Clipmarks | Socratoad's Comments

A Fearful Price

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:07:16 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "The reason it is so easy for the U.S. to declare wars, and to continue fighting year after year after year, is because so few Americans feel the actual pain of those wars. We’ve been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan longer than we fought in World Wars I and II combined.

I don’t think our current way of waging war, which is pretty easy-breezy for most citizens, is what the architects of America had in mind. Here’s George Washington’s view, for example: “It must be laid down as a primary position and the basis of our system, that every citizen who enjoys the protection of a free government owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal service to the defense of it.”

What we are doing is indefensible and will ultimately exact a fearful price, and there will be absolutely no way for the U.S. to avoid paying it".

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The idea that fewer than 1 percent of Americans are being called on to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq and that we’re sending them into combat again and again and again — for three tours, four tours, five tours, six tours — is obscene. All decent people should object.

The air is filled with obsessive self-satisfied rhetoric about supporting the troops, giving them everything they need and not letting them down. But that rhetoric is as hollow as a jazzman’s drum because the overwhelming majority of Americans have no desire at all to share in the sacrifices that the service members and their families are making. Most Americans do not want to serve in the wars, do not want to give up their precious time to do volunteer work that would aid the nation’s warriors and their families, do not even want to fork over the taxes that are needed to pay for the wars.

Mona Lisa

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:30:49 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Portrait of Mona Lisa (1479-1528), also known as La Gioconda, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo; 1503-06 (150 Kb); Oil on wood, 77 x 53 cm (30 x 20 7/8 in); Musee du Louvre, Paris

Clip Source: www.planetsvg.org

Reflecting on the Montreal Massacre

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:26:54 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: exuberanteclectic.com

Twenty years ago yesterday engineering students at the University of Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique attended the second last day of classes before the Christmas break.

None of them expected that before supper that evening 14 students would be dead, and 13 others wounded, all at the hand of a shooter who shot himself in the head.

It’s significant that all 14 of the students killed were women, as were nine of the wounded.

And in a symbolic way, it’s significant that this post is appearing the day after the anniversary of this bloody gendercidal rampage.

We need to do everything we can to remember that these were not faceless, nameless women who died. We honor them by seeing and remembering their names.

They were:

Geneviève Bergeron

Hélène Colgan

Nathalie Croteau

Barbara Daigneault

Anne-Marie Edward

Maud Haviernick

Barbara Maria Klucznik

Maryse Leclair

Annie St.-Arneault

Michèle Richard

Maryse Laganière

Anne-Marie Lemay

Sonia Pelletier

Annie Turcotte

Mona Lisa

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:30:49 GMT

Clip Source: www.planetsvg.org

A Ten Page Peek In To Someone Else's Marriage

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:59:09 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Married (Happily) With Issues

By trying to make their good marriage better, Elizabeth Weil and Daniel Duane tested it.

Elizabeth Weil, a contributing writer, is working on a memoir about marriage improvement called “No Cheating, No Dying.”

Still, Dan was not 100 percent enthusiastic, at least at first. He feared — not mistakenly, it turns out — that marriage is not great terrain for overachievers. He met my ocean analogy with the veiled threat of California ranch-hand wisdom: if you’re going to poke around the bushes, you’d best be prepared to scare out some snakes.

How To Grow Sweet Potatoes

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:44:27 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: 1greengeneration.elementsintime.com

They’re truly gorgeous plants, don’t you think? I’m so happy we tried growing them! And it’s incredibly easy.

1. Buy Slips or Grow Them At Home:

2. Plant The Slips.

The slips are basically mini plants. Plant them after the last frost, in rich soil with some well-aged compost, 12-18″ apart (we planted them far closer, but some of our potatoes were pretty small).

3. Do Virtually Nothing.

Water regularly, but otherwise they need almost zero weeding, and we didn’t have any bugs or disease. You can stop watering them during the last 3 weeks before harvest, so the roots are dry when you pull them out, and so that they don’t develop any molds.

To those of us in the northwest US, note that they are related to morning glories, so we can be assured they’ll grow very well!

They’re basically on the same schedule as Irish potatoes: when they start to yellow in the fall, it’s about time to pull them. You can also feel them beneath the soil and get a sense of how big they are.

Vegan Cabbage Rolls

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:07:44 GMT

clipped by: bunnicula
clipper's remarks: *see source for cooking directions*

Clip Source: shmooedfood.blogspot.com

Cabbage Rolls

This dish can be made in advance and refrigerated; it reheats well.

makes 10 cabbage rolls

1 cup walnuts
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup oat bran
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
18 to 20 large cabbage leaves
1 cup tomato-vegetable juice blend
2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Tags: vegetarian, vegan, recipes, main dishes, cabbage, rice, walnuts, chickpeas

Cabbage Rolls with a Quinoa-Nut Filling

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:40:09 GMT

clipped by: bunnicula
clipper's remarks: This is not vegan as written, but I'm sure that you could easily omit the egg.

