Ron Paul: Scientifically Proven Integrity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbNt_Me7n64&feature=related

A short clip of a body language expert analyzing Ron Paul. The host is rather shocked to hear that Ron Paul is 100% genuine - that he ACTUALLY BELIEVES the things that he is saying. To think, we can vote for someone with character.

It's bad that we need an expert to point out that he is the only trustworthy candidate.

It's sad that this quality means so little, to so many voters.

A bit simpler

1-2 cups Lentils/split peas

1 onion

tomatoes

several cloves of garlic

Bunch of parsley (Italian if available)

Turmeric, Cumin, Black Pepper, Chilis

Meat

Sop

Lentils cook quickly in water (25+ minutes), fry meat, onions and garlic, combine with spices and chopped tomato. Toss it all in with the finished lentils for a boss stew. Top liberally with chopped parsley.

It goes wonderfully in a sourdough bowl. Would Jacob have sold his pottage if it were in a sourdough bowl? I think not.

Mustard Seed Chili

This recipe is something of a kitchen sink, but here it goes:

The base:

1 cup of each - black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans

1/2 cup quinoa

0-1 pounds of ground beef (or your favorite meat)

"Vegetables":

1 sweet onion

1/2 purple onion

2 cloves - 1 head of garlic

chopped cilantro 1 - 2 bunches

chopped green: kale, mustard, or chard 1 pound or so fresh

Juice from one lime

Several to many tomatoes

1 or 2 bell peppers if available

Spices etc:

1 part: coriander, black pepper, red pepper, cayenne*

2 part: cumin, mustard, paprika, turmeric,

1/4 cup molasses (black strap if possible)

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

dash of soy

dash of honey

The Beans:

Dried beans are only better than canned if they are fresh; stale, old dried beans come out tasting worse than canned. Looks for large bulk food bins, the size of the bin is equivalent to the stores turnover estimate. Big bins usually means fresh beans. Otherwise seek out an ethnic market or if in dire straights, get canned beans and rinse them off.

Rinse and sort beans (I almost never do this) - bring briefly to a boil in water; remove from heat and let soak in the hot water for 90 minutes or so. Drain them and refill pot with water, 2 - 3 times the depth of the beans - more water if you want to make "wet" chili.

Bring the beans to a boil and simmer for 90 minutes or so.

While the beans are boiling, finely chop and sauté onions for 5 minutes or so, then reduce heat and add and cook for 10-20 more minutes to carmelize (time depends on the size of the pan and flame), your eyes will need to be the final judge. Add some of the "1 Part" spices to the onions while they cook and add some garlic near the end of the cooking. The less garlic and the longer you cook it, the less "garlicky" it will smell. For a bit of tang, hang on to a small amount of uncooked onions and garlic to add at the end, make sure these are very finely chopped.

The Greens:

The greens and bell peppers should be washed and chopped. If using green bell peppers, I would add most of them to the onions, as the greens have a sharper taste. If you want to get fancy, throw some part 2 spices in with the veggies and pan roast them in a large wok with no oil, just long enough to bring out the spice aroma and wilt the greens.

By now the beans are almost done and the onions and greens are definitely done. Add the quinoa in with the nearly done beans along with most of the part 2 spices. If there is a lot of water still in the pot, drain off until the beans are just covered. While the quinoa and beans are finishing, brown your meat with a little of all the spices, a bit of molasses and cider vinegar.

Once the meat is done, toss everything you have into the (hopefully not overflowing) chili pot and stir. It can be eaten immediately, or stewed on low for 30 or more minutes. The longer stewing will blend the flavors and make a wetter, soupier chili. Recommended if serving with a sop.

For a meatless recipe, double quinoa and add sautéd mushrooms.

Billy Joel - No Man's Land

From the Album River of Dreams - No Man's Land:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzoGHYdLUPo

Lyrics/commentary:

I've seen those big machines come rolling through the quiet pines

Large scale capital is used to develop unspoiled wilderness, but ultimately unproductive land. Is capital available from prudent savers orgovernment subsidized bankers?

