I found this to be a very inspirational post. I want to get away from here SO bad and I KNOW it’s only my fears holding me back. A little push from the Culture Monk helped push me just a little bit further down the road. 🙂
Darkest Chocolate Cake with Red Wine Glaze Recipe | Epicurious.com.
Just in time for Valentines Day (in case you’re a late starter, like I am). 😉
I got this recipe in my email from Epicurious.com. It looked perfect for a sweet treat for a sweetie. 😉
Chocolate and wine, together, umm…
I hate to say it, but I screwed up. I had heard of this event a couple of weeks ago and meant to get involved a whole lot more than I managed to do. I actually heard of it the first time from a post by Gene’O at the Sourcerer Blog. He had a great page on his blog all made up especially for this event (and of course it’ll be an ongoing fight, so check it out and follow it to keep informed).
I wanted to do something to help promote this event. I wanted to rouse people up to take a stand and get involved. I meant to make at least a post of my own (and hopefully a page) about it, but I’ve been so busy lately, the best I could manage to do was to sign the petition, email my congressmen, and post on my Twitter and Facebook pages. I hope at least a couple of people noticed it yesterday and took some action. 🙂
Today I got an email from the ‘Campaign to Stop Government Spying’, ’cause’ I signed up for it a while back. They sent me an update on how things went yesterday and a reminder that the fight is far from over. Here’s what’s they reported…
The numbers were astonishing. The Day We Fight Back was featured on over 5,000 websites, generated 84,000 calls, and 172,000 were emails sent while our petition here on Causes reached over 25,000 signatures!
In addition to the tremendous online success Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has filed suit against the NSA in what will surly become a landmark case against mass surveillance.
It’s a good start, but obviously not good enough since the congress is not yet willing to completely throw out the NSA (and TSA, and the PATRIOT ACT, and Obamacare, etc) and get back to Constitutional government!
Personally, I wish I could throw out (with appropriate punishment) every one of those politicians who allowed this to happen in the first place. Every single one of them who voted to support the NSA in ANY way.
The NSA is an affront to every principle this country was founded on. Its entire purpose is at war with the 4th amendment (and the 5th)(and all the rest of them too!).
I can hardly believe how far we have come in just MY lifetime. We’ve moved from a place where most of us could all live our lives in (relative) peace and prosperity, almost like in the TV shows “Leave it to Beaver” or Andy Griffiths Mayberry,…
To now we’ve somehow wound up in George Orwells 1984, or Huxleys Brave New World. Maybe a mixture of those 2 with a big bunch of Kafkas Metomorphosis thrown in. In all reality, we’ve far surpassed even the worst nightmares of those visionary authors.
The NSA (along with the TSA and a bunch of other alphabet agencies) are a BIG part of what’s wrong with America.
I don’t agree with those who say we’ve got the government we ‘deserve’. I don’t believe ANYONE ‘deserves’ a government like this. One that treats us as criminals. One that thinks it has the right to track and CONTROL EVERY aspect of our lives.
Why in the world would ANYONE think anybody deserves that? It reminds me of the self righteous hypocrites who think everyone but themselves are sinners and belong in hell. They get a huge enjoyment out of feeling so smug and superior. But no one is perfect (including them), so they deserve to go to hell (and will) too.
The people who think we deserve this are just the same. So, we deserve this suck ass government we have because of what, exactly?
We’re ALL in the same boat! We need to figure that out and stand together to do something to save ourselves from sinking. We need to throw overboard the ones who are bashing holes in our hull and sabotaging our pumps!
Maybe then we can save ourselves and find a way to repair our country to one that will help better our lives again instead of the opposite.
This campaign was called “the Day We Fight Back”. We don’t need A day we fight back, we need to fight back EVERY DAY until they get off our backs and give us back our freedom!
Illegal government spy programs are not the ONLY things we need to fight. We can START with that, then take on the next. We need to keep going until we have ALL of our freedom back.
I hope I can see that someday. I hope I can even see a serious START to it. I know I’m not the one, but there must be SOMEONE out there who can come up with something effective, some way to make some progress, some way to wake people up to what’s REALLY going on and get them to take an interest…
Anyone?
I sure as hell HOPE so! Nothing deserves it more. Nothing would make me happier!
I REALLY want to be able to live at least part of my life with the freedom I was promised as a child! Instead of watching it slowly stolen from me day by day here in the former “land of the free”.
I got this article from The Dollar Vigilante in my email today. I just HAD to pass it on in it’s entirety. I thought it was an excellent explanation of my views on government and the state. The videos are excellent, especially the second one by Josie the Outlaw.
I have been in an extended argument with some of my friends on Facebook over this kind of thing. I can’t seem to get them to understand the benefits of freedom and the sick, soul killing abuse of statism (or rule by others in any form).
I always have a hard time explaining what I mean and why the way I think about things actually makes much more sense than the way things are. Why I am still a ‘dreamer’.
My basic premise is that I own MYSELF. The principle of self-ownership is what everything else comes from. I think it’s pretty self evident, but apparently it’s not. Too many people just don’t seem to get it.
