My Statement

It seems I do not know how to embed a video AND create text in the same post, so here is my commentary:



What is this "greatest country" thing...is it a contest? Who decides what 'greatest' means anyway? Don't all countries have some good things, and some things that perhaps aren't so good? Don't nations, like people, change as they grow? Patriotism goes way overboard in the United States. It's irrational and unrealistic and it's also extremely arrogant to say "This is the greatest country in the world" and especially to believe it just because you hear it so much, or because you feel we are superior to everyone else in the world. Why this is touted so often by those who call themselves Christians, I don't know. This idea in no way is a tenet of the teachings of Jesus.

The only things worth defending in this country are the magnificent land and the people themselves. The governmental system does not deserve to be defended or preserved. It's bloated, corrupted, greedy, grasping, over-centralized and bullying, and has sold out to corporations and special interest groups. It does not represent the will of the people who live here. It does not function in the best interests of the people who live here. It does not accurately reflect the limits of responsibility and balance of powers laid out in the constitution. It fosters fear, resource greed and wastefulness, imperialism, xenophobia, arrogance, selfishness, divisiveness, inequality, and entitlement.

It is broken. Inevitably, it will fail.

 WOW! I do know am I inviting a rain of hell to fall upon me with this comment.

Guts to Speak the Truth

The Degradation of Freedom

When did these cultural gains, carved out over thousands of years of human governing mistakes, become negotiable?

• Freedom of religion, which would preclude any form of religious government.
• Access to equal health care, regardless of your personal income.
• The right to vote for all citizens, regardless of the color of your skin, male or female, homosexual or heterosexual, property owner or not, wealthy enough to afford a state-issued ID card or not.
• The right to not by spied upon by your own the government with drones or electronically taped conversations.
• The right to a speedy trial, legal counsel, and to face your accusers.
• The right to be safe from "cruel and unusual punishment."
• The right to use birth control and, as is currently a right in this country, to have an abortion. 
• A free press and the rights of reporters to do their job without being arrested or forced to lie or keep quiet or to maintain the status quo. 
• The right to negotiate a fair wage for a fair day's work, or have someone do it for you. 
• The right to demand safe working conditions.
• The right to have sex, however yuo like, with any person or sex of person you choose, in private, if  you both agree and are consenting adults.
• The right to be safe from penalty when you blow the whistle on lawbreakers.
• Freedom of speech and no censorship by the government, or anybody else. This would include propaganda, which these days goes by the name of "spin."
• The right to grow your own food. 
• The right to grow plants from your own seeds without worrying about a lawsuit because of contamination and corruption by GMO seeds. 
• The right to be informed about the nature of your food, from the manner of its inception and manufacture to factory-added additives, and the right to choose if you want to eat it or not, raw or not. 

These freedoms are under attack or already gone in America. So what's next? Against the law to criticize the government? Concentration camps? Don't forget, it wasn't just the Nazi regimen who used camps to detain portions of their nation's population. The US has done it, too. Who among the citizens of this country are closing their eyes so they don't see where this could be headed? It's true that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

You will notice I did not include the right to bear arms....although in this country, the cat is already out of the bag. Since the criminal element can and will chose to be armed, it is only fair to allow the populace to arm themselves, not only for self defense but also, as intended, to protect themselves from tyrannical government. That being said, in the wake of horrifying killing sprees that are significantly increasing in number, I personally have no problem with stricter guns laws. A collector, a hunter, someone who just appreciates quality....these persons surely should have no problem with a reasonable waiting time and background check before being allowed to purchase. But the problem is that if somebody really wants to get their hands on a gun., they will find a way inevitably. As far as assault rifles go, I honestly see no reason for those guns to be in the hands of any person. On the other hand, I do acknowledge the danger inherent in regulation. Once there is a path for restriction, more rights can be taken away much more easily later on down the road. What is the best answer? I don't know. Even in Star Trek they had weapons, albeit rarely used to kill. "Set phasers to stun...."

Breakfast Oatmeal, Peanut Butter Style

I can't stand those packets of flavored instant oatmeal. They are often tasty, but not truly filling. I also can't stand plain oatmeal, even when it's cooked with milk (heaven forbid the calorie count on that!) and topped with brown sugar or some such decadence. So I scoured the internet and discovered a baked oatmeal recipe containing, among other things, applesauce and chopped fruit. At last! This satisfied for several years but eventually I started to crave a different option. So after many recipe trials and many, many bowls of oatmeal for breakfast, I am please to share a wonderfully luxurious peanut butter breakfast oatmeal!

