of being and non being

i am unaware of my external persona, however we are all beings who communicate what we experience, akin to intelligent mediums, who transpose their acquired knowledge within their social circles. so basically everything is within reach, if it has been understood. like men and women who were born blind and never learned to see the light, will at some point, begin to understand the different facets of this brightness, its warmth, effect, purpose and such, whereas someone who entered this world, and was able to see everything clearly, will take this very light for granted, see it merely as light. the very singularity of his understanding will begin to cripple his growth. he may grow bodily but the essential comprehension will remain undeveloped.

the idea that we were all thrown into our supposedly independent adult lives like a bunch of cannon balls, and that we found everything as it was, came to accept it fatally. i do not shy away from the concept of fatality if it is coupled with a sound sense of questioning ingrained that will so oft raise the skeptic’s proud head from its dark den of habitude, to perform the sacred rites of ablution. to be baptised by the uncertainity of everything around us, our presumptions, truths and beliefs, is by far the only commendable act anyone may ever hope to achieve. why? because it is a neutralizing factor that is capable of extinguishing our prejudices.

everything else is hogwash.

last night i was attempting to clean the kitchen floor, a detestable job no doubt, and everytime i ran the mop in a particular spot, i would turn around to get something, and notice a dirt mark, after a couple of repetitive attempts, it dawned on my rotund brain, that the slippers which encased my feet, were in fact soiled from having gone outside, and they were the guilty culprits. it made me think of how we as men and women, fight all our lives to set rules and morals, attempting to redefine lives and act revolutionary, while utterly failing in the act and wallowing in self-pity and whatnot. we fail to see that perchance it is our feet that are not clean, that the people who attempt to bring change do not sport the very change which they speak of. this hypocrisy and irony thus in a stealthy manner reinstates all our previous failures.

TSOAF Act II

The Trouble With Tomatoes

The Trouble with Tomatoes: A Discussion of Workers’ Rights and Environmental Justice

This Wednesday, March 25 from 7-9m Oxfam America at NYU will be hosting a discussion about tomatoes in the Parlor at 1 Washington Square North, room 101. Tomatoes may seem dull until you follow their journey.

“Come join Sustainable Silver and Oxfam America at NYU on the anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire as we follow a tomato from the fields it’s grown in to the salad on our plates. We’ll be screening two short films, Coalition of Immokalee Workers vs. Taco Bell, about the struggle of tomato pickers in Southwest Florida to acceptable working conditions and a living wage, and Shame on You, a youth-made documentary about environmental justice, air quality, and recycling in the Bronx. We’ll then be joined for a panel discussion with two of the producers of Shame on You, New York City food sovereignty activist Sarah Pappas, and NYU’s own Anna Smukowski of Oxfam.”

And of course there will be FREE food! But at this event, Green Canteen* will provide fresh and sustainable food!

*Green Canteen is an on-campus food stand that offers sustainable meals and is to be launched this fall, 2009.

Time For Frank Wolf (R-VA 10th District) To Resign. Otherwise, We Should Recall Him.

Frank Wolf (R-VA) is usually a stalwart Congressman who fights hard for the 10th District. But, his vote of “Yea” on HR 1586, the retroactive taxing of bonuses paid to AIG, shows that he is no longer worthy of our trust or respect.

Here’s why he needs to go:

Article I, Section 9, Clause 3 of the Constitution of the United States may very well be on the chopping block. Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to impose a 90% tax on the bonuses given out to AIG employees. Frank Wolf voted “Yea.”

Now, the bonuses are not at issue here. Whether they are right or wrong, good or bad is immaterial to what is really going on.

The House passed a bill that is specifically forbidden by Article I, Section 9, Clause 3. “No Bill of Attainder or Ex Post Facto Law shall be passed.” You can pick either one of those and it would cover this 90% bonus tax.

First, a Bill of Attainder, in the context of the Constitution, means a bill that has a negative effect on a single person or group. A punitive tax that specifically targets a certain group (i.e. those who were to receive these bonuses) certainly falls under the definition here. That makes this tax unconstitutional.

Second, when Congress passed the stimulus package and Barack Obama put the Presidential signature on that bill, it became the law of the land. Part of that law is an amendment put in by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) that specifically exempted these bonuses from any regulation. Now, Congress is seeking to implement a law that puts such regulation in place and they want to enforce this law retroactively. That is known as an Ex Post Facto law.

Either way you look at it, this 90% tax Congress wants to retroactively impose on bonus payments that had previously been made perfectly legal by Congress and the President, is wholly, completely and absolutely unconstitutional. It is not the bonuses that matter here. It is the fact that Mr. Wolf voted to allow Congress a power that it never had before and should absolutely never, ever have at all.

