Tag Archives: random thoughts

What I Did Last Election… Outing Voters is Despicable

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There’s this thing. A group is publishing who voted, when and their addresses. And sending out mailers to everyone giving out this information. They hope to shame people into voting.

It’s not cool. It’s not okay. And at least for me, it won’t work.

Out me. Tell me neighbors and my friends and random strangers when I voted and when I didn’t. It won’t alter my voting behavior. Not at all. Not one bit. I just don’t care enough about what other people think of me and my behaviors to care that they “know” what I did last election. Or the one before that. Or the one before that.

I don’t even care if they’d published how I voted and who I voted for. I’m not ashamed of my voting pattern and behaviors. I choose to vote. I choose when not to vote. And no one is going to make me do any differently than I want to do. Period. Not for any reason. Hell, let me “out” myself. Y’all, if you want to know who, how and when I voted… ask. OR if enough people seem even remotely interested, I’d be willing to publish it right here on the blog to be preserved for all eternity. Cause I just don’t give a shit who knows what about my voting habits.

What I do care about is that these people (a PAC) are also giving out address and other personal information. Now, I know anyone can get this info for a small fee. However, it feels like an invasion of privacy. And it makes at the ridiculously small hurdle of paying to get this info non-existent. And makes it that much easier for the loopy-loos out there to have in their possession information they might not have paid even a nominal fee to attain. And it feels like an invasion of privacy.

People are pissed about it.

The group doing the “outing” has some psychology to back them up. It seems shaming people does bring them out to vote. Which is tragic– on so many levels. I don’t like it that people are shamed into altering their behavior. I don’t like it that people are doing something for which they feel shame. I don’t get that at all. If you felt bad about not voting why not just vote and not wait for some group to shame you into doing it? It also makes me sad that there are people out there wanting to shame people into doing what they want even if it is something like voting (which I generally think of as a good thing).

If I haven’t made myself clear previously, the right to vote–our franchise in our country and government–is the apex of citizenry and a functional democracy. Our country confers citizenship upon every person born on our soil.  The way we express that citizenry is by voting. The right and responsibility to vote is, in my mind, the primary right upon which all other rights are built. Without our franchise in our government and country, no other rights matter. If we can’t have a voice, an effect and the ability to alter the way we govern, who governs us and how we are governed, no other rights are secured. Not by us, the People. Not if we can’t vote to effect shit. We are voiceless minions, squirrels trying to get nuts forever out of our reach. The right to vote is SUPREME, y’all.

To use shaming tactics to make people vote might seem like a good thing. But I have never thought the ends justified the means. So many times, it is the means that determine the worth of the ends. The mercenary nature of only caring about outcome, regardless of the damage getting there has never interested me as a tactic to use for anything. I might see clear of scorching the earth if a child was in danger, or some other immediate emergency situation was occurring. But everyday? No way. I’m just not built that way.

If I get one of those mailers, I’m throwing mine away unread. I don’t care to know this stuff about people I know and people I don’t know. This forced outing is wrong on so many levels. I don’t want any part of it. Not in the outing of others. As for me, out me all you want. I still will do what I want. No matter who knows. I just wish my personal info had been treated as such, not used in a bid to make to behave in a certain way.

So… shame on you.

Stalking Is Not Okay and Other Shit You Need to Know

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Yeah, I said it. For fuck’s sake, ya’ll. Stalking is not okay. Never. Not ever. Not at anytime.

And it doesn’t matter if you have a penis or a vagina or both. It’s STILL not okay.

And don’t tell me what the person did that you think warranted your whacked out, crazy-assed stalking behavior. I just don’t fucking care. Stop whining about how the blogger was dressed. Or whether the blogger was asking for it. Or maybe the blogger made a suggestive remark. Yes, I know I am using the hell out of a hyperbole, but shit. Does it sound any better using the real “actions” of the author to justify borderline criminal behavior? Seriously? Haven’t we gone beyond the shaming of the victim to see if maybe the fucking criminal had a reason to do what they did? SHUT THE FUCK UP about victim behavior.

I don’t care if the blogger danced naked in the street screaming she hates the author’s book. I don’t care what the blogger’s action were, bad or otherwise AS LONG AS IT DOESN’T RISE TO THE LEVEL OF A CRIMINAL ACT- it still doesn’t justify being a stalker, singling someone out to be stalked. And in this case, all the blogger did was blog about a book she was reading on a reading forum. And oh yeah, the blogger used a pseudonym like MANY other people. For this she gets stalked at her work, at her home.

Can we say fucking bat-shit CRAZY, boys and girls? I mean, who does that? Umm, yeah crazy pants people.

I tweeted about this. Only to let any potential stalkers know… I have guns. I like guns. I like to shoot the guns I have. I will defend my home and my children from crazy-assed bitches who don’t understand things like boundaries and laws and reasonable behavior.

