Conspiracy theory

It was the intention of the Bush administration to raise unemployment and drive more middle-class citizens to lower economic classes. They felt it was necessary to get middle-class Americans to accept lower wages. Lower wages mean lower prices and greater demand for American-made products, which helps balance the trade deficit. Reduced purchasing power also means less tolerance for high-priced foreign oil, which helps domestic oil companies expand their operations into coastal waters as well as wildlife sanctuaries. Furthermore, they figured it would discourage fanatics from developing renewable energy sources. A larger class of low paid workers creates greater competition for low-paying jobs. Greater competition for low-paying jobs is how you get the job market to deal with immigration. Fear of foreign workers helps Republicans enact tougher immigration laws ..like denying immigrants any chance of citizenship, which also goes for their American-born, college-educated children ..as well as those serving in the military. Another advantage of the politics of fear is that it helps Republicans win elections. That’s probably what helped Republicans gain control of Congress. Records show that the more support there is for republican issues in congress ..the more cutbacks you can expect to see in public education (especially in the form of federal grants and student aid). Cutbacks such as these deny middle-class access to higher education. What was their intention ..? To create a larger pool of low-cost labor. These advantages are short-term however, and the cycle will turn. When the disparity becomes so great that higher education becomes a luxury only the wealthy can afford, they might as well shut down the state universities ..there aren’t enough wealthy students to go around. When the GOP cuts all ties with the Latino community, and their efforts at stemming immigration fail (because it’s like trying to stop water) ..they’ll have succeeded in creating a larger population of democratic voters. And when support from the rural Midwest farmer collapses because they haven’t kept their promise to repeal the estate tax ..the cycle will come full circle.

The Conquest of Cold

Bose - Einstein condensate

A Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter of a dilute gas of weakly interacting bosons confined in an external potential and cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero (0 K or −273.16 °C). Under such conditions, a large fraction of the bosons occupy the lowest quantum state of the external potential, at which point quantum effects become apparent on a macroscopic scale.

This state of matter was first predicted by Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein in 1924–25. Bose first sent a paper to Einstein on the quantum statistics of light quanta (now called photons). Einstein was impressed, translated the paper himself from English to German and submitted it for Bose to the Zeitschrift für Physik which published it. Einstein then extended Bose's ideas to material particles (or matter) in two other papers.

Seventy years later, the first gaseous condensate was produced by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman in 1995 at the University of Colorado at Boulder NIST-JILA lab, using a gas of rubidium atoms cooled to 170 nanokelvin (nK) (1.7×10−7 K). For their achievements Cornell, Wieman, and Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT received the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics. In November 2010 the first photon BEC was observed. (read more) (see more)

..................................

You think that light is fast? Well, think again. Sometimes it is slower than a crawl. All schoolchildren know that light is the fastest thing there is. It zips along through empty space at 297,000 km per second (186,000 miles a second).

But now a Danish physicist and her team of collaborators have found a way to slow light down to less than 1.6 km per hour (one mile an hour) - slower than a slow walk.

The way Dr Hau and her team have slowed down light by a factor of 600 million or so is to use a group of atoms called a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). These atoms are cooled to a temperature of only a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature, at which all motion stops.

In a Bose-Einstein condensate, atoms are hardly moving at all. This means that according to the uncertainty principle that rules atoms, they are spread out and overlap. This results in a group identity for the collection of supercold atoms. And when light passes through such an environment, it will slow down.

By firing co-ordinated beams of laser light through the BEC, Hau and colleagues have slowed light down to a crawl. Inside the BEC, the so-called refractive index (which measures the slowing of light) becomes enormous: as high as 100 trillion times greater than that of glass. (news.bbc.co.uk)

Out Of Space

Lucifer, son of the mourning, I’m gonna chase you out of earth

I’m gonna put on a iron shirt and chase Satan out of earth

I’m gonna put on a iron shirt and chase the devil out of earth

I’m gonna send him to outta space to find another race

I’m gonna send him to outta space to find another race

Satan is an evilous man

But him can’t chocks it on I-man

So when I check him with my lassing hand

And if him slip, I gaan with him hand

I’m gonna put on a iron shirt and chase Satan out of earth

I’m gonna put on a iron shirt and chase the devil out of earth

I’m gonna send him to outta space to find another race

I’m gonna send him to outta space to find another race

Him haffi drop him fork and run

Him can’t stand up to Jah Jah son

Him haffi lef’ya with him gun

Dig off with him bomb

I’m gonna put on a iron shirt and chase Satan out of earth

I’m gonna put on a iron shirt and chase the devil out of earth

I’m gonna send him to outta space to find another race

I’m gonna send him to outta space to find another race

Satan is an evilous man

But him can’t chocks it on I-man

So when I check him with my lassing hand

And if him slip

a new year

it's a secret...

don't tell anyone...

might think you're crazy...

it's what they want you to think...

that you're crazy...

you're not

may good befall all

lapidation

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani (Persian: سکینه محمدی آشتیانی, born ca. 1967) is an Iranian woman convicted of adultery and murder, and since 2006 has been under a sentence of death under in Iran. An international campaign to overturn her sentence was started by her daughter and son, Farideh and Sajjad Mohamamadi e Ashtiani, and it brought widespread attention to her case in 2010, when prominent media sources claimed that she was sentenced to be executed by stoning. Iranian authorities denied that this method of execution would be used, and gave her a stay of execution in September 2010.

