Tuesday 3 April 2012

churben

Der Spiegel International reports (auf Englisch) that legislation is being entertained in the US Congress, under the close watch of all parties, that would form a legal framework for the survivors or their relatives who were forcibly deported to sue the national railway networks that transported them to concentration and prisoner-of-war camps in Nazi-controlled territory during World War II. The bill’s sponsor calls it the “Holocaust Rail Justice Act,” and while it names the French rail company for complicity specifically and not the Deutsche Bahn, whose responsibility was previously settled (not absolved) in toto with other German businesses, this precedence and allowance could expose many companies to new law suits. The resolution was introduced just over a year ago in mid-March 2011 and has yet to move forward, so I wonder if the refreshed currency of this news is a bit of damage-control or a PR offensive on the part of Deutsche Bahn.
I cannot say whether those who profit from war and human tragedy have made their reparations in full, but it also does not seem like the pursuit will enrich anyone, other than the lawyers.  Suits have been brought up in the past against the rail-lines with American courts as the venue, but all this grasping greed and boundless litigiousness of the new language, which respects neither history, what was ignored then but could never be unseen and what people suffered nor international borders (though no company should be able to cloak itself in national-identity or cast it off to escape its responsibility) honours no one and nothing.

airstrip one or britons never will be slaves

There was a strange, quiet collusion, like a cold-shudder that’s inspired of unseen connections and truly action-at-a-distance, of proposals that came out of the UK government regarding freedom of movement and association. Though the latter, at native initiative, is probably destined to be diluted and pulled apart by public outrage and walked down by checks and balances (a government scheme to grandiosely expand the powers to survey the on-line activities of each and every citizens), the former concerning transportation, is a kowtowing to America’s security apparatus, which might well escape any vestige of debate or scrutiny and land flatly on the traveling public. The assault against the freedom of association, requiring internet service providers to bundle spying hardware with their routers that will log a user’s ambling and contacts (though apparently not the content of emails) seems too ambitious and ill-advised to achieve, like making a map that’s at a one to one ratio.
Such plotting is not good and even if it were technically possible and didn’t put undue hardship on ISPs to denigrate their customers, I wouldn’t be for such an invasion of privacy and violation of trust—though I do believe that such lofty plans are not airworthy and probably ought to be taken in perspective: people volunteer private information all the time on social networks and submit to having their boredom, curiosities and interests tracked by companies and services that may not be less trustworthy than the government. The surrender of freedom of movement is a more worrisome and novel development: US secret no-fly lists have taken on a bit of manifest destiny. A UK citizen, planning to fly to Canada, Mexico or even the Caribbean British holdings (and with no connecting-flight in the States and without passing through American airspace, just near it) could be denied boarding, without warning, if the individual (or someone bearing a similar name) is on the list or if due to bad record-keeping or technical difficulties, the computer cannot prove that the individual is not named therein. This of course has no relation to reality either (to remove oneself for a moment and remember that the intent is to keep people safe), but it’s like an American citizen being told that he or she cannot fly from Los Angeles to Honolulu because the Public Service Intelligence Agency of Japan has unclear or incomplete files on the traveler—but the denied passenger would never know even this much. It is something to send a chill down one’s spine.

Monday 2 April 2012

fuรŸpfad

Over the weekend, I took a long walk, seeking out a so-called Fossil Trail that I had seen posted beforehand in the area. The local foothill are built up of layer after layer of diatomaceous earth left by the denizens of the shallow sea that spread out from the Baltic millions of years ago. I followed the path for a little bit, but upon not finding a giant trilobite frozen in carbonite lurching from the cliff side, I got distracted. The trail, post-dating the signs which were somewhat lacking and aimless but maybe also removed for this healthy cachet, was modernized into a Nordic hiking path, which was quite nice too but kind of took away from the fossil hunting aspect. I did, however, come across an interesting installation early on: a reflexology (Reflexologie) experience with a little wading pool to refresh one’s tired feet.

The information board discussed the therapeutic obstacle course, illustrated by the principle of corres-pondence between bodily organs and specific pressure-points on the feet and the legendary Skiapod (EN/DE), one of the lost tribes of men that stamped around on a single giant foot, and a strange, unexplained standing-stone that was just as good as some old trace of fossil. I had seen a similar track along a jogging path before but as I was wearing my Handschuh-Schuhe then I don’t think I got the full experience. I trounced through it, over bits of broken glass, polished and not jagged but I thought that was funny like celebrities daring to walk over hot coals in Circus of the Stars, wine corks, sand, bridges and platforms. It was invigourating and certainly an interesting and mindful way to start or finish one’s hike.

okey-gnocchi

H made a quite delicious dish for dinner the other night, a casserole that was pretty involved and managed to bring together different casserole strata on a foundation of gnocchi that seemed like at first wouldn’t mix too well. It turned out especially tasty, however, and had a very geologically varied texture.

