For ZUZU

Be careful, please think about what you are doing.

Red Spine

Everybody, go read...NOW!!!

He has returned

With less than 48 hours to go...

He's back!

If interested, back story can be found here

If I haven't mentioned this already, he's going to need all the help he can get.

Outis

Renegade Evolution

Ren has a great post up today GO-READ-RIGHT-NOW!!!

As of late, all we seem to hear about are the bad people and the horrible things that they do. Often I wonder where have all of the heroes have gone. I mean personal heroes. The people that inspire you to think about subjects that you never gave much thought to. The people who can recognize wrongs, and in their own way, try to make them right. So often their hard work goes without notice. Do you have any personal heroes? Have you let them know that you appreciate all of their efforts? Don't you think that it's about time you did?

On that note I would like to acknowledge one of my personal heroes. She may only stand oh, about four foot fourteen, and weigh in a bit over six and a half stone, but this lady packs a wallop. I really don’t think that she realizes the great group of people she has brought together and the positive changes that are occurring because of her efforts. So…

This one is for her. (Yeah, I know the song keeps saying “he”, but you get the idea)

Awards

Nowadays, awards are thrown about with the value of confetti. Yesterday I passed along a well deserved award to a wonderful human being, Steph Waller. I met Steph when she was playing a role in the Alternative Reality Game (ARG) "The Ocular Effect". OE was the first ARG that I ever played... It was an incredible experience to interact with highly creative, inquisitive minds. In short, the experience was a lot of fun.

When playing an ARG, one never leaves any potential lead unchecked. That is how I discovered Steph Waller's Blog, Incurable insomniac. Her "Slice of Life" commentary is not to be missed.

Steph responded in kind with a reciprocal award... I am reluctant to accept. After all I am no-one. I deserve no such accolades

However, I do believe that there are some bloggers that do deserve some acknowledgments. So yes Steph, I will pass this award along to some other “real” bloggers, and thank you for the encouragement to do so.

Kim. For constantly growing and letting all know that it is ok to redefine ourselves.

Lia. For your tireless work helping marginalized people know that they are not alone.

Caroline. Because you are anything but Uncool.

Drakyn For helping me to learn about a subject I was woefully ignorant about.

I have another couple of awards to get ready, but those are going to have to wait. Right now I have to set up another blog (team) for Superstruct.

Outis

Hey, Steph

For you. I really do love your blog. A lot of us do!

Steph's blog is Incurable Insomniac, one of my daily must reads.

Debi Crow

Debi Crow is a delightful blogger who is interested in many of the same social issues as I. She has been tracking the plight of the Roma people with a series of links and viewpoints.

I would like all to read this one in particular. The conditions that many of the Roma people live in, is appalling. So, what happens when you combine a sleeping 13 year old child, a lit candle, and bedding together? A dead 13 year old.

The Roma's plight is not singular. There are many people/ethnic/racial groups out there living in retched conditions. Several solutions need to be found all at once.

Social acceptance, which will require a total destruction of stereotypes
Use of low tech solutions to problems
Some plan to integrate the population into society.

An example of a low tech solution can be found in the picture posted above. By using a recycled can, a bit of pipe, a small metal cap, the guts of a mousetrap, and an old wine bottle you have an oil lamp that, if disturbed, will self extinguish.

Cost to me:

3 mins. Summoning up a muse

2 mins. Formulating a plan

30 mins. Drawing it up

Savings to an impoverished group of people?

Lives????

Please visit Deb's site, you will be glad you did.

Superstruct... not as bad as I thought

Gather round children! The year is 2019 and this is what we are facing:

A global pandemic of ReDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome). With PtP Avian flu still a threat, ReDS slipped under the radar and was fully entrenched before anyone noticed. ReDS is at this time incurable and debilitating.

The Global food system is collapsing. Too much emphasis on bio fuels, and global climate shifts have contributed to mass starvation.

Nations are now fighting for power (as in energy). To make matters worse, many of the alternative energy systems are incompatible with each other.

Hackers have decimated the net. Security has all but broken down. Voting machines, Geo warning systems, financial institutions have all been affected.

Due to the abovementioned global food collapse, new refugee groups are forming and moving into areas where the indigenous populations are already stressed. This population shift is causing all of the expected things to happen, (none of them pleasant).

Nope, 2019 is not as bad as I expected.

It is a lot, lot worse!

To quote a line from a movie “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

Superstruct

Please join in. We need all the help we can get.

Outis

For Kim

For those of you that have not met Kim at Bastante Already... What the hell are you waiting for?

Here is her site

And Kim, per your last post,

For you









I think I get it.

Outis

We interrupt this blog to...

To say that I am royally pissed off doesn’t begin to cover it. I have been working on a rather large post examining Amanda Brooks’ short stay at Bella’s Hacienda. The working conditions are appalling. That post will have to wait.

On Friday September 12th, an absolutely charming Brooke Taylor was interviewed on the Morning Show (Faux). Brooke is one of the top stars at the MBR. The interview was in two parts. During the second part a “Psychologist” came in and in the greatest of rad fem tradition, declared Brook “Damaged Goods”. God, this upsets me. How many times have we seen this attack used on Ren? Or Debs, or Caroline? Grrr.

Speaking of Ren, She has been doing yeomen’s work trying to weed through all of the crap at Heart’s blog and has been valiantly trying to keep a dialogue going. Great reading!

Any way, here are the links to the interview with Brooke Taylor.

First Part

Second Part

Letter to Kyle Payne

Kyle Payne’s post has generated some thought, and a lot of well deserved vitriol. His post is an obviously scripted reply from his defense team. I believe that Kyle is:

* A predator that deserves some serious jail time
* Trying to save his ass

There are so many great posts out there on this subject: Renegade Evolution is amassing a list of bloggers who are commenting on this subject.