Mrs. Ashtiani had allegedly committed adultery with the man who murdered her husband, Isa Taheri. Taheri was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Taheri was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

In 2006, Mrs. Ashtiani was brought on her first trial, charged with the murder of her husband. She was found guilty of murdering her husband, and sentenced to death by hanging. Her sentence was commuted to 10 years imprisonment, like Taheri's, in 2007.

In September 2006, her case was again brought up in a different court, this time tried for adultery. She pleaded guilty but later recanted her confession. She was convicted of adultery while still married, and sentenced to death by stoning, and an additional sentence of 99 lashes.

The international publicity generated by Mrs. Ashtiani's plight led to numerous diplomatic conflicts between Iran's government and the heads of certain western governments. Due to the reaction of the international community, the execution had been stayed indefinitely.
(read more) (freesakineh.org) (Du'a Khalil Aswad video)

Alone in the Wilderness

Richard Louis "Dick" Proenneke (May 4, 1916–April 28, 2003) was a naturalist who lived alone in the high mountains of Alaska at a place called Twin Lakes. Living in a log cabin he constructed by hand, Proenneke made valuable recordings of both meteorological and natural data.

On May 21, 1968, Proenneke arrived at his new place of retirement at Twin Lakes. Before arriving at the lakes, he made arrangements to use a cabin on the upper lake of Twin Lakes owned by a retired Navy captain, Spike Carrithers, and his wife Hope from Kodiak. This cabin was well situated on the lake and close to the site which Proenneke chose for the construction of his own cabin. Proenneke's bush pilot friend, Babe Alsworth, returned occasionally to bring food and orders that Proenneke placed through him to Sears.

Proenneke remained at Twin Lakes for the next 16 months, when he left to go home for a spell to visit relatives and secure more supplies. He returned to the lakes in the following spring and remained there for most of the next 30 years, coming to the lower 48 only occasionally to be with his family.

In 1999, at age 82, Proenneke returned to civilization and lived the remainder of his life with his brother in California. He died of a stroke April 28, 2003 at the age of 86. He left his cabin to the National Park Service and it remains today as a popular visitor attraction in the still-remote Twin Lakes region.

In 1973, Sam Keith wrote the book One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey, based on Proenneke's journals and photography. After years in print and a re-edition, the book won the 1999 National Outdoor Book Award. In 2005, some of Proenneke's film, Alone in the Wilderness, began appearing on U.S. Public Television. Primarily, the film consists of shots of Proenneke performing tasks around his cabin, canoeing and walking, and views of wildlife, along with narration. (read more)

all life is precious

An Offering of Hope

In the human world so
desperately out of balance,
where so much suffering is
needless and avoidable.

In the human world where
war and conflict based on
past injustice and needless prejudice
wrecks havoc on the present and
endagers the future.

In the human world where
the poor are so often abandoned,
mindless abuse is common and
greed holds sway.

In this world crafted by human hands,
may peace and the love of justice
that lies in the hearts of all humanity
finally lead us out of the darkness.

dark of the moon

(on the moon)

Comedian or Journalist?

I was with my son watching the News in Comedy Central!

How did it get this way? Journalists refused to help first responders that saved their lives close to ten years ago. I believe the media was threatened by Mayor Giuliani and his thugs who advised these workers that the air was good for their health, when it wasn't. Now they don't want to pay.

Good work Jon, you are a courageous man.

(read more)

excitations

all about sex

" When you're hot...

you're hot...

when you're not...

you're not "

so this is christmas

Happy Xmas

"democracy is dead, happy holidays"

legacy

The Sacred Hoop Of Healing

In a Dream of Vision 

 In a Place where Hearts  reside  and are 

Consumed in Grief   

I saw not Anger nor Retribution  

Not the Face of Hatred  nor of Despair  

But the Clear and All Encompassing  

Heart Of All That Is   

I saw Each One Stand  

Mother Father Brother each 

Child of the Seventh Generation  

In Peace and Understanding   

And Facing His Brother  His Sister  

Each Child of Their Children's Children  

Wrapped his Heart around....   