Don’t like something I said online. Disagree with me online. Don’t being that shit to my door. You won’t like what you find on the other side. Like my double barrel 12 gauge shotgun. And me not afraid of using it. Just sayin’.

Given the season of politics. I MUST say a few things. I just can’t help myself. And if I alienate your ass because you don’t agree with something I say, cool. You won’t alienate me by saying shit I don’t agree with. Cause I believe we all should talk and express diverse viewpoints, and I think its important not to have homogeneity in thought. Otherwise, its gets kinda creepy having us all have one collective thought. Didn’t someone say that I might not agree with what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it? Yeah, that.

So, here goes. If you tout yourself as pro-life, but the ONLY life you really care about and vote on is the one you think might be living in another person… you might not care about life at all. Cause if you did, you’d be voting to increase medicaid and head start and WIC. You’d have already adopted an unwanted child. You’d be voting to outlaw the death penalty. You’d be working to end war. You’d be working to make sure EVERYONE has access to the best medical care and stem cells and other technological advances that make lives better or richer or fuller. In other words, you’d ACTUALLY care and do something about the human lives ALREADY here, not spend all your energy on ones that might or might not be in the future. If you’re really pro-life, you’d be working to make life awesome for those of us already alive.

If you vote based solely on party lines, you are doing disservice to our country, to your neighbors and to yourself. If after consideration you find in your heart you are all liberal or all conservative, then cool. But do a little thinkings, a little researching, a little talking. Most people I know aren’t all conservative or all liberal. They are a mix. And they didn’t know it until they started really evaluating their position. Take me for example. I’m across the spectrum. On some things I’m liberal. Others I’m conservative. Most things, I’m moderate. That’s just the way my idealogical views pan out when I think about individual issues or certain topics.  I’m not ashamed of my viewpoints and I have good reasons for them. Do I think that I have the corner on good reasons for doing shit? Umm, yeah no. I don’t. And I know it. See how, this allows for others to also have divergent viewpoints? Try it out sometime. You’d be surprised. I’ve even changed my mind about shit after new evidence was presented. This means that I like to think. I hope that at some point we ALL can say that we like to think.

If you are against government intrusions and you think voter IDs are good, you’ve been brainwashed. Voting isn’t just a fundamental right. It is the one right upon which all other rights, our country and everything else we do as Americans is built upon. Think about that. The right to vote might be, and is in my opinion, the most important right we have as a free people. Period. To liken that shit to driving, or getting liquor and shit or some other stupid “privilege” we’ve conferred through laws is not only stupid but undermines the franchise given to us by the right to vote. I’m going to go so far as to to say the right to vote is the only thing that makes us citizen in fact. We are only the PEOPLE because we have the right to vote. End of. Stop trying to disenfranchise motherfuckers because you don’t like the language they speak, the country they’re from or the color of their skin. Just stop it. Do not use the right to vote as a shield for your racists and prejudicial thoughts, beliefs and behaviors. Just fucking stop it.

Women, Hate Crimes and Games

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If your “movement” is mostly filled with women-hating, rape-threatening, gonna bomb a school if you have “X” speaker, then your movement has been taken over. It’s been co-opted. And it’s become the rally group for haters, and only that. Any legitimate goal your group purports to have has just become a footnote. Now all your group stands for is hate. It has in essence morphed into a hate group. And it puts out hate speech and calls for hate crimes. Cyber hate crimes that become real life targeted hate attacks have no place in reasonable, adult discourse. Ever. Seriously.

Just a few years ago, gamers were all up in arms about having the public correlate violence and death in real life to violence and death in games. They wanted ZERO correlation between the violence in games giving rise to violence in fact. Now, those very gamers are threatening violence… wait for it… because of… games (and game reviews, development and other game related activities). That’s right. See how far they’ve come, baby?

It makes me sad that having women FINALLY become more involved in gaming and the gaming world, only to have their voices stifled, some have left the game development field, some have fled their homes (after personal addresses and the like were leaked on a forum), and others have had vicious attacks against them via the internet turn into real life rape and death threats against them and any institution who supports them. All because some guys don’t like girls playing in their sandbox.

Many are saying to ignore the threats. But as a woman, you can’t. We face violence almost daily. We might not actually encounter said violence. But I guarantee every woman has everyday thought about who is surrounding her when she uses public streets, transportation, goes into a garage, an alley, or just really anywhere. Women have to far more vigilant in guarding their personal security than a man does. I don’t think men even understand this level of caution. To make it more under stable, I would liken it soldiers who are always scanning the environment for enemy forces. Women constantly scan their environment for potential perpetrators of crimes against women. Cause not only do we have to be afraid of the same criminals as men- pick pockets, purse/wallet/bag thieves, car jackers, murderers, etc. We are targeted by criminals for those crimes which can only be committed against women. As a result, most women live a heightened sense of vigilance that is ALWAYS present.