Dear Kyle:

I have read your statement. And I am angry. This anger is not temporary, this is not “I am pissed at you because you cut me off in traffic”, no this goes a lot deeper. This anger comes from a place that I have had buried, hidden from the world for a long time. The rage I feel about you, is a rage against all people who have been brought up to use excuses to justify your actions. Yeah, you read that right, EXCUESES.

You blame the Patriarchy, you blame the rape culture existent today, and you blame the alleged sexual abuse you suffered as a child. You blame the moment. Hey, you know what? You forgot “The Devil made me do it”. Your whole statement turned my stomach.

Despite all of the feminist spew that came out of your blog, you still treated your helpless victim as an object. Your actions have, not only clearly shown your true beliefs about women, but have shown some serious character flaws as well. I see that you are “insisting” on therapy based on the feminist viewpoint. I cannot believe that anyone is going to buy that one. Kyle, your place in the universe is tenuous at best. Don’t push it with crap like this.

As one blogger suggested, go do your jail time and then become a cloistered monk for a minimum of six or seven decades. At the end of that time you might be old enough to understand what you did, and somehow make amends.

Kyle, if you hoped that your little announcement was going to get you some sympathy, think again. Here is a little link love for you.

Regards,

Outis

Kyle Payne update

I just received an e-mail from Kyle Payne. He informs me that he will be posting a public statement tomorrow at Noon CST. He provided a link to his blog, however it is dated Aug. 3. Perhaps he got a little ahead of himself.

I will hold comments until I have read his statement. The link he sent me is here


Update: I received an update from Lynda Waddington just moments ago... Kyle has asked for a postponement of his sentencing. Here is the link to her news article. In his e-mail Kyle wanted me/us to respond to his announcement. I think I know what he is after now.

Update #2 Kyle sent a bad link. This is the correct one.

Probably illigal as hell but...

Kim has a great post over here. She talks about, the “grups” (Please refer to Star Trek lexicon), showing up to solve lifes problems . What if they don’t? Eventually, all of us lose our mentors to old age. We feel abandoned, and eventually experience a sense of isolation; we feelthat we cannot share our most intimate/profound thoughts with anybody. We just cannot findthe words to articulate how we feel. Kim has captured this feeling beautifully.

So what do we do? Float around in the doldrums of emotions, and rationalizations forever? Some of us will probably suffer this fate, but not Kim.

Toward the end of her post, Kim talked about her familiar, errr, Cat, Zuzu coming to her and making a connection. Clearly, they, ( Kim and Zuzu,), have a handle on it. And no, I am not forgetting Carter… That goes without saying!

Want proof? Look at Carters eyes in all of Kim’s pictures… they have totally bonded.

So let me put a finer point on this…

The following has been paraphrased from the dust jacket of NDW’s CWG book1. (I didn’t ask permission first)… one of those easier to ask forgiveness, rather than permission moments!

So here goes:

I have heard the crying of your heart,
I have seen the searching of your soul.
I know how deeply you have desired the truth.
In pain you have called for it, and in joy.
Unendingly have you beseeched me.
Show myself. Explain myself. Reveal myself.

I am doing so here, in terms so plain, you cannot misunderstand.
In language so simple, you cannot be confused.
In vocabulary so common, you cannot get lost in the verbiage

So go ahead now, ask me anything, anything.
I will continue to bring you the answer.
The whole universe will I use to do this, so be on the lookout.
Ask a question. Watch,

Listen.

The word to the next song you hear.
The information in the next article you read.
The chance utterance of the next person you meet.

Or the whisper f a river…the next ocean, the next breeze
That caresses your ear- - all of these devices are mine.

All of these avenues are open to me.
I will speak to you if you will listen.
I will come to you if you invite me
I will show you that I have always been there.

Always

Namaste, Kim

Outis

Kyle Payne update

I received this update as an e-mail late last night. This is the body of the e-mail except for one bit of information that Lynda requested not to be made public. I will have more on this later but I am pressed for time.

Hi. I'm Lynda Waddington, the journalist who wrote the recent post about
Kyle Payne accepting a plea agreement on Iowa Independent (as well as on my
personal site, Essential Estrogen).

Some individuals who have commented to the various postings on Payne
have stated that he is scheduled to have an "open sentencing" on Aug. 11 at the
Buena Vista County Courthouse, and that anyone who attends will have an
opportunity to speak. This is not totally correct.

An "open sentencing" in the state of Iowa means that the public can
attend, but not that the public can speak. While it always looks good to have
people show up in support of the prosecution -- and I'd personally really like
to see some strong support in the courtroom -- the fact is that not everyone is
going to be able to speak.

For those who have a unique interest in the case... for instance, have
served as advocates or can somehow speak with authority as to how horrible
Payne's actions were... get in touch with me.

If you want to share your (civil) thoughts about this incident prior to
sentencing, your best bet is to write to the judge that will preside over the
sentencing:

District Court Judge Don E. Courtney
Buena Vista County Courthouse
215 E Fifth St.Storm Lake, IA 50588

As a final note, there has been some discussion about Payne being
charged with child pornography. This is not a charge he faces from the state of
Iowa.

- Lynda Waddington
lynda@essentialestrogen.com

http://www.essentialestrogen.com/

http://www.iowaindependent.com/

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/

Update: More can be found at Eleanor's Trousers

RABBITHOLE!!!

