Holder issued the following statement:
The murder of Doctor George Tiller is an abhorrent act of violence, and his family is in our thoughts and prayers at this tragic moment. Federal law enforcement is coordinating with local law enforcement officials in Kansas on the investigation of this crime, and I have directed the United States Marshals Service to offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation. The Department of Justice will work to bring the perpetrator of this crime to justice. As a precautionary measure, we will also take appropriate steps to help prevent any related acts of violence from occurring.
Last week I had a lovely Mom's Day. My husband and son were much nicer than I deserved. It was a perfect spring day. They took me out to breakfast and presented me with a certificate for a massage at the Open Center. We watched Ben play baseball in the West Village and had lunch at the White Horse Tavern. It was truly a lovely day.
March was a much more reflective month than it usually is. In the last eleven years, I've been dedicated to producing what seemed like week long festivals in honor of Ben's birthdays. Now he is eleven and big parties are being replaced by a special gift or overnight excursion. I can see that bittersweet look in his eyes as he watches his little boyhood slip through his fingertips. He still wants to want those experiences - the pageantry of balloons, a noisy crowd of kids, too many gifts and too many sweets. Tweenhood is all about going two steps forward and one step back on a daily basis.
Joseph Ades at work in Union Square, demonstrating his precision potato and carrot peelers.
Note from EVI - I frequently passed this fellow at the Greenmarket in Union Square. He finally showed up at Tompkins Square Park Green Market and did his thing - it was like performance art. I bought a peeler immediately and it is all he said it would be!!! Enjoy the following obit from The Villager:
He serves up potato peelers with a slice of style
By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke
On any given sunny spring day at the Union Square Greenmarket, a large crowd gathers around Joseph Ades. Known as the “Gentleman Peeler,” Ades wears classic tweed suits and silk ties, sits in a low crouch and demonstrates slicing and peeling potatoes and carrots with an ordinary-looking peeler. In addition to simple peeling and slicing, Ades demonstrates how to use the peeler to make “real, three-sided French fries,” slice carrots in flower shapes so that “your kids will eat their veggies,” and make easy, shredded carrots.
“Right-handed or left-handed — or, like a politician, underhanded — these peelers work,” says Ades, in his British-accented sales pitch. Ades boasts that he is the only person who sells the Swiss-made, stainless-steel tools.
“One for $5 or five for 20 — you can’t get anything else from Switzerland for $5! A Swiss army knife costs $70.”
When I asked for an interview, Ades pointed to a laminated Vanity Fair article.
“I’m spoken for, love,” he said. “[Vanity Fair writer] Howard Kaplan writes about me.”
“Five pages in Vanity Fair — Julia Roberts on the cover and me inside!” Ades told the crowd during his afternoon pitch.
Ades was profiled in the May 2006 “Green issue” of the magazine. The profile describes his habit of drinking Veuve Cliquot Champagne at the Pierre, where he was a regular. When wealthy patrons of the Pierre inquired into Ades’s profession, he said he sold potato peelers. The patrons assumed he was joking until they saw him hawking his signature product on the street.
Ades, 74, came here from England more than 10 years ago. At age 15 in his hometown of Manchester, he learned the art of “grafting,” or selling and demonstrating products. He also learned never to underestimate a small amount of money.
Ades stores his inventory in the maid’s room of his Park Ave. apartment. According to an obituary in The New York Times, artist Estelle Pascoe, Ades’s wife, passed away last fall.
Ades can be found at the northwest corner of Union Square’s north plaza on most Greenmarket days, but he also sells his peelers on various corners around the city. Both New Yorkers and visitors photograph him and post the pictures on blogs as a way to convey an authentic New York experience. He has also been featured on fashion blogs for his dapper outfits.
During his pitch, he often dismisses the idea that his demonstration is simply a trick. “This is not Times Square, this is Union Square,” said Ades. “If this was a scam, I wouldn’t still be here.”
After watching the Gentleman Peeler at work, I decided to buy a peeler myself.
“You convinced me,” I said. “Can I convince you to let me ask you a few questions?”
Ades agreed and told me to come back that evening at 6, but by 5:30, the only trace of him was a stray potato peel on the sidewalk.
and my little baby suddenly looked like he is the lead singer in a British rock band. What ever happened to Thomas the Tank Engine?
But I feel weird about her candidacy for the next senator from New York. Is this part of the "change we can believe in" or more of the "meet the new boss, same as the old boss"?
Today I returned to the Union Square Farmer's Market to do some quick shopping before the remnants of some wicked hurricane hurls its way up the coast toward NYC.
Don't EVER do yoga when you are in a bad ass mood and hate the world. You just might fuck your knee up and pull a muscle in your lower back...why didn't I find solace in drugs or alcohol like the rest of the genetic pool I hail from?!
My professional life is keeping me super duper busy these days - - away from the many blog updates I would love to share. So time for a bit of catch up.
It's 6 pm.
Don't be fooled. It is very easy to have a personal relationship with a park. This weekend I got to spend some precious time across the street in Tompkins Square Park. How spoiled I am to have this beautiful green square to look out on every day....well maybe the noise of Avenue A balances it all out.
I was rounding the corner of A and 14th on my way home and for the first time in about five years I looked across the street - the east side of Avenue A. 
