The Yes! Digest -- May 5th, 2010

This is: Cinco de Mayo (which you know about) and also the Great American Grump Out (which you probably don't.) The holiday's website encourages you to get ungrumpy by "[w]earing any type of smile. Secondly, carry a banana around with you. Not only is the banana the Grump Out's official fruit, but the banana provides a nutritional smile. [Hold it just right and it is a smile.] If you begin to experience any withdrawal discomfort, simply turn that smiley banana upside down. It becomes a frown. Stare at it for a moment when no one is looking."

Spirit food: "I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." -- Albert Schweitzer

Brain food:

• Wondering exactly how chemical dispersants work to clean up oil spills? Dr. Ed Overton explains. (via The Maddow Blog)
  
  
• "Most highs for you are kind of a downer for the planet." (via Slate)
  

Young adults today...: (if they are white) have higher rates of stomach cancer than other groups do. (via AP)

UU news: The province of Ontario, Canada is postponing implementation of a comprehensive sex ed program similar to the Our Whole Lives curriculum taught in Unitarian Universalist churches. (The Globe and Mail)

(Former) UU voices: Julia, a young adult who grew up UU, says that although she liked going to church, Unitarian Universalism left her "with no way to explain why bad things happened." She is now Episcopalian. (Readers: is she right? Does UU religious education do a disservice to children by not explaining to their satisfaction why life is the way it is?)

A joy: In this excerpt from NPR's StoryCorps project, a mother is interviewed by her 12 year-old son, who has Aspergers syndrome. When he asks whether he has turned out to be the son she wanted, she tells him that he has made her a more creative parent and person. (via Huffington Post)

A concern: Because the news this week isn't depressing enough, Newsweek has decided it's only right to inform you that any of these ten 10 "fuzzy, itty-bitty animals" could give you a deadly disease.

Churchy things: According to this Gallup poll, 83% of Americans believe there's a God who answers prayers. (via USA Today)

Unchurchy things: Why do goldfish crackers "smile back"? This diagram provides a clue. (via The Daily What)

*NEW!* -- How to...: -- *NEW!* lower your exposure to environmental toxins. (via GOOD)