Blue suits and bankers with their Volvos and their valentines

The ultimate boss – the consumer, his and her demands reflect their values – Volvo: safety, family, Swedish Engineering: http://www.sw-em.com/volvostack.jpg
This family is sustained by romantic love. The clothing and job indicate that money won’t be a pressing concern, assuming modest consumption…

Give us this day our daily discount outlet merchandise

Consumption as an end in itself, the very concept of an “outlet” implies a large, energy intensive infrastructure, is that efficient compared to other forms of communities? Also, these are non-durable goods – mostly crap.

Raise up a multiplex and we will make a sacrifice

They want a multi-screen theatre, to consume more of the culture, both a mirror and a feast. Yes, they will sacrifice, but what?

Now we're gonna get the big business

Maybe they’ll build a mall around here!

Now we're gonna get the real thing

Sharper Image!

Everybody's all excited about it

Residential and light commercial blight essentially kills everything that was there before and replaces it with enforced non-growth or even crazier, the intensive cultivation of ornamental grass. You can’t even eat it!

Who remembers when it all began - out here in No Man's Land

What were the values and intentions of these people that moved away from somewhere else and tried to for a community based on nothing in particular.

Before they passed the master plan - out here in No Man's Land

Master planned communities, boring and uninspired by design. Strictly functional and at the worst, demeaning. But all this grows from a mistake about the customer, this “resident” is not an animal, it’s a human and it needs a society a community.

Low supply and high demand - here in No Man's Land

That says it all, the ‘community’ just consumes. Rand might say, they’re all looters.

There ain't much work out here in our consumer power base

Economics based on consumption always end up making mistakes about job creation. Saving is noted valued, capital accumulation is nil, as is investment. Yet they ask, why no jobs?

No major industry, just miles and miles of parking space

What about minor industry? There is no productive labor, just services

This morning's paper says our neighbor's in a cocaine bust

The community is starting to reap, black market employment flourishes.

Lots more to read about Lolita and suburban lust

Symptoms decried, causes denied. The social impact of non-community.

Now we're gonna get the whole story

Truth seems accessible only because it is assumed. The media outlets, the opinions of others are substituted for thinking and debating.

Now we're gonna be in prime time

Everybody's all excited about it

The love of the thing, the symbol, becomes an end itself - the cultural itself demands worship.

Who remembers when it all began - out here in No Man's Land

We've just begun to understand - out here in No Man's Land

The cracks in the edifice are begining to show, only now are a few starting to think of how they came to such an end.

Low supply and high demand - here in No Man's Land

I see these children with their boredom and their vacant stares

God help us all if we're to blame for their unanswered prayers

Education becomes as formulaic and one-size-fits-all as the roads and retail stores. The next generation of this community is experiencing spiritual and emotional death, they would be the first generation to be outdone by their parents.

They roll the sidewalks up at night this place goes underground

Thanks to the Condo Kings there's cable now in Zombietown

More and more of society rebels against the oppression of non-ideas and sterilized lives. A social black market is just as alive as the drug trade. Whatever this Zombietown is - people are fleeing it, in any way they can. Others can't get enough:

Now we're gonna get the closed circuit

Now we're gonna get the Top 40

Now we're gonna get the sports franchise

Now we're gonna get the major attractions

Financial, cultural and spiritual servitude - grasping at the wind.

Who remembers when it all began - out here in No Man's Land

Before the whole world was in our hands - out here in No Man's Land

Before the banners and the marching bands - out here in No Man's Land

Low supply and high demand - here in No Man's Land

This "community" probably has few voluntary social institutions. Lives are lived as the houses are build, separate and indistinguishable. No one remembers, because there is nothing to remember. History records events of human significance, all they can muster are symbols, that signify nothing.

The Hunger Games

What a wonderful set of books and so very timely. My friend Andy summed up the emotional feel of the books quite well:
I did not enjoy a diet of one bitter pill after another, and felt somewhat cheated that all the tension only ever paid off with misery and more tension.