And shit. Its fucking games.

Some are saying how much damage can a 13 yr old pimply adolescent boy cause? Most make threats and wouldn’t ever leave their homes or high school to actually DO anything. Seriously, that is a stupid fucking argument. And quite frankly, dangerous. Because if these were truly 13 year old’s, then yeah. But I don’t think the vitriolically spewed hate crimes are being committed by teenaged boys with too much time on their hands. No, I think these are socially retarded ADULT men with serious personal issues. I’m not sure if they’re not getting laid enough- or ever, or if they felt safe from female encroachment in their lonely little rooms staring at a computer or TV screen for hours on end. I’m not sure of the full extent of their sad little lives. But I don’t think that ignoring these hate mongers is the solution. Besides, it’s been tried. It didn’t work.

Again. Games.

There are a handful in “that”  group who keep trying to take the message back to where it’s not hate filled crazy verbal garbage. But no one hears you. Not anymore. You didn’t oust the haters in your group, and now the original non-haters and any non-hating message is drown out and colored over by the voices of hate. No one hears any other message. And nothing anyone says at this point makes that different. It’s a fact. And at this juncture, I don’t care what else you and your hate filled group have to say. About anything, really. I’ve heard enough. The cacophony of hate speech, hate threats, hate crimes, just plain ol’ hate doesn’t allow for any other sounds to get through. The hate-filled voices of your group have come to stand as the “speakers” for your group. It’s over. Give up the ghost. No one will believe you when you say otherwise. I don’t.

Trying to navigate a male-dominated society is hard. There are mine fields all over. Glass ceilings, unequal pay, diversion form certain fields to hidden biased channeling of “female” talents into “female” professions and more. In our personal lives, being insecure in our non-professional relationships because we are physically not as strong as men and are targets for rape, assault and abuse just because we are women. That’s not to say that physical abuse of women doesn’t happen in the work place, it just normally doesn’t in such explicit ways as say a street crime against a woman as she walking home. In other words, a woman getting her ass beat at work isn’t the norm. However, it all overlaps in this particular instance. A layer of rage against women, hate-filled, female-targeted attacks is the unfortunate joining of what we face in our personal relationships with our professional lives, if you’re a female in the gaming industry. We were already screwed in both the professional and personal aspect of our lives. Layering what we face daily as we fear for our physical safety on top of the discrimination we face in our choice of profession means that there just isn’t anywhere that it is safe to be a women and be secure in her person and body. Before this, most women just faced non-violent professional attacks. This campaign against women gamers, game developers, game journalist has melded the physical threat we face in day-to day life with the shit we get on the job. It’s just fucked all the way around. And again, nowhere are we physically safe.  Not on the streets, not at home, and now, not at work in our chosen field.

We are supposed to be moving forward as a society. It just seems like when the status quo is rocked in anyway that benefits women (without the corollary  that anything that helps women must necessarily hurt men) is seen as threatening and, therefore, physical threats of violence are okay. Here’s the deal unless your main reason for being is to fuck women over, then nothing a woman does to doesn’t do should impact any male person to the extent that death and rape threats are necessary. Female success doesn’t necessitate male failure. The world doesn’t work that way. It never has. One persons success doesn’t impact another person’s failure (well, unless they are in a head-to-head competition. But that’s something else entirely).

Dude, if you can’t deal with women don’t engage with real ones. Just keep interacting with the fake ones in the vids. At least there, the rest of us can ignore you. Like we’ve always done. Getting notoriety based on death and rape threats and hate crimes might not be the best way to make your foray into the real world. And if you think it is, your social retardation extends so far that none of the rest of us WANT you to interact with us. Really, we’d prefer if you stayed your miserable lonely, adult loser wanna be man self living in your own small, little world. Alone. Forgotten. In isolation. Obviously, that’s all these man-babies can handle. Real woman scare them. Scare them enough to make threats of physical violence because they can’t match women when it comes to mental and verbal arena.

Isn’t there a saying about losing an argument if you’ve resorted to name-calling. Well, guess what it’s called if you have to resort to threats of violence and hate? You haven’t just lost the argument, y’all have lost your every-loving minds, all credibility and your toe-hold on  a former male-dominated industry. You’ve lost public respect. And hopefully, those making these threats will also lose their freedom and get stuck in a small cell.

Random Rights Review: Part 2

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If you aren’t exercising your rights, at least once in a while– YOU are part of the problem. Please, become part of the solution.

I do this randomly. What you ask? Exercise my rights as a citizen of the United States, that’s what.

