of their words.

Damien Hirst’s diamond skull
As seen on Boing Boing.

Yahoo News: “British artist Damien Hirst’s latest solo show ‘Beyond Belief’ at London’s White Cube gallery, which closes this weekend, has taken $250 million in sales in just five weeks, the gallery said on Friday.”

Bruce Sterling: “With funding like that, Damien could buy Blackwater and become the first artist with his own private transnational mercenary army.”

Jakob to blogosphere: Stop writing crap
This is so true. Well over 90% of the visitors to Pie and Coffee are reading older, substantial articles. This week, for example, lots of StumbleUpon users are reading our “How to knit a plastic bag”.

Happy to be vegan
Joi Ito: “I’m happy to say that it was the right decision and that I’ve never been healthier or happier as long as I can remember and I intend to continue being a vegan.”

Related: Zombie food pyramid.