I have already written Mr. Wolf asking him to resign. I highly recommend that other residents of Virginia’s 10th District do likewise.

Within the next few days, we residents of the 10th District need to get together and begin a recall campaign.

If Mr. Wolf is willing to violate this part of the Constitution, then he is willing to violate other parts of the Constitution as well. The 10th District deserves much better representation than that.

We need to come together and demand that Mr. Wolf step down before he votes to do even more damage to the Constitution’s integrity.

JACK CANFIELD - Setting Career Goals

Three-bean Chili with Pesto

Okay, so I’m not on a diet.  First, I hate diets and second, the red velvet cupcakes that I’ve been downing every night after dinner definitely disqualifies me from any diet.  But I’ve been working out a lot, and ever since this happened I’ve found myself wanting lighter, fresher meals.

This was one of the first meals that I made when Jeff and I moved in together, and I wish I had made it more through the summer.  It is super quick — I made this, photographed it, sat down and ate it, cleaned up, uploaded my photos, and wrote half this blog post all within an hour of coming in from the gym — easy, and made up of ingredients you probably have in your pantry.  It keeps very well and is great for lunches, reheated or eaten cold.  Serve the chili with crusty bread or toasted pitas.

The original recipe calls for 14.5 ounce cans of beans and tomatoes, but they don’t seem to stock them north of the border.  I used 19 ounce cans, which bumps the serving size up from four to about six or seven.  I have included the directions for making your own pesto, but I keep a jar in my fridge and just throw a dollop of that on top. Lastly, feel free to use any combination of beans you have.

Now… where are those cupcakes?

Three-bean Chili with Pesto

From Real Simple

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 carrots, diced

1 19-fl oz. can diced tomatoes, including liquid

Salt and pepper

1 19-fl oz. can each chickpeas, cannellini beans and kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large sauce-pan, over medium heat (3.5). Add the onion and carrots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomatoes and their liquid, 2 cups water, 1.5 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Add the beans and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.

3. Divide the chili up into bowls and top with pesto.

Quick pesto

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 tbsps. pine nuts, chopped

1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method:

Combine the garlic, pine nuts, parsley, olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon in the food processor and pulse until mixed.

What If There’s No Place To Go?

    If you ride a motorcycle and live in Lubbock, Texas, you have to ride 100 miles or more before the scenery changes. The flatness of the terrain around here frequently rivals that of a pool table.

    The great people of Lubbock reside on what is known as the Llano Estacado, a region that covers eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle and is one of the largest mesas in North America.

    While Lubbock doesn’t sit in the middle of the Llano Estacado, it’s not far from it.

    Those who ride motorcycles frequently enjoy getting off of what we call “The Cap,” or Caprock, and will head 45 miles southeast to Post for a change of scenery or 70 miles or so south to Gail, or 100 miles northeast to Quitaque.

    Those rides take you off the Cap and through some of the very nice canyons that are quite scenic and also offer the chance to see some wildlife.

     But riders can only go those directions so many times before even those rides become boring.

    That’s why, every once in a while, you need to go someplace to the south or west of Lubbock in order to appreciate the scenery off the Cap.

    This past Sunday a small group of Lubbock riders took off to ride through the flat cotton land and oil fields of Terry, Yoakum and Hockley counties, with the turnaround destination being the aptly named Plains, Texas.

    Plains is one of those small communities that dot West Texas. The residents there provide services for the cotton patch and the oil fields that surround the town. Other than that, there’s not much other than a school a few businesses and churches and a bunch of great folks.

    On a Sunday following the Friday where their heroes the Plains Cowboys basketball team was playing in the state championship in Austin there’s really not even that much there.

    As our small steel-pony posse rode through Plains looking for a café to grab hamburger and soda pop, it appeared that the town was deserted except for the Dairy Queen. After taking on refreshments there, we headed back to Lubbock.

    The ride on 214 out of Plains is nothing if not mundane. Except for the occasional highway sign (several that indicate that the sand is deep just off the pavement), there’s not much to look at, although this does appear as if it could be the area where the government filmed the fake moon landing in 1969.

    While the ride from Lubbock to Brownfield to Plains to Ropesville and back to Lubbock won’t make my Top 10 motorcycle rides, it’s definitely good for two things:

1. It gets me on my motorcycle on a beautiful West Texas day, and
   
   


2. It helps me appreciate the rides to Turkey and Post and Gail and Fluvanna a little bit more.