This just in:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
Humans have 23 years to go
Global Extinction Awareness System starts the countdown for Homo sapiens.
PALO ALTO, CA — Based on the results of a year-long supercomputer simulation, the Global Extinction Awareness System (GEAS) has reset the "survival horizon" for Homo sapiens - the human race - from "indefinite" to 23 years.
“The survival horizon identifies the point in time after which a threatened population is expected to experience a catastrophic collapse,” GEAS president Audrey Chen said. “It is the point from which it a species is unlikely to recover. By identifying a survival horizon of 2042, GEAS has given human civilization a definite deadline for making substantive changes to planet and practices.”
According to Chen, the latest GEAS simulation harnessed over 70 petabytes of environmental, economic, and demographic data, and was cross-validated by ten different probabilistic models. The GEAS models revealed a potentially terminal combination of five so-called “super-threats”, which represent a collision of environmental, economic, and social risks. “Each super-threat on its own poses a serious challenge to the world's adaptive capacity,” said GEAS research director Hernandez Garcia. “Acting together, the five super-threats may irreversibly overwhelm our species’ ability to survive.”Garcia said, “Previous GEAS simulations with significantly less data and cross-validation correctly forecasted the most surprising species collapses of the past decade: Sciurus carolinenis and Sciurus vulgaris, for example, and Anatidae chen. So we have very good reason to believe that these simulation results, while shocking, do accurately represent the rapidly growing threats to the viability of the human species.”
GEAS notified the United Nations prior to making a public announcement. The spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General Vaira Vike-Freiberga released the following statement: "We are grateful for GEAS' work, and we treat their latest forecast with seriousness and profound gravity."
GEAS urges concerned citizens, families, corporations, institutions, and governments to talk to each other and begin making plans to deal with the super-threats.
###

Here is the link... Now go and get ready!

Outis

World Without Oil…. It was just a game, right?

I have been watching world events unfold. I cannot begin to tell you how creepy I feel when I see news of banks collapsing, the price of oil rising constantly, attacks on the Nigerian oil fields, a possible blockade in the straight of hormuz, just to name a few. Why is this so unsettling to me?

I have already lived it.

I was one of the participants in the World Without Oil simulation.

Before I get to the sites which are “must read” material, allow me to bring you up to speed on the present state of gaming on the Internet.

Usually, people play games for enjoyment. These games take on a variety of forms. One example is the MMPORPG type (Massive-Multi player-Online-Role-Playing-Games). Games run all the way from simple time wasters to heavily financed, very complex ARG’s. New types of games are coming out all the time. Spore has received a lot of press. I would like to focus on Chaotic Fiction. CF is the umbrella heading that WWO falls under.

Chaotic Fiction includes ARG’s, experiences, (such as the Heroes 360 experience), and Serious Gaming. Most of your large CF events are used as viral marketing for major corporations. The Lost Ring has to do with the Olympics. Probably one of the most famous games was I love Bees. I understand that ILB was about two thirds of the way through before the players discovered that it was a viral marketing device for Halo 2.

Serious Gaming grew out of CF. One of the better known ones is Dark Winter. Go now, read and come back appropriately scared. Disclaimer: it is a 44 page pdf but it is worth the read.

Back so soon? OK, that brings us to World Without Oil.

Here is the wiki page for WWO. Its mission was to test a theory that, in a crisis, a community could form on the Internet and help solve the crisis. The solutions would come about from massive research and idea sharing. One interesting thing that came out of WWO was the discovery of what caused the crisis (we were never told). During the process of driving the narrative forward, reasons were discovered. These reasons were so plausible that they were accepted as canon. I can only say that the hive mind was functioning perfectly. As I review how these events unfolded in the alternate reality of WWO, I am feeling an ever increasing anxiety.

Why?

Because those events are beginning to happen in this reality.

Next: the reasons and the parallels.


The official World Without Oil site


The official Blog

NOTE: If you are here because of a WWO search, are a former player, or are beginning to blog on the possibility of an upcoming crisis let me know. I will start a separate blog roll just for this topic.

Outis

More on Kyle Payne

Just in case my occasional readers may think that I am just kidding about this guy, in less than 24 hours the bloggers commenting on this subject has grown to the following list:

Eleanors Trousers (who broke the story)
Fetch Me My Axe
Uncool
Buried Alive
Miss Nomered
A Secret Chord
Don't Ask Me, I'm Just a Girl
The Mind of Genevieve
Galling Gala
the Strangest Alchemy
Nine Deuce
Ginmar
Blog of the Moderate Left
Shakesville
The F Word
Littoral Mermaid
Jezebella
I Shame the Matriarchy

And of course... Renegade Evolution (who also compiled this list)

I am sure that I will be adding to the list as time goes on.

Outis

Update 071108: Hokey smokes Batman!! Update the list? Wow. How about this:

Kim

Feministe

Womanist musings

Curvature

Moderat Mitzot

Editorializing the Editors

Bastard logic

Hugo Schwyzer

Off our Pedistals

Bookworm

Poetry is for Assholes

The ubiqutious Ak

Noli Irritare Leones (great post!!!)

I hope that Kyle Payne is learning that karma is not just a good idea; it’s the law!

I know that all of you are waiting for my series on how your/our world is possibly about to change. I am almost through with the first post. However, that post will have to wait.

Last night Belle broke a story about an anti-porn, anti violence, pro-feminist blogger who isn’t. Go there now and read it. Follow her links. Renegade Evolution has got some great thoughts on this guy not only on her blog, but on SWOP radio as well. Ren indicates in her post that this incident is so important that it needs as much coverage as possible. I agree.

How many times do these morons have to be hoisted on their own petards before they get it? If you are going to get up on a high moral horse and lash out don’t you think that you had better make sure that you have no skeletons lying about? However in this case there is something more insidious to ponder.

This guy was in a perfect position to take advantage of other women. The “oh so concerned about feminism and violence against women” approach would be so convenient for a guy like this to seek out more victims. One is forced to ponder, “What else this guy has been up to?”

So yes, I agree wholeheartedly with Ren. Word needs to get out. Let’s make sure that the world knows about this guy.

Oh, and a final note about the SWOP east broadcast. Yes that was me calling in! Nervous? Who, me? Just because I was addressing the God Emperor of Rome?

HELL YES I WAS NERVOUS!!!!!!

Outis

Update: Ren now has a second post up.