*see source for cooking directions*

Clip Source: www.alive.com

Cabbage Rolls with a Quinoa-Nut Filling

Cabbage rolls:
1 large head of cabbage
4 cups (1 L) quinoa, cooked
2 cups (500 mL) carrots, finely grated–you also may use pulp leftover after juicing carrots
2 medium size onions, diced
4 Tbsp (60 mL) butter or coconut butter
2 Tbsp (30 mL) Bragg’s all purpose seasoning or tamari soy sauce
4 Tbsp (60 mL) tomato paste
1 cup (250 mL) walnuts, cracked and coarsely chopped
1 free-range egg
dash of cayenne pepper
sea salt to taste if necessary
round toothpicks

Sauce:
1 28-ounce can (798 mL) stewed tomatoes
1 cup (250 mL) water
2 Tbsp (30 mL) Tamari soy sauce or maggi
1/2 tsp (2 mL) herbal salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp (15 mL) sour cream

Tags: cabbage, carrots, main dishes, quinoa, recipes, vegetarian, walnuts

This is one of the odder photos I've seen in a while

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:02:26 GMT

clipped by: Lexica

Clip Source: www.sfgate.com

Men at work: While many folks in Sydney haven't been able to find jobs, Luke Taylor (left), Paul O'Keeffe and Jeremy Davies can thank their stars that there still is a demand in Australia for men who impersonate kangaroos. They'll be performing at the Sydney Festival in January.

Tags: costumes, kangaroos, performers, australia

Bunnicula's New Amplify Page

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:31:40 GMT

clipped by: bunnicula
clipper's remarks: I just signed up for Amplify so that I can post to Clipmarks from Safari. Feel free to follow me there - though I will likely cross-post everything to Clipmarks.

-Danielle

Clip Source: veganlibrarian.amplify.com

Name: Danielle
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Twitter: @veganlibrarian
Web: craftyveganlibraria...
Bio: A giant brain is basically a giant nerd, and where would a giant nerd be? ... The library!

Posts

Rescued dogs airlifted out of Midway

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:42:31 GMT

clipped by: infidel70

Clip Source: www.chicagobreakingnews.com

About 50 rescued dogs -- ranging from a 2-year-old brindle French bulldog so afraid of people that it refused to be touched to a playful Shih Tzu-- boarded a special flight today from Midway Airport to New York, where their chances for adoption might be higher.

The animals were saved from puppy mills and shelters in the Midwest, and most likely would have been euthanized, said Kelli Ohrtman, from the Best Friends Animal Society, based in Utah.

The flight on Pet Airways was part of the "Pup My Ride" campaign, which transports dogs and cats from parts of the country that are over-saturated with unwanted pets to regions with fewer animal control problems, where the demand for pet adoptions is typically higher.

"The Midwest has an over-abundance of dogs," because of a thriving puppy mill industry, Ohrtman said, whereas the Northeast has less of a problem.

Her group has moved about 2,600 dogs across the country in the last two years, often from the Midwest and California.

Rescued dogs airlifted out of Midway

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:42:31 GMT

clipped by: infidel70

Clip Source: www.chicagobreakingnews.com

The animals were saved from puppy mills and shelters in the Midwest, and most likely would have been euthanized, said Kelli Ohrtman, from the Best Friends Animal Society, based in Utah.

"The Midwest has an over-abundance of dogs," because of a thriving puppy mill industry, Ohrtman said, whereas the Northeast has less of a problem.

Her group has moved about 2,600 dogs across the country in the last two years, often from the Midwest and California.

Selection of the most dangerous rope hanging bridges in the world (36 pics)

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:38:27 GMT

clipped by: perellicippo

Clip Source: izismile.com

Selection of the most dangerous rope hanging bridges in the world (36 pics)

It is even difficult to call these ropes and sticks bridges.
But people walk there every day!
It’s scary just to look at them let alone take a step.

[via dirjournal.com]

A Public Service Announcement

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:06:51 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com

To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine.. .
and those who don’t.

As Ben Franklin said:

In wine there is wisdom,
in beer there is freedom,
in water there is bacteria.

In a number of carefully controlled trials,
scientists have demonstrated that if we drink
1 liter of water each day,
at the end of the year we would have absorbed
more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli , (E. coli) – bacteria
found in feces.

In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop..

However,
we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer
(or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor)
because alcohol has to go through a purification process
of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember:

Water = Poop,
Wine = Health.

Therefore, it’s better to drink wine and talk stupid,
than to drink water and be full of crap.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information:

The Love Story of Ralph and Edna

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:01:38 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Edna replied, "He didn't hang himself, I put him there to dry. How soon can I go home?"

Clip Source: maryamie.spaces.live.com

Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. Ralph and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Ralph suddenly jumped into the deep end.

Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled him out. When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered her to be mentally stable.

When she went to tell Edna the news she said, "Edna, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged, since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the life of the person you love. I have concluded that your act displays sound mindedness. The bad news is, Ralph hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he's dead."