Huffington Post contributor and Former Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson for the US State Department P. J. Crowley, who resigned on principle over the shadowy incarceration of font of embarrassment and entrapment, has an excellent and thoughtful entry regarding the disposition of super-powers for a super-power without an operational government.
Thursday 31 March 2011
penny-ante or tin-roof rusted
catagories: economic policy, foreign policy
Wednesday 30 March 2011
in the meantime, in between time, ain't we got fun?
The newest, latent source of worry--though it is hard to tell from the volume of the shouting, is the threat of a US federal government budget impasse. Despite all the suspense dates, reporting requirements, fiat debt-ceilings and endless bureaucracies in place, this body of lawmakers has ignored its own rules, and failing to agree on a fiscal budget, has funded day-to-day operations through a series of so-called "continuing resolutions," an allowance every two or three weeks of a few billion dollars. If no compromise on funding is reached very soon, then the US government will be forced to suspend operations--selectively--or risk defaulting on its obligations--that is, paying dividends on bond-issues, their debt held by foreign governments, outstanding contracts to private business, and social services. I can remember the Government Shutdown of 1995-1996, as I was living near the Washington, DC area and I remember making the trek up there by public-transportation--which always seemed impossibly difficult, but on returning recently for my college reunion, I realized that those distances that seemed so insurmountable and bothersome were greatly diminished--to see a special exhibit at the National Gallery.
They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow,
We ain't got none
They've cut my wages
But my income tax will be so much smaller
When I'm paid off,
I'll be laid off
Ain't we got fun?
catagories: America, economic policy, labour
Tuesday 29 March 2011
betrรผgerisch or we are unanimous, we are legion
A politician from Germany’s Green Party, whose success in recent state-elections certainly has more to do with such long-standing insults as described and corporate steam-rolling autocracy rather than reactionary fears over atomic energy from just yesterday, presents a marvelous and disturbing expose (auf Englisch) on the dastardly ways that big business has at its disposal for keeping tabs on anyone, and introduces it with the prescient words of Kraftwerk’s Computerwelt.
catagories: ๐ถ, ๐ฅธ, networking and blogging
Monday 28 March 2011
meritocracy or redirected from micro-publishing
Sunday 27 March 2011
democritus or up-and-atom
catagories: ⚛️, ๐ช๐บ, ๐ช️, ๐ก, economic policy
Saturday 26 March 2011
licht aus
catagories: environment, holidays and observances
Friday 25 March 2011
portemonnaie or a hole in your pocket
catagories: lifestyle, networking and blogging, psychology
Thursday 24 March 2011
ego ideal or black narcissus
catagories: networking and blogging, psychology
nokorimono ni wa fuku ga aru
Wednesday 23 March 2011
the calypso caper
catagories: Europe, foreign policy, revolution
new metrics or libya the tattooed lady
Continuing incidents in this lead up to Spring have proved to be incommensurate with the conventional public systems of measurement and we are all being educated with new units of dread and hope and ways to gauge the appropriateness or irrationality of one's reactions. In addition to the millisievert, the gray, and the rad, conditions are described in terms of chest x-rays per hour or airport naked body scanner-equivalency. It is like speaking of budget short-falls and economic hobbling in terms of trillions of whatever denomination one chooses, as inflation's impossibly big numbers is a great equalizer--or telescoping figures of personal loss and devastation across whole regions.
catagories: ๐, ๐, economic policy
Tuesday 22 March 2011
unwater or solvent green
catagories: environment, holidays and observances
Sunday 20 March 2011
trojan sunset
catagories: foreign policy, revolution
Friday 18 March 2011
iod
Thursday 17 March 2011
auto-archive or bait-and-switch
here is quite a bit of twitterpation about a a certain outreach initiative among the US armed-forces and the trans-national military-industrial complex called Operation Metal Gear, that is really a novel and new form of owning up to skull-duggery.