It has been a while…


First, (closed circuit for Draykn…) if things get to be unbearable, I can send you to this location, as long as you are in the SE area of MI. By the way it is only accessible by boat. (I have a spare that you can use) In any event good luck!

Second, I hate when awful things happen to really nice people. One of my favorite bloggers was having a fun weekend with some of her pals, and something went wrong. I am not going into details however, she is really hurting. You might want to stop by and wish her well.

Third, there has been an awful lot of stuff going on lately. Some of the events that are now unfolding in the news may have dire consequences for us in this country. I am in the process of trying to contact people who can give me a better understanding of what is going on. About all I can say is that the direction of this blog may be in for a major change.

Stay tuned.

Outis

News Flash…. Renegade Evolution is “Scary”

According to the sort of famous Sam Berg.

The events as they unfolded....

In a delightfully upbeat post, Ren informed announced that one of her dreams had come true. She had been invited to be part of a panel that would be discussing porn. On the anti porn side two people were scheduled. John Foubert, a guy that feels that porn leads to violence towards woman. He has founded a sexual assault prevention group. The other person is the ubiquitous Sam Berg. Ms. Berg has a web site which, for the most part is private.

Representing the industry, will be Jill Brenneman and Renegade Evolution.

Finally, at long last, the debate will begin!!!

Wrong.

As soon as Berg found out about Ren's being invited onto the panel, She is threatening to pull out. I can only assume that these Rad Fems are only tough when they can hide within the relative safety of their blogs.

At the time of this posting events are still unfolding….

Oh, and Belle? "Sabre toothed vagina"? Sooo funny!

Stay tuned.

Temporary test post

Trying to help a friend with her website... this is only a test

The Drones Are Back

This topic just won’t die. Gawker Media’s blog, io9.com proclaimed: “New UFO pictures” on Friday last. The posts author, Annalee Newitz, believes that the drones are viral marketing. How much misinformation really is out there? Read the comments. For the uninitiated, the Drone flap started last summer. Photos of sightings were sent to Coast to Coast radio, Linda Moulton Howe, and others. Each new set of photographs revealed machines with increasing complexity. As with any flap, the debate was on.

For months, arguments were put forth as to whether the Drones were a hoax or not. A lot of people were screaming CGI,( computer generated imaging). Many were talking about Photoshop. A couple of very talented computer people made videos using the pictures as a basis. There was one camp advocating viral marketing for ______ (fill in the blank here). The discussions became pretty heated, resulting in people getting banned at one site and migrating to other boards.

MSM has also picked up this story. For the most part I think that the media is still treating the whole thing as entertainment vs. real news.

Here are some resources that can help interested parties get up to speed. Earthfiles has a rough timeline of events. Ongoing discussions can be found at ATS and OMF. A commenter using the name Leviathan showed up on ATS claiming to have some information but wasn’t willing to share. Leviathan has been at all of the boards, and has a blog. I am not sure what to make of Leviathan…Too soon to tell.

As far as I am concerned there are only a few facts about this whole affair.

First, none of the videos are real. They are all hoaxes.
Second, no one has been able to reproduce the drones in CGI.
Third, some of the photographs have not been proven hoaxes.
Fourth, no one has come forward to claim ownership of the Drones.

So what is this all about? Presently I am nursing an idea that this is one great psychology experiment designed to gauge how information of this sort is handled on the internet.

Perhaps that’s all life is …One big Skinner Box. Comforting thought, that.

Outis

ACTION ALERT!

Violet Blue is encountering an onset of rather icky Trolls at her San Francisco Chronicle column. For some reason, I cannot get into the comment section. I am sure that she would appreciate any support that we could send her. Her web site is here.

Thanks!

Outis

Silencing

This post is about being ignored and feeling silenced. In a bit, I am going to link you to a blog that is emotionally, a pretty hard read. It is a blog written by a woman who has come from a world of unspeakable violence.

A recurring theme in her postings is how she felt silenced by everyone around her. How she felt silenced when she attempted to speak of the outrages that were being forced on her by her stepfather. How she felt silenced by the world of prostitution that she found herself in. Even now, she feels that some people are trying to silence her because of what she is saying on her blog.

I can identify with how she felt as a child. I too was silenced. I also was forced to accept someone else’s definition of who I was. I can still recall the pain. I can still recall the isolation. I can still recall the feeling of helplessness.

Rebecca has left the world of prostitution, but the darkness and the violence follows her in the form of PTSD. I don't think that you ever can recover from this kind of trauma; you can only learn to live with it. Before anyone jumps down this writer’s throat about not having a clue about PTSD, please look at my links. Labradorite Eyes and I have closely linked DNA. She suffered childhood ritual sexual abuse which she talks about over at her place.

As a result of Rebecca's experience she now looks at all men as violent. She can only see society as supporting this violence. She feels abused, hurt and alone. It is fully understandable why she wants to have all sex work wiped from the face of the earth. It is also understandable that she thinks that all people who are in the sex industry are feeling and experiencing exactly what she has suffered through. This woman is in a world of hurt; nothing would be gained by trying to change her beliefs. The best thing to do is to acknowledge her experience and her authenticity as a person.

After coming back from Rebecca's blog, my first reaction was great sorrow. No one should have to go through her experiences. Having some time to think about her writings, I am now filled with fear. Rebecca has turned to Radical Feminism as an anchor. Please understand that I have no problem with her adopting the RF philosophy. However, there exists under the umbrella of RF, some individuals who are batshit crazy with their own issues. I fear that they will now take Rebecca and use her experience to further their agendas. Rebecca is struggling to bring the light back into her world. If she is constantly held down and forced to live her past, she will never heal. I want to hear her story. I want her to heal. She needs to be supported, not exploited. I will be royally pissed if some nefarious souls keep her down for their personal gain.

Please, go visit Rebecca’s place. Read her story. Leave a kind word if you feel so inclined. However, as you read, remember this is just one story. There are a lot more stories out there and they need to be acknowledged as genuine as well.