Here’s the deal, if law enforcement normally deals with the “dregs” of society, who exercise their rights, we as law-abiding citizens must do so as well to give law enforcement a balanced assertion of rights. The availability of our rights to all people is only secured if all citizens exercise those rights and don’t do so only when in trouble. Our rights exist ALL the time, they should be used ALL the time. A part of a dynamic democracy is the ability of it’s citizens to avail themselves of the protections afforded us by our Constitution. In other words, YOUR responsibility to our Republic isn’t just to show up for jury duty and call it good, no it goes way beyond that. We are stewards, ALL OF US, of our Republic. Our rights come with responsibilities. Period.

Every society is measured by how it treats it WEAKEST members, not its strongest. Never that. How do we treat children, the mentally ill, the elderly, the accused, and so on.  Do we protect them, or do we leave them out for the wolves. How many times have we turned a blind eye to injustice BECAUSE it was perpetrated against a group to which we did not belong. Here’s a poem by Niemoller that has stayed with me through civics classes and law school.

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

This. So this.

Please don’t believe the rhetoric that our society treats people equally. We don’t. We should, at least under the color of law, but we don’t. There are vast differences in how our citizens are treated based on the classification of that citizen. This isn’t me rambling, google that shit. Smarter people than me have done extensive research into this topic and come tot the same conclusion. I just happened to see it first hand in my work. It exists. It’s real. And it needs to be changed.

So when you’re stopped at a traffic stop, make them jump through ALL the hoops and do their job the way they’re supposed to be doing it. With minimal encroachment on you, your property and your rights. Give them only what they are entitled to under the law and force them to jump through other hoops– in place to protect us ALL–to make any further encroachment. Because here’s the deal, not ALL if us who deny  cops every thing they want as their verbal request indicates is trying to hide something. The rational that if I didn’t have anything to hide, I wouldn’t mind if the cop did *insert your choice of action here* isn’t a correct one. It sounds good. It appears rational. But its simply not true. Many of us have taken to making cops do what their supposed to do and NOTHING more as our civic duty. A right not exercised is a right that will eventually be taken away. That’s why I do it. And don’t be putting your fucking idiotic spin on my actions. Just ask. Don’t assume. Not with me and not with anyone else.

Here’s my call to all you wanna be journalist: Find how many people are shot by cops. The DOJ used to do this. Now we have no way of obtaining this info in one report with some numbers from which we can extrapolate data. Then find out how many are justified killings and how many are not. Tell me what happened to the police officer as well. And finally, let me know how many of the people killed could’ve been proved to have committed the crime for which they were shot.

Why do I want this info you ask? Because the natural progression of a citizenry that fails to exercise their rights and allows their law enforcement officers to work unchecked eventually ends up with MANY officer related killings, officer related assaults and massive lawsuit payout in civil actions. The end result of us failing to exercise our rights ALL the time to keep our government and their law enforcement officials in check, is that they run amok. And if you think that amok-ness running isn’t what is happening right now, you are failing to piece together all of the recent reports of unarmed men of color being killed by LEOs.

Why do cops still have a union? When most other industries that were unionized have busted their unions. Why do we have a system in place that shields those who were supposed to protect us when THEY harm our citizens? Less unions would mean more accountability. No more paid leave for dirty cops. No more administrative protection from criminals in uniform.

And FYI: don’t give me the argument that not all cops are bad cops. That there are far more good cops than bad seeds. See, if the good cops were actually good cops, THEY would’ve taken care of the bad cops already. Instead, the blue shield is strong and active. The good cops shielding the bad cops. Well, guess what that makes the “good” cop? A bad cop. I am unclear as to why these “good” cops cannot see that these bad cops aren’t cops. Not really. They are criminals disguised as cops. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. These criminals have infiltrated your ranks and are destroying police from the inside out. And if “good” cops aren’t part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. Why is it so hard to understand that having criminals within the ranks of law enforcement does nothing to inspire trust, public respect and any there good thing about cops.

But I digress. In the end, here’s the deal. Exercise your rights. Film police stops and post them on youtube. Encourage your community to require all police to have body cams. Stop the rights grab by our government. Again, criminals aren’t going to bring us to our knees. We are stronger than that. Our laws are better than that. It’s the people enforcing those laws that need to be retrained. Bitches who commit crimes are gonna get caught. We don’t need to trample on constitutional protections to get ’em. I promise.