And kissing the Tears  on the 

Tear stained face  of the One he Held  

Released His Own Pain   

And when he had opened himself  

To Receive 

Unconditionally  the pain and 

unbearable sorrow  of his Brother   

Only then  When Each had Received  

The Healing  of each and every Heart   

Would raise their eyes  to Wanbli  

To All That Is  

In utter Acceptance and Resolve   

Making the Unimaginable 

Grief of each and every Heart  

His Own 

Would we Heal   

And as their hearts and hands reached out  

Would open their own Hearts  

To become that Hollow Bone  of 

Acceptance and Responsibility  of 

All That Is   

And in Unified Silence  

Take upon themselves  

The Duty and the Honour  

Which is Each Our Own   

Of allowing each hand  

And Every Heart  

To take up and to Receive  

and hold closer than Forever   

The River Of Tears  Of All Mankind   

The River Of Tears  Of Humankind  

As One Swift Uptaking  Breath  

Of All That Is  

Is made our Own.     

Crys The Tears/Dreamwalker~Lakota  

copyright 2001

Fairytale Of New York

It was christmas eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me: won't see another one
And then they sang a song
The rare old mountain dew
I turned my face away and dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I´ve got a feeling
This year´s for me and you
So happy christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
Where all our dreams come true.

They got cars big as bars
They got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It´s no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold christmas eve
You promised me broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome you were pretty
Queen of new york city when the band finished

playing they yelled out for more
Sinatra was swinging all the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night.

And the boys from the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out for christmas day.

You´re a bum you´re a punk
You´re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy christmas your arse I pray god it´s our last.

And the boys of the NYPD choir's still singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For christmas day.

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can´t make it out alone
I´ve built my dreams around you

And the boys of the NYPD choir's still singing Galway Bay
And the bells are ringing out
For christmas day.

eschew obfuscation

believe nothing...




of what you hear...




half of what you read.

get mad ...

There is no "America"

Jib Jab

JibJab

blog.jibjab.com

gone too long

Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson was a veteran mountain climber. It was a singular event on one of his climbing expeditions that completely changed the direction his life would take. He attempted to reach the summit of K2, the second tallest peak in the world, in Pakistan’s Karakoram, located in the Himalayas; this attempt failed. During his descent on the afternoon of September 2, 1993, he accidently was separated from his group and got lost. As a result of his missteps, he no longer was in possession of all of his vital equipment, for it was being carried by his porter, Mouzafer. Fortunately, he was ultimately rescued by Mouzafer who went on to become his close friend and ally.

On the seventh day of their descent, they finally came upon trees and arrived at the village of Korphe. He was greeted by a village elder, Haji Ali, who welcomed them with memorable hospitality. The village of Korphe was perched on a rocky shelf some eight hundred feet above the Braldu River. The stone houses of the village seemed to blend into the steep canyon walls. Something drew Mortenson to Korphe; he was impressed by the rugged perseverance and toughness of its people. Any romantic notion he held of these people was dispelled, however, when he learned that many of the children suffered from Kwashiorkor, an extreme form of malnutrition that often leads to death. Mortenson used his experience as a trauma nurse to lend his assistance.

The defining moment for Mortenson came when he asked to see Korphe’s school. What he saw shocked him – eighty-two children, consisting of seventy-eight boys and four girls, doing their lessons outside with no teacher in sight. They did not have a school. Mortenson reacted to this situation by stating, “I felt like my heart was being torn out. There was a fierceness in their desire to learn, despite how mightily everything was stacked against them. I knew I had to do something.” He finally told Haji Ali, “I’m going to build you a school.”

Mortenson had an uncanny ability to adapt to unusual situations. This quality can be readily explained by his unusual upbringing. Greg’s parents were adventuresome and his father convinced his wife to respond to an acute need for teachers in Africa. As a consequence, Mortenson grew up in Tanganyika (now called Tanzania). He was a student in an international school founded by his mother. He was surrounded by children from twenty-eight different nations. He grew up happily oblivious to race and ultimately mastered Swahili. He also had a sister, Christa, who was grievously ill and who ultimately died. His sister’s death had a devastating effect upon him. It was these experiences growing up that probably helped him have empathy for the suffering of others and contributed to his sense of being a citizen of the world.

Following his initial stay at Korphe he returned to the United States. He was so determined to fulfill his promise to build a school that he sent out 580 appeals for funds; all of his grant applications were rejected. He eventually received 12,000 dollars from Jean Hoerni, one of the co-founders of Intel. They would establish a friendship that would last until Hoerni’s death. With this money, he immediately returned to Pakistan to build the school that he promised.

As luck would have it, when he returned to Korphe with the building materials, he found, to his dismay that they were in desperate need of a bridge instead. Although he initially felt dismayed and defeated, he did end up building the bridge, especially when it became clear that construction of the bridge was an urgent matter of survival. It was Jean Hoerni who financed the bridge that spanned the Upper Braldu River.

Eventually the school at Korphe was built. Mortenson received assistance from George McCown, a climbing buddy, who offered some 20,000 dollars for his own expenses while building the school and Edmund Hidlay also became involved in this project. Hidlay was involved in building schools and clinics in Nepal during the 1960s and 70’s.