See, the games are quite horrifying and creatively so. 'Chosen' children from each district battle to the death, in an arena designed to enhance the excitement, because the entire affair is televised! Each book shows suceessively deeper human suffering, through the eyes of children. A natural reaction is to ask - why? Why, within the narrative, why to the question of evil in the world, why even read these depressing series of books? Well every tragedy must address the problem pain and the problem of evil. But didn’t we get enough of that in school? Andy again:
We didn't need to read tragedies in English class. We already had an entire class dedicated to tragedy and suffering. It was called "History".

I wholly agree and remember the many hours of forced reading in school. I am convinced now, that it was to make us hate literature :(

I think the “why” in this book is quite telling. Specifically, what kind of society heaps praise on such a horrifying spectacle? See, I don’t think the books are about the games, rather the games are the emotional hook, to interest you in the context – the society that produces the games.
The setting is a distopian America, where the "Federal" government exerts near complete control over the "districts" - each district specializes in what it produces and the majority of the output is taken and redistributed by the central government. Personal liberties are few, productive capital is virtually non-existant. As the series progresses, more of the economy and political structure of the country is revealed. The "redistribution" seems to mean that much of the goods produced in districts, end up in the capital, while the districts are left in various stages of near starvation and squalor. The only real prosperity is in government work (which a couple of the districts and many individuals have managed) or, of course, the lucky chance of winning the Hunger Games.

Ah yes, lest we forget the stated reason for the games: to punish the districts for rebellion. Not to mention, entertainment for the people of the Capital!
What is wrong with this society ends in poverty - and that always begins with property. It is not clear if the Capital owns everything, but they exercise direct control over seemingly everyone and everything. Suffice to say, it is a command/control economy, run by a dictator (President Snow). Without robust property rights, individuals make little improvements in the land (other than the slave masters command) and little capital is accumulated. That puts the breaks on any real economic growth. All this coupled with the powerful exploitation of the districts - we should not be surprised that everyone is hungry. Central planning and malinvestment that follows will always produce shortages. Price, is simply the most efficient tool for achieving highest marginal utility for scarce resources. But of course, that is a “free market” price.

These novels are half observation, half warning. To what extent does this dystopia already exist?
Increasingly the problems of our country are at root, the results of central planning and centralized administration. Finance, education, agriculture, healthcare, transportation, media – all in a crisis of having to sell a homogenous product, to a non-homogenous customer.

The poorest districts produce agriculture and coal – if they had property rights, those would be the richest districts. They produce energy for people and energy for machines, literally, the motive power behind all development. If you had to guess about the United States today, would you guess that the coal mining and agricultural areas were the most wealthy?

These books are an innoculation, against the tide of cultural force that says: "obey - even in the face of abject failure." Though I wouldn't force it on youngsters, though that would be the hieght of irony.

King Rabbit

The first round of rabbit stew came out all right... I'm going to run a few iterations before posting a recipe (cloves were a mistake).

In addition to being tender and juicy, it turns out rabbit is quite nutritious. About one small cottontail will yield your daily requirement of:

Omega 3, Omega 6, Niacin, Phosphorus, all 9 essential amino acids and 3x the daily requirement of B12.

Mineral content is equally ridiculous: Iron (83%) Phosphorus (72%) Selenium (65%) Zinc (47%) Potassium (29%) Copper (26%) Magnesium (23%).

A furry, bioavailable multivitamin.

I speculate this to be a result of their ability to get many of the nutrients produced by GI bacteria. Rabbits are too small for the complex digestive system of larger ruminates (cows, sheep). Instead, after they wash and rinse - they repeat. After sufficient nutrition is extracted, there is a 'final rinse'. So actually, the rabbit gut is quite complex in its own way.

But alas, it is no miracle food. In fact, subsisting on solely rabbit has startling consequences.

