But when you have a chance you should -absolutely- go to the website
and view his presentation from the TED 2007 conference (it's at the
top of the page).
Rosling busts preconceptions about health and wealth distribution with
his stunningly-rich-yet-simple looking data-visualization techniques.
My husband played this for me last night and I nearly cried it was so
awesome.
http://www.mindfully.org/Farm/2003/Everything-Is-Illegal1esp03.htm
If, however, the certification effort represents a same-old, same-old power grab by the elitists to exterminate the fringe players, it is merely another example of fear replacing faith.
Faith in what? Faith in diversity. Faith in each other. Faith in people's ability to self-educate, thereby making informed decisions. Faith in seekers to find answers. Faith in marketplace dynamics to reward integrity and not cheating. Faith in Creation to heal. Faith in healthy plants and animals to withstand epizootics. Faith in earthworms to increase fertility. Faith in communities to function efficiently and honorably without centralized beltway interference. ...
Salatin also talks about "Child Labor" - something I also would like to see MORE of:
We'd love to employ all the neighboring young people. To our child-awning and worshiping culture, the only appropriate child activity is recreation, sitting in a desk, or watching TV. That's it. That's the extent of what children are good for. Anything else is abusive and risky.
Then we wonder why these kids grow up unmotivated and bored with life. Our local newspaper is full of articles and letters to the editor lamenting the lack of things for young people to do. Let me suggest a few things: digging postholes and building a fence, weeding the garden, planting some tomatoes, splitting some wood, feeding the chickens, washing eggs, pruning grapevines, milking the cow, building a compost pile, growing some earthworms.
¶ 2:56 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
????????
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
????????
That phrase comes from this ... person... who is apparently serving as the philosophical guide to the Guiliani foreign policy.
http://www.nyobserver.com/print/57083/full
In another panel on June 5, 2007 at the Prague conference on "Democracy and Security: Core Values and Sound Policies," Mr. Kramer delivered a speech that he fashioned as a direct challenge to Mr. Bush, who was set to deliver his own remarks in the same room hours later, and challenged the Bush doctrine's core tenant that democracy promotion ultimately serves the interests of America's national security.
"Democracy competes not against them, but against this consensual authoritarianism," Mr. Kramer said in Prague. "And the reason democracy is losing that competition is that consensual authoritarianism produces security for its peoples, and exports security to its neighbors and the world."
What a lunatic. Anyone who can use the words 'consensual' and 'authoritarianism' together without blinking is obviously deranged or incapable (perhaps by choice) of understanding basic logic.
However, it does strike me as true that democracy - a form of authoritarianism - DOES compete against other forms of authoritarianism. And it's probably true that democracy 'works' (that is, makes the most powerful and destructive states, like the U.S.) best with a population sophisticated enough to participate but unsophisticated enough so that large numbers of them believe they are actually owners of the government they are participating in - which is of course a logical impossibility. As more and more people see the lie in collectivist government, democracy will become as unworkable for the power-hungry as (for instance) monarchy is now in the West. It will be interesting to see what new stratagems the power-hungry try at that point to hold onto their power over others.
¶ 1:50 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
myself to like cilantro/coriander seems to be going well, as I used
vietnamese coriander and basil from my garden to flavor the lentils
(with, of course, onion and garlic) and they are yummy (if a bit
plain). I am eating these lovely yellow lentils (orange when uncooked,
cook up a sunny yellow), with some injera bread from a local market. I
bought some teff, too, so maybe next week I'll tackle making injera
myself.
Here's the nauseating accompaniment to my lunch:
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp
¶ 1:10 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
The WRAL weather-human has this welcome prediction when describing tomorrow's wretched weather prediction:
This may be the last 100 degree day we see this year. That is a pretty bold prediction, but after looking at one of our domestic models, I feel more optimistic that some relief is on the way. Once we move into September, there appears to be a change in the upper level pattern that would allow a series of cold fronts to move into the area starting this Monday. We shall see if this holds true. In the meantime it will be a scorcher this afternoon, but storms are in the forecast tomorrow through Tuesday! ¶ 11:18 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
resist a box of Hapi "Baked Chocolate Mini Puffs". Why? Because the
box was orange. Because they were only $.99. Because the box had
musical notes and the inviting words "Please enjoy the harmony of the
tasty chocolate cream with the baked tender crispy puff shell" printed
on it.
I mean, seriously, who *could* resist that sort of come-on? Not me!
They looked just like itty-bitty puff pastries, and tasted like a
teeny-bit-stale-but-not-bad puff pastry with a tiny dollop of
decentish chocolate pudding. They are not awesome, but they are not
terrible, either. And they're small. And they're harmonious!
Of course, as part of my new eat-less commitment (I hate the word
'diet'), these fit right in by being small ('mini', to be exact). And
the best thing about having them at work is that I could eat a few and
put them out by the coffee pot and the rest disappeared! How cool is
-that-?