Baked Peanut Butter Cookie Oatmeal (my version)

2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup peanut butter (I use creamy, but if you like the crunchy kind, why not use that?)
3/4 cup milk
2 T melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Optional:  Banana, chocolate chips, nuts or seeds, and whatever else may strike your fancy

Mix the oats, sugars, baking powder, and salt until well integrated.

Then I make a little hollow in the dry ingredients and add the peanut butter, the melted butter, milk, egg, and vanilla (I'm so lucky to have an egg from my personal chicken, homemade vanilla, and peanut butter my mom made!). Stir it very well. Then, I put the mixture in a  sealable container and keep it in the fridge. Of course you could cook the whole thing right away in a greased, oven safe pan, at a preheated 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or longer if necessary. Personally, I prefer to cook it just before I eat it instead of reheating it every morning, so I preheat the toaster oven, grease a ceramic bowl, and sometimes add 1/4 of a cut-up banana, then 1/2 cup or so of the mixture, and top it with a few chocolate chips and bake if for the same amount of time, about 20-25 minutes, and voila! It's hot, fresh, delicious, and homemade! Sometimes I add the banana after I cook it, instead. If you like nuts or seeds, those could also be tasty toppings. My cousin adds chunks of energy or protein bars to top her oatmeal, I may try that soon too.

As is, for 8 servings in a batch, the nutritional information comes out to about 266 calories, 13 grams of fat, 17 grams of sugar, 8 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber, without adding the banana and chocolate chips, and using 2% milk. I'm going to try bumping it up to 3 cups of oats and keeping the rest of the recipe the same, because it IS quite sweet and yummy, and I'm actually trying for a more healthful recipe. But I haven't done that yet, so it may not turn out, although I'm hopeful it will *fingers crossed*!

Tutorial: How to pollinate a lemon tree

This is my dwarf Meyer lemon tree. It lives outdoors in the spring, summer, and fall, and comes inside my office to spend the winter. Usually once it comes inside it has some ripening fruit...but also some blossoms for the next fruit cycle. Since the tree is now inside, it needs to be pollinated by me! Call me foolish but it took me a few seasons to figure all of this out. I apologize in advance for not giving the proper scientific names for these plant parts! Why don't these trees come with a manual? Why don't children come with a manual? Why am I so dependent on directions? Er....getting back to pollination:

For people who already know how to do this, the pictures and directions may seem like overkill. But for those who don't know how, it takes a little practice to see the different between the two flower types, just like when you first started gardening and ALL the seedling plants looked the same! A little experience with the kinds of blossoms will hopefully teach your eyes to distinguish the difference, but once you learn it I think it stays with you always. Besides, if you already know how to do this, why are you reading this post? 

There are two kinds of flowers on this lemon tree. I believe the female flower is the one that will actually become the fruit. This flower has a long, thick stem-like structure exactly in the middle of the flower petals. It has a small knob at the end. Before pollination, this knob is white in color. After pollination, the knob becomes distinctly yellow. On the photo below the female flower is the lower blossom, pointing downward. The upper flower (surely the male!) has no middle structure. Instead it has fringy, vibrantly yellow center petalets (my word, like it?) that are heavy with loads of pollen. If you jolt the branch, pollen takes to the air and drifts around, coating the leaves and everything else in the room (the computers do not like this). 

Below shows an unpollinated female structure....it's not bright yellow yet. Sorry so blurry...one-handed photography is tricky with my camera.

Below is another picture, this one with two pollinated female flowers. See the middle structure? (okay, I found it now...that middle structure is the pistil)

The closest I can get with my camera....female flower with pistil. 

To pollinate, grab a Q-tip. Even cheap ones with work for this, although I have discovered they are pretty much useless for any other job. Stick the end of the Q-tip right inside that male plant (stop laughing!) and roll it around real good, coat that Q-tip with pollen! It doesn't seem to go as far as you would think.

This is supposed to be a picture of the Q-tip with pollen. Little tiny grains of pollen on it! In the background is a half-grown lemon. Yes, I know it looks like a lime. Why does everybody say that? Do I strike people as unable to distinguish lemons from limes? This tree has lived with me for years, give me the benefit of the doubt! This is what lemons look like before they look like lemons :)

Last step! Carry the pollinated Q-tip to a female flower pistil and rub that pollen all over it - I know, this is awfully weird and kinky! Thus is the sex life of plants. Orchids are even worse, trust me! Once the pistil is bright yellow, you should be done. I think. I am still learning here, myself. 