Random Thoughts: NFL, Cops and more

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It’s been a while since I’ve done random thoughts, but I’ve had a few and so here I am sharing… randomly. lol

The NFL has been in the headlines a lot lately. And I’ve got mixed feeling about what’s going on. But here are some of my thoughts in no particular order. Is it any surprise that an industry that promotes violence is plagued by violence off the field as well? It reminds me of the Siegfried and Roy’s tiger attacks. Nobody blamed the tiger. As Chris Rock said, “the tiger went tiger.” In other words, the tiger wasn’t doing anything the tiger wasn’t supposed to be doing and would normally be found doing; i.e., biting the shit out of people who are bugging the hell out of them. So, here we have NFL players who are doing what they are paid a LOT of money to do, for weeks at a time. And it found its way off the field. Is it right? No. Not even a little bit. Because even though the tiger went tiger, NFL players are human beings with higher reasoning and the ability to do the opposite of what they would normally be found doing. Second thought, do the players have to pay for their mistakes and/or crimes forever? For the rest of their lives? For the rest of their ability to play? For how long? In no other industry- banking, legal, health, etc.- do we require that people who are let go for personal misconduct never be allowed to work in that industry again. Personal misconduct, y’all. Conduct not related to their work.  They didn’t embezzle; they didn’t do anything bad work-related. I’m not sure that’s something I can agree with. Now, before you scream in protest, think about it in the context of yourself. How would you like if your boss could fire you for something you did not at work and then prevent you from working in that industry ever again? Fair? Right? See why I’ve got mixed feelings?

Back to cops. Is it just me or have American citizens become the target of trigger happy police officers? Ferguson, South Carolina, Florida. It just goes on. I want to advocate buying one of those dash cams for all citizens because it just seems like unless you’ve recorded the incident, the police spin that shit like they’re caterpillars turning into butterflies. Only what emerges at the end of their spinning is not so beautiful. In fact, it’s down right ugly. But, holy fuckbills, Batman… really, have we come to the point of NEEDING to record our interactions with cops? Apparently yes. Many police departments are turning to body cams for just this reason. And bad public-police interactions in those departments have decreased. But seriously, there is a real problem if the public needs recordings to protect themselves from law enforcement. And it needs to be fixed. Pronto. We can’t be secure in our persons or our homes or anywhere really, if we can’t trust those public servants who we as a community have chosen to arm in order for said officers to better protect us. Our shield, previously used to guard us, has been turned into a sword taking us down and out. It must be stopped.

There is a scandal going on with some judges taking kick backs to place juveniles into these privately run facilities. Jaysus. What the hell is the world coming to? Screwing over kids to get rich. I guess that’s not a new thing, but it offends me that judges are on the take and subverting justice in this way. One of the problems is electing judges. When you put politics and money into electing your judicial officers, you are screwing yourself over. I don’t know which special interest group got you and your fellow neighbors to okay elected judges, but they deliberately fucked you. They knew you didn’t have the money to elect good, fair judges. These companies and special interest groups KNEW you couldn’t defend against THEIR choice in judges. They knew that. And they sold it to the public by telling them that they wouldn’t have shitty, incompetent judges if those judges knew they could be elected out. They never pointed out who would be elected in. Now, I’m not for shitty, incompetent judges. But I would rather have a bumbling buffoon who can be reversed on appeal then smart, paid-for-by-special interest group judges who can insulate their bought opinions from review. The dumb ones get reversed because they don’t normally hide their errors. The smart ones ,well the damage that can be done in those cases? Astronomical. In Alaska, we do a huge survey after names are placed into a pot for a judicial vacancy, then several of the best candidates are put forward. And THEN they go up for re-election. Appointment- impartial choosing of names, followed by election to allow for more accountability. Every state should start out this way. Otherwise, you end up with bought and paid for judges. So not a good thing. So.

Einkorn Experiment

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Or E2, however one gets the squared symbol to show up after the the E, or the double E. Call it what you’d like. Whatever this rose is named, I’m gonna be taking a little foray into cutting out modern wheat and replacing it with Einkorn. All this should be vastly interring as I try to make homemade bread and pasta and tortillas from Einkorn flour. Primitive flour has some different properties, namely sticky ones, and should turn my kitchen into a hot mess. Just the way I like it.

I have some health issues that need to be addressed. One of the ways in which I am doing so is taking a few supplements. Another way is changing the way I eat. I’ve decided to switch from mostly meats to fish and seafood. And to cut all modern wheat from my diet, instead using Einkorn for all my flour-y needs. I’m hoping these changes have a positive impact on my health and my life.

As part of the diet, my next few recipe shares will showcase some of my eating choices. Tomorrow, I’m getting a huge box of Alaskan seafood from New Sagaya in Anchorage. King crab legs, salmon, halibut, reindeer sausage all in one jumbo box of goodness. I’ll probably just eat the king crab legs steamed with butter and lemon. The salmon will be barbecued in herbs and sauce. But the rest, well, some of it will be chunked to put into a cioppino. To sop it all up, I’ll be making a homemade, rustic Einkorn bread.