Mortenson discovered that building the school was no easy matter, for he had to successfully navigate through the convoluted and complex politics of the region. He managed to develop the friendship and loyalty of influential locals to expedite the process. One of the central aspects of Mortenson’s goal was to open up education for females. This produced no end of difficulty for him, but he was passionate about his project, and was blessed with boundless determination.

Hoerni was so impressed with Mortenson’s resolve and success that he suggested that Mortenson establish a foundation, with Mortenson as its director. The goal of this foundation would be to build one school per year within the Muslim communities of Pakistan. With Hoerni’s help this foundation was, in fact, created – Central Asia Institute. The Institute exists to this day.

A recurrent theme in Mortenson’s descriptions of his challenging experiences attempting to oversee his school-building projects was the cultural divide he had to overcome, for he had a restless energy and impatience that are characteristics endemic to the West. In one particular instance, while noticeably discouraged about the progress of the construction of a school, Haji Ali reassured him in the following way, “I thank all-merciful Allah for all you have done. But the people of Korphe have been here without a school for six hundred years.” This was a very sobering lesson for Mortenson; it put his sense of frustration in proper perspective.
As stated earlier, much of his success can be attributed to his ability to adapt to changing surroundings. In his own words, Mortenson describes the following experience, “I was torn between trying quickly to learn to pray like a Shia and making the most of my opportunity to study the ancient Buddhist woodcarvings on the walls.” Mortenson concluded that he had learned enough about the people to conclude that they were probably sufficiently tolerant to accept an infidel, such as himself, praying in their midst.

The Central Asia Institute offered permanence and stability to Mortenson’s mission. He extended the reach of his organization to the Peshawar – the capital of Pakistan’s wild west. The students of Peshawar’s madrasses – Islamic theological schools – were the Taliban. On account of Mortenson’s emphasis on educating young girls, a fatwa, a religious ruling, was issued against him. This was an attempt to abort the construction of any more schools in Pakistan. In mountain villages, the local mullahs possessed more real power than the Pakistani government. In spite of this impediment, the building of schools accelerated. This was due in part to the fact that Mortenson had the support of Pakistan’s supreme Shia cleric.

On January 12, 1997 his dear friend and benefactor, Jean Hoerni died. This was a severe blow to Mortenson, for he had lost the one man who had given him unerring support and treated him like the son he never had.

The achievements to date of this one man with a vision are impressive. As of 2009, 8 and 1/2 million children attend school, girls representing 40% of the overall enrollment as a direct results of his efforts. Mortenson has founded 131 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan with a population of 58,000 students. The underlying conviction that propels him forward is that true and lasting peace cannot be won by guns, but rather through books, notebooks and pencils. His ambition is to promote educational opportunities for women throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. His stunning accomplishments are a testimonial to the impact an individual with a vision can have.

Burnout Syndrome in Motion by Romain-Laurent

truth is coming

None Can Dream For You

cash is king

Cost of War

Social perception

I have a theory. An awful lot of what we find ‘attractive’ is determined by what we see our peers paying attention to while we’re growing up. I mean during the formative years of 13 to 29. Experts in human development call this a ‘cohort group’. So, to express my theory another way: Our social perception is determined by the cohort group we belong to. For example, the cohort group that came of age after World War II (during the fifties) had greater respect for people in authority and admired commanding-looking leaders. They elected a war hero for president. Larger-than-life actors like Sophia Loren and John Wayne captured their imagination. They also valued conformity. That’s why affluent-looking crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin sold millions of records. However, the cohort group that came of age during the Vietnam War (the sixties and seventies) had lost respect for heroes and people in authority. Their attention turned more toward realistic-looking actors like Mia Farrow and Jack Nicholson ..as well as less affluent-looking musicians like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones (although they’re certainly affluent now). I hear evidence of this almost everyday. People of my father’s generation tell me they don’t find present-day actresses as appealing as the bombshells of the fifties. They say things like: “Hollywood just doesn’t make ‘em the way they used to” and point to reasons like “Today actresses suffer from mediocrity and over-exposure.” However, from the perspective of someone in my cohort ..that’s exactly what makes them appealing. What they call over-exposure ..I call peer-attention. And what they interpret as mediocre ..I see as realistic. That’s why I find actresses today equally, if not more attractive than actresses of the past. But hey, don’t take my word for it ..the film industry banks on it. The target group for moviemakers used to be people between the ages of 13 and 25. Not anymore. It is now people in their forties. They are less likely to stay at home playing X-box ..and they prefer watching movies with actors from their own generation. That’s why now, more than ever .. the screen-life of an actress lasts well into their forties and fifties. Look at the successful careers of Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Which brings me back to my theory ..greater realism equals greater appeal to moviegoers of my generation. Either that or I could say: “Hey, Hollywood must not have built ‘em to last in the fifties.” Or some such bull shyte.

look away now

watch this then look away

Salvia divinorum

Salvia divinorum (also known as Diviner's Sage, Ska María Pastora, Seer's Sage, and by its genus name Salvia) is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences.

