The tentacles of fascism unfurl

Chalk up another point for the home team in the game of justification for aggression and control on yet another front..!

Pentagon Declares Internet a Theater of War

You have our word on it!

Some things just make you chuckle... I don't know which statement in this ABC news quote is more absurd?

"The (U.S.) government says it has a policy not to send detainees anywhere they are likely to be tortured. Courts have ruled that the government's word is sufficient." (High court turns down Gitmo detainees' appeal)

It's nice to know that torturers have a policy of protecting detainees from being tortured, and it's also reassuring that a government that lies about things like, say, justification for war and torture can be taken on its word.

Lines and Buoys

Ample sun here this past weekend! Never a better opportunity to take a walk around Fisherman's Terminal and take in all the the contrasting colors of sky, buoys and boat bumpers, and sweeping lines floating on the calm lapping waters of Salmon Bay.

Los Mapaches

So I'm not the first person to discover the unexpected surprise visitors while eating at Taqueria Los Mapaches in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. There are a few others here, here, and here. But, despite a few would-be health code violations in any U.S. city, we couldn't help but find these little creatures adorable and quite the attraction for this roadside restaurant. As for the tacos, they were pretty good too!

At the back of the restaurant, there was an empty corridor where 20 or so racoons (mapaches) were having their evening snack of what looked to be dry corn masa.

Beautiful Sunlight

I found the sun last weekend in Edmonton, Alberta! It lent its rays nicely to a few subjects, and warmed me during my extended weekend escape from the never-ending Seattle pre-Spring/Summer, or whatever they call it around here these days.

I can always count on a good home cooked hearty German meal while visiting the in-laws!









It seemed like everyone was out stretching their wings in the sun as it melted away the snow, well everyone except the skiers and snowboarders at Snow Valley ski hill.

Who's that?!

Piece of Cake

As my wife’s birthday, which happens to share the same day with our wedding anniversary, approached earlier this week I had the motivation to do something special. I have only made a cake once before and, while it was successful for the most part, it was overwhelming and took me forever to complete. Years pass though, and there I was on Wednesday flipping through cookbooks and comparing different versions of cake recipes.

What would I make? Well, my wife loves hazelnuts, as do I, so I decided on a classic, German style Hazelnut Torte.

I chose to go with the recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Joy of Cooking (Rombauer, Rombauer Becker, and Becker). To limit my time in the kitchen on the weekend, I planned ahead and prepared the cake components in stages; Mocha-Frangelico Buttercream Thursday night, cake layers Friday night, and assembly frosting and decorating on Saturday morning. The result was fabulous, not too sweet, and not too heavy.

To dress it up a bit, I added chopped nuts to the side of the cake, and made some caramel espresso-hazelnut candy broken into 8 wedges, which I placed in a fan pattern on top of the cake.

My cake project didn’t overwhelm me this time and was actually very enjoyable, and the sweet success has me looking forward to the next baking opportunity!

*RAM: See, she got her flowers... Now, Happy Birthday to you!

(Thanks Jean Louise at Juniper Flowers!)

It's only a secret if you don't...oh nevermind

First off, it's not a secret if everyone can read it in the news...America's secret plan to arm Libya's rebels. So as always, be weary of the smaller 'secret' details.

Anyone out there keen on a possible lineup of candidate marionettes to lead the Libyan people's new puppet democracy? Inquiring minds want to know!

Turning the Corner (cont.)

In continuing the theme of turning corners, here's a bit of proof that a few US citizens are alive and awake: Public Workers in Wisconsin Protest Plan to Cut Benefits

As protesters turn out in the tens of thousands in Madison, WI, bigger plans are being laid for US austerity in efforts to keep the failing USS American Dreamliner afloat. And it couldn't come at a better time! With recent and ongoing events in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain fresh in the news and hopefully on people's minds, I can't think of a better time to question our current path - 'our' place in 'their' system, or better yet 'our' place in 'OUR' system?

Personally, I think that asking the average American to shoulder the burden of unending, unpopular wars, bogeyman state-security measures, and the fallout of decades of government kleptocrats selling us out to the corporate oligarchy does not sound like an acceptable means to an end. It is merely a band-aid holding back an eventual torrent of bigger problems, while we dig deeper to fill more sandbags and cross our fingers.

Time will tell, and history will document a time of action and change, or the continuance of a downward spiral of a nation.

Turning the Corner

What a pleasant February day here in Seattle! Mild temperature, dry, and sunny. Seemed like everyone was out. It's starting to feel like we're turning the corner and can see Spring and Summer up ahead!

WAKE UP!!!

“…a house of cards that has to be constantly held together…we have to be told every single day what the story is. And they have to do it every day because it is unnatural. If it was natural, they wouldn’t have to do it, and if they stop they know that it in fact would fall apart. That actually is the great hope for me…the amount of time they have to spend convincing us about the value to society is in fact what gives me hope that there is an alternative…just below the surface. And that alternative is much more human, much more compassionate, is much more connected to concern for other people, it’s much more connected to concern for the planet, and it’s being held down by this incredible and relentless propaganda system.”

Excerpt from Metanoia's film PSYWAR

Watch full 1 hr 39 min video here PsyWar (YouTube)

You Shouldn't Do That

...no, you shouldn't, but you did.

Digging through a box of CD's this afternoon, I came across some music that doesn't make it onto my regular playlists.

What a nice find, and a reminder to slow down and enjoy the ride.

Hawkwind; You Shouldn't Do That; Album - In Search Of Space (1971)

Winter Respite

The last few days in Seattle have brought us cold, but beautiful weather here in Seattle. That coupled with vacation days, made for a great opportunity to get out and enjoy some scenery.