To make two large portions:
200 g of jarred mushroom slices
150 g of firm (a touch underripe) cherry tomatoes, quartered
3-4 leeks, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of tomato past
1 tablespoon of flour (or substitute)
200 g of crรจme
600 g of gnocchi, fresh—or from the refrigerated section
Butter to coat the casserole dish
100 g mozzarella, cubed
100 g shredded cheese—like Gouda
Salt, pepper and oregano to taste

In a bit of hot oil, sear the cherry tomatoes and season. Set the tomatoes aside but reuse the pan with a bit more oil to fry the leeks and garlic. Add the mushrooms and allow them to sear. Add the tomato paste and flour, letting them sit for a moment before mixing all the ingredients together. Put a pot of water on a free burner for the pasta and preheat the oven to about 200° C (about 400 ° F) Next dollop in the crรจme and the whole mixture takes an Indian air and add the oregano. Cover and let the pan lightly simmer for about five minutes. This should be just enough time to prepare the gnocchi, according to the package but usually is done fairly quickly. Once the gnocchi is finished and rinsed in a colander, layer the pasta in the casserole dish (buttered) and cover with the tomato and crรจme sauce. Add the cubes of mozzarella next and cover the whole thing with the shredded cheese. Allow the casserole to bake for about half-an-hour. It’s lava hot, so allow to cool a bit and enjoy.

Sunday 1 April 2012

off-shore

Given the timing, I was not quite certain whether this story was the April Fools’ Day feature—however that does not matter since this proposal and profile covered by Spiegel is a priceless opportunity to day-dream, not primarily of a cyber-utopia, a safe haven for internet freedom-fighters, but rather, gleaned from the background, a chance for independence and self-governance, albeit in small ways. Certain groups, like Pirate Bay and Wikileaks—in the midst of other daydreaming transformed into reality about servers and hosts deployed in mobile drones or on tankers on the high-seas, are interested in establishing a bank of computers, repositories on the tiny Principality of Sealand, a micronation (DE/EN) founded several decades ago on an abandoned anti-aircraft platform in the North Sea.
Despite legal-limbo and lack of recognition by other sovereigns, the place does enjoy quasi-state-like status, with no taxes levied and little outside interferences. Apparently the regnant was convinced into taking on a similar venture with internet hosting that ended in 2008, but now, through the lens of recent developments in policies threatening an open internet, people are again seriously entertaining the scheme. Sealand issues Cinderella stamps, currency, passports and titles of nobility and the principality really seems to have charted out an impressive model dominion with an advanced and diplomatically sufficient government, compared to other entities whose existence is mainly virtual. Given the tenor and timbre of politics and zealots which has always driven some to find a niche free from it all, I just hope that providing sanctuary does not create too much negative attention and bring the wrath of its larger neighbours down on this peaceable kingdom. PfRC would of course establish diplomatic-relations.

baumbastic

We did manage to find those magic sticks and make a little egg-tree in the corner. I learned that the branches are called Korkenweide, a type of flowering willow whose branches twist like a cork-screw, and that we didn’t need to wait until the florist had them back in stock since there’s one source growing in the yard.


I wouldn’t want to hurt our tree, however, which seems to be a very old and wiry speciment. German plant welfare laws are quite strict about pruning and when one is allowed to trim trees, so I am sure the florist managed it without damaging a living tree.




kein scherz or share-cropping

In general, I am an opponent of genetically modified foods, believing that too little is known about the subtle connections of ecology to be tinkering heavy-handedly with any component of it, but there has been one novel change under development for a few years that might prove to be a good idea, walking back some of the undesired consequences of ages of genetic advancement and alteration of what we eat that’s come to us at a more acceptable pace, through countless generations of husbandry and farming, which has brought us from weeds and feral animals to refinement and breeding in the crops that we have today.

Environ-mentalists and scientists have proposed (and there are on-going discussions as to the feasibility and ramifications) altering standard food crops, like maize, corn, sugar-cane and anything else that grows above ground, to conduce individual plants to take up a lasting residence, transforming from annuals to perennials, in order to mitigate the need for seasonal replanting and plowing. Tilling the soil, especially in a shallow and repeated fashion, releases a significant amount of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere that would otherwise remain sequestered in the ground. It seems like a lot to ask of a dandelion to turn into a tulip, but it's no joke and apparently could be done.  I suppose there is not so much a profit-motivation to create fields that don't need minding.  Not having to replant would save labour as well, since field would just return by their own accord. The extensive system of roots established by permanent colonies of crops would also help to prevent erosion and might allow a monoculture environment to diversify, more tolerant to nature’s encroachment than traditional agriculture. Aside from orchards and vineyards, man seems to have picked high-maintenance sources of food and I wonder if that was a necessary choice or if farming can be rehabilitated with some more sophisticated and rapid evolution.