Salvia divinorum has a long and continuous tradition of religious use by Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions. Most of the plant's local common names allude to the Mazatec belief that the plant is an incarnation of the Virgin Mary, with its ritual use also invoking that relationship. Its active psychoactive constituent is a structurally unique diterpenoid called salvinorin A, a potent κ-opioid and D2 receptor agonist. Salvia divinorum is generally understood to be of low toxicity (high LD50) and low addictive potential; as a κ-opioid agonist.

The Salvia divinorum User's Guide says that while the effects of salvia are generally quite different from those of alcohol, like alcohol, it impairs coordination. It also emphasizes that salvia is not a 'party drug.'

Salvia is not 'fun' in the way that alcohol or cannabis can be. If you try to party with salvia you probably will not have a good experience. Salvia is a consciousness-changing herb that can be used in a vision quest, or in a healing ritual. In the right setting, salvia makes it possible to see visions. It is an herb with a long tradition of sacred use. It is useful for deep meditation. It is best taken in a quiet, nearly dark room; either alone, or with one or two good friends present.
—Salvia divinorum User's Guide
(read more)

935

Harry Shearer

A Not Terribly Flattering Look into the Future

The current state of the nation is not terribly propitious in regards to the future. In my estimation this is no time for stagnation, or moving backwards. The country seems to be in an advanced state of disrepair with the commons on which we all depend, crumbling and the middle class – once the bulwark of economic vitality – disintegrating. The apparent wish to pull back from reform as expressed by the voters in the mid-term elections is going on while the affluent class is being further enriched.

The underlying core of our difficulties lies in the extraordinary imbalance in the distribution of the nation’s wealth as eloquently expressed by Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont during his filibuster in regards to the tax bill now on its ineluctable path towards passage and the President’s signature. The vanishingly few hold an enormous percentage of the nation’s wealth. As a result, these same individuals possess a degree of power and influence exceedingly disproportionate to their numbers.

It seems that any discussion of this underlying truth is being held hostage by those that liken reform in regards to the economic infrastructure as synonymous with un-American attitudes and, thereby, considered treasonous. This is unfortunate, for without addressing this essential aspect of the economy, democracy is enfeebled and the plight of the vast majority of Americans will only get worse.

If the general population does not awaken to this massive injustice, the nation will devolve into a state of ordinary existence where social services will be essentially unavailable; where the infrastructure will continue its inexorable decline; where advanced education will be available only to the well-to-do; where climate change will proceed unabated with its unavoidable consequences and where wealth will continue to accumulate in the hands of those who already possess nearly everything.

If we, as a people, choose stagnation, the future will be grim and the ability to correct this massive injustice without enormous social dislocation will be less and less likely.

Lean on me

secrecy is repugnant

The De-Humanization Of Mankind

sexism...the oldest form of de-humanization.

racism...came next adding to de-humanization.

war...made the civilian populations combatants.

i'm a number...not a person, indexed, filed, controlled.

bill moyers.....culture of corruption...follow the money.

economic slavery...people are consumers, commodities.

germ warfare...antithesis of humanity...they will kill us all.

citizens united vs F.E.C....corporations get more influence.

indoctrinated...programmed, surveilled, brainwashed, used.

pharma guinea pigs...they don't need rats...they have us now.

engineered terrorism...culture of fear...they instill fear and hate.

they want to give a zygote...full human rights...a cell is not human.

human testing...Operation Whitecoat...Tuskegee...mental patients.

Our planet seen from above

Going Non-Corporate in the Kitchen and Bathroom

America’s preeminent consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader frequently talks about the last two generations growing up “corporate” in their attitudes and lifestyle choices. An important aspect of growing up “corporate” is automatically giving into constant pressure from the corporate media to see ourselves as “consumers” rather than citizens – and to oblige by continually consuming. A strong proponent of the voluntary simplicity movement sparked by Vicki Robin’s 1992 Your Money or Your Life, I have always viewed myself as pretty non-corporate in my lifestyle choices. Like many of my friends who have also chosen to “downsize” their lifestyles, I have felt no sense of sacrifice or deprivation in choosing not to own a car, DVD player, cellphone, flat screen TV or digital camera – or in choosing not to subscribe to satellite TV or spend thousands of dollars on fashions, cosmetics and plastic surgery to make myself look younger. If anything, our lives have been happier and far less stressful without the financial pressure of paying for all this.

I am also scrupulously “non-corporate” in other ways. I hang my wash out, rather than using a clothes dryer, make do with a small refrigerator that fits under the counter and shop at second hand stores for most of my clothing, furniture and appliances.

Needlessly Wasting $1,000 a Year

Thus I was extremely surprised to discover – after attending a class by local Taranaki mother Lyn Webster – that I am needlessly wasting thousands of dollars on commercial cleaning products and toiletries. Webster (http://pigtitsandparsleysauce.co.nz/) offers classes all over New Zealand and on national TV demonstrating how ridiculously easy it is to make most kitchen and beauty products at home yourself.