I don’t get it. I don’t understand them at all. Why do SO many people argue against that most basic principle? Why do SO many people feel they do not, could not, SHOULD not own their own lives?
IMHO, we are all born free, we all deserve to live as FREE human beings, since we ARE free from birth! Regardless of what other people say or do, they do NOT own you! IF they try to act like they do, then they are WRONG and you DO have a right to overthrow them in any manner you choose!
In my eyes, there is a very basic struggle going on world wide. It is the fight for individual liberty vs Statism; slavery and power over others.
I will ALWAYS be on the side of individual liberty and will do whatever I can to help that side.
I am still waiting for my friends (or anyone else) to come up with some good (LOGICAL) reasons for why anyone (other than a sociopath/psychopath) would support the other side.
Any takers?
I’d like to be able to do more this week, but my schedule is just not allowing me much time to spend on the computer. Hopefully, things will improve soon. 🙂
I can’t believe it’s already been a week! For the second of my creature feature posts, for ‘Wild Wednesday’, I’ll put up this video I saw online last week. I just had to say awwww… the cute factor is pretty high up there.
I’ve always loved dolphins. That was my choice to come back as, if I ever got reincarnated. I’d love to be a dolphin! Every time I see them out at sea, they always bring a smile to my face.
They have a reputation for being helpful to sailors. It’s nice to see a favor returned. 🙂
Budget Travel Vacation Ideas: How To Travel The World For Free | Budget Travel.
I absolutely LOVE to travel. I go somewhere other than home every chance I get. I originally went to sea for the promise of travel to exotic ports in foreign countries.
Even tho I almost never get to go anywhere other than Fourchon Louisiana anymore, I still hold out hope that someday soon I’ll find another job on a vessel going somewhere interesting.
So I read this article with high hopes for something new and actually do-able. I’ve heard of a lot of these ideas before, but it’s nice to see them all in one place. I’m not especially interested in a full time job in another country, but I wouldn’t mind having something to do.
Get a job?
I’ve heard of the worldwide workers on organic farms (WWOOF) before, and wondered how much work it actually entails and how hard it would be. I’ve never really gone very far with researching it yet. It does sound interesting and a great way to learn new skills and really get involved with things in a new location.
I’ve also heard of house-sitting and have subscribed to Caretakers for a few years now. I’ve seen a few great looking opportunities there but so far, none of them have fit in with my schedule. I’m still hoping to arrange something with them.
Be a bum?
I’ve also heard of couchsurfing and love the idea. I would love to meet other travelers from around the world and have been planning to sign up. My only issue is that my schedule is so unpredictable that I don’t know how I can make it work.
Save your points?
Travel hacking is another way to get around for ‘free’, but to me, this one seems to take a LOT of work. You need to spend a lot of time and effort to score points with your credit cards. I do try to maximize my credit card points, but it’s important that you can pay off your balance every month or you’ll get screwed by the money you wind up paying in high interest costs.
Be a teacher?
Teaching English in a foreign country is another option I have looked into previously. When my old ship the Performer was still working overseas, I was very seriously considering it.
I’m still thinking about it, but I haven’t made any moves towards DOING it. I think I would like to take the TEFL course somewhere first and have the schools help in finding a position. The main reason I haven’t done it yet is basically that I’m spoiled. I don’t want to get tied down in a foreign country and totally dependent on that job!
I want OPTIONS! What happens if I sign on to teach at a school and it turns out that I just can’t stand it? The living conditions suck? Or they don’t follow through in some other way on promises made? If I have no cash in the bank or if my visa is tied to a particular school, then I am basically stuck with it. I don’t want to be in that position. SO, I am still putting off doing anything constructive.
Teaching overseas does sound like a really good option for someone who already has some teaching experience.
Volunteer your talents?
Volunteering abroad sounds like a great idea. I would be much better motivated to do this if most of the opportunities didn’t cost so much. Some of the volunteer opportunities I’ve seen cost thousands of dollars in ‘program costs’. Of course that is ON TOP OF whatever value your time and effort is worth.
I’m not sure how they can call this ‘free’ traveling. I haven’t seen most of the places they mention in this article, so there probably are some very affordable ways to travel this way. I’ll have to be sure to look into this further. 🙂
Make a trade?
House swapping sounds like a great idea. I’d like to do this, but I wonder who in their right mind would want to trade houses with me? I live in Lake Jackson, Texas. There is not really a whole lot there to see or do. I live 50 miles South of Houston, which I suppose SOME people would like to see, but the only thing in Lake Jackson is a lot of chemical plants. 🙁
Yeah, I am exaggerating (slightly), but my relatives all thought I was NUTS to move here from Florida. I gave up the beautiful beaches and clean, clear water to move to Texas, where our beaches are brown instead of white, and the Gulf is brown instead of blue, from all the mud washing down from the rivers.
I moved there to go to school. I stay there because even tho our beaches are not as pretty as the ones in Florida, we can still enjoy them fully! We don’t have the restrictions that Florida does. We can fish, camp, drive on, drink on, smoke on, play on, overnight on our beaches without the crowds and hassles and rules and regulations that Floridians have to put up with now.