If you did it right, in a few days or a week (I don't time it!) the petals and other parts will fall off and you will see a bump at the base of the pistil. This is the baby lemon! I have noticed that sometimes these babies will also fall off, I don't know if it's because they just weren't pollinated enough, if they have something wrong with them, or if the tree just has too many to feed. Just make sure you have pollinated as many female flowers as possible, as you can always remove some fruit later if the tree is unable to grow that many. Also as with any fruiting plant, the more fruit you have will often mean smaller fruit. It's a fine balancing act between fruit quantity and fruit size!

Line In The Sand

This story at the Indieregister is much to valid to not post: (click on the original post for working links in the article)

BY INDIEREGISTER | OCTOBER 24, 2012 · 11:30 PM

Where is your ‘line in the sand’?By Eric VolivaI have a question for you; it’s not meant to be answered, nor is its purpose to cause angry discourse. It’s a question that I ask solely for your serious–and internal–consideration; and I sincerely hope you do take the time to reflect on it.Where do you draw the line in the sand with the government taking away your rights and freedoms?
Do you stand up to them once they come break down your door in the middle of the night, “mistaking” your home for a known “drug den”?
Do you wait until they raise taxes to the point where you can no longer afford to pay it and your house payments, so they evict you from your home, and thus become homeless or living on welfare?
Do you wait until they arrest a friend or family member or a child because they collected rainwater or sold raw milk or gave a meal to a starving member of the homeless community without a permit?
Do you wait until someone you love is “accidentally” murdered or maimed by an “accidental” drug raid (which is becoming insanely commonplace in the U.S.)?
Do you wait until you’re locked up for participating in “terrorist activities” for simply walking into your bank and closing your account on the same day there’s a protest of that bank occurring?
Do you wait until a friend is raped by a cop, and then the cop is never even charged and allowed to continue to harm others because they’re in a brotherhood ruled by the “blue code of silence“?
Or, do you go along with the crowd and wait until everyone else takes a stand?
Then, once you have waited as long as you possibly can under the hand of tyranny and can no longer tolerate the status quo of oppression, how is it that you actually take your stand? Do you raise your voice and shout your anger to the world? What would that accomplish? Do you refuse to no longer be part of their structure of control and by way of passive resistance refuse to pay tribute in the form of taxes in hopes of de-funding their treasury? Do you allow yourself to go to prison for your passive resistance? Or do you speak out in defiance and try to educate your fellow citizen-slaves, knowing that because of your protests you can be legally labeled a “terrorist” under the NDAA and face the bloody situation of men in swat gear raiding your home in the middle of the night and detaining you as a “threat to our national security” (oh, the irony)?
Whatever your line in the sand may be, this is a reality we all face. The situation with our freedoms will continue to get worse until we decide how far is too far, and stand united in our defiance to their continued criminalizing of our rights.
So, once again, I ask you: When do you make your stand? Where is it that you will draw that line?
Just know that the longer you wait, the harder it will be.

 Martin Luther King Jr. - "One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." Indeed. It's also a matter of survival and self-defense.

MYSELF, AGAIN

It's funny how you can be happy or at least satisfied and accepting, for the most part. Then something happens or someone enters your life and turns it upside-down, and suddenly your dissatisfaction with those aspects of your life that aren't quite where you want them to be can irritate and chafe like ill-fitting shoes. Even when the inclusion of much new joy and discovery brings happiness of one sort, it can oddly also evoke unsuspected feelings of restriction and frustration at the same time. Does that mean forever happiness in the moment is a pipe dream? Or is that only caused by the addition of a faulty new gadget? Regardless, after one is lifted to heights of excitement and unexpected passion, later then inevitably crashing down to long since forgotten lows, eventually - At last! - equilibrium is regained. Finally, the soothing cadence of calm seas, gentle swells and mainly sunny skies are a balm to my fragile heart. Yet as relieved as I am at the passing of the storm, I am richer for my experience to the soaring summit which blinds in its brightness, and the turbulent caverns enclosing dark depths that lie beneath the surface. Alone again on an empty sea I can smile and see the beauty in the world. I am at last again at peace with myself.