Webster's daughters

As a single mother with two kids to support, Webster acknowledges her motivation for learning to make her own kitchen and beauty products was entirely financial.

Dangers of Endocrine Disrupters

My own reasons relate more to my concern about the environmental toxins in most commercial cleaners and toiletries. Women’s cosmetics especially contain a number of endocrine disrupters – chemicals that interfere with human hormonal functioning. Most pass though sewage processing unchanged, which means they wind up in our drinking water – and are found in measurable amounts in all our bodies. This is of major concern to epidemiologists, owing to increasing evidence linking these endocrine disruptors to epidemic levels of breast cancer, early puberty in girls and low sperm counts.

Why Kiwis Tend to be Less “Corporate” Than Americans

Most of Webster’s household cleaner recipes rely own baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), white vinegar and something most Kiwis know as “Sunlight” soap – even when referring to cheaper generic brands – a plain bar soap with no added perfumes, skin lotion, or chemicals. Both baking soda are highly reactive (but safe – both are used in cooking) compounds that readily dissolve oil and grease and kill most bacteria. Webster stores her products in a variety of recycled containers. This is where the savings comes in, as packaging is the second biggest factor (after profit) in the cost of commercial products.

What I find fascinating about living in New Zealand is that multinational corporations were late (thanks to a strong tariff system) in penetrating the New Zealand market. This means there are many women of my generation who can recall their own mothers washing dishes in Sunlight bar soap. They swear it got dishes much cleaner than any commercial dishwashing detergent. The only drawback was that it left an ugly scum in the dishwater owing to New Zealand’s hard water. Webster has solved this problem by adding a “water softener” – calcium carbonate (also known as washing soda) to her dishwashing liquid, as well as her powdered detergent for the dishwasher and laundry. This combines with the calcium and magnesium that make water “hard,” preventing them from combining with soap to make insoluble salts that float on the surface as “scum.”

Buying Corporate Products is an Addiction

For me the most interesting part of Lyn’s presentation was her wrap-up, where she talked about the strong temptation to resume buying commercial products when she used up her first homemade batch. Not because they are any better than the homemade ones – but simply because our dependency on corporate brands is actually a kind of addiction. It helped me appreciate more fully the constant, pervasive messages that make the flashy labels on the supermarket shelves so irresistible.

As always, these products are marketed by appealing to our insecurities. This exploitation of women's insecurities by hawking cleaning products is less blatant now than it was in the fifties and sixties, when a lot of women were still using washing soda, baking soda and vinegar. However I still recall seeing commercials in which neighbors looked askance at women who didn’t get their sheets white or remove the “ring around the collar” from their husbands’ shirts.

After a time, however, women became habituated to using Tide in their washing machine and Joy for their dishes. And the hard sell shifted to high fashion, make-up and cosmetics. At present women are bombarded constantly with explicit messages that they will look old and sexually unappealing if they don’t purchase certain products:

From Adbusters

I encourage people to check out Lyn’s website, which has dozens of other homemade recipes, as well as a range of books, budget tips and other products: http://pigtitsandparsleysauce.co.nz/

Recipes

Dishwashing Liquid

Bar soap cut in chunks

1-2 Tablespoons washing soda (calcium carbonate)

2 Tablespoons glycerine

Mix 1-2 minutes in food processor. Dilute the concentrate that forms overnight with water.

Washing soda can be found at hardware stores (see http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf71947321.tip.html)

Glycerine can be found in pharmacies or the baking aisle at the supermarket.

Kitchen/bathroom Cleanser

Use baking soda on sink stains and bathtub rings. Also good (with or without white vinegar) for burned on grease.

Laundry Detergent or Powdered Detergent for Dishwasher

Bar soap cut in chunks

1-2 Tablespoons washing soda

Mix 1-2 minutes in food processor. Use 1 Tablespoon for light load. Add white vinegar to rinse compartment of dishwasher to prevent spotting.

Stain Remover

Eucalyptus oil

Drain Cleaner

Baking soda, followed by hot white vinegar, followed by boiling water

Carpet Cleaner

Sprinkle dry baking soda. Let sit a few hours. Then vacuum up.

Personal Deodorant

Baking soda in a spray bottle (essential oil optional) or white vinegar (smell disappears after a few minutes). Both work like commercial deodorant by changing skin pH to kill bacteria.

Toothpaste

Baking Soda

Salt

Glycerine

Optional flavoring (peppermint or clove and orange oil)

Shampoo and Dandruff Treatment (works better than commercial products – kills the fungus that causes dandruff)

Baking soda

Follow with vinegar rinse for conditioning

All-purpose Anti-bacterial Cleaner

Baking soda (kills 99% of bacteria)

White vinegar

Few drops of homemade dishwashing liquid

Eco-friendly Alternative to Sanitary Napkins/Tampons

Diva Cup (http://www.divacup.com/) – reusable menstrual cup

***

Webster on TV NZ: http://tvnz.co.nz/good-morning/s2009-e021009-lynwebster-video-3045353

Jody McIntyre

THIS IS WHAT THE POLICE DID TO JODY McINTYRE !