I guess it’s not really that bad here. It’s quiet and there’s plenty to do once you spend some time and get to know people. People are friendly and helpful. We get together to play cards or have a BBQ. The beach is decent and the fishing is pretty good. The bays are great for kayaking and bird watching. There are all the usual small town events, kids baseball games, county fairs, etc.
I wonder if anyone from a foreign country would be interested in spending 2 weeks or more doing that kind of thing? Anybody on here interested in a house swap? 😉
Loved this photo. Thanks to SFox for posting it again on his blog.
Good thing they don’t swarm like army ants!
I wouldn’t worry too much. They are endangered. 🙁
Probably because they’re pretty good eating. At least the islanders where the crabs can be found do like to eat them when they can still find them.
They are pretty scary to watch a bunch of huge crabs like these crawling around the beach where you’re trying to get a tan. I mean they do get pretty damn big! Luckily, they PREFER to eat coconuts. 😉
gCaptain Maritime & Offshore News | Ever Wonder What It’s Like to Work On A Livestock Carrier?.
Ocean Drover
This is an interesting video (click the link). I got it in my email from gcaptain the other day. It’s just a short clip of the Master and the Chief Mate of the livestock carrier Ocean Drover explaining what it’s like to work on a ship like that.
What I thought was especially interesting was that both the Master and the Chief Mate were women. I was pleasantly surprised to see that. Especially since they were both Italian (and young).
I didn’t know that Italy had many women mariners. It’s a major accomplishment for anyone in any country to work your way up to that level. I was happy to see that these women made it. 🙂
I am REALLY hoping that the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC 2006) is not going to reverse all the progress we (women) have made over the last 50 years. I am already seeing some effects out here that make me wary.
The law of unintended consequences is raising it’s head again (IMHO). The last few ships I have been on have had issues with space. They constantly seem to run out of rooms.
I don’t know if it’s just poor planning or if they REALLY need all these people onboard, (we have almost 200 on here at the moment), but it seems they’re always having to finagle to get people a room onboard. They are trying hard to keep males and females separated. They also try hard to keep people working opposite tours in the same rooms so you’re not in there at the same time. Last hitch I had to move rooms 3 times in the space of 3 weeks!
The way this relates to the MLC 2006 is that apparently (I haven’t read the whole thing yet), there is a new rule that women and men can NOT share the same room! In the past, we have been able to share the same room (we are usually never in there at the same time), tho they usually did that as a last resort. We work on opposite schedules, so we never see each other.
Someone at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) seems to think that is a problem, so they fixed it. Problem now is that there just is not room onboard to keep dedicated female rooms. SO, to solve that issue (since there are still more men working offshore than women), they just send the women home.
This is the same excuse they used to use all the time back in the old days. Back then, it just was not true. They could have put us in any room and we just could have shared it with the men. Which is exactly what we used to do, IF we could manage to get onboard at all.
It was never really a problem for me personally (sharing rooms), tho I do have to comment that I have heard a lot of stories that make me just roll my eyes. I can’t believe some of the things some women have actually SUED over!! They have made it a HUGE big deal for any maritime company to hire ANY female (again!)!
I really wish people would just get their shit together and learn to treat each other with respect (men and women). Women who choose to work in the maritime industry need to learn how to deal with a little off-color language and grow a thick skin. It is not like working in an office building on the beach, and it should NOT be expected to be!
I’m sure I’ll be castigated by the politically correct nit-pickers of the world (thankfully most of them are still limited to the USA so I can still hope to escape them), but I am really getting sick of them ruining my (and ANY womans) chances of actually enjoying the lifestyle I have chosen for myself!
Now, the MLC has made male/female sharing a room (ever) against the law and so it is not going to happen any more. I can see a lot of women having a much harder time getting jobs in the maritime industry (again) because of this new rule. 🙁
So, instead of helping women, they hurt us (BADLY) instead!
I REALLY wish governments would just get out of the way and let us do our jobs!
Check the date on the link above. Yeah, I’m really late! I am having a really hard time keeping up with my emails lately and this is one I finally got around to. I thought some of you might still find it interesting, so I’ll go ahead and post it now.
Gcaptain continues its series of maritime movies, this weeks round-up is all about submarines. I have to admit, I don’t remember the last one. Were there were already 4 others about submarines? Or just 4 maritime movie posts. I find it hard to believe there are THAT many movies just about submarines.
But I do remember posting at least one with submarines. I remember spending a while trying to find a recording of that classic song about the submarine races. I did find a couple of versions, but not the one I was thinking about. The one I was looking for was something I heard while listening to the Dr Demento Radio Show a LONG time ago.
It cracked me up! That show was great entertainment. I used to like to stay up all night and sleep late. Listening to music and reading til all hours of the night. That was when I was a lot younger and didn’t really have anything important I had to do. Things have changed. I can’t even stay awake that late anymore. 😉
This batch of movies looks like it would make a good all nighter. Too bad I can’t hang with that kind of thing anymore. Cook up a bunch of popcorn and turn on the DVD. 😉
Of course, they’re pretty much all war movies. But at least a few of them concentrate on the drama of the personal choices of the people involved. For instance, “Submarine Attack” (Torpedo Zone) is about a sub commander who sinks a ship and then picks up the survivors. Now he has to decide what to do with them.