Eating lean meat exclusively will make you quite ill and if continued, will make you quite dead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation

Thankfully, all it takes is a bit of fat and/or carbohydrates. I'll continue to mix with liberal amounts of lentils, yogurt, rice and whatever spices happen to be in abundance. Speaking of abundance, North America has about 50% of the worlds supply of rabbits (this is pretty typical of most valuable resources). I propose we let the exploitation begin.

Last minute 'interesting' facts about rabbits:

1) They cannot physically vomit.

2) Cottontails don't live in burrows, rather in above-ground nests.

3) 1946 New Zealand had over 100 rabbit boards whose top priority was to kill rabbits, 'almost regardless of cost'

4) Rabbits were declassified as Rodentia in 1912, now they're in it with the pikas.

5) There is a war being wages for, and against rabbits. The weapons: genetically modified viruses.
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s934318.htm

References:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/omega-3-000316.htm

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/lamb-veal-and-game-products/4650/2

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-3/digestibility.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit

Eating wild rabbit

I ate some wild rabbit the other day and it tasted great! There was some health concerns at the time, so I did some research on the subject.

Consuming wild rabbit presents three main risks:

Tularemia - (rabbit fever) – Identified by animal behavior / general appearance and possible liver spotting, minimal risk present in gutting / skinning. Meat is edible if cooked fully. 150-300 cases per year, most acquired through tick bites, very few cases of transmission from rabbit viscera – use of gloves while gutting will further decease this very minimal risk.

Taenia pisiforme (tapeworm) – Identified by bladder-like larval cysts free in the body cavity. The biggest risk here is to the dogs and then, only if they are fed uncooked, infected tissue.

Myiasi (fly larvae) – Larvae can be observed embedded in skin muscle or nasal passage. Meat is edible after removal of infested areas.

For those who are not quite convinced, there are a few additional precautions that would reduce the risk from ‘negligible’ to ‘non-existent’:

1) Only eat healthy rabbits (duh) – given that we are only culling from the population that comes on the property, it is unlikely that any are sick. Risk factors are: rabbits that seem confused, or don’t run.

2) Physical inspection – the rabbit should have a clean and healthy coat, free from lesions or abscesses. The organs should be inspected for parasites, discoloration, lesions etc

3) Marinating / cooking with anthelmintic and antibacterial spices and foods (e.g. mustard, onions, garlic, turmeric, star anise, etc)

Overall, the risk (even before the above precautions) is equivalent to commercially available meat sources. After all, this is organic, free-range bunny!

References:

http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/disease_emergence/Chapter5.pdf

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/tularemia/facts.asp

http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Wild-Rabbit

Dancing is forbidden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jUU3yCy3uI

The problem is you don't know what was happening before the video starts. In this case, like 3 years before, when a similar arrest lead to a court case. You see, when I heard that dancing was forbidden, I wanted to see the law. I'd write it out here, but its seldom that simple. The relevant code in question is 36 C.F.R. § 7.96(g)(1)(i) - but dance or dancing doesn't appear there. We'll get back to that - for now, I want to share the back story as given in :

Oberwetter v. Hilliard, 680 F. Supp. 2d 152 - Dist. Court, Dist. of Columbia 2010

Mary Brooke Oberwetter and seventeen of her friends gathered in the interior of the Jefferson Memorial on the eve of Jefferson's birthday to "celebrate and honor Thomas Jefferson, his ideals, and his political legacy, on the occasion of his birth." They did so with expressive dance—"the dancers danced for the most part by themselves, in place, each listening to his or her music on headphones" because such activity expressed "the individualist spirit for which Jefferson is known."