~ The Final Solution ~

A WORLD VIEW !

ch-ch-ch-changes

"There is no fault...


there is no blame...


there are only choices"

i met the walrus

Ignorance Is No Excuse

"....All people are chained down to heavy toil by poverty more firmly than ever. They were chained by slavery and serfdom; from these, one way and another, they might free themselves. These could be settled with, but from want they will never get away. We have included in the constitution such rights as to the masses appear fictitious and not actual rights.

All these so-called "Peoples Rights" can exist only in idea, an idea which can never be realized in practical life. What is it to the proletariat laborer, bowed double over his heavy toil, crushed by his lot in life, if talkers get the right to babble, if journalists get the right to scribble any nonsense side by side with good stuff, once the proletariat has no other profit out of the constitution save only those pitiful crumbs which we fling them from our table in return for their voting in favor of what we dictate, in favor of the men we place in power, the servants of our agentur...


Republican rights for a poor man are no more than a bitter piece of irony, for the necessity he is under of toiling almost all day gives him no present use of them, but the other hand robs him of all guarantee of regular and certain earnings by making him dependent on strikes by his comrades or lockouts by his masters....)

"anonymous"

Anonymous (used as a mass noun) is a term used in two senses. As an Internet meme it represents the concept of many online community users, or the online community itself, acting anonymously in a coordinated manner, usually toward a loosely self-agreed goal. It is also a label adopted by specific loose groups of people who undertake protests and other actions under the title "Anonymous," which derives from the same meme. It is generally considered to be a blanket term for members of certain Internet subcultures.

Actions credited to "Anonymous" are undertaken by unidentified individuals who apply the Anonymous label to themselves as attribution. After a series of controversial, widely-publicized protests and reprisal DDoS attacks by Anonymous in 2008, incidents linked to its cadre members are said to be increasingly common.

Although not necessarily tied to a single online entity, many websites are strongly associated with Anonymous. This includes notable imageboards such as 4chan and Futaba, their associated wikis, Encyclopædia Dramatica, and a number of forums.

Anonymous broadly represents the concept of any and all people as an unnamed collective. Definitions tend to emphasize the fact that the term cannot be readily encompassed by a simple definition, and instead it is often defined by aphorisms describing perceived qualities.

"Anonymous is the first internet-based superconsciousness. Anonymous is a group, in the sense that a flock of birds is a group. How do you know they're a group? Because they're travelling in the same direction. At any given moment, more birds could join, leave, peel off in another direction entirely."

—Landers, Chris, Baltimore City Paper, April 2, 2008.

In late 2010, the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks came under intense pressure to stop publishing secret United States diplomatic cables. In response, Anonymous announced its support for WikiLeaks. Operation Payback changed its focus to support WikiLeaks and launched DDoS attacks against PayPal, MasterCard, Visa and the Swiss bank PostFinance, in retaliation for perceived anti-WikiLeaks behavior under the codename of Operation Avenge Assange. Due to the attacks, both MasterCard and Visa's websites were brought down on December 8th. A threat researcher at PandaLabs said Anonymous also launched an attack which brought down the Swedish prosecutor's website when WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested in London and refused bail in relation to extradition to Sweden. (read more) (video clip)

LYING MURDERING BASTARDS!

LIES, LIES, LIES

MURDERERS!

LAND OF THE FREE?

HOME OF THE BRAVE?

GET UP OFF YOU ARSES

AND

STOP THIS

WHO DO YOU THINK THESE TROOPS ARE BEING TRAINED TO RAIN

"HELLFIRE" ON

YOU!!!

YOU,

YOU CHUMPS

The Dance of Miriam's Grandmothers

honey bun

..."I think we should let those gays get married...

they have every right to be as miserable as the rest of us"...

...anonymous...

bunkum

"bunk" n :insincere or foolish talk...nonsense.

"debunk" vb :to expose the sham or falseness.

.....

the use of these words...

is a perfect example of the

level of finesse employed

in the art of propaganda...

loaded words are an attempt at deception.

.....

In rhetoric, loaded language (also known as emotive language or high-inference language) is wording that attempts to influence the listener or reader by appealing to emotion.

Loaded words and phrases have strong emotional overtones or connotations, and evoke strongly positive or negative reactions beyond their literal meaning.

The appeal to emotion is often seen as being in contrast to an appeal to logic and reason.

Emotive arguments and loaded language are particularly persuasive because they prey on the human weakness for acting immediately based upon an emotional response, without such further considered judgment. They are thus suspect, and many people recommend their avoidance in argument and in speech when fairness and impartiality is one of the goals. Weston, for example, admonishes students and writers: "In general, avoid language whose only function is to sway the emotions".

One aspect of loaded language is that loaded words and phrases occur in pairs.

Loaded language is often used by news broadcasters as a propaganda technique.