Kind of like what happens now when a merchant captain picks up a bunch of refugees. It used to be simple, take them with you to your next port and drop them off, no worries. NOT any more!
The shoreside officials have made that simple thing SO difficult. It’s a very hard decision for a ship master to make now a days if he sees a raft full of refugees. Pick them up and deal with the mess? Or just sail on and take the easy way out?
It has ALWAYS been the tradition to help another vessel in distress, but the shoreside people are making it very hard on mariners to continue that automatic response. There have even been reports of ship masters forcing stowaways overboard. Pretty much leave them to die. All because of the trouble the ship will be in when they get to port!
It’s really pretty sad. The officials have made it SO hard to do the right thing.
Back to the movie review…
Submarine Attack sounds like it would probably be my favorite. I haven’t actually seen any of these movies yet, but I do love old movies and anything maritime. 😉
One other I would like to see is the one based on the true story of the USS Tang. “Submarine Command” looks like an interesting story. The story of the commander and his crew during WWII who wound up sinking a total of 33 ships. A record for American submarines.
The movie concentrates on the guilt the commander feels for the death of his gunner who died when the commander ordered the sub to dive during an enemy attack. Yes, he saved his ship and his crew, but he still felt guilty.
The last one I’ll mention here is another one based on a true story. “Trapped in a Submarine” (aka “Men Like These“), is the story of the HMS Poseidon (P99), a British sub that was hit and sunk by a cargo ship. Some of the crew managed to escape the sinking submarine and reach the surface. It sounds like a good story and something I would like.
Check the link to the original movie review from Monkey Fist. If you’re not watching the Superbowl, give some of these a try. 🙂
Well, sad to say, this is the last day of the Zero to Hero Challenge. It HAS been a challenge. I’m not really computer literate and it’s taken me some real effort to figure out how to do some of the things they suggested.
Todays assignment is to…
Extend your brand, think about a bigger strategic plan for promoting your online presence, and set a goal for the next 30 days.
I’m not sure exactly what they mean by “extend your brand”, how to do that or how to ‘promote my online presence’ more than what I’m already doing. I’ve linked my blog to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr already. I’m also on Pinterest.
I don’t think I really want to put a direct link to my blog on my Linkedin account, although I do mention in my profile (at the bottom) that I am the creator of this blog. I am a little concerned that my political ‘rants’ will cost me some job opportunities.
I would like to be able to freely promote my blog on there since I have a LOT of contacts on Linkedin. That site is focused much more on work and business than any of the other websites I’m on and I’m trying to keep my posts on there businesslike.
I am not at all happy that employers are looking into what you do on your time off and I am in TOTAL disagreement with that, but it is what it is. I am still working for others, so I do have to take that into account. Yes, self-censorship. I hate it, but I would hate it more living out the rest of my life as a bag lady living in the streets and eating catfood. 🙁
So, that’s what I’m doing to ‘promote my online presence’. Does anyone have any other suggestions? If so, please leave a comment and let me know what you think I should do.
As for my goals for the next 30 days…
I do plan to start a weekly series I’m calling the ‘creature feature’. I’ll post about interesting animals in the news or that I come across that I think others might like to learn more about. I’ll start it next Wednesday and will probably concentrate on marine animals, but will probably branch out and cover everything. 🙂
I’ll be committing to posting at least 1-2 times a week. I’ll probably be able to do more, but with my schedule I never know where I’ll be or if I’ll have decent internet access. So, I’ll just promise the minimum. That way I won’t disappoint anyone by breaking my promise.
I’m also hoping to increase my readership and ‘followers’. I went from just over 200 (I think it was 202) to 242 followers of my blog in the month of January! It would be fantastic if I could keep increasing my readership at that rate! Actually, I would be happy to have ANY increase, but the more the merrier. 🙂
I really do love sharing some of my personal experiences along with all the interesting stuff I come across online. I love meeting new people and hearing about what they’re doing with their lives too. I hope I can continue to keep in touch with people through my blog and my ‘online presence’.
Here’s to the rest of the Zero to Hero bloggers, nice to meet you, and well wishes for the future. 🙂
Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to create an Editorial Calendar.
I’ve actually been thinking of doing that for awhile (tho not in those terms). I was thinking about doing a weekly ‘Creature Feature’ showcasing some kind of cool animal. I love to go to the zoo (and aquarium, and even insectarium) and I have lots of beautiful pictures.
I thought it might also be interesting to post about the amazing things that live in the ocean. Everything from whales and walrus to the smallest zooplankton. I might even branch out to things that used to live in the ocean. Or things we used to think lived in the ocean. 😉
I’ve always been interested in animals. I used to read entire encyclopedia sets describing wildlife from all over the world.
When I was younger I was going to be a doctor, (my fathers parents were both pharmacists), until I decided I just don’t really like people all that much. 😉 Then I was going to be a vet instead. 🙂
Those plans all got derailed when I went away to school on the sailing ship and decided I wanted to be a ship captain instead! 😉
I do still love nature and all aspects of it. Plants, animals, weather, the ocean, space. It’s all so interesting. A lot of it is really beautiful too. Even things you wouldn’t think of. Try looking at things in a good microscope. Almost everything in nature has that beauty.