Cioppino

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 large shallots, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
5 cups fish/seafood stock
1 bay leaf
2 corn cobs, cut in small pieces
1/2 pound sausage, half-mooned (I use reindeer)
1 pound manila clams, scrubbed
1 pound mussels, scrubbed, debearded
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4-6 large scallops
Some crab, either pieces of king crab or smaller crabs halved
1 1/2 pounds assorted halibut and/or salmon filets, cut into 2-inch chunks

Directions

Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and saute 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add corn and sausage. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, crab, scallops and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open). Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red pepper flakes.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Slow Rise Rustic Einkorn Bread

5 cups (600g) of jovial einkorn flour
3 cups (600g) of jovial wheat berries
1¾ cup (410g) of warm water
¼ tsp. (1g) dry active yeast
1 tsp. (6g) sea salt

Directions

Mix flour, salt and yeast together in a large mixing bowl.

Add water and combine with your hands until all ingredients are mixed well. Your hands will be a sticky mess at this point, but that is normal with einkorn.

With a spatula, push down the sides of the dough and flatten the top.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a dark place for 12-14 hours. Here is what the doughs should look like when ready to bake. Depending on the weather, the time it takes to proof the dough may vary.

Remember, einkorn flour contains carotenoids that can oxidize if exposed to water and light for a long period of time. Just like a carrot peel can darken, einkorn dough will when exposed to light. Therefore, either store the bowl in a dark space or use a ceramic bowl and put a plate on top to protect the dough from light.

When the dough is ready, place a ceramic or cast iron pot that is oven-safe and has a lid in the oven and heat for 30 minutes to the maximum temperature setting, or at least 500°F then lower the temperature to 450°F.

Turn out the dough on a heavily floured work surface. Pat the dough flat, and using a dough scraper or your hands, fold each of the four sides toward the center, using added flour to make a rounded shape. This is not like forming a typical loaf since the dough is quite soft. Don’t worry yourself too much about the shape because the dough will have a quick rise in the oven and will correct itself, leaving you with a beautifully rustic bread.

The rounded dough can be proofed for one more hour before baking, but we found in our testing it did not make a difference in the finished loaf. Therefore, we turned the dough right into the pot and baked covered for 40 minutes. We also baked the loaf for 30 minutes covered and 10 uncovered, but in the end, found the best results at 40 minutes with a cover for the entire baking time.

If you like a dark crust, return the loaf to the oven for 5-10 minutes more uncovered.

Lift the loaf out of the dish and place on a cooling rack.

You may also try this cooking method on a firmer dough.

Let cool for at least one hour before slicing.

That’s a You Problem, Not a Me Problem

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If the studies showing the decrease in empathy over the last several decades is in doubt, just go to FaceBook and you will see clear evidence of just how much we don’t give a shit about anybody but ourselves.

The current immigration situation nicely illustrates this point. So many people wanting to just make “those” people go back to where they came from. Umm, most of “those” people are of the brown persuasion. And I can’t help but wonder if the influx was of say blonde haired, blue eyed amazonion looking women, if we would have the same or similar outcry. Oh wait, we had HUGE influxes of Serbo-Crotian immigrants and no one said a word. We’ve granted asylum to numerous people from the middle east with nary a sound of protest. So yeah, umm, we just have problems with our brothers and sisters from south of the border.

Now, I’m not gonna tell you what to think. But immigration is a complex issue. Not only should we be concerned about lower level workers. You know, like migrants farmers so I can have my table grapes in the summer with my wine. Or housekeepers and nannies. But we should be concerned with what’s called the replacement rate. This is the number of babies that each woman needs to have to keep the population at zero. Just as an FYI, the United States is WAY below the needed replacement rate.

Now, lets think this through. Many countries are being over run with people from other countries. Most notably, those countries that are dangerous to live are experiencing mass exodus. And guess where they are going? Lots go to Europe. But MANY come to the United States. So, lets do some simple math peeps. Americans AREN’T replacing their population, we are declining. So those who are raised with our values are a diminishing number. Do you want them replaced by hard-working Catholic conservatives or crazy-assed other religions and cultures? Love Sharia Law? Then keep whining about Latino Catholics “invading” America. Umm, just no. And to be clear, I’m NOT advocating that we cut off all other religious people from immigrating to our country. But we should be really careful about demographics because WE ARE REPLACING our population with immigrants RIGHT NOW. What values do you want those immigrants to have? And I don’t want to hear that all Latinos are drug dealers. Cause that’s like saying all Americans are millionaires or we all get naked to survive in the wild. TV isn’t a good basis for basing racial and ethnic prejudices. Go talk to some Latinos in your community. Go talk to others of differing values. Make an informed decision. You’ll be surprised.

