Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Smell the Bacon

This is a strange video in some ways but imagines how an old story might be covered today. Not so simple eh kids?








Monday, February 27, 2012

The Path

Wow, it's amazing how quickly psychopaths are moving to take over. Everyone knew they were always running the show but I'm quite impressed with how little they think of the huddling masses (that's you and me). Psychopaths generally are involved in governments (usually politicians and high-ups, not so much the guy who pulled the lever on the gas chamber at Auschwitz) and corporations and think tanks. They are in it for themselves and will gladly slit the throat of anyone in their way. They are also happy to cook the planet if it will just buy them an 80 inch flatscreen TV (incidentally I watched TV the other day and learned that they make such monstrosities).

But really the comment that got me hot was this one. This guy is a poster boy psychopath. He claims corporations, who already own politicians, should now be allowed to vote and others, meaning those who 'don't contribute', shouldn't. But the most, I want to say, funny, but admit it's anything but, thing is that in the article he actually claims that this bullshit economy crisis (which facilitates this man's power and influence) was caused by the lower classes. This has 1984 written all over it. War is peace, eh dickhead.

Psychopaths are smart. They know that you might get upset with a quick change. So they tell a good story and start by introducing a concept. Then their employees in the corporate media ask the PM what he thinks and he says 'I'm looking into it'. Then think tanks release reports on how it's a good idea. The media picks it up. A cabinet minister champions it and then in a few years (you'll get there in good time) the PM is on board. Then an election and with 30% of the vote the 'majority' government passes a change to the Elections Act to include corporations (the poor will be excluded after the following election--again don't be hasty).

But what are non-psychopaths (you and me) doing? Checking the NHL trade deadline in my case. Pathetic. Psychopaths don't sleep, they won't stop until they get what they want. Or until you stop them.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Liars

Are not just Egyptian.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Celebrating Supper


Love this supper. I actually promised that we'd have something special for a Saturday night and managed to deliver. Mostly I love that a lot of what we ate we actually grew ourselves. Here's a tally.

Beet salad: our beets, our garlic, our dill (plus local organic apple cider vinegar, sunflower oil from who knows where, salt from France, sumac from the Middle East)--incidentally this is a great recipe from my friend Dan.

Squash: our red kuri squash, our garlic (plus local onions, sunflower oil, salt from France and spices)

Curried lentils: our cabbage--the last one (lots of not local things)

Rice: enough said

Kraut salad: our turnip and radish kraut with regular sauerkraut (sprouted fenugreek seeds--I'm going to try and grow fenugreek this summer though I imagine it needs a lot of heat)

And our pickled beans as well.


Then I also made a dessert crumble with our rhubarb and wild blueberries we picked at a friend's farm. Most of the rest of the ingredients are local. It was a pretty yummy crumble top as my mum would call it.

Pretty nice meal all in all. Makes me wonder what the future holds. I have to get into growing dry beans and some grains like buckwheat and oats clearly. I can't imagine living without cooking oil. I suppose there's always animal fat but then you have to take care of these needy animals. Might as well do without. But salt, there's an essential ingredient. I'm sure there are some salty wild edible plants out there. Still food wouldn't be the same without salt, precious salt.

Onwards.

Useful Short Film

Here is more of same from me. Might be worth a watch if you aren't convinced yet, especially about the potential hydrogen economy. Now, I should get around to building that barn.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

New Music

Reminds me a bit of Dr. Who at the start.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Frustration!

I'm so out of sorts I can't believe it. Most people who know me know that I'm pretty stable and organized. But lately I have been so out of whack. I'm knocking things over, spilling things and I'm just losing my head and I'm getting upset with myself. I'm really hoping that it's just a winter thing and that as the days get longer then I'll sort myself out. It's probably the most frustrated I've been in a long time. It's very strange.

It could be a lack of sleep but I think I'm sleeping pretty well. But I may be tensing at night and though I'm sleeping I'm not sleeping as soundly as I was. Certainly my mum's health is probably really bringing me down unconsciously but if I ask myself I feel like I'm resolved with the whole thing.

Then there is the state of the world. Amazing, and certainly troubling, news coming out all the time, seemingly unprecedented. But I'm also mindful that maybe all this news is something I should try and avoid. I'm always reading articles. It can be an obsession and it's not healthy; fine, civilization is destined to collapse, now move on. It's like a car crash, you always stop to gawk but what can you do but make sure that you and your family make it home safely.

So it's midnight and I should go to bed. Wonder what tomorrow will bring? I'm sure of one thing: that I'm going to spill something and curse myself for it. Or maybe not.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Thoughts

Wow, I actually learned something reading the (usually moronic) comments after an article online. Incidentally I think I have a sick fascination reading these comments to see what the idiots of the world 'think'--in fact as I have pointed out before, they may actually be robots or people paid to confuse and obfuscate. But the most important thing is that someone actually had something clever to share. Bless him or her.

So the FBI has released a tender for companies to bid on (here's the actual tender). The goal is to develop a program that can scan all social marketing sites like Facebook and snitch out terrorists and other baddies. If only it was that simple. Since there aren't too many terrorists out there (unless you count some government employees--zing!) how long before they start using this tool to thwart the efforts of climate change activists or occupy people? Maybe they'll use it to keep an eye on those uppity Muslims?

But thanks to dave777 I know that the FBI once had a program pleasantly called Carnivore that already kept tabs on us (well only if you're bad). There was also a secret program at AT&T which also kept tabs on internet users. It's called Room 641A naturally after the room in which it was housed. AT&T was sued over it thanks to a whistleblower. And dave777 found a blog post about how SSL connections (like when you buy something) can actually be cracked. I won't claim to be an expert and I'll just keep my online business minimal. Nothing beats good old fashioned cash!

--

And this from a Greek protester demonstrating that Europe has some pretty big problems. People have long memories:

"I can still remember as a boy how it was during the great famine and great freeze of the winter of 1941," said Panaghiotis Yerogaloyiannis, a former mariner now surviving on a pension of €500 a month.

"We have a different sort of war now, one that's economic, that's not fought on the field. But it's still the same enemy, the Germans. And today you are not even allowed to protest. I carry this around," he said producing a wooden baton from a plastic bag, "to protect myself from the police and thugs who hijack our demonstrations."