Here are a few shots that can hardly bring the true feeling of this stretch of these rare, dry, crisp winter days here in the Pacific Northwest. It's days like these that get you through until summer.

Chop, chop!

When the family is together we cook. And, what better time to capture the movement and action of hurried hands working away in the kitchen.

Here's to a bit of togetherness, good food and good cheer!

Bank of (Un)America

In a recent stand against activities that are "inconsistent with internal policies for processing payments" Bank of America is refusing to handle payments for WikiLeaks.

Well, I'm glad to see that such a highly regarded corporate entity can proudly stand above the crowd and propose it's high standards of integrity. And if you'd like to know anymore about any the great Bank of America moral code, all you have to do is do a web search.

And what do we see?!

This was first to come up:

• Bank of America Agrees to Pay $137.3 Million in Restitution to Federal and State Agencies as a Condition of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Corporate Leniency Program (US Dept of Justice)
  

"Bank of America was the first and only entity to come forward and report its wrongdoing to the Department of Justice before the department opened its investigation into anticompetitive conduct in the municipal bond derivatives industry. The department’s ongoing investigation has resulted in charges against seven executives and one corporate entity and guilty pleas by eight executives for antitrust and related federal crimes. The investigation remains active and ongoing."

Other instances of Bank of America's high standards can be found over at Bad Attitudes, where they cite the bank's participation in such activities as accepting illicit funds from drug traffickers; doing business with a global arms dealer; and ongoing investigations into home mortgage chicanery.

Here's to double standards

It's funny that our US Imperial power-mongers can destroy countries in the name of democracy on a whim, but when the shoe is on the other foot, or when the foot gets placed in the mouth, messages we send get a little crossed.

In following the WikiLeaks saga and the tracking bits of information streaming out on independent news sources I came upon this on the Voice of America web site: US Diplomat: China Displays 'No Morals' in Africa

Basically, the takeaway is "A diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks quotes a senior U.S. official as saying China is acting aggressively and "without morals" in Africa."

"In the cable, Carson describes China as a "very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor." He adds that Beijing has "no morals" and "is not in Africa for altruistic reasons."

So, I guess it is OK for the US to wield destructive power in the name of economic superiority or chance of setting up its corporations with opportunities to make cheaper widgets and prolonging our cultural affluenza, but when someone else does it they are "without morals"? Because we are all convinced that the attack and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is for "altruistic reasons", right..?

A little late for Halloween...

It's a month late for spookiness, but I felt an eerie chill when I read this earlier:

Obama Meets With Wal-Mart's Duke to Discuss Economy

I can only imagine the conversation....

"Hey, why don't we outsource the role of government to China - yeah, that would save us some money?!"

Or, what about this one: "Thank you Mr. Obama for letting us corporations continue to have our way. You ought to get an Oscar for all that 'Hope' act you put on back in 2008 - you're a keeper! You ever thought of becoming an Exec down in Bentonville when we throw you out in 2012? You know what, we'll even give you the corner office, where you can proudly display your token Nobel Prize jingamajiggy!"

Man, I'm so glad that we're calling on the top capitalistic brass for ideas on fixing the disastrous mess they've created. With any luck, despite lots of us not having jobs, we'll bail out this sinking ship and keep this whole economy afloat by buying cheap, unnecessary, toxic trinkets and imported food from god knows where. Now there's a plan for economic recovery!

Here's to surprises!

I'm seldom surprised anymore. So, today when I racked over a batch of IPA into a secondary fermenter and discovered the moderate aroma and flavor of spice I was a bit surprised. I am obsessive about cleanliness and sanitation in my brewing and cider making, but today I was reminded sanitation doesn't take care of residual aromatics and flavor compounds left over from previous batches. What was to be a hoppy India Pale Ale may now be my first inadvertent attempt at a Christmas Ale, due to carry-over spice flavor in my plastic fermenter from my last cider. It will be a few more weeks before I know for sure how nicely the infused phantom spice either complements or dominates my IPA, and I am somewhat hopeful the Amarillo and Chinook dry-hop addition will bring my end product back to this side of spicy. But, if it doesn't, the spice just might serve as a nice winter warmer that will be ready to drink just about the time Christmas rolls around!

Cheers to the holidays!

Detour

Riding my bike in to work this morning, I encountered a train crossing where I usually travel. No problem, I thought, as there are many more crossings to connect me to my route as I paralleled the tracks. As I rode, it became apparent that this was a long, slow train, and I would not be crossing and continuing on my usual route as thought. So, I traveled on until I could cross over the tracks after the train had passed. My detour took me down some streets I don't usually travel, either by foot, bicycle or automobile. It's not that there was amazing scenery, or that where I was traveling was really noteworthy at all. But, what it did offer was a change in mood and thought for a few minutes and some distraction to the fact that I was pedaling against cold wind and rain. In this distraction I found the most simplistic pleasure - my voluntary detour had allowed me a chance to do something different, to look and think about things alternatively, and be sucked out of the the mundane and alerted to the fact that there is more going on than would normally be noticed if you take the opportunity to capture it.

...like a flaming arrow through a wet goat

OK, OK....yes, I'm one of those people that get primed before going to see a show by listening to all the songs that the performer is going to hopefully play - would you like to join?

http://soundcloud.com/bobby-bare-jr/01-your-goat-is-on-fire-1

I have been waiting for Bobby Bare, Jr to come through town, ever since I heard a live full set of him broadcast on KEXP from his September show during Portland's MFNW.

A reliable source says that his show last week with Jay Farrar in St Paul was great. So, here's to the priming and anticipation!