Oberwetter and her friends began dancing "at approximately five minutes to midnight, April 13, 2008. Shortly thereafter Oberwetter alleges Officer Hilliard of the United States Park Police "approached Plaintiff while she was silently dancing in place, listening to music through earbud[] [headphones]. Defendant Hilliard pushed Plaintiff, and then left. Moments later, Defendant Hilliard returned to Plaintiff, who was still quietly dancing, and ordered her to leave." She offers that she "removed an earbud so that she could speak with Defendant Hilliard," asking why Officer Hilliard "was ordering her to leave, and what law she was violating." According to Oberwetter, however, "Defendant Hilliard refused to answer, insisting only that Plaintiff stop dancing and leave the Jefferson Memorial."

Oberwetter "agreed to stop dancing and leave the Jefferson Memorial if Defendant Hilliard would only provide a lawful reason why she needed to do so."

Stop and reread that last sentence and realize, it is important that the police know and can tell you what you might be arrested for - otherwise how can you know to avoid it? The question "what is dancing" may sound like baiting, but it is a relevant definition when personal liberty is involved. You can probably guess what happened next.

She alleges that Hilliard would not do so, "and instead arrested Plaintiff." Although Oberwetter contends that "at all times [she was] peaceful and did not resist Defendant Hilliard or any other officer in any way," she states that Hilliard "used more force than was necessary to effect his arrest of Plaintiff, ripping apart her earbud, shoving her against a pillar, and violently twisting her arm."

When I first read the account, I thought that the Plaintiff was overselling it, its an important distinction below.

After Oberwetter's arrest, a Park Police officer advised her that she would be charged with "disturbing the peace," and issued her a citation for "Interfering with an Agency Function" in violation of 36 C.F.R. § 2.32(a)(1)-(2). She "was held for approximately five hours before being released." "Several days" later, "Park Police officers arrived at Plaintiff's house and gave her two citations issued by Defendant Hilliard: an apparently superceding citation for `Interfering with an Agency Function,' . . . and an additional citation for `Demonstrating Without a Permit,' in violation of 36 C.F.R. § 7.96(g)(3)(ii)(C)." . At her court appearance, the court found "that the prosecution was not properly before the Court and advised Defendant Hilliard that if he wished to proceed, he would have to properly prepare the matter for hearing." The Park Service has taken no further action on this matter.

This last paragraph is a bit startling, amended citations days later, the state unprepared at the preliminary hearing and no follow up charges. That was good for Oberwetter, but why arrest her in the first place if the DA won't/can't press charges?

We are back to what law she was meant to have violated. 36 C.F.R. § 7.96 - here are the four relevant items the court reviews:

1) Groups of more than twenty-five people can demonstrate only pursuant to a properly issued permit.

2) Demonstrations involving fewer than twenty-six individuals may be held without a permit "provided that the other conditions required for the issuance of a permit are met."

3) Prohibits permits for demonstrations at the Jefferson Memorial.

4) Except for the official annual commemorative Jefferson birthday celebration.

Based on the above four items, is it clear that Oberwetter was in violation of the law? Is it at least unclear enough to need explanation, from say, the arresting officer?

When I read those four clauses, it seems to me since in #2, a permit is not required, number #3 doesn't apply to less than 25 people. And even if that's wrong, it was 11:55, the day before TJ's birthday, what about birthday immunity (#4)?

Mary contends as much in her case:

She asserts, the regulation does not purport to limit the conduct of any individual visiting the Jefferson Memorial. Oberwetter is correct as a semantic matter: no provision of section 7.96 explicitly regulates an individual's conduct.

So the court agrees that as-written, the statute does not regulate individual conduct - but the court decides there is "a more sensible reading" - see if you can follow it:

Section 7.96 allows groups of more than twenty-five people to demonstrate only pursuant to a properly issued permit. And section 7.96 prohibits permits for demonstrations at the Jefferson Memorial. If demonstrations must occur with a permit, and permits may not be issued for demonstrations at the Jefferson Memorial, then it follows that individuals may not demonstrate at the Jefferson Memorial. By this syllogism section 7.96 regulates individual conduct. Accepting Oberwetter's interpretation of section 7.96, on the other hand, would produce the anomalous result of wholly prohibiting certain conduct, but providing no means of enforcing that prohibition. The Court is unwilling to interpret the regulation in such a way when both its plain language and its obvious intent support a more sensible reading.