This program is designed, ostensibly, to render formerly anonymous posts and social network activity into a form of self-incriminating libel by filling in the connections and transitions of bloggers and social-butterflies. Personnally, I became very suspicious of bookface once the US army embraced it and removed nearly all restrictions on networks for friends, though admittedly it makes it easier for many people to pretend that they are working. The operation's second, though perhaps primary, goal is to raise an army of sockpuppet (bot or spam) accounts in order to manipulate public opinion.
catagories: ๐ฅธ, networking and blogging
Wednesday 16 March 2011
duck and cover
The Cold War with bleak spectors of destruction and mutual mistrust was a very frightening backdrop for anyone, especially for those growing up and inheriting a standoff little understood or explained. Brave and dignified, no riots, looting or panic--though it would be OK to say one was afraid--the Japanese do not need to contend the added pressures of outside speculation. Help and prayers are there and are not to be begrudged with coaching and criticism.
There have been accidents and close calls all along, possibly from which nothing was learnt, but it was never broadcast in such a way that they are open to everyone's speculation and interpretation. I was reminded of the dreary, anachronistic film with Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra "On the Beach," that is by far the most poignant and depressing apocalyptic movie made. Another contender for its futility is Nicholas Cage in "Knowing." On the Beach is set in a world whose atmosphere is poisoned by the nuclear fallout of World War III and the only habitatable zone is left is in Austrailia. The line, "Let this not all be in vain," is absolutely crushing and haunting. The reality for countless people is horrid enough without imagined and stagey eschatolgy, and it can be worked through, together, with a better outlook on the future.
catagories: ⚛️, ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐, ๐ฌ, networking and blogging
ee-i-ee-i-o
It is difficult to gauge what response is in line with the deteriorating nuclear situation, and how that sentiment ought to be translated to atomic energy globally. No one can say how bad it is and what, hypothetically, could happen.
Cloudmaker II, from my office window--not among the reactors
built before 1980 in Germany and scheduled to be taken off-line
|
catagories: ⚛️, foreign policy
Tuesday 15 March 2011
elective-affinities or great caesar's ghost
catagories: foreign policy, psychology, revolution
Monday 14 March 2011
GAU und super-GAU
Sunday 13 March 2011
Save the Children: Emergency Relief for Japan Quake
Toll free (US): 800-728-3843
Text (US) JAPAN or 20222 to donate.
The American Red Cross: Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief
Text (US) REDCROSS or 90999 to make $10 donation by text message.
SMS (DE) DRK at 81190 to make a 5 euro donation.
Salvation Army
Toll free (US): 800-SAL-ARMY
Text (US) QUAKE or 80888 to donate $10
Doctors Without Borders
Global Giving
Text (US) JAPAN or 50555 to donate $10
Saturday 12 March 2011
kid charlemagne
mothra versus godzilla
Despite outstanding preparation, response and containment on the part of government and communities, there are only poor, boundless words to describe the shock and sympathy over the devastation and loss for the people of Japan in the wake of this earthquake and tsunami that threatened to carpet the rest of the Pacific.
Friday 11 March 2011
BAfรถG
The English Daily the local features an article about a unique academy, at least in Germany, that's not too far from Bad Karma, our fair city, that specializes in training in the funerary arts. Surely there are other trade schools and apprenticeships but this sort of hybridized vocational college does not seem to be part of the European educational model of apprenticeship and rigour.
Wednesday 9 March 2011
vox populi
There's the daffy, convoluted censorship of some of these nervous dictatorships and the more innocent seeming sting of debate that the US is pushing: instead of all workers fighting for the same benefits as those in the civil sector or investigating for themselves the possible motivations and maneuvers behind the debate. Undermining the those traditional totems of partisan powers, union reciprocation the liberal parties, may be more politically expedient--inciting division, rather than discussing concessions and compromise.
catagories: economic policy, labour, revolution
Tuesday 8 March 2011
ersatz or informed consent
Last week, the local featured a brief article on the practice--seemingly more the custom rather than the breach, of German physicians to prescribe placebos (from the Latin for I shall please) to treat a narrow range of ailments rather than genuine medications. Just as treatment and healing can be spurred by the belief and trust of the patient in the sugar-pill can have subtle, complex and powerful results, the debate that this disclosure raises is equally complex.