Psychologist Robert Jay Lifton considers loaded language to be a brainwashing technique: "New words and language are created to explain the new and profound meanings that have been discovered. Existing words are also hijacked and given new and different meaning." (read more) (propaganda)

Decision

A GOAT MAKES A LION SHEEPISH

For the last few months, my creative endeavours have been mostly concerned with visual arts instead of writing. I’ve been working with Photoshop and gif and, most recently, with Windows Movie Maker. I have also been teaching myself to knit Estonian lace, an accomplishment for those with two usable hands. 

My writing has kind of fallen into the bin of things I just don’t make the time for. A couple of dear friends have really been pestering me to write something, anything. Today, there is a heavy rain and I feel like a change, so I will write about an incident on our lovely little farm many, many years ago when life was simple and generally a lot of fun.

I’m not sure I can write this. It’s about the funniest thing that ever happened to me and even thinking about it I can’t stop laughing. It concerns a grumpy, cantankerous nanny goat – they are all grumpy and cantankerous, but this one seemed to have some special chip on her goat shoulders – and a strong, dignified, self-possessed Khalsa lion who was always in control of himself and never let anything discombobulate him.

A lovely Saturday summer’s day on the farm. Mani had decided that I needed a break from my usual routine and that he would milk the goats. I admit I wasn’t too sure that that was a good idea. Mani was a great doctor and very good at doing almost everything, but he was a city boy right down to his cellular structure and the farm was an alien environment to him. I was, of course, raised in the city, but parts of our summers in India had been spent on the family farm, always a welcome relief from the filth of the city. I sort of caught the farming bug then and felt at home on our little farm.

 
Back to milking the goats. Mani, of course, looked perfect. He had decided to play nihang, I guess, and was wearing a blue chola and a perfectly tied turban. I knew the goats wouldn’t be impressed, but, to be honest, I was. He always – almost always – impressed me. So he took the milking bucket and all 6’ 3” (191 cm) of himself out to the barn.

 

I sat down in the kitchen to work on my knitting and enjoy a cup of tea and some homemade bread and jam.

For a time all was peaceful. I could hear the happy little birds chirping and the sound of Sandeep and Rosa’s kids playing happily in the back ground when—

Mani came running full speed into the kitchen, screaming as I had never heard him scream before, in a complete panic – (Sorry, I have to stop for a laugh time) – “Shut the door! Shut the door!”

[Freeze frame] Before I continue with the action, I must describe my thoroughly discombobulated husband. His chola had somehow come completely open, his turban was loose and disheveled and goat milk – my wonderful goat milk – my dribbling from his drenched beard. What milk had managed to make it into the bucket was slopping and spilling all over the floor.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t shut the door. All I could do was laugh helplessly. Normally I am a kind person who wouldn’t just laugh at someone in such panicked distress, but this was my imperturbable Mani, the always calm, always perfect Mani Singh with goat milk dribbling down his beard onto his naked hairy chest.

[Resume action] Immediately behind him ran one very determined nanny goat. Determined to catch him and do God-only-knows-what to him. Needless to say, I could not close the door. I was laughing too hard. I think ROFL had not yet been invented, but I was laughing so hard that I was bent over double, unable even to breathe, and actually fell out of the chair onto the floor. ROFL. So there I was, helplessly laughing on the floor – which by now was slippery with goat milk, my husband first glaring down at me and then at the goat and one nanny goat standing, smiling triumphantly at the whole scene.









“If you can stop laughing long enough, get that damned beast out of our kitchen!” Poor Mani just didn’t see the humour of the situation yet. (He would later, of course.) I struggled to my feet and slid over to the goat while Mani made his way to one of the chairs. He was almost there to safety when he slipped and that whole big body crashed to the floor. He grabbed at the table and managed just to catch the end of the tablecloth, pulling jam and bread and tea onto his prostrate body. I am sure that someday, in some remote corner of hell, I will pay for this, but I couldn’t resist saying, “Lo, how the mighty are fallen,” as I picked myself up. The goat meanwhile had started nibbling at a flower pot on the counter and had pooped on the floor. I managed to get her out of the kitchen and back to the barn. She liked me well enough and I suppose that she was content to return home, having had her triumph. 

Still barely in control of myself, I quickly ran back to our house, to the kitchen, hoping to get to a camera before Mani regained his senses. I was too late. He had already run off to the shower. Not before disposing of the goat poop, though.

I started to clean up the mess, leaving him to nurse his wounded pride. After a time, he returned, looking again like Mani, calm, self-possessed and all that, although he was very, very red from blushing embarrassment. Rather sheepishly, he insisted on finishing cleaning up the kitchen, which was very sweet of him. I made another pot of tea and ate my jam and bread and knitted and burst out laughing every time I even glanced at him.

Two things I learned from this:

1. Bana is not appropriate attire for milking goats.
   
2. Goats do not belong in my kitchen.

Mani never offered to milk the goats again. 





 

Picture credits can be found at:    Goats Don't Belong In the Kitchen