Okay....

Moving on, here is another section of the case, dealing with the "dancing".

Taking another tack in her threshold challenge, Oberwetter contends that even if the regulations could apply to her conduct, she did not "demonstrate" within the meaning of section 7.96(g)(1)(i). Under the regulation, the term "demonstration" includes

demonstrations, picketing, speechmaking, marching, holding vigils or religious services and all other like forms of conduct which involve the communication or expression of views or grievances, engaged in by one or more persons, the conduct of which has the effect, intent or propensity to draw a crowd or onlookers. This term does not include casual park use by visitors or tourists which does not have an intent or propensity to attract a crowd or onlookers.

36 C.F.R. § 7.96(g)(1)(i). To celebrate Jefferson's birthday, Oberwetter "danced for the most part by [herself], in place, . . . listening to . . . her music on headphones." Compl. ¶ 13.

Does that description of "demonstration" strike you as extremely broad? I mean, in a vigil, aren't you just standing there? Get ready, it's about to be interpreted even more broadly:

Oberwetter herself admits that she wished to express an opinion through her dancing: she danced "to celebrate and honor Thomas Jefferson, his ideals, and his political legacy, on the occasion of his birth." Second, her dancing—especially when done as part of a large group— has the effect or propensity to draw a crowd or onlookers. The Court finds it no stretch to conclude that such activity would pique the curiosity of a passer-by. It certainly is foreseeable to expect visitors to stop and observe a group of expressive dancers at a national memorial.

Now remember, this is happening 5 minutes to midnight. When the court decides if dancing is a "like form of conduct" they use time honored "roughly similar" standard:

The Court need not parse whether Oberwetter's conduct falls closer to picketing or to a vigil; that it is "roughly similar" to such conduct is sufficient to bring it within section 7.96(g)(1)(i)'s definition of "demonstration.

And it goes on like this:

That such conduct may result in a crowd or onlookers is but one example of how the conduct could undermine "an atmosphere of calm, tranquility, and reverence," a result that need not be tolerated before it is prevented.

"calm, tranquility and reverence" is the desired/intended/appropriate atmosphere at the JT memorial? I'm glad the court cleared that up. Mary and her friends dancing silently by themselves at near midnight, so potent a threat as to be preempted.

Her claims of excessive force are dismissed with the gem:

An officer will be found to have used excessive force only "if the force used was so excessive that no reasonable officer could have believed in the lawfulness of his actions."

Doesn't this seem like a standard that increases as officer initiated violence increases?

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." -Thomas Jefferson

The dancers were gathered to honor Thomas Jefferson, to disobey an unjust law. And today, they were vindicated:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5nJIx8CA8I

Full Opinion:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=284355636457924207&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

Bacon bowl

Onion

Bacon

Bean sprouts

Italian Parsely

Garlic

Ratios as taste and availability allows, start onion and crushed red pepper at a low heat with a small amount of bacon fat. Cook for 5 or so minutes on medium low to soften up the onions.
Turn up to medium and add bacon, cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally,

Turn up to medium high and garlic and add bean sprouts 1 or 2 minutes more to add italian parsley. 1 last minute, then serve immediately into warm bowls.

Season with black pepper, coriander and kosher salt.

Dash of sweet balsamic vinegar sits nicely too.

Options:

Most greens will work in this kind of stir fry, kale or broccoli work well too.

To up the spice, add more red pepper with the garlic, and a dash of yellow (or black if you have it) mustard powder.
I think I hit it with Tapatio after the photo.

The first recipe - ultimate hot dog

Ultimate hot dog:

Hebrew beef frank
sprouted barley bread

fried onion, leek and garlic

I chopped up the veggies and fried in olive oil over medium heat for about 15 minutes, I threw in the frank about halfway through.

Seasoned with crushed red pepper, topped with mustard and ketchup.
Yogurt and honey for dessert - yummy.