Consume fewer calories than you use. Guaranteed to work. Never fails.
And always remember that people almost never put food in their mouths,
chew, and swallow while unconscious. So everything you eat, pretty
much, gets to your gut by your hand going to your mouth, which,
believe it or not, is generally an act of will rather than of
instinct.
Yes, that was a pep talk to myself :) I've lost around 15 pounds in
the past 3 weeks, and it makes a lot of difference. I suggest
cultivating a sense of pleasure at feeling hungry - that's been a cool
thing for me. I also suggest eating pretty much everything you like -
just a lot less of it. None of this 'good calorie, bad calorie' crap;
aim for *fewer calories*. Just try not to allow too much of your food
budget to be tied up in fats and there should be no problem.
[Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist.] I just think people get too
overwhelmed by the amount of 'advice' and 'expertise' out there and
lose sight of the basic fact that if you eat less,
you.will.lose.weight. It may help to use one of those calorie-tracking
tools so that you can see how many calories you usually consume and
how many are in typical foods. Once you get a feel for it, you'll
develop a good sense of what your daily 'budget' is and you'll know
(if you don't block it out!) how much you've eaten and whether you've
overeaten. This comes more naturally to some people than to others, I
think. I *know* this is the case with dogs, where some will eat 'just
right' while others (including almost all hounds) will eat much more
than is healthy if it is available. This is evolutionarily sound
behavior when meals are scant and infrequent, but not-so-much when
you're rolling in avocados (figuratively, of course, although it kinda
sounds fun in a weird way). And, as odd as it may seem, there are
apparently people out there who just don't much care for eating. Seems
strange to me, but then I'm a hound-type. So we hounds need to eat by
reason and will rather than by instinct. It's good practice for the
other things in life that should probably be done by reason rather
than instinct as well.
Lecture over. Class dismissed!
¶ 1:59 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
the garden and making ajvar. Yummy! Next year I hope to make tons of
it and can a bunch; won't THAT be a nice winter treat! ¶ 11:53 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
few pictures (I really didn't take many) with some text on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45571&l=de64d&id=732350111
¶ 9:15 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
sometimes it sort of is. Wouldn't it be cool if people swapped jobs
for a day at random? You'd pretty much have to be either a cog or
-supremely- organized to let someone just step into your job at
random, though, and I am a wee bit more than a cog and a whole lot
less than being organized. If only cog-hood paid better!
A woman in a budget meeting this week at work used the word
'fungible' - twice! - and the second time she paused and said
parenthetically "I love that word!" That was the highlight of the
meeting for me. Hell, that was the highlight of the workweek for me.
Well, except for the Friday afternoon moment when we had a power
outage of about 3 seconds that crashed all the computers and a guy
sharing my office (about a half-day per week, just enough for
occasional company, not enough to be annoying), was wailing and
gnashing his teeth at the 'paragraphs' of writing he'd lost, and it
turned out to have been autosaved and he said "This makes me briefly
love Microsoft products." That was such a great line!
email). Notice the TWO different modes of caffeine delivery.
Also check out the ultra-cool glasses I got online for $8 ($12, with
shipping). Zenni Optical, in case you want to rush right over to buy a
pair :)
past Nashville (Nashville, TN!) with a friend to pick up some chickens
she wanted. 1,300 miles plus a few pleasant hours of chicken-catching
and poultry-chitchat PLUS an actual real night's sleep at a motel from
7PM Friday until 6AM Sunday when we unloaded the birds in the breaking
dawn.
The sordid history of the grueling trip can be traced in Monday's bank
statement:
DATE 08-04
CRACKER BARREL #58SEVIERVILLE
DATE 08-03
CRACKER BARREL # 1STATESVILLE
(Is the first Cracker Barrel really in Statesville? Or is their
numbering scheme arbitrary?)
DATE 08-04
WAFFLE HOUSE#10421KNOXVILLE
Note to self: roadtrips are bad for healthy eating. My friend did
bring lots of healthy snacks, but why eat lovely dates when you can
scarf down soft peppermint sticks? OK, actually I ate both dates and
peppermints.
Fun stuff: I saw exactly one sign for the 2008 presidential election -
it was for Ron Paul. I listened to an entire audiobook (albeit an
abridgment) in one drive. I was in a van for about 24 hours with
another woman and (for half the time) over 30 chickens and I did not
get into an argument (came close when bitching about Clinton's
warmongering, but fortunately something interrupted my blossoming
rant). I broke my promise to Bill not to return with poultry and came
back with an adorable trio of Nankin bantams. I spent Sunday settling
in the Nankins and finding a 'good home in the country' (yes, really!)
for my evil Sumatra rooster that I wasn't getting along with.
I'll try to post pictures tonight or ... well, you know, soonish.
¶ 9:31 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