I would be remiss if I closed this post without thanking the person who brought Rebecca’s blog to my attention. Once again this wonderful woman has led me to a place where I can experience, think and grow. For that I am so very grateful.

Thanks Ren!


Outis

Stolen from Ren who stole it from Daisy....

A questionnaire for you. Granted, a bit sacrilegious, but what the hell?

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	High
Sloth:	Very High
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Low

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com


I left a tongue- in -cheek message over at Rens place... It is late, I need to go to bed.

May this Easter/Ostara bring us peace.

Outis

Ostara! Ugh

A happy, belated Ostara everyone!

I hate nights like last night. I have no idea how much snow we had. I can tell you that it was just enough that I had to pull the magic lever on the floor of the X, but not slippery enough to make the transfer case happy. My baby was definitely not pleased.

I am still not ready to do a post on my Pygmy yet. Every time I try telling the story it begins to take on the likeness of a short novel. Maybe I will just wait until I get it out in a month or so. In the meantime, there are some interesting things going on that have been consuming a lot of my time.

There is an awful lot going on in the world of the internet. I have discovered a ton of really great bloggers. They are all great writers and are doing an awful lot to expand my knowledge base. I think that the one that I am most indebted to is Renegade Evolution. By following her links, I have been able to get a pretty good handle on the Feminist issue and where/what all the fights, err, discussions are about. Drakyn’s blog is allowing me to study the subject of Transexuality. I had no idea how hotly the subject of gender identity has been debated, until now. It is a fascinating subject, to say the least.

Some might propose the idea that the need for a Feminist movement is long over. Try telling that to my pal Razor Mick!

On a different note…

I don’t think that there is a better word to sum up RW other than fascinating. I came across his old blog, Chasing Vincenzo, one day while reading over at Steph’s place. The site is still up and at very least; his rules about proper bistro conduct are certainly worth the read. RW is a great writer with a fantastic sense of humor. Also the people he links to are very witty. A quick for instance is Girl Dislocated. How anyone, with the physical challenges this young lady has, can keep her sense of humor is beyond me. (On top of all that she is drop dead gorgeous!). All I can say is shukran!

For the rest of you crazies that wiggle into those twenty inch wide boats for fun, I just found a site out there to make you green with envy. Also, I have a new addiction. I have no idea how I found this comic but it now has become a daily read. By all means start at the beginning and read a little bit each night.

Finally, I have a strong feeling that something is about to pop on the UFO scene very soon. It could have something to do with the drone debate or disclosure. What ever it is, it’s gonna be BIG.

We miss you Aunt Robin… Please come back if you can!

A rhetorical question

I haven’t posted in a while. I am overwhelmed, and am very tired. There is so much going on in the blogosphere that I would like to comment on, then the ADD kicks in. As a result, nothing happens. I have also discovered some new incredible bloggers. (More on those fine people later) But for now…

I pose a question. How do you say goodbye to two of the most wonderful people in your life? How do you express your gratitude to them for not only caring for you, but for giving you your core values and at the same time allowing you to evolve to be the person that you now have become?

How do you do this when they are in a constant state of confusion? These two incredible people are reeling, trying to get a balance that they will never again achieve, and are frightened. Never again will clear thinking be a part of their repertoire. Never again will they be able to go about their business independently. They are fighting to maintain their balance and their dignity, yet find it hard to function on the day to day basis that we all take for granted. They are realizing this now. They are afraid and the fear exacerbates the situation. The fear of giving up control and the fear of taking control escalates on both sides and the tension grows.

Verbal conflagrations ensue.

How do you gently tell these folks that they cannot drive anymore; that they must let others pay their bills; that they must surrender their independence?

How do you go about taking control of an out of control situation and still let these people know that you love them and they are still honored?

My parents are in their mid 90’s; they have been married for 72 years. They have lived through a time that no one should have to go through… and they have survived. Now at the end of their lives, what am I to say, or do?

As I said before, a rhetorical question…

But one that I now wrestle with daily.

Pasties (no, not that kind!)

Earlier this year, I had been hounded by family members for my Pasty recipe. Apparently, I am the only one that still makes these things on a regular basis. Because one of my favorite bloggers is down with some sort of nasty malaise, I have decided that now would be a good time to post the recipe.

Pasties are a traditional food of the Cornish/Welsh people. It is a very simple meat pie.
As the story was told to me through my grandmother, the women would get up, cut the lard into the flower,(try it some time), create a dough, cut the fillings, put it all together, and then bake it for about an hour and a half in time for the men to go off to the mine.

Right.

Considering how rough life was back then, I cannot imagine what it would be like to make these things... I figure that the women that had to make these pies must have gotten up at about 3AM to get them ready by 6AM. Back then, it was a necessity. Today, it is a treat. May you all eat well!

A PAIR OF PASTIES

You will need:

Pre made pie crusts… I prefer Pillsbury
About a pound to a pound and a quarter of beef
I generally prefer sirloin tip but whatever….

Some pork… I use Butterfly chops, use your discretion
One for each pasty
Some chopped onion.

For the side dish:
Rutabaga, (mandatory... doesn’t come in till the fall)
Potato (4 large)
Carrot (2-3))
Turnip (4-6

I will get back to the vegetables in a minute.
First, trim the fat from the beef and the pork and reserve
Cut the beef and the pork into small bite size pieces.
Lay out the pie crust and begin to layer out the filling.
(On one half of the crust. You will be folding the crust over to make the pasty.)
First put your veggies, (if you are going to use them here)
Second, layer on your beef
Third, layer on the pork,
Fourth layer on the fat that you have accumulated,
And finally add the onions.