So, I’ll be posting a weekly ‘Creature Feature’ on Wednesdays from now on. Maybe later, I’ll add some other regular features.
For now, that’s all the time I have to be sure I can get to it. I’ll continue to post as I have been. Whenever I find something interesting. I’ll try to join in on a challenge every so often. I’ll keep on posting Maritime Monday when I can keep up with it. Same with the music, food, photos, movies, books, politics, maritime, travel, drinks, etc.
Anybody have any suggestions for the first post? Something special you’d like to hear from me about?
Dave’s Peach Pie Moonshine Recipe | Good Ole Ways.
I wasn’t really thinking about re-visiting this subject. At least not so soon. 😉 But the assignment for todays Zero to Hero Challenge is to…
Find the post that has received the most views, likes, or comments, and write a related follow-up post.
Since my most ‘popular’ post by FAR (going by the number of ‘views’ I had that day), was the one on the Crock-Pot Apple Pie Moonshine, I thought maybe I should follow the experts advice at ZTH and (what else?), post another moonshine recipe! 😉
I really do love apple pie, so I was looking forward to trying some of that apple pie stuff. Can’t say I feel the same about peach pie. I’m not really a big fan of peaches. I have a friend who LOVED to drink peach schnapps. He could drink it with beer or all by itself. Personally, I think it’s too sweet.
Maybe the moonshine will cut down on some of that sickly sweetness. Let me know if you try it! 😉
PS- I really like Dave’s blog too and would have liked to comment but for some reason it won’t let me. I can’t even figure out how to sign up to follow it. 🙁
I came across the Great Dictator today (again) and I can’t even remember where. I think it might have been in an email from the Sovereign Man (an ‘investment’ newsletter I subscribe to). Yes, yet another of my hobbies. 😉
I had a little time this morning so I took a look and tho I’ve seen the movie before I was just stunned this time. I guess I’ve just been primed by all that’s been happening in the world lately.
I’ve seen a few Charlie Chaplin movies and I’ve enjoyed them all. For his time and place, I would agree with the people who consider him a genius. He could make you laugh, but he could make you THINK.
He had a way of putting himself out there and making people feel his emotions. He made people feel what he wanted them to feel. To understand his characters and their emotions.
He did so much in his films, and considering that a lot of them were silent movies, he was so far out and ahead of everyone else in the business, he really had no equal.
This movie was his first ‘talkie’. He played the leading roles of the dictator and the barber. He also directed it. He did a fantastic job in every way, and the public appreciated that. This was his most commercially successful film (even tho it was banned in most of Europe- for obvious reasons).
The Great Dictator came out in 1940 (while we were still formally at peace with Nazi Germany). It was written, produced, scored and directed by Charlie Chaplin. And he played the starring role(s)! WOW!
I watched the ending speech on youtube again and I can hardly believe how powerful and moving it STILL is after all this time. It is SO powerful. It is SO prescient. It is SO MUCH still true today!
I wish more people around the world could see this movie. It is a warning to us all. His speech is so moving. Even almost 75 years after he spoke those words, they can still affect me that way. I hope others can understand that feeling. I hope others can understand what he was trying to do with this film.
I hope people today will take his message to heart and unite to solve the problems we have. I hope people today will work together to find solutions to hunger, hatred, violence, sickness, oppression, poverty and war.
I hope people will come to understand that we (common people) need to unite to overcome the forces against us. It is the same now as it was then. There are people in this world who lust for power and will do anything to get it and to keep it. ANYTHING!
Nothing else matters to people like that. Not you, not me, not their friends, not their families, not their pets, not their neighborhood, not their community, not their country, not their PLANET! NOTHING!!
From the reviews of the movie and it’s commercial success, I think Chaplin succeeded in showing large numbers of people how idiotic it is to allow anyone to rule over you.
To give a dictator (or ANY form of government) the power to rule is just plain stupid. WE must maintain control over our lives. Chaplin does a fine job of showing that in his film.
Not enough people understood his message in time. We still had to fight the Second World War, (and then the Korean ‘War’ and then the Vietnam ‘War’ and then the assaults on all the little countries that no one even remembers-except the people who were directly hurt by them- and then the ‘War on Terror’ carried out in Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya and Yemen and Mali and, and, and…and America). 🙁
When is it going to end? Are people ever going to wake up? Will we ever find the gumption to tell all those power hungry bastards that insist they need to rule us “for your own good” to GO TO HELL!!
I actually started this post a couple of weeks ago and ran out of time to finish it up. It’s been on my mind for a while. So, it’s a good fit for todays Zero to Hero task: Revisit a Task and a Post. I did at least figure out how to get the video to play correctly since the last time I worked on it! 😉
If you’d like to know more about the movie, Wikipedia has a pretty good overview. Please let me know what you think! 🙂
The Beautiful Flight Paths of Fireflies | Smithsonian.