I find it mildly ironic that current US citizens are pissed about people coming to our country to have a better life. Like a better life can be divided up into small slices. Again, umm… just no. Having MORE workers contribute is a good thing. Because many Americans ancestors didn’t immigrate “properly” to the US in the first place. In fact, I bet there are several First American groups who would have several things to say about the first Europeans invaders to US soil and how those peeps NEVER “properly” stepped their toes on US soil. Now, in case you’ve wondered. I can trace one of my parents to “proper” immigration, and it ain’t my white parent. It was my Asian mother. My dad’s side is sketchy on how “legally” they “immigrated.” I put the word immigrated in quotes because many came to this country against their will back in the day. And not just outright slaves, but indentured servants, people who got left behind, who’d been shipped here as convicts, etc. I can’t tell from our family records on my caucasian side if and when and how we came to have US citizenship. And quite frankly, given the number of treaties we’ve failed to honor and enforce, any continued occupation by those not of First American descent might not be quite legal or proper. But good luck trying to dig out those here now. All we can hope for is that those with guilty consciouses to voluntarily give up their citizenship and go back to their motherlands. I’m waiting with baited breathe, y’all.

And here’s the thing, many of those “Mexican bastards” that many in our Southern states are working to keep out came from the First Americans who ROAMED the shit out of this land long before the white, yellow and black peeps stepped a toe on our hallowed ground. So our brown brothers and sisters have and ANCESTRAL claim and right to come back to those very lands. Just look at how often Texas and Southern California changed hands between the Spanish and the Not Spanish. lol Somebody’s claim in this mix in primary and it’s not those with colors that aren’t brown in their skin.

Now you might wonder about how empathy ties into this. Well, can you put yourself into their shoes? Wanting better for your family, work so you can buy food, and not so much crime and lawlessness? I can. My heart goes out to anyone who wants better for themselves and their families. Of course, I can understand that. I won’t touch the whole welfare aspect of these arguments because again, it just underscores the lack of empathy. Seriously, I get that many in our society don’t want to help our fellow Americans. I can’t imagine those same people being overly excited about helping out those who aren’t Americans yet. I get it. But, getting them in, having immigrants work AND pay into our system isn’t that hard to do. Or instituting a waiting period while paying into the system like Canada does wouldn’t be hard to do.

There are many solutions that can work to make these issues not be so important. Sticking kids in concentration-like camps, having military based enforcement, having random US citizenship stops NOT AT A BORDER, and many of the other CRAZY-ASSED actions we’ve been taking isn’t the way. Not at all. A little compassion, a lot of reasonable discourse, and picking and choosing the best of what others are doing are ingredients in the recipe to not looking like those of us who have the coveted US citizenship are hoarders preventing others from having the same opportunities. In other words, stop being dicks.

#YesAllWomen

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This post will likely contain some triggery shit. You have been warned.

Not all men are dicks. All women have been threatened by those with dicks, however.

Not all men rape. All women live in the fear of being raped.

Not all men are domestically violent. All women are aware that statistically women will have violence done to them in their home.

All women. Everywhere. Live in the shadow of violence done to them by men. No, not all men. But even one can cut a swath through the female population. More than one? Shit, the numbers of women they will touch with violence exponentially increases. Every. Fucking. Woman.  Yes, all women.

My first touch that was inappropriate happened when I was 11 or 12. A much older man laid his body on top of mine while I slept. I woke up to being suffocated by a large male body. He was the husband of one of my mom’s friend. But that isn’t my first experience with having my body, me sexualized. That happened when I was about 8. I was told that his dick would go so far up into me that it would take up the space of most of my torso. And I’m writing this in a much nicer way than it was told to me. Seriously. The words he said shocked me. So much so that I’ve NEVER forgotten it.

An 8 year old girl should never be sexualized. I was. And I know I’m not alone.

Another occurrence that stuck in my mind occurred when I spent a summer in Paris. I was followed for several blocks by a man. I couldn’t go home because I didn’t want to lead him to where I was living. Me, alone in a foreign country, scared shitless. So I kept walking and SCREAMING at the top of my lungs hoping that my noise, my screams would protect me. Even then, I KNEW it wouldn’t be enough. So I stayed in crowded areas until about 45 minutes later, he stopped following me. He stopped. No one stopped him. No one came to my aid. No one.

Every time a women goes out with a man, she takes her life into her hands. Every. Single. Time.

Crazy doesn’t wear itself on the outside. Violent men don’t show their violent faces until they do. And it could be on the first date, the second anniversary, or a post-divorce party. Women don’t know they are going to be the target until they are. Sure, there are signs SOME men put out. We avoided those guys like the plague. It’s the ones that pass as normal. That pass as “normal.”

So, dudes, I get that you don’t want to be painted with a brush of violence that seems to be so pervasive amongst your gender. But when you defend YOURSELF with #notallmen, instead of acknowledging #yesallwomen, in essence you are doing some violence by dismissing, deflecting and defending men and marginalizing women.

So, shut the fuck up. And listen.

No, not all men. But one is too many. Because yes, ALL WOMEN.