Fold the crust over and pinch off the crust. From experience: don’t overload the pasty; remember that you have to flip the top half to the pie dough over and pinch off; so if you have a great mound of fixins, you will not be able to achieve closure (god, does that sound like psychobabble!) Slit the top in a couple of places. Try a 300 degree oven for about one hour and a half. Each oven is different, as is each new experience…. So start checking your creation at the hour point. If the pasties haven’t begun to boil out and the crust is beginning to brown excessively at the edges, slap some aluminum foil on the edges of the crust in order to keep them from burning.

Al-U-Mineeum foil…. Reynolds has this great stuff called “Release”. Buy it and use. The pasties, by nature will boil out a little and begin to burn around the edges. With normal foil, the pasties will stick, making them almost impossible to get off the pie pan without destroying them. With release, they just slide off…. This is truly great stuph!!! I usually use a pizza pan to bake the pasties.

OK, let’s talk about veggies... I never put anything but onion in my pasties. I create a side dish of rutabaga for my guests. Rutabaga is a dangerous vegetable to process because the fibers of the root are so hard to cut. To begin, peel the root with a common potato peeler type thingy. Carefully, using a knife, cleaver, pick axe, or whatever you have handy, slice down through the Rutabaga and split in half. Slice each half in one eighth to one quarter inch thick sections. Chop each section into small bits and throw them into a large pot with plenty of water. Rutabaga is a very tough fibrous root. It’s gonna take a while to cook; probably about an hour to an hour and a half. Use the knife test for doneness. When the root is through cooking, a knife will slide through it easily. About half way through the cooking process, add in the other vegetables. Drain the vegetables, return them to the original pot, and add at least one stick of butter. (Please use real butter, the cholesterol is much less harmful than the stuph in margarine) Mash coarsely and serve.

If you are going to incorporate the veggies into the pasty, you are on your own… I haven’t tried this yet. I would guess that you would at least partially cook the veggies and then mash them into a paste and then make that your first layer.

Allow me to Spam a little for a Michigan product. The absolute best beverage to go with these pasties is Bells Amber Ale. Unfortunately, you can only seem to get this stuff in Michigan. Soooo, any full bodied ale will have to do.

Enjoy!

Edit. I just realized that pork, ham, etc. is a no-no for some people. Substitute a fattier type of beef.

Little Green Book

I cannot tell you what year it was, however, I can tell you what bookstore I was in when I had “one of those moments”. I was browsing through the New Age section when all of a sudden all of the books on display suddenly blurred out. All but one. Reaching down, I felt an old, yet very familiar energy emanating from the object now in my hand. I think the price was just shy of twenty dollars. Sticking my hand into my jeans, I retrieved my cash, secure in the knowledge that I was in possession of a couple of dollar bills and no more. Carelessly embedded in the singles was a practically new Twenty dollar bill. To this day, I have no idea where that twenty came from. I purchased the book, returned home, threw the book on the carpet next to my chair where it would remain until the following Sunday.

That day was bleak and dreary. For some reason I had gotten up early and was sitting in my chair with my coffee when, once again, the book made its presence known. I picked up the book, opened it, and my eyes fell upon the last lines on the page.

“But for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time.”

I never knew how much impact those words were about to have on me.


I began to read. A scant three hours later I had finished reading the book. I snapped the book closed with one hand and rather capriciously tossed the book down on the carpet. Launching myself out of the chair to get more coffee, I quietly remarked to myself as I traversed the short distance to the coffee pot. “Hmmm… Yeah, I know all that stuff”. What happened next, the feeling I was about to experience, has never left me. The only thing missing from my epiphany was a fucking lightning bolt.. “JESUS….. I REALLY DO KNOW ALL THIS STUFF!!!” It took quite a while for me to realize what had just happened to me…. I had not read a book. I had used a KEY to unlock ancient truths which I had been carrying around for years, if not centuries. In the coming years after this day, I would come to know that this scene had repeated itself over and over with many other people.

The Celestine Prophecy.

I am not going to discuss this book in detail right now. I will instead, offer a brief description for those who have not read it.

The Celestine Prophecy is a work of fiction, an adventure novel (and probably one of the worst story lines ever!). Having said that, buried in the story is a discussion on the mechanics of being human.

In a nutshell, the book discusses a number of things that are happening on the planet right now. It speaks of a growing number of people who, in their own way, have raised their personal spiritual energy sufficiently enough, to access insight into how we as a species are evolving. As these individuals raise their energy, they, in turn, lift the energy of others around them. At some point in time, a “Critical Mass” of this energy will allow a huge jump in human awareness. The book then explains history as an evolutionary process moving toward enlightenment. Moving on, the Prophecy attempts to explain how this energy flows through all living beings. Yep, that’s what you see when you look at another aura……. (Uh, what do you mean, “What do I mean, aura?” Oh good grief people have you forgotten everything?????? Do I have to conduct a freaking class for y’all???) Where was I? Oh, yeah, the book explains how people can get cut off from the source of this energy. When this “disconnect” happens, people begin to compete for the energy wherever they can find it. Which is generally one another. The method used to steal this energy is called a “control drama. After the discussion of control dramas the book offers ways that the reader can reconnect with the source of the energy.

I find that one of the hardest concepts put forth in this book is clearing your past. Personal growth cannot happen until individuals recognize that all past experiences, both good and bad, have had a positive influence on their growth up to the present moment.

If you were meant to read this book, you will understand.

The story continues…


The Celestine Prophecy was followed a couple of years later by the Tenth Insight. Very important stuff contained in these pages as well. The book deals with the two types of soul groups every one has. The book also gets the reader to understand that the whole universe is working in a synchronistic way to help us all along our path. If there is interest, I can do a synopsis on the Tenth Insight at a later date. A number of years after the “Tenth” was published; the “Secret of Shambhala” (The eleventh insight) appeared. Unfortunately, Shambhala was so far “out there” that I think Redfield lost a lot of his followers. It has been confirmed that the twelfth insight is almost completed. I feel that both the eleventh and twelfth insights are/will be inaccurate.

