In Case You’re Wondering...

...what Ost-Berlin Mitte looked like in the 80’s, it looked like Ost-Berlin Mitte in the 50’s. That is, if you just scratched the surface and got away from the Potemkin village near the Fernsehturm.

Red October / Красный Октябрь

Sell everything. Sell the kids to science.

Europe's fate hinges on the willingness of the German population and it's government to pony up the dough. The next election, which could just as well go the way of the DDR-inspired "Die Linke" party of the Entitlement Libertarian "Piraten" are sure to dunk any participation in any affair that includes the word "austerity" or "Eurobond".

Basically the Piraten are as pure an expression of the politics of nanny state comfort as there could ever be. Their entire platform, guanrunteed income for all slackers, "free U-bahn for all", and "steal this book, I've sure he'll keep writing for free", are entirely bound up in an overaged adolescent's notion of amusement. The rest of it is just the usual perfunctory crap about human rights, as if they'll ever make a stand on the state of affairs in Bolivia or Equatorial Guinea.

As for "Die Linke", they are equally self-absorbed with the notion of selling themselves to society's couch-bound and unskilled by promising to appropriating stuff from their neighbors for them.

Buy canned goods and shotgun shells, because if you think the lot in charge now don't get it, get ready to greet the bunch that feel more comfortable with a paper bag over their heads.

Recipes from the Near Distant Ago: „Restesoljanka” or Soljanka from Leftovers

A RECIPE FOR 4 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS:
Leftovers that can still make a stock (meat, sausages, vegetables)
leftovers from vegetable salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, radishes, onions, cheese ...)
Margerine, for frying
Pickled cucumbers, peppers (or ragout - subject to availability)
Ketchup
bay leaf
allspice
lemon slice
sour cream
Salt & pepper


PREPARATION:
Chop all the meat and meat leftovers into small cubes, add salt and pepper
Sear them in a pan.
Add the diced vegetables, cucumbers, peppers.
Add the leftover sauce, vegetable salad, cucumber and / or pepper
Cover to the top with water.
Season with bay leaf, allspice, ketchup, salt & pepper.
Let it come to a boil

SMICard Nation

Why I'm Depressed, a Chain E-mail

Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land."

140 years ago,(when Welfare was introduced) Otto von Bismark said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land."

Today, the government has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of camels and mortgaged the Promised Land!

I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Insurance, the economy, lost jobs, savings, Retirement, retirement funds, etc . . . called a Suicide Hotline. I had to press 1 for English. I was connected to a call center in Pakistan. I told them I was suicidal.

They got excited and asked if I could drive a truck......

A Portrait of the Effectiveness of Soft Power

26-JAN-2011:

EU to Cairo: respect 'legitimate yearnings' of citizens

27-JAN-2011:

CAIRO — Political protests may be rocking Egypt with a new, nonideological force, but President Hosni Mubarak and his allies have not veered from a playbook they have followed through nearly three decades of one-party rule.

As always, the government has responded to the unrest primarily as a security issue, largely ignoring, or dismissing, the core demands of those who have taken to the street.

The Poor and India

David the Wayfarer asks a question about the malthusian old saw: will the poor always be with us?