Monday 7 March 2011
parsley thief
catagories: food and drink, lifestyle
Sunday 6 March 2011
sunday drive: fantasery
Saturday 5 March 2011
jet jaguar
I was late discovering it, but Last Exit to Nowhere out of the UK specializes in the fictional corporate and souvenir merchandise mostly from classic sci-fi and horror films, producing memorabilia--though the source may not be initially apparent, that cannot be ignored even if one tries--as genius as vintage bowling league or obscure work shirts. The equally archetypal Mystery Science Theater 3000, I think, also operated on the principle that if one other viewer got the joke that was more than enough.
catagories: ๐ฌ, ๐บ, lifestyle, networking and blogging
Thursday 3 March 2011
rehoboham, imperial, methuselah, mordechai, salmanazar, balthazar, melchior, nebuchadnezzar
By no means do I consider myself a connoisseur---though it is rather strange how most people over-estimate their abilities when it comes to common feats, like driving: most people estimate themselves as better than average, but are rather self-effacing when it comes to the usual or not-everyday sort of thing, like juggling, where even a mediocre or self-described bad juggler is better than most--but wine is a little vacation for the palate. We have a lot of fun trying new vintages, and I have acquired some favoured varieties: Spanish Tempranillo, South African Pinotage, Austrian Blauer Zweigelt, French Muscat and a lot of regional rich destinations. Though maybe my standards and discrimination are somewhat compromised, I find it a challenge not to find a bad, cheap wine but to find a decent one priced above that catagory.
Recently our neighbour clued us in on a trade secret, mentioning that a discount supermarket chain (this store is inconvenient and across town) carries an astonishingly and incongruously good selection of wines at a low price. I wonder what buyer they have in retainer to orchestrate this coup. Not ascribing to the by-laws of the Institute of Wine Drinkery, they carry a consistent selection of award-winning wines, the sort that let someone with not so refined taste get a fleeting taste of what's meant by all the protocols (burgundy and white wine glasses, letting it breath, temperature), acolades and descriptors. The title, by the way, refers to overs-sized measures of wine, bottles with a volume of 4,5 litres on up.
catagories: food and drink
bulli for you
After the successful launch of the reinvented Beetle (albeit more than a decade earlier but Fahrvergnรผgen takes time), Volkswagen has decided to reintroduce its Microbus, the Bulli, to new generation of drivers and nostalgic adventurers.
catagories: ๐️, technology and innovation
Wednesday 2 March 2011
verbraucherschutz
Tuesday 1 March 2011
fusion cuisine
Having watched coverage of the Middle East protests continuously, my mother was curious about the mention of an Egyptian national dish: spaghetti-rice as it was called from time to time. I thought it was quite interesting to pick up some cultural tidbits on the side, especial considering the open pledge drive for pizzas for the workers’ sit-in in Wisconsin in the States. Benefactors from Egypt donated $1000 worth of it to feed the movement. After a little research, we found the simple dish was kushari and a real staple of day-to-day life. I experimented and improvised a bit. The presentation is aesthetically not too pleasing but it was easy to make and boasts a lot of potential.
The ingredients that I chose were based on cooking time (the particular kind of pasta and rice could be set to boil and be done in the same time) but I am sure a lot of other variations, depending also on what is at hand, would be equally as good.
1 ⅓ cup Penne Pasta
1 cup diced tomatoes (I tried Rotel)
1 ⅓ cup lentil soup (drained)
Hot Madras Curry Power
Ground Cumin
Garlic (clove)
I started the rice first, which required about twelve minutes on low boil, but started the pasta, with a bit of salt and olive oil at the same time. Then, removing the extra liquid from the tomatoes and lentils—dried lentils surely would have been better but take an hour to prepare and the bits of onion and peppers in the soup gave the dish some added texture, and as I vegetarian, I was sure to get lentils without Bauchspeck (pork belly) which is a challenge to find but I am sure kushari is great with lamb or chicken (schawarma it’s called, like Dรถner meat) as well—I added the spices, generously, and chopped garlic with the mix in a sauce pan, letting that simmer throughout. Everything was pretty much ready at once. Gently, I mixed together the rice and the pasta and then smothered it with the tomato and lentil sauce. It turned out to be really delicious, and I think it might come out better with the crunch of some caramelized onions or those crunchy, French-fried onions that have their only foothold in green-bean casserole, and also topped with garbanzo beans (chickpeas). One is meant I think, however, to go with whichever of the stock items one has in his pantry. This was a good meal for two, and though so much of my cooking is a one-off affair, I think I might try making this again.
catagories: ๐, food and drink, revolution
vexillology
catagories: ๐ก️, revolution