Amazing beautiful photos of fireflies. I wish I could see this!
We do get them here but not that many. I’ve never seen any large groups of them. This guy is so lucky to be able to see and do what he does.
Check out the link!
The NSA Speech: Obama Accepts the Logic of Staying Terrorized | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
SSDD. (Same Shit Different Day). That’s about all I can say for Obama and his ‘promise’ to correct the abuses of the NSA (and the rest of the total surveillance state we live in today). 🙁
Anyone out there who seriously thinks Obama is really going to fix anything or rein in these people to their Constitutional limits, read this again…
1. The phone metadata still exists.
2. It will be kept, at least in the short-term, by the government until Congress figures out what to do with it. (And don’t think the telecom lobby won’t play a role in that.)
3. It will be searched.
4. Searches will be approved by a court with a record of being friendly to the government, one without a new privacy advocate.
5. National security letters can still be issued by the FBI without a court order.
6. Much of this activity will remain secret.
Can anyone really believe that ‘our’ government needs to keep track of ALL of your (personal) information? That any kind of freedom can survive this kind of all out attack? That society will really be better off if we are forced to live under these conditions? That YOUR life will be better?
That they are doing all of this for your safety, rather than their sense of power and CONTROL?
Does anyone seriously believe that they REALLY need to know about (and store forever) every single phone call you make? every single website you visit? everything you’ve ever said online? every single thing you buy (unless you use cash)? every single place you go? every single detail of your medical history?
I’m sure that last paragraph doesn’t cover the half of it. I’m only mentioning what I KNOW they are presently collecting (and keeping).
We are already in a state SO much worse than George Orwell ever imagined! Maybe we don’t have ‘Big Brother’ watching us through our TV sets yet.
But we DO have ‘our’ government watching us through our computers. We DO have them following every move we make through our cell phones (and soon enough directly through our cars). We DO have them watching everything else through financial tracking and the countless cameras invading every public space.
We have TSA agents to violate our RIGHT to travel freely (along with our dignity) every time we travel. We have a ‘Constitution Free zone” extending 100 MILES from every border (which covers about 65% of the American population)!
We have the PC thought police to harass us anytime someone gets a little upset with something we say.
We have the FDA to fine us or throw us in prison if they object to the food we choose to eat or the medicines we prefer to take.
We even have Obamacare to (eventually) imprison us if we refuse to allow un-elected government bureaucrats to control our most personal decisions. We can no longer choose how to manage our own BODIES! (How is this different from slavery? oh yeah, WE have to pay for our own abuse!)
I keep hoping that one day soon I’ll wake up from this nightmare. Or rather, that the rest of the American people will finally wake up and come to their senses!
That they will realize that there is something horribly WRONG with what has been going on here lately (intensely ramped up since 9-11). That they need to put a stop to it before it actually hurts THEM (instead of just that “other guy who must’ve done something to deserve it”).
Here’s hoping that day comes soon.
I’ve put a few recipes on here before. Things I saw online and thought they were worth sharing. So far, I haven’t personally made or eaten any of those. This is my first recipe post that I actually HAVE made (and eaten) myself. 🙂
I actually do like to cook. When I have the time and I’m not in a rush. I haven’t been able to do much lately. It seems I’m always too busy.
I did have a little time this time home so I decided to make this pie. It’s one of my all time favorite desserts. It’s so fast and easy, and it’s SO good! 🙂
Sweet and creamy, with just the right amount of tangy lemon and raspberries.
It only takes a few minutes to make and it only has a few ingredients. It’s not my original recipe. I got it out of a magazine a long time ago. I think it might have been Womens Day.
Doesn’t this look delicious?
Lemon-Raspberry Whipped Cream Pie
Here’s the recipe I use…
1 tub (12 oz) frozen whipped topping (thawed)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (6 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate (thawed)
12 oz fresh raspberries (about 3 cups)
1 6-oz ready to fill graham cracker pie crust
options: 1/4 tsp liquid yellow food color, lemon twist and mint leaves for garnish
All that’s easy enough. I never wait to add the garnish. I just put the berries and whipped cream on top as soon as I put it in the pie crust. I think next time I’ll make it even easier (and save a few calories too). Skip the pie crust altogether. I usually have a little extra and put it in any old lidded container. It might not look as pretty, but it tastes just as good. 🙂
I’m pretty sure it would be just as good with some other ingredients, like trade the raspberries for blueberries? or maybe use limeade instead of lemonade with the berries? I think it would be easy and fun to experiment with this one. I have noticed that it is very forgiving (I have made it a few times without following the recipe exactly).
Here we are at Day 26 in the Zero to Hero challenge. Almost over. 🙂
Todays assignment is to look back through your past published posts…
What have you been most proud of? What are the common threads? Which have been most popular? Create and save at least two draft posts with ideas that come from those.
I’ve spent a little time doing that and I have to say personally I’m most proud of my political posts. That is the subject I get most passionate about in my writing. I am a very strong believer in individual liberty and it really gets me going to see how we are throwing it away here in the US. That doesn’t seem to be what attracts my readers (so far). 😉
From looking at my stats it seems that other than my home page/archives (which could mean anything) and my about page (glad people are interested in who I am and why I’m doing this), my all time favorite post is the one about the apple pie crockpot moonshine.