I believe that the responsibility for the discovery of the remaining two insights rests solely with us. And the time to start looking is right now.

The CP series will not ring true for all people…. It was intended for a select few. I don’t know who or how many, but the time has come to seek out others that understand and begin to heal this planet and its residents.

September 11, 2001 unleashed an explosion of fear that has gripped this entire planet for far too long. It was a fear so great that many of us were driven underground. The time is neigh for us to resurface, come together, and start doing the job we came here to do.

Please feel free to leave comments…. This is important, people!

Namastè

Outis

And the ones that mother gives you don't do anything at all....

I am going to try very, very hard not to have this post deteriorate into a mindless rant. I saw a specialist last Thursday and had a long term suspicion confirmed. I have a learning disability. I have been struggling against this challenge all my life. Needless to say, I am just a little bit peeved that my condition has taken so long to get identified, but overall I am happy that I can finally address this issue and move on. Now that I have increased my meds to an almost effective level, I am beginning to notice some strange things. The most prominent is anger.

I realize now, that there is an awful lot of incompetence in the medical field. I am pissed off over all of the bullies that caused me grief because I was so non-assertive and oversensitive. I am pissed that due to an out of control brain, maintaining a relationship was impossible. Holding a job for any length of time? Forget it. Save for retirement? Nope. All of this could have been prevented if someone had been doing their job. And the meds? They have been around for almost fifty years. I find now that all of this pent up frustration is now beginning to leak out in some very odd ways.

I stopped by Renegade Evolution’s site today and there was a link to an article posted by a well known anti-porn feminist. It seems that she and a cohort went in to “interview” some industry workers at an annual convention held in Los Vegas. Apparently, their idea of an interview was a barrage of loaded questions aimed at eliciting responses that they in turn could use to support their anti-porn agenda. In other words, they were being bullies. Boom! The anger welled up and I did something very uncharacteristic. I left a comment on the article page. Normally I would just swallow my indignation at let it eat away at me. In this case I decided not to. I am blaming this behavior on the meds! ;) You know what? It felt pretty good!

I do not plan on practicing “Woundology” (a phrase that was coined by Dr. Caroline Myss). The plan is to move on. Which is exactly what I intend to do.

Brighter days are ahead!

Memories and The Renegade

Aunt Robin has a great post about boyz n carz n stuph. I mentioned how I used to get out in my beloved Giuletta and let go on a winding road. It dawned on me that very few people have even heard of an Alfa Romeo, so I decided to find a picture and post it. Ok, ok….. I know that this one is a Gulia but for the sake of basic shape description ‘twill do.

The flame wars are still smoldering over in the feminist blog world. Some misguided nit-wit has decided to go after Renegade Evolution (always a bad idea) because of something that happened last year. After reading some of her posts, anyone with half a brain can tell that Ren is an authentic person. This must scare the hell out of her detractors for they are constantly attacking her occupation, lifestyle, and of course her (blush) implants. One thing that sticks in my craw about any kind of fundamentalist is the blatant use of stereotypes. In this case, “All women in sex work are victims of the patriarchy and need to be saved”. Then along comes people like Ren and Ryann, and by their very existence, blows the fundamentalist argument right out of the water. Ok, I am the first one to admit that there are a lot of women out on the street that shouldn’t be there. Something should be done. So guess who is doing the outreach? The fundies? Nope. It is people like Ren. Go figure.

One final thought about the flame wars. One of Ren’s most vicious critics is challenged with PTSD. Folks, that is not fun. LE has a post here on the subject. Please read.


Perhaps it is because I see something in Ren’s mindset that is familiar. I am dying to ask her a couple of questions. I would never ask her directly, for to do so would be impolite if not downright nosey. Because I doubt that she ever comes here I shall list them:

When you were growing up did you have trouble standing in line?
Except for a few minor occasions, have you always known where you were headed?
Have you always realized your artistic talents?
Have others commented that from a very early age you would speak with wisdom far beyond your age?
From a very young age, have you had a problem with absolute authority?

NOTE: This is NOT some backhanded quick and dirty test for ADD or something akin to it. I have a feeling that if Ms. E saw these questions she would answer yes to all of them. (For those of you who recognize this set of questions, yes, I strongly believe that Ren is …. Well, you know…..) Let’s just say for any of the cognoscenti out there that the word “Evolution” is definitely appropriate.


Outis

Death by pasta and other updates

Sometimes I think that the sole purpose of this blog should be one of sending readers off to other, much more worthwhile sites. I mean, really, considering the wealth of great writers out there, it seems like a waste of time for anyone to read my blathering. Here are some things going on right now……

Aunt Robin is pondering the end of the world through “Spaghettification”. “Madam” Steph has decided to welcome the muse of melancholy into her life. The charming and always ubiquitous Renegade Evolution is sounding the alarm on another case of questionable journalism. Chelsea G. Summers has decided to take the bull by the horns and is expounding on grammar here and here. I only wish that I had a teacher like this when I was going to school. I would have paid a lot more attention! With writers like these, who in their right minds would stay here? Perhaps I should make this news/link thingy a permanent fixture around here.

This last week has been good/bad. On the bad side, it looks as though I have run afoul with a big bad financial power. I’m not going into it, but I am taking solace in the knowledge that I am not the only one in this predicament. On the good side I have just started taking a class in HTML and am confidant in the knowledge that soon I will have a kick but blog page (yeah, right). The class has paid dividends already. I have a friend who is an office manager. She called me to ask if I could investigate a problem with her company’s web site. It seems that some customers were viewing the old site on the web even though the web hosting service had supposedly deleted it. Sure enough, I found a site with a “/index.htm” file extension on it. When anyone would click on that link, they were sent to the old site. It appears that the web hosting service had deleted the old site but had forgotten about the mirror site. Score one for Outis!