Road Trips Rock, Gas Prices Suck

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Went on a road trip this past week. It’s been a LONG time since I got in a car and drove across the country, or even a small part thereof. I’d forgotten how cool it was to travel on the highways. Not the steering wheel grabbing part as I cuss out other drivers on the road, but the see the country and explore at a leisurely pace kinda of way.

It helped that I stopped in on family and friends. So without real solid dates, I endeavored to make a few stops and enjoy being the captain of my own ship, so to speak.

My road trip was preceded by a week of an awesome stay in New Orleans. Sheesh, I’d forgotten how much I  love that city. I haven’t been back since Katrina hit. And I was expecting more devastation than I saw. Which was good. But I suspect I just hadn’t driven into the parts that had been hardest hit. One of these days, I’ll go back and explore the more hidden parts, the less touristy ones.

I used to live in New Orleans. It was awesome. New Orleans is THE place to be if you’re a college student of any level. There’s lots to do and lots to see. Plus, the atmosphere of laissez le bon temps roulez was most excellent to help a person come into their own, albeit in a circuitous route that led down Bourbon Street on many a night. Still, I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxed community. Not to say there aren’t some under layers to the city. There are. Lots.

N’awlins was a mid-way point in my trek. A long resting spot that proved to be less than restful. Not that I’m complaining. I’m not. Just saying. 🙂 Instead of going west, I headed east from there. And not a little south. Florida was my next destination. I spent  four days there. I hadn’t really explored Florida, except right along the south beaches off I-10. Going down into the boot was vastly different. For one thing, the plants ROCK. It smelled so good. All those tropical and sub-tropical flora made the air redolent with sensuous scents. Hah, now I’m all waxing poetic and shit. Seriously, though, I hadn’t smelled air that sweet since I’d last visited Hawaii. Yum!

To say I really enjoyed the trip would be an understatement. I think I might plan a road trip every summer. I know. I know. That is totally not green. But whatever, dude. I did drive a hybrid car on this road trip and probably will plan to do so again. But no matter how imminent the shortage of petroleum might be, I am so willing to burn up a week or three in giving myself the happies. Ya know?

A Tribute To My Mother

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I usually reserve Sundays for book reviews. I don’t know why. I just do it. But today is Mother’s Day. And my Mother passed away 3 years ago on April 7, 2011. So today, instead of doing a post about a book, this post is a tribute to my mother. It won’t be nearly long enough. I won’t get out everything I want to say. But still, here it is.

My first memory is of my mother. I woke up- I must have been about 2 years old- hungry and went in search of the person who fed me. My mom. To say I love her wouldn’t cover the myriad of emotions I feel toward the one woman who not only shaped me, but shaped and informed the world around me. She was everything in my world.

My mom’s courageousness never hit me until I was an adult and realized how HARD the things she did were. Like coming to a new country, learning a new language, and permanently changing her citizenship to a country she hadn’t been born in. And she did all those things for me. Of course, my father factored heavily into these things as well. But knowing my moms, I know a huge part of WHY she did some of those things were because of me. That’s just who she was. She loved me as well.

The day she went to that Federal Courthouse to take her oath and pledge her loyalty to America was a pivotal moment for me. Although, I wouldn’t realize that until much later as well. The joy I experienced in that courtroom never left me. Never. It dictated what I would study in school and which career path I would take.

I was not a good daughter. At times, I was downright shitty. Some of the things I said to my mom HAUNT me. And I know that I’m not alone. Teenagers across the world have said things that were meant to devastate just like I did. But that doesn’t matter to me. Because I said them to a woman who deserved praise and not ridicule. Not the scorn I heaped upon her.

I was lucky to have the mom I had. I learned to be a good mom in return. I learned to be most of what I am today because of her. She should have been given a better daughter. I wish she had. Then she might have had  more than I gave her. Not that I couldn’t. I just chose not to. In my arrogance.

My mom passed away three years ago and I regret the time we lost to my own selfishness. She was a superb human being. She pissed people off because she was blunt and direct when maybe sometimes she didn’t need to be. Judgmental at times. I know her flaws as well. Still, in the balance, my scale of goodness from her tips way to my side when balanced against her scale of goodness.

My mom knew sacrifice. She went hungry many times as a child so her younger brother and sisters could eat. It was post war and Korea was decimated. She gave up so much always for those around her who she loved. She used to come over and cook and clean for me when my kids were little so I could rest. How do you even begin to repay, honor or in any other way give back what she gave? I don’t know. I just sit here in awe of my mom.

My mom passed away 4 months after I moved from close to her to far away. I miss her every single day. Every single day. I have a box with her jacket in it. I know it still smells like her. I haven’t opened the box because I don’t want that smell to go away. I want that smell with me at my time. To be wrapped up in her and have her be the last memory I have just like I had the first.