Maybe I need to post more ways to make home made booze? 😉
After that one, the maritime posts are getting a lot of attention. That’s great, since that’s what I do for a living and I love it. I think it’s a great lifestyle and only wish that I could sail foreign again.
Of course, that has everything to do with politics here.
Next most traffic getting area is photography. I’m happy to see that. I love to take pictures everywhere I go and it’s nice to see that other people like my pictures too.
Looks like next is everything to do with writing/blogging/zero to hero. I think that must be partly because of the concentration on checking out others blogs and commenting during the event. I hope some of those people will stick around. 😉
I haven’t done much about traveling here yet. I hope to do more on that. My recent posts on New Orleans got some interest. I do love to travel and I think it’s cool to be able to connect and compare notes. 🙂
Recommendations on food, books, music, things to do, things of interest is another area that people seem to like. I have got away from posting much of that kind of thing since I’ve been busy and the Zero to Hero posts are pretty much all I’ve been able to get done for the day.
I hope I’ll be able to get caught up at some point and get back to posting more good stuff on here, but I’ll be going back to work soon and who knows what the internet situation will be out there this time. 😉
Looks like I need to just keep on keepin on! 😉 My followers have been increasing slowly but steadily.
I passed the 200 mark of actual BLOG followers right after New Years and today I’m up to 233 (the rest are mostly Facebook friends who don’t necessarily ever look at my blog)! I only started this in mid- August 2013.
Of course I’d like to get millions, but hopefully it’ll work something like the rice on the chessboard. 🙂
5 Sky Events This Week: Mercurial Evenings, Cosmic Triangle and Lord of the Rings – News Watch.
Sorry I’m late this week but you should still be able to see some of this stuff if you look.
Mercury will be low in the sky, right after sunset. It should be bright enough to see with the naked eye (or with binoculars). Look for it in the direction of the sunset from Jan 21 through the end of the month.
In the article, they talk about Saturn and the moon on the 23rd, but it’s likely you can still see it now. Look for it in the South near dawn.
Antares is usually easy to spot. Look for the crescent moon above the constellation Scorpio from the 26th.
Here’s a video of the band I was talking about in my earlier post tonight. I saw them playing in the street as I was window shopping on Royal Street in the French Quarter (New Orleans).
It was a gorgeous Fall day and their playing was just perfect. It put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. They had a bunch of people of all ages/types, dogs, kids on bikes, etc all watching, listening, dancing. It was a great experience.
I bought a CD from them before I wandered off. I really like it. They deserve more notice. The commercial stations don’t play stuff like this, but if you try you can find interesting new music like this on the radio or the internet.
In Houston, I listen to KPFT, 90.1 FM . Its listener- sponsored, no commercials. They have EVERYTHING on there. I like how they have such a huge variety. Everything from Irish music to Latino to Heavy Metal to Zydeco. You really need to go online and check out the schedule. 😉
I’m not sure what to categorize this band as. Folk? Americana? String Band? Bluegrass? Traditional? Alt Country? Blues? They could be called any of that, but the do it all well!
Check out the video.
I’m taking a break today from the Zero to Hero Challenge. Todays assignment was to look around at other peoples blogs. Find something there you really liked (not content). I’ve been doing some of that but I haven’t seen anything today that I really MUST have on my blog. 😉
Actually, I did see something a while back, but now I can’t find it again. When I do, then I’ll do more of todays assignment. Or maybe not. 😉 In the meantime I haven’t been doing much with music on here lately. I really love music. All different kinds.
I really like this band. The Be Good Tanyas. I have a couple of their albums. I thought I’d post this particular video since I just did that post on New Orleans and this video was done there (and around).
I see the street performers around the French Quarter every time I go there. I bought a great CD from a band last time I was there. OK, I’ll do another post on them. But first…
I’ve been busy with the Zero to Hero Challenge lately so I haven’t had much time to do any other posts, but today I didn’t post anything for the Zero to Hero challenge.
I just did the assignment, which was to visit other participants (and comment) in the event I joined on Day 22.
So today I am posting a few photos for the Word a Week Challenge from A Word In Your Ear’s blog. The word of the week is ‘undulate’. Here’s the definition:
I really like this one, so I am going to add some pictures for a couple of the definitions…
The flowing, wavelike forms of these flowers.
The sinuous movements of the octopus and anemone.
The intricate, fluid movements and undulating music of the Balinese dancers.
These stunning, sunning, sinuous snakes.
Snaky scenery by the sea shore. 😉
And (last one) the flag rippling in the breeze.
Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero challenge is to ‘Publish a roundup post that links to posts on at least three other blogs, and tell us why you love the posts — and why we should read ‘em.’
Indian Rocks Bridge–
First New Species of River Dolphin Discovered in a Century– I really liked this because I really like dolphins! All kinds of dolphins!
I think it’s a hopeful sign that we can still discover a new species of an animal this large in this day and age when we seem to have already explored so much of the Earth.