Finally, I had a visit with a new doctor on Thursday….I think that I will leave that discussion for later, but the outcome was very positive.

Oh, and the picture….. I wanted to see if I could embed a picture. Also I am still trying to get around to writing something about my Pygmy.

SOMETHING IS OUT THERE (And oh, I hope it’s friendly)

It happened in 1967 or ’68. The event took place in the late fall when all the weeds were brown and brittle from frost, but not broken down from newly fallen snow. I was out with four friends testing hand held class D (CB) radios. Two of us had just entered a field and were proceeding across it when we discovered the spiral. We came across an area where the weeds had been folded over in the same direction. The weeds were bent over, singed, and formed a spiral pattern about twenty feet in diameter. When I looked back at our path through the field, I noted that we had clearly left a trail of broken weeds. There were no other disturbances in that field other than our paths and the spiral. There was no doubt in my mind that something had landed in that field recently.

Many of you may have seen something about the latest string of UFO sightings in Texas. MSM has had a couple of stories on it. Something about this “Flap” is different. First, the very idea that MSM covered the event is odd. Usually they ignore stuff like this. Second, it took weeks before someone realized how close these sighting were to the Crawford ranch. Third, after witnesses repeatedly gave reports that jet fighters were pursuing some of these UFO’s, the military flat out denied having anything up. So, what else is new? Later they would correct themselves and say, “yes indeed we had ten F16s in the air that night on a training mission”. Uh huh, riiiight! A nighttime mission with ten aircraft over a populated area? Suuuure. Now we come to the strangest item of all.

Folks, video was taken by some of the witnesses. Until today not one of the four main discussion boards have picked up the videos and tried to analyze them. NOT ONE!!! Usually these boards would be all over these videos, but there is hardly a mention. Something is just not right here. I should point out that hoaxed video is showing up as well.

After the Isaac/caret/drone flap of this summer,(I know it is a 75 page read, just scroll down for the pictures!), I keep wondering what all this is leading up to. Disclosure? Invasion? Hmmmm… It is said that before a major world event, UFO’s show up in great numbers. Somehow, I don’t think that we are going to have much longer to wait.

In case you are interested here are some links:

UFO Casebook
Nuforc
Above Top Secret
UFO Casebook forums
Open Minds Forum

Oh and psssst… Aunt Robin….. You sure that you haven’t seen any little grey guys hanging around lately?

****Outis leaves searching for his tin foil hat*****

Outis

Uhhhh. Better send the kids out of the room

Yeah, this one may stretch the ‘R” rating a tiny bit. Renegade Evolution has an excellent post that touches, in part, on something I wanted to cover. I will use a much broader brush and include the entire movie industry.

Before going any further I better warn you all that most of these links are NSFW.

Just the idea that some people view porn, and assume it is real, is ludicrous. When this false idea is held, porn is lifted out of the entertainment category and thrown into the “Education” bin. This reclassification becomes really harmful when porn becomes the only resource (for things of a sexual nature) available. When you combine Abstinence Only Sex Ed. and porn, a potentially disastrous mix is created. There is a lot of unrealistic, unsafe, potentially fatal sex being presented out there. Fortunately, the industry is beginning to admit that it must step up and take some responsibility for what it is doing. Again Ren has a great post on the subject here. For a much more realistic view of what it is really like in the industry, take a look at Violet Blue’s San Francisco Chronicle article for this week. Another great exploration of the differences between the fantasy world of porn and reality can be found in the movie “Marie and Jack; A hardcore love story” by Comstock films. (At the time of this writing, I cannot find a link that works to the Comstock site, Grrr.) In a nutshell, Marie and Jack are married and work in the adult industry. They discuss the differences between their film work and their own intimate relationship. I guess I should but up the warning here that at the end of the movie they do get it on….. c’mon people, it is after all a porn film! Ok so what about the young folks out there?

Fortunately there are some pretty good resources for young people out there. First is Scarleteen. Second, and many may not agree with this, is the Midwest Teen Sex Show. This show is very fast paced and uses a lot of outlandish humor. However they do get their point across. OK, now the broader brush.

During the seventies I could not go to a movie that did not have (female) nudity and violence in the same scene. The entire portrayal of violence and sex turned my stomach. We live in a violent enough world folks; I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend money to watch rapes, beatings, murders etc., as entertainment. To me at least, this ever increasing trend of violence/sex seemed almost purposeful. I know, “Good ol’ Outis is just being his paranoid self again”. Maybe not. A while back, there was a movie called “This film is not yet rated”. It traces the history of the film rating board. It puts forth the idea that the ratings board has consistently manipulated what we have been viewing for decades. As a result we have been fed a steady diet of negative racial/ethnic/sexual stereotypes and violence. At the same time any movie that has to do with normal sexual relationships has been given the dreaded NC17 kiss of death. Coincidence? I think not. The movie runs about an hour and a half. Don’t take my word for it…. Here is the link.


When people get programmed to accept anything that they see in movies as real, then the next move is to other media like the news. Who was it that said “In order to control the people, you must first control the media”? Welcome to 1984 folks!

TED Gonna make my head Splode

TED Technology, Education, Design.

This conference has been around for some time. I knew about it of course; I also knew that it was terribly expensive to attend. Recently, BMW and others made the decision to make all of these little lectures available to the public. They can be found at the TED website. In order to demonstrate the diversity of topics I have selected a talk that deals with feminism. The lecturer, Isabel Allende, is witty, sharp and makes her point well. No, I do not plan on making this into a feminist blog. I just thought it would be an interesting thing to post.

>

If it doesn't load for you here is the direct link

In other news.....

I got a comment SQUEEEE! My very first! From another Troll no less. Her name is Robin and she just barely qualifies as a troll. (has anyone figured this out yet?) As an added bonus she has an interesting site (as opposed to where you, kind reader, are presently parked.) Thanks Robin!