I also liked it because I have been seeing posts about the annual Japanese dolphin slaughter and that always makes me feel bad whenever I’m reminded of it. Angry, sad, frustrated that I can’t put a stop to it.
Yeah, they need to eat, yeah they have their traditions, but personally I would like to see them come up with a substitute to replace this one. 🙁
That There England-
How Much Time Do Your Countrymen Spend on Books?– This one caught my interest since I am a total bibliophile! 🙂 I read voraciously. I read constantly. I read everything I can get my hands on!
I know I am unusual for an American. I already knew that many Americans don’t read much if at all. I have a lot of friends who almost never read anything. Personally I think that’s sad, but they don’t seem to think they’re missing anything.
What really surprised me about the post (neat map!) was how much time some of the other countries spend on reading. It really surprised me to see Egypt and Saudi Arabia as high up as they are. I wonder if they are only reading religious books like the Koran, or are they really opening themselves to all the other worlds reading can do for you?
The other interesting thing about this post was that it breaks down the reading by types of books. How many people read ‘love stories’ for example. How many men? How many women? It also breaks down by age. Very interesting. 😉
June Steward’s Blog-
Spectacular Images of Decaying Ships– I was browsing through my reader and was really just caught by the beautiful photography. For some reason, I have always had an interest with old things. History. Ruins. Abandoned, empty places. Haunted? Haunting, for sure. I’m not usually very imaginative but they always make me wonder/imagine what happened?
This post combined a few of my interests: ships, ruins(shipwrecks), travel, photography, art, history.
I hate to see these beautiful old ships just abandoned. They were beautiful afloat while they were working and I think they are still beautiful even when they are old, wrecked and abandoned like these.
I’ve actually been to visit the wreck of the Peter Iredale (the last photo) and took tons of pictures (as always). But that was before digital so I don’t have any of mine to share of that particular wreck. I do have a few of some other ships tho I don’t know their names or history.
Someday I’d love to travel to the places where those other wrecks lie.
So, those were my 3 choices for the days assignment. What do you think about them? I think it might be interesting to do a post like this as a monthly feature. Make a post featuring 3-5 of my favorite posts I saw during the last month? Or maybe sticking to a more focused theme, like 3 favorite photography posts, or favorite videos, or recipes, etc. Which would you prefer and why?
Cannibal Rat-Infested Ghost Ship Headed For The UK? | Broken News Daily – Yahoo Screen.
DaDum…DaDum…
DaDum…DaDum…
It’s the Lyubov Orlova, ex-Russian cruise ship, back in the news again. Has she sunk, or hasn’t she? The news agencies seem to want to drum up some business with these stories of scary, deadly-disease-carrying cannibal rats running rampant over the UK and then Europe. OMG!
Sounds like the start of a cool new horror flick! I would definitely watch it. 😉
Here’s a link to an interesting video report from Yahoo and Broken News Daily…
http://screen.yahoo.com/broken-news-daily/rat-infested-ghost-ship-headed-224503964.html
I was looking around at the list of blog events for the Zero to Hero assignment for Day 22 and I found this one I thought would be interesting. It’s called the Travel Journey of the Week from Melissa at the Liberated Traveler’s blog.
I liked her idea of asking other people contribute by writing a post and linking back to hers. Since she seems to be focusing on FOOD, which of course New Orleans is deservedly famous for, I thought I would add to hers by posting some photos of places to find some great food in New Orleans.
I’ve got everything here from the Cafe DuMond for their famous chicory coffee and beignets to Rouses grocery store for the best muffaletta to the old JAX Brewery. World Famous restaurants Arnauds and the Bourbon House compete with less known but just as good local favorites.
You’ll find everything from classic French to Cajun and Creole. Old style steak houses. Oyster bars. Fresh seafood and local delights like catfish and alligator fixed a dozen different ways.
If you just have to have it, there’s always a slice of pizza to go with your daquiri. Hot dog stands supply snacks you can eat as you wander down Bourbon Street with your Hand Grenades and Hurricanes. It’s hard to miss a good meal in the French Quarter! 🙂
Here’s a link to the original post: Travel Journey of the Week: New Orleans at the Liberated Traveler blog.
Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to join in on another blog event or challenge. I looked through the link in the assignment to the Blog Event Listings and saw a few I was interested in.
Maybe I’ll get back to some of them later when I have more time.
I decided to do the Share Your World Challenge. It seemed interesting and fairly quick and easy. Each week Cee asks 4 questions for you to answer “about you or the area of the world you live in.” Sounds like fun. 🙂
So, here are her questions and my answers for Week 3…
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Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to ‘publish a post inspired by your post from Day 19, and publicize it on one or more of your social networks.” I actually did 2 posts for the challenge for … Continue reading
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Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to add a new page. Since I just added one a couple of days ago and it took me a loooong time to put it all together, I think I’ll take … Continue reading
What light is to the eyes – what air is to the lungs – what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.
Robert Green IngersollIf you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking… is freedom.
Dwight D. EisenhowerIs freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.
Epictetus
this is a really cool video showing how math works in the real world. yeah, I know, most people think math is really hard and